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Kangoo Compact (aka Racevan3)



TDLR - im an idiot and keep buying scrap Renaults and a new project is in stock:LOL:

A few months ago in my old job i had a 68reg Kangoo, got it with delivery mileage brand new. Noted pretty crap in diesel form, and handling average however i had heard that the underpinnings were very similar to meg/mk3 clio, and confirmed when having a look underneath briefly.

Said van
20181105_113311.jpg


Returned when i left the job, good riddance to tracker and 62mph speed limiter. Thought to myself that it would probably be sound, with more power and better handling.

At the time i still had my old Kangoo 172 (Racevan2), which was leagues ahead. Lacked a bit of straight line speed, and deep down im a turbo man missed the turbo torque so sold which stuck some money back in the pot.

With the drive looking less cluttered and bank balance up a few quid said no more projects until my Extra (Racevan1) is back on the road.

Had the idea of a Megane rs powered Kangoo2 for a while, and seen the compact version. The compact is the same length as Clio2. Compared to the usual ml version of the Kangoo2 its like a micro machine.

Press pic of the compact next to ml
RENAULT KANGOO COMPACT.jpg

Thinking this would be a great project to do once the Extra is done, sat on the idea. The compact is rare to find for sale, as from what i gather nobody bought them with the 4 foot load space in the rear making them pretty useless as a van.

Mrs was looking and seen one for sale on Facebook marketplace, needing a new engine and only down the road. Made the mistake of going for a look, looked pretty unloved but bodywork quite good, engine totally shot. Stuck a low bid in, scrap money and the fella was up for it.

Collected on the back of my mates truck this week
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Short arse
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Cleaned up and roof rack removed and pushed into position.
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Current engine bay half a dci lump with melted pistons on cyl 1 & 4 :LOL:

20191120_132320.jpg


Had a good look round and the subframe looks pretty identical to meg2 or clio3. Meg rs track control arms, hubs and brembos bolt on as one as already been done, so handling should be great. Mounts look identical to megane, so in theory a meg lump and ndo box should go in (pk box fits).

Wiring may or may not be tricky, however i have been thinking about this, and there is a few options, if all else fails standalone ecu and stack dash.

So will get the Extra done, and then start on this. Watch this space;)
 
Nice work. Bet this is going to be hilarious.

Tell me more about the make shift beading tool as I'll need one for some pipework on mine. Mole grips with a washer welded and half an exhaust clamp on the otheside?

Cheers mate. Cold weather has put the stop on it for now.

The home made swaging tool is exactly like you described it, old mole grips, large exhaust clamp (i think its 60-70mm) and large heavy duty washer. Mine is quite pikey welded up as i used my mates old mig set which was hopeless. Its done ok though and survived quite a few swages.
20180915_184059.jpg
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Theres a bead forming tool called Jobber do which is the posh pre made version, and probably better but still the home made one was free;)
 
hello friend , nice project, send me the original file from eprom 95160 from ECU , and i will help you with virgin, renolink comand ECU virgin doesn't work.
 
Cheers mate. Cold weather has put the stop on it for now.

The home made swaging tool is exactly like you described it, old mole grips, large exhaust clamp (i think its 60-70mm) and large heavy duty washer. Mine is quite pikey welded up as i used my mates old mig set which was hopeless. Its done ok though and survived quite a few swages.View attachment 1520793View attachment 1520794

Theres a bead forming tool called Jobber do which is the posh pre made version, and probably better but still the home made one was free;)

If it works, it works. Thanks for that though.

@dann2707 fire the welder up and make me some of these. Thank ya please
 
Back on with project Mangoo this weekend

First job on Sat was to refit the fuel tank and make some an-6 fuel lines up. Pretty boring and got a load of shite in my eyes as expected, did not take many pics. Only plus side was i bought some proper hose shears which cut the braided pipe like a hot knife through butter, which made the job acceptable to do.

Torques fitting to convert to an pipe, fits nice on oem sender outlet.
20210220_122230.jpg

Made a short line from sender to tank. This was to make tank fitting and removal easy in the future. The an 90deg bend clips onto the tank which makes a neat job.
20210220_122227.jpg

Pulled the oily ply lining ooutand binned. Floor is quite clean for a used van, did consider cutting an access hole for fuel sender but its dual skinned at that point so too much hassle.
20210221_165809.jpg


Added the fuel pump wiring, put some tesco 99 in the tank and hotwired the fuel pump to leak check. No leaks so time to attempt fire first fire up.

