Covid182 the longest clutch change ever

[Robbie Corbett]

Nothing much to report recently - still no filler flap 🤣

Car has been reliable, parts haven't fallen off etc. I still need to add a little more toe out and try some different tyres, the nearly new Hankook V12's which came with the wheels aren't for me, they seem to have quite a soft tyre wall which isn't helped by the conservative camber settings.

Quick weekend wash

Fitted a rude boi rear number plate bulb and holder:

Don't love it, but it works so will stay.

I plan to start a body work mini resto soon, the car has a number of parking dings and the rear passenger lower quarter is completely the wrong shape, looks like the previous owner cut a kerb or something. I bought an amazon PDR kit and thought I would give it a shot:

Before:

After:

Takes bloody ages and I'm pretty ropey, I need to buy some bars so I can push small dents from inside the car, I think with some practice I can get nearly everything out. As is its about 70%, now is a little 'out' so needs careful knocking in. I've ordered a stripped pdr light as its nearly impossible to tell what shape it is close up.

I also bought the car to use on track, fixed it and then decided I didn't want to ruin it! So to appease my past self I've booed an afternoon at Brands on the 7th July. So have a few jobs to do before then. I'll be running the Hankook's in a bid to knacker them before trying something else.

Also so far unimpressed by the supposed 1155 pads I have fitted up front, they fade on the road! At this point I don't know if there has been a seller/manufacturer c**k up and somehow 1144's got in the box but I'll be swapping to something else before I get to Brands!

I originally bought the Clio on a whim, to use while I repaired my daily which was an E46 estate with an M3 transplant - having not touched the BM for over 2 years I've mad the sad decision to sell which meant digging the fecking thing out the gravel drive, unseizing a rear brake, blah blah.

Engine before a clean:

After a quick wash, repairs made, quick hoon up the road and now just have to work out why the front windows have stopped working - they say never leave a car parked up for ages and expect it to work... they were right:

And thats the bank holiday weekend over for me

 

[Robbie Corbett]

No great news to report...

A group of mates and I had an afternoon session at Brands booked for July. So with big plans to install a rear ARB and some more track oriented tyres I did neither. Instead to get ready I installed some misting Alfa washer jets and changed the engine and gearbox oil... I've switched to Shell Helix ultra for this change as the regular Elf didn't arrive in time

Just pottering about in the car, didn't want to break it before Brands! trip to work saw over 40mpg, which im pretty chuffed with tbh, makes it our most economical car!

 

[JamesBryan]

5W-30!

Bit thin that mate

 

[Radugns]

No no, no 5w30

 

[Robbie Corbett]

So made it to Brands, met some nice Clio owners, one at least from here.

Car packed - nice of Renault to think of helmet storage.

Given my new washer jets I had high hopes for the day but it wasn't to be. Did the sighting laps ok, then went out to play. First lap car felt great, by third lap car was understeering like a dog, having remembered that my tyres were over inflated and probably cooking their bollcoks off I started to head towards pits when my power steering pump went VERY noisy and I lost power steering.... great.

Some lune was driving (very quickly too) a 3 door!

As i pulled into pits the input seal on power steering pump s**t its self - this was the 'freshly' rebuilt pump I had installed during the mechanical tinkering not long ago. Fluid f**king everywhere, car undrivable. Looks like pump overheated, boiling fluid etc.

Ironically mate in Evo was sitting in pits when I arrived, his PS pump has died too

Bare in mind this was day of England game, I was pretty impressed when a mate of a mate agreed to trailer my car home that evening. Result.

Car just sitting waiting for loader out the front of Brands.

Dick bags.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

5W-30!

Bit thin that mate

Cars happy, only in for a few hundred miles as Elf has arrived. Not burning any, not using any, no bad noises and oil pressure light hasn't even flickered at idle with a warm engine. Its fine for the time it was in there - bare in mind it was bought in a rush and has been swapped out to the obligatory ELF goop. I also have no clue why I bought 5w-30, have a feeling it oil grade (wrongly) listed by company I bought it from.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Hello darkness my old friend... etc

Here we are again.

Delivery driver managed to rip my splitter off which was unfortunate. But given the mess the car made of his low loader we were pretty even. Car back home and bits off. Gave everything a good jet washing and degreasing. Very annoyed that the power steering fluid has taken paint off of some parts which I had done (the dark grey parts) but I will survive - didn't remove the etch primer below so now we are a patch black on some bits.

Now, at this point I made another terminal mistake. I should have just bought a new Renault pump, but instead spent £100 on an aftermarket part

Which obviously didn't fit properly. I had to pull the input flange off by 5mm, but easily done.

