Getting a bit annoyed at my 182 now.

[z8jay]

It appears the '182' in the name of the car refers to how many problems you're likely to encounter during ownership.

I got my 182 about a month ago. It's just gone over 76k miles. Was on 75k when i bought it. It drove absolutely fine for the first week, no problems at all. Then I was driving home and suddenly lost about 50% of the power and it felt like it was mis-firing. No warning lights came up though so I just crawled it home and stuck it on a lorry the next day to a local garage to see what was up with it.

As it was over 5 years old (04 plate) and >72k miles, I got the cambelt and aux belt replaced. While that was done I got the dephaser pulley changed along with plugs/leads and an oil+filter change. Got a pretty big bill for all this work and the car seemed ok afterwards.

However I noticed when I picked the car up that there was a whining noise which wasn't present before. I took it straight back to the garage and they said it was normal as they don't replace the sound deadening that covers the belts but did double check all the tensioners/timing for me. I've then had a few weeks of enjoyment with the car, it's been really good. Until the other day. I booted it off a roundabout, up a nice straight bit of road last night at about 3am on my way home. It accelerated fine as usual and I wasn't even going past 6k rpm. Then as I started to slow down again, it started doing the same thing as before where it seemed to lose half its power.

Again I crawled the car home (luckily only round the corner from my house) and left it until yesterday when I took it out for a spin to see if it was just something temporary. It seems to be accelerating ok but there's definitely some sort of hesitation. It's also making weird noises again. Really difficult to explain but it's like the whining noise except it goes quiet then loud, really quickly. As far as I remember it didn't make that noise before. It just doesn't sound right. Any ideas?

There's also some other issues - my air con doesn't work. I think it just needs re-gassing. My screenwash doesn't work but the wipers/lights function fine. I checked all the fuses - all present and correct. Must be the washer motor I guess.

One of my springs has snapped a coil. I haven't got the money to be replacing it right now though. And the final thing is that it seems like my engine mounts are on their way out. There's a vibration coming through the clutch at anything over 6000rpm. It also judders when pulling away in first gear.

To sum up for those of you who don't want to read the whole post:

Cambelt, aux belt (both belts were the full kit with tensioners etc), spark plugs, ht leads, oil/filter, dephaser pulley all replaced within a week of me getting the car.

* Engine making strange noises and lack of acceleration
* No engine warning lights or anything are on
* Suspension coil has snapped
* Screenwash doesn't work - fuses ok
* Air con doesn't work - re-gas?
* Judders when pulling away in first gear
* Clutch pedal vibrates when at more than 6000rpm


What would you do in this situation, or more importantly what needs doing to fix the problems? Is there anything that's relatively minor that I may have overlooked? A sensor or something?

I really like the car when it's working but it seems like something new goes wrong every week. I can't really sell it with all the issues it has, not without losing a load of money. So I need to get it fixed. Problem is I'm not exactly rolling in money and have spent money on buying the car followed by a bill for just over £700 within a week. I can't afford another bill for that amount but at the same time I'm fed up of my car just sitting there un-used because I'm scared it'll break if I drive it.

I also bought privately so have absolutely no comeback on that front. People kept telling me to avoid French cars, I think I know why now. I know some of you have cars which are completely reliable, I must have just chosen a bad one.

 

[Daz.]

Engine - take it back again, tell them to fix whatever they did
Coil - get some used ones off here, plenty of people selling due to changing suspension
Screenwash - Can you hear the motor/s working? I've just changed my washer bottle due to it being split - are you losing fluid? eBay - £30 for complete bottle and two pumps - fit it yourself
Aircon - can wait
Juddering - linked to engine issues?
Clutch pedal - not sure about that one I'll admit!

 

[z8jay]

Engine - take it back again, tell them to fix whatever they did
Coil - get some used ones off here, plenty of people selling due to changing suspension
Screenwash - Can you hear the motor/s working? I've just changed my washer bottle due to it being split - are you losing fluid? eBay - £30 for complete bottle and two pumps - fit it yourself
Aircon - can wait
Juddering - linked to engine issues?
Clutch pedal - not sure about that one I'll admit!

