GrahamS
ClioSport Club Member
335d
Back at the start of this year we decided we needed another car to help get around a little cheaper. Over the christmas period 2012 we clocked 2500 miles which just cost an absolute fortune in the 182, not to mention it was stressful.
Decided on a DCI due to tax, clio knowlege, cheap and one we liked the look of near by.
Here he was in the advert.
I'd seen him advertised and suggested it to my neighbours a couple of weeks before as they were looking for a clio. Weird we ended up buying him for £1200. He didn't want for much, 6 months tax, 106k, lots of tread on the tyres and had an MOT with no advisories. The chap had no service history when I called (he then found it when I turned up) and had no idea about cars. He had no idea if and when the cambelt had been changed but when I lifted the bonnet it was written on the strut! It had a boost leak which I could hear on the test drive (hair dryer) so that was one of the first things to get sorted.
On the drive home there was the low oil pressure warning light flickering which was worrying, especially with no sh from 80k I feared big ends. First job on the first day, replaced the oil, filtter and oil pressure sensor and all was well again. Also chucked on some aero twin wipers at the same time.
If you've read my other project thread I do all work myself. We drove Claude for about a week thinking the fuel gauge was broken but he was just incredibly economical. Boost leak fixed that weekend saw economy improve even more. The previous garage had located the seals on the pipes incorrectly (horrible pita job)
We then drove him for a few thousand with no need for anything other than fuel. He started to develop a cold. When starting sometimes you would have to put your foot to the floor to get him to go. We eventually broke down one morning when I HIT BOOOSSSTTT (the fuel pipe just squirted fuel out under the pressure) I pumped the little pumpy bit and then drove home below 2k and taped it up with gaffa as a temporary fix. This turned out to be caused by the engine cover rubbing. Cut the old one off and popped a new piece of fuel tube on saw a free fix.
My sister then borrowed the car when we went on holiday and the clutch on the alternator pulley busted. £58 later I had a new belt and pulley courtesy of Curd Brothers Tunbridge Wells (top chaps). To get the alternator off this car you have to remove the oil filter. What is wrong with Renaults design team.
Up to 115k then it was MOT time. Only needed a new third brake light and steering rack gaitor so whilst changing this I popped on some new TREs I had laying around from my 182 epas conversion. Also popped on new discs and pads as they were wearing a little low.
Recently the car has become solely mine to get to uni and back on the motorway each day so it was time for some changes to make it more of a commuter.
First came the 182 interior kindly donated by my 182. Carpet, door cards, dash strips, a non-ripped gear gaitor and seats. The carpet made the car much quieter on the motorway.
When queuing and just toddling along on idle Claude made a horrible deep vibrating noise so I changed the ARB inner bushes and outer drop links. That was a horrible job but worth it.
Couple of tyres up for changing soon I spotted some mk2 alloys at the scrappies, up for £65 on ebay. I got them for £50 which I was chuffed with as they had a matching set of decent tread tyres and centre caps.
Next was the 182 xenons, LED rear number plate light and mist washer jets.
We got to 116k and it was time for a service again. I got the £75 full genuine kit from Smiths on ebay. There of course was no record of any of the filters being changed so fuel, air, pollen and oil were done. Along with the engine oil and gearbox oil. I managed to forget to put the drain plug back in the first time and put 3l of very expensive gearbox oil on the floor
Last week came the most recent mods, a dynamique spoiler and some genuine front mud flaps. I'm after the rears if anyone has some. The best mod has to be the trip computer. Being a basic model the car came with black surround clocks which just did the trip function. Having found out clios are all prewired for the computer function I got some silver surround clocks from a DCI of the same era and a trip computer stalk. Hey presto I can now monitor my MPG. Got 73 on a test run
This weekend I changed the cambelt, coolant and water pump. That all went swimmingly. Next I'd love to sort out the cruise control however I do not have the correct dash loom so need to find on of those
WOW I found a cup that fits just about! £4.50
Oh yeah, I tried to paint my knob today as it was really worn out. Turned out pretty poor!