Filled up with fluid, bled etc. Pump is as noisy as its ever been. Absolute skid row.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

So now I have three pumps:

At the time of doing this a new Renault pump was either unavailable or close to £200. I spoke to my father who had some annoying but good advice. The rebuilt pump (left) was always a little noisy, the new pump (right) was terrible from the moment I started the car however the middle original pump was only every noisy for a few moments after start up, the noise went away as the fluid warmed up.... I just replaced it because I had the engine out and made sense to me at the time.

I was having all sorts of bad throughs - like it the return line partially blocked? Is there some restriction in the rack somehow which is causing the pumps to starve of fluid and hence making them all noisy... maybe I'll buy a new Renault pump and the issue will remain...

My father suggested re-installing the original pump which was a known entity, ie I knew it was a little noisy at start up but quiet there after... So I did... and its absolutely perfect 🤦‍♂️

Seems all it ever needed was new fluid.

Third time lucky - f**king prick.

Cheers

 

[JamesBryan]

I thought new pumps from Renault were NLA now?

Pretty sure my guy who did mine in 2017 when it went pop like yours said so anyway.

 

[JamesBryan]

These are meant to be good. Pretty sure Alex from AW Autoworks recommended these.

Pardon our interruption...

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Ok so pumps back in, cars back together and the steering feels great. Its never been so good actually.

A few days later the car develops a bad missfire. Arse.

This really is turning into struggle street. So thinking it might be the coil which does have a little crack near the base I start the parts war with that:

Renault coil is NLA, so its now got a Febi one on which is working fine... but obviously was not the cause of my missfire

So before pulling the trigger on more parts I though I would have inlet off an do a compression check.

This is the utter state of the nearly new plugs... wtf. Looks like where I have washed engine I have water down plug holes, ironically at this point it would have been better had the rocker cover been leaking, at the very least plugs wouldn't have looked like this!!!

After a long time with a hoover a magnet and a boroscope cleaning the shale out of my cylinders I could do a compression test. However all plugs although grotty and looking like they had been in from new (not the 1000 or so miles they have actually been there for) were all fine other than no.2 which was sootier than the rest.

f**king state of this:

Compression test done, all came out between 13.5 and 14 bar so all good on that front.

So likely cause is simply water down plug holes. However my plug leads are original and one of them was testing as intermittent, going from several kilo ohms to over 50 as I twisted the lead a little. This was also the lead from cylinder 2.

So a new set of plugs and leads was ordered.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

These are meant to be good. Pretty sure Alex from AW Autoworks recommended these.

Pardon our interruption...

That was the rebuilt pump which failed mate.

It was covered in thick black paint and despite being carefully bled was always a little noisy right up to the point where its input seal crapped its pants. Few other members have had issues with them too with the input flange not being pressed onto the shaft enough.

Also, when I contacted them to tell them it had failed they didn't want to know. So I would go against Alex and say do not buy from these people. Suspect they just change bearings and seals and leave the actual pump as is.

The original pump is also used on lots of Nissans and is actually available if you search very hard, however they will be supplied without an input flange... although thats also available separately.

I should have bought this:

Nissan Power Steering Pump Assembly Genuine 4911000Q0F | eBay

Genuine Nissan Part 4911000Q0F. This is a genuine Nissan Power Steering Pump. Nissan part number 4911000Q0F is manufactured to the highest quality by the manufacturer. Power Steering Pump Assembly. Power Steering Pump.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Radugns]

I did get a brand new genuine one, without flange (as this is how new ones are), press the flange but not sure the exact position. As I have 3 pumps, 3 different values

 

[Radugns]

Hello darkness my old friend... etc

Here we are again.

View attachment 1559634

Delivery driver managed to rip my splitter off which was unfortunate. But given the mess the car made of his low loader we were pretty even. Car back home and bits off. Gave everything a good jet washing and degreasing. Very annoyed that the power steering fluid has taken paint off of some parts which I had done (the dark grey parts) but I will survive - didn't remove the etch primer below so now we are a patch black on some bits.

View attachment 1559635

Now, at this point I made another terminal mistake. I should have just bought a new Renault pump, but instead spent £100 on an aftermarket part

View attachment 1559636

Which obviously didn't fit properly. I had to pull the input flange off by 5mm, but easily done.

View attachment 1559637

View attachment 1559638

Filled up with fluid, bled etc. Pump is as noisy as its ever been. Absolute skid row.