I've already took the car back twice with regards to the weird noises it's been making. They're insistent that it's normal. I'm also not sure if it's related to the work they've done. It would be unfair to expect them to fix a problem that is unrelated.

I'll keep an eye out for suspension on here. Good idea - hadn't even thought about it.

I can't hear the motor working. The wipers move when I try to use the screenwash though. The auto-wiper thing works aswell. I filled the bottle a few weeks ago and there's no leak.

Those are all minor things though, would prefer to get the issues with my clutch pedal shaking and the car juddering in 1st gear sorted. Along with the acceleration issues. I might take it out for a drive again today just to make sure it's still playing up. It drives ok-ish most of the time, which makes it even harder to get it diagnosed. The weird noises seem a bit random, same for the hesitating acceleration. Is there a coilpack or something on this car? I wonder if it's worth replacing that aswell, to rule out an ignition problem.

 

[Ste666]

I have the air con issue mate, been into two different garages now and neither can find a leak so they re gas it and then of course a month later it's knackered and blowing warm again!....going to leave it now, can't be arsed with the hope that it will stay fixed when i pay someone to do it so i'll use the windows in summer from now on

I have heard of others having the noise after the belts were done, it seems to be a random problem but i have to say i didn't have the noise when i had mine done.

I think one issue with yours is maybe it's mileage, mine has issues too yet my 2004 182 has only covered 38,000 miles so i know never to own a higher mileage 182.

 

[Cookson]

could be the water pump? Extra strain from the new belt?

 

[z8jay]

I have the air con issue mate, been into two different garages now and neither can find a leak so they re gas it and then of course a month later it's knackered and blowing warm again!....going to leave it now, can't be arsed with the hope that it will stay fixed when i pay someone to do it so i'll use the windows in summer from now on

I have heard of others having the noise after the belts were done, it seems to be a random problem but i have to say i didn't have the noise when i had mine done.

I think one issue with yours is maybe it's mileage, mine has issues too yet my 2004 182 has only covered 38,000 miles so i know never to own a higher mileage 182.

Yeah the air con is a minor issue imo, I can just open the window. It's nice to have but I'm happy to leave it for now.

I would have thought 76k is a relatively low mileage. I've had cars with 100k+ that have been more reliable! I guess they weren't french though. It's such a shame because aside from these issues it's an awesome car. I absolutely love driving it, when it's working.

could be the water pump? Extra strain from the new belt?

Would that cause similar symptoms? I believe the part is fairly cheap it's just quite a bit of labour to fit one.

I drove it earlier and it seemed ok. The noise had died down to acceptable levels again, aside from the whining but that's been there when it was working properly aswell. Maybe it's the heat - I noticed the performance suffered a tad when it was hot. The only thing was it was way slower to get through the revs. It still seemed to get to 60-70mph without any problems, pretty quickly. I wasn't exactly nailing it either, don't want to break anything. When I parked up at my house again and it sat there idling, I gave it a blip on the throttle just to see what sort of noise it made, it sounded ok but has lost that instant response from the accelerator pedal.

 

[adam1942]

its got the standard airbox on it? i know K&Ns and so on make them run like a bag of nails? thats all the advise i can offer sorry fella and good luck!

 

[z8jay]

I assume so, haven't actually took the filter apart and had a look though. It may be worth checking it out tomorrow though.

 

[ScarySquirrel]

If it makes you feel any better, I got my 182 in April and so far it has cost me somewhere in the region of £3,500 to keep it on the road. Without going into detail, that included, among other things, a new engine, dephaser pulley, PAS pump, belts (twice), air con regas, new tyres all round, blah blah blah. It makes me almost cry just thinking about it.

 

[z8jay]

If it makes you feel any better, I got my 182 in April and so far it has cost me somewhere in the region of £3,500 to keep it on the road. Without going into detail, that included, among other things, a new engine, dephaser pulley, PAS pump, belts (twice), air con regas, new tyres all round, blah blah blah. It makes me almost cry just thinking about it.

I read your thread a while back, heartbreaking stuff man. Glad you seem to have it all sorted now but that's a ridiculous amount of money to have to spend on a car to keep it running. It'd be ok if it was a Lamborghini or something but it's a bloody clio!