Decided on a DCI due to tax, clio knowlege, cheap and one we liked the look of near by.
Here he was in the advert.
I'd seen him advertised and suggested it to my neighbours a couple of weeks before as they were looking for a clio. Weird we ended up buying him for £1200. He didn't want for much, 6 months tax, 106k, lots of tread on the tyres and had an MOT with no advisories. The chap had no service history when I called (he then found it when I turned up) and had no idea about cars. He had no idea if and when the cambelt had been changed but when I lifted the bonnet it was written on the strut! It had a boost leak which I could hear on the test drive (hair dryer) so that was one of the first things to get sorted.
On the drive home there was the low oil pressure warning light flickering which was worrying, especially with no sh from 80k I feared big ends. First job on the first day, replaced the oil, filtter and oil pressure sensor and all was well again. Also chucked on some aero twin wipers at the same time.
If you've read my other project thread I do all work myself. We drove Claude for about a week thinking the fuel gauge was broken but he was just incredibly economical. Boost leak fixed that weekend saw economy improve even more. The previous garage had located the seals on the pipes incorrectly (horrible pita job)
We then drove him for a few thousand with no need for anything other than fuel. He started to develop a cold. When starting sometimes you would have to put your foot to the floor to get him to go. We eventually broke down one morning when I HIT BOOOSSSTTT (the fuel pipe just squirted fuel out under the pressure) I pumped the little pumpy bit and then drove home below 2k and taped it up with gaffa as a temporary fix. This turned out to be caused by the engine cover rubbing. Cut the old one off and popped a new piece of fuel tube on saw a free fix.
My sister then borrowed the car when we went on holiday and the clutch on the alternator pulley busted. £58 later I had a new belt and pulley courtesy of Curd Brothers Tunbridge Wells (top chaps). To get the alternator off this car you have to remove the oil filter. What is wrong with Renaults design team.
Up to 115k then it was MOT time. Only needed a new third brake light and steering rack gaitor so whilst changing this I popped on some new TREs I had laying around from my 182 epas conversion. Also popped on new discs and pads as they were wearing a little low.
Recently the car has become solely mine to get to uni and back on the motorway each day so it was time for some changes to make it more of a commuter.
First came the 182 interior kindly donated by my 182. Carpet, door cards, dash strips, a non-ripped gear gaitor and seats. The carpet made the car much quieter on the motorway.
When queuing and just toddling along on idle Claude made a horrible deep vibrating noise so I changed the ARB inner bushes and outer drop links. That was a horrible job but worth it.
Couple of tyres up for changing soon I spotted some mk2 alloys at the scrappies, up for £65 on ebay. I got them for £50 which I was chuffed with as they had a matching set of decent tread tyres and centre caps.
Next was the 182 xenons, LED rear number plate light and mist washer jets.
We got to 116k and it was time for a service again. I got the £75 full genuine kit from Smiths on ebay. There of course was no record of any of the filters being changed so fuel, air, pollen and oil were done. Along with the engine oil and gearbox oil. I managed to forget to put the drain plug back in the first time and put 3l of very expensive gearbox oil on the floor
Last week came the most recent mods, a dynamique spoiler and some genuine front mud flaps. I'm after the rears if anyone has some. The best mod has to be the trip computer. Being a basic model the car came with black surround clocks which just did the trip function. Having found out clios are all prewired for the computer function I got some silver surround clocks from a DCI of the same era and a trip computer stalk. Hey presto I can now monitor my MPG. Got 73 on a test run
This weekend I changed the cambelt, coolant and water pump. That all went swimmingly. Next I'd love to sort out the cruise control however I do not have the correct dash loom so need to find on of those
WOW I found a cup that fits just about! £4.50
Oh yeah, I tried to paint my knob today as it was really worn out. Turned out pretty poor!
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