I think it is noisy because the pulley is not aligned to others. The flange looks way to deep, like 1.4 steering pump

 

[Robbie Corbett]

So while waiting for parts to arrive, some kind sole in a a 2016 RR hit my parked car, then drove off despite neighbors being there and taking his plate etc. Prick.

Initially damage looked mild, just scratches etc.

Though, oh well and carried on with the missfire fixing.

Gave new plugs a misting of high temp wax to try and avoid future problems with them turning into powder and filling cylinder up with rust

New plugs in, new leads on. Leads bought from these guys and seem to be of good quality.

RENAULT CLIO RS, Mk2 172/182 Formula Power,10mm RACE QUALITY HT Plug Lead sets for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for RENAULT CLIO RS, Mk2 172/182 Formula Power,10mm RACE QUALITY HT Plug Lead sets at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

The car started and idled well, no miss - revs cleanly and feels happy. So figured I would go for a blast around the block.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

I think it is noisy because the pulley is not aligned to others. The flange looks way to deep, like 1.4 steering pump

Nope - it was noisy because it was fucked.

I measured and corrected flange depth before installing against the original factory pump. Misaligned belt noise it quite a bit different from fucked pump noise

The picture above with all three pumps side by side is actually before I pulled the flange off to correct height. So you are partially correct

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Ok, so with missfire seemingly fixed it was time for a drive. Within about a meter it was clear that c**t in the RR had not just scratched the wing....

This is car driving straight....

Helllllo

 

[Radugns]

Nope - it was noisy because it was fucked.

I measured and corrected flange depth before installing against the original factory pump. Misaligned belt noise it quite a bit different from fucked pump noise

The picture above with all three pumps side by side is actually before I pulled the flange off to correct height. So you are partially correct

This is strange,brand new focked one.
Can you please tell me those measurements? I don't have any steering pump from 2.0

 

[Robbie Corbett]

So, some more parts from mr RPD.

This is a new tie rod kit, new outer track rod end, and some other odds I needed, Renault filter, sump gasket (mine is weeping a little, tears of shame I f**king hope) and also a new rubber for the slam panel as mine is torn like a new bride

Based on recommendations on here I bought my new favorite tool. The tie rod and end were only a few thousand miles old but I last changed them with the engine out the car which made things somewhat easier...

Bent section cut off, tool on - whole job took maybe an hour including jacking car up, finding tools etc. All thanks to the new tool of awesomeness.

With that done, I went for another drive, this time with the wheel over to the right the car pulls badly left 🤦‍♂️

Fearing the worst I headed home. What else could be bent, the lower arms are OEM and quite expensive now so would be annoying to have to change that too.

Fortunately the issue was far simpler than I could have hoped. The top camber bolt had been left kind of lose by the company who did tracking. Not lose enough to move on road but lose enough to move when hit by a Range Rover

With that sorted car now drives fairly straight - booked in for alignment next week. You will also spot my ABS cable holder is the wrong way round lolol, that was fixed too.

And the good news in the miss is totally sorted, in fact I don't think the car has pulled so well in ages. It had been super fluffy from cold for a while, like a lot worse than it should have been... thats all gone now too. Happy days.

Now just waiting for police to contact RR chappie so I can potentially try and get money for parts, although not holding breath and not too bothered - Im more annoyed that he drove off the bellend.

 

[JamesBryan]

This is strange,brand new focked one.
Can you please tell me those measurements? I don't have any steering pump from 2.0

Should be 99mm i think.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

This is strange,brand new focked one.
Can you please tell me those measurements? I don't have any steering pump from 2.0

Yes, thats what really worried me. I though I had another issue with the system. A fluid restriction would have created the same symptoms, ie noisy, fluid overheating etcetc.

However it was 100% faulty, the aluminum ones look like they have just been made in China and get sold to distributors who brand them, while the OEM one is steel and works as it should.

I have the rebuild pump somewhere I think which has the flange at the correct depth, if I can find it I will measure it for you. At the time we were just making small changed and measuring each time with verniers and I cannot remember what the value was.

 

[Radugns]

Should be 99mm i think.

99mm should be the measurement from the picture?

 

[JamesBryan]

99mm should be the measurement from the picture?

Between the two points on your picture yes.

This is what i've based it on

 

[Robbie Corbett]

So with the car driving again I wanted to crack on with part 2.

The interior is a little grim, I've given it the occasional hoover out but thats about all. Plans are:

1 - debobble seats
2 - Massive hoover and stiff brush carpets
3 - wet vac seats and carpet
4 - New mats
5 - send wheel off to be retrimmed
6 - sort the stick bits out.
7 - work out how to clean belts or buy new belts

Made a good start, you can see how generally grim it is, not awful but not great.