Connected fuel pump wiring up, cracked ignition on and no fuel pump prime. Determined to attempt a start, hotwired the pump. Cranked over, no attempt to fire.

Stuck clip on for diagnostics and df061/062 present , i could smell fuel so knew the injectors were working, but no spark. Checked tdc was working as engine was seeing rpm.
20210220_143834.jpg

At this point i was thinking poss immobiliser issues? Went and sat down and had a cuppa, looked through the s3000 pdf to see why no spark.

At this point i figured the diesel upc was set up different to suit compared to petrol. Megane rs upc is n4 and is basically identical looking to Kangoo n2, checked wiring and it all married up so went out and fitted it which was plug and play.

Cracked ignition on and fuel pump primes, winner. Goes to crank engine and it wont fecking crank! No fault codes stored so left it at that and done some more digging through the workshop manual.

Sunday morning i came out with a fresh head and plugged clip back on. Done a bit of digging through the upc live data and it says gearstick not in neutral. I knew exactly what the issue was, the sensor was not connected to the megane engine loom.

Plugged in the gear selector sensor and attempted to start. Fires straight up but misfiring, good to see it started but not good to see heavy misfire.

Start off by changing pencil coils to spare set. No change. Diagnostics, no faults stored, its either duff injectors or compression loss.

Fired the engine up and removed injector plugs one at a time. No change to misfire on cylinder 1 or cylinder 3, running on 2 cylinders!! I was a little worried about this as fearing ecu issues with 2 injectors not working. Pulled a spark plug on cylinder with non working injector to confirm - bone dry.

Next step i pulled fuel rail off and held it over blue paper towel whilst cranking the engine to fire the injectors. This proved only 2 injectors were working. To confirm faulty injectors or ecu fault, i changed the plugs from the working injectors to the non working ones, and they did not work so - diagnosis stuck injectors.

No spare 630cc injectors in stock, so give the non working injectors a gentle tap with the spanner, nothing to lose. This is an oldskool/pikey way of getting injectors to fire when stuck. More cranking to test and they started working after a couple of attempts.

Refitted fuel rail and attempts a start again with fingers crossed. Cranks/fires straight up on all 4 cylinders and settles down to 800rpm idle.

So loud with no exhaust system!!





With that milestone reached, let it warm up a bit and checked for leaks, no oil leaks, slight coolant leak which only required a jubilee clip nipping up. Refitted battery tray, upc covers etc. Deleted the gearbox selector switch, cut plug off and joined the wires together and hidden in the loom.

Done some flight checks, brakes work, clutch and gears work, drove it to the end of the drive and back, seemed ok in first gear. First time its moved under its own steam since purchase.

20210221_165038.jpg


20210221_163800.jpg

Coolant has gone a bit rusty as block had a bit of shite in it. Will run it through a few heat cycles and flush out.

So next job is to get it booked in for custom exhaust system, get some insurance on it, new windscreen as cracked, oil/coolant change, wipers etc then mot and road test, get a few miles on it to see if any issues and booked in for mapping.

Thanks for reading!!
 
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thats such an awesome update and a great step to get to along the way. can't wait to see some road test videos 👍🏻
 
Cracking update (pun not intended [emoji23]) can't wait to see it out on the road, hats off to you for getting it running, I would have given up a long time ago
 
Great van this and good thread. Well done for all the work you’ve put it.

So glad to see you say you’ll be changing those wipers though. I’ve been having nightmares about them
 
Cheers all, still buzzing that it works and is a few steps away from road testing.

Great van this and good thread. Well done for all the work you’ve put it.

So glad to see you say you’ll be changing those wipers though. I’ve been having nightmares about them
Just done the wipers today ready for use. Ive been meaning to do them for ages but been holding back as the to do list was massive at one point :LOL: fresh standard numberplates too.
20210224_161716.jpg
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Ordering a new set of flow matched 630cc injectors for it this week and in talks about booking in for custom exhaust.

If all goes well should be road legal for April fingers crossed.
 
Totally missed this thread, this is brilliant, you hoping to throw this around some tracks this year all being well?
 