Remembering that the Mrs had bought a debobbling shaver thing I went for it, worked really well, I was happy with the result.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Next up, a stiff brush of carpets and a good hour of hoovering.

Followed by carpet cleaner on seats and carpet scrubbed with a drill brush and left for 30 mins.

I bought a little wet vac a while ago and its brilliant for cars

Lots of time later

 

[Krarl]

Fucksake what a torrid wave of emotions Raymond

Keep posting though, I'm nearly there🥵🥴😩

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Boot carpets too before

After

Car was a long way from clean, but with a hoover it wasn't grim, didn't smell etc. Water out of vac tells a different story

Its rather nice inside the car now, new mats and gear gaiter have arrived. I'll remove wheel and sent it off this week for retrimming. I quite like the stuff Jack at Royalwheels does on beemers so will use him.

 

[RustyMojo]

Excellent work David

 

[JackJack]

What a run of bad luck, Hopefully you manage to get some money back.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

What a run of bad luck, Hopefully you manage to get some money back.

Thanks mate . I think I'm down a few hundred pounds in total which isn't the end of the world, but it is annoying as I've spent the last few weekends waiting for parts or fixing it.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

New mats in, I had deliberated over the RS mats or regular Clio ones. I went with the regular Clio ones because I don't like the silver trim on the RS mats that much and its just another thing to get covered in dog s**t.

Leaving the steering wheel, sticky plastics and minging belts to sort next.

After which its onto body work just in time for winter

 

[Brigsy]

Run the pas fluid on the minimum mark if going on track, usually keeps it right.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Run the pas fluid on the minimum mark if going on track, usually keeps it right.

Cheers, I had read you suggesting that to someone else before, it would stop the fluid being spat out the reservoir but I don't think it would have saved me. Was three laps in, fluid was dark brown so burnt and I lost the power steering before the seal failed which I think was the fluid boiling. I do not intend to go on track with this car again tbh but if I do I will install a PAS cooler.

Was my fault as the pump was whining before we got to the track, fluid level was normal, just a s**t pump.

 

[Filipe Dias]

Is this power steering issue common on the 172/182? Or only happens on cars on track? Was thinking about taking mine on a Track Day but don´t want the hassle of changing the power steering pump

 

[Brigsy]

I dont think you will need to fit a pas cooler. I had a pump blow up the same way at my local track with the fluid on the max, power steering failed then blew the fluid out all over the place.

2nd hand pump fitted and new fluid on the min mark and did not have any issues at all with hard track use. I think the extra room for expansion when hot keeps it right. If the fluid has expanded with heat to the top of the tank something has to give i guess.

I never bothered topping mine back up for road use and 4 years later its still alright.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

I dont think you will need to fit a pas cooler. I had a pump blow up the same way at my local track with the fluid on the max, power steering failed then blew the fluid out all over the place.

2nd hand pump fitted and new fluid on the min mark and did not have any issues at all with hard track use. I think the extra room for expansion when hot keeps it right. If the fluid has expanded with heat to the top of the tank something has to give i guess.

I never bothered topping mine back up for road use and 4 years later its still alright.

Did yours blow out the input seal too? I had a fluid fountain pissing all over the drivers headlight and wing lol

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Is this power steering issue common on the 172/182? Or only happens on cars on track? Was thinking about taking mine on a Track Day but don´t want the hassle of changing the power steering pump

I don't think this should have happened at all. As said, my 'rebuilt' pump was already noisy especially under load. I had actually changed the fluid a few hundred miles into using it because it was brunt - so clearly something very wrong. I think a healthy pump would have been absolutely fine, so just give it a go and have fun - they aren't that difficult to fix even if it does fail

However people do seem to experience power steering pump failure on these when on track - my take is that the fluid overheats and boils however Brigsy might also be right. However I come across quite a few cars which have some kind of PAS cooler as standard and the Clio has nothing.

 

[Filipe Dias]

However people do seem to experience power steering pump failure on these when on track - my take is that the fluid overheats and boils however Brigsy might also be right. However I come across quite a few cars which have some kind of PAS cooler as standard and the Clio has nothing.

That´s true. Even the Mk1 Mx-5 has a steering cooling pipe in the front of the radiator. When tracking mine heavily i had to install a power steering cooler. The fluid as boiling over the steering reservoir. Maybe it´s not a bad idea to try and fit a small cooler on the Clio. Would not hurt for sure

 

[Clio_fool]

Wasn't there a trader on here developing a pas cooler kit?

 

[Louis]

1 step forward 2 steps back it seems lately! Glad you're getting somewhere near.