Totally missed this thread, this is brilliant, you hoping to throw this around some tracks this year all being well?
Cheers mate, yes looking forward to flogging it on a few trackdays. Will most likely do Croft first and see what falls off, fix that and go from there. Hoping for half decent handling with lsd and sticky rubber, power should be ample
 
Updates

Fitted new flow matched 630cc injectors from Efiparts. Reset the ecu/throttle adaptives with clip, stuck another 9ltrs of fuel in & fired it up. Runs good, nice steady idle so was well worth spending the money on fresh injectors.

With that result decided a quick test drive was needed to see how/if it all works.

Maiden voyage pic at the front of the drive
20210306_134736.jpg

Can report that it works and drives good. Everything as per oem works and no warning lights, 197 speedo works and all gauges working. Gears and clutch ok, nothing untoward really, drives like a megane. Another milestone achieved.

Short vid and a little bit of boost



Noticed drivers outer cv was clicking a bit on lock, i half expected this as the driveshafts were made up with dci 175 inner cv/shaft & old r26 outer cv's i had lying about on an old set of driveshafts that @andybond give me years ago.

Brake pedal travel was a bit long but working OK, thats resolved now as bled again with clip actuating the abs module and some more air came out, brake pedal feels good now.

With that positive result, dug out the compomotives and fitted them, with new centre caps. Ive fitted new wheel bolts now, not shown in the pic as they arrived this week. Removed the remains of the compomotive stickers, they look fairly clean considering have been on a track car previously.

20210308_171950.jpg

Still tempted to change the colour to anthracite, can anybody do a quick photoshop?

Need to get the rear end rideheight down. Ive measured the arch to tyre gap and its 100mm, i reckon its stock height on the Kangoo2 H&R springs(n)

Been sniffing around for alternative springs, and i reckon clio 197 rears will go, as same pigtail top and bottom. Been looking at 197 H&R rears, could do with a measurement on compressed length first though. Typically my mates have all had 197s recently and sold them so working on that.

Current rear setup, springs compressed are 250mm. I believe clio 197 lowered rears are around 200mm but need to confirm, that could work good if so, and shorter shocks are easy to order from gaz.
20210308_172020.jpg


Interestingly, could shim the stub axles easy, i reckon clio3/meg3 will prob work.

Also check out this large cast iron ballast bolted to both sides of the rear chassis rail, apparantly some Kangoos have it, and some dont. Its going as soon as i find a suitable spring, as taking it out now might raise the rear more :LOL:
20210308_172003.jpg

Its booked in for custom 3" exhaust on 27th of this month, insurance is sorted at £325 fully comp/everything declared. Logbook has been sent off to Dvla with a cover letter to get the fuel type and cc changed, hopefully wont take ages.

Cant wait to get some proper miles on it. Thanks for reading!!
 
It’s the tits.. nice work mate ! what do a cover letter entail can you not just fill the changes on v5? Just wondering as I have never done fuel change on v5 befor and I gotta do it for my kangeroo 👍
 
It’s the tits.. nice work mate ! what do a cover letter entail can you not just fill the changes on v5? Just wondering as I have never done fuel change on v5 befor and I gotta do it for my kangeroo 👍
Needs a covering letter from a VAT registered garage confirming it’s had an engine conversion. You can’t just do it yourself.
 
Cheers all, cant wait to get it on the road.

Small update, treated it to a Snappy retrimmed 197 steering wheel. Typically airbag wiring is different as non cruise squib so recalibrated airbag ecu, took 2 mins. Will sort it out when i get a cruise squib and wiring fitted.
20210313_154700.jpg
20210313_154416.jpg
Job done
20210313_154845.jpg
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Thanks for reading !!
 
Cheers all, cant wait to get it on the road.

Small update, treated it to a Snappy retrimmed 197 steering wheel. Typically airbag wiring is different as non cruise squib so recalibrated airbag ecu, took 2 mins. Will sort it out when i get a cruise squib and wiring fitted.
Can't wait to see this as I've wanted to add cruise to my van. Assuming what you plan on doing will work on a bogo diesel. I know some did come with cruise but the buttons were in an odd place and have often looked at getting a new retrimmed wheel.
 
Can't wait to see this as I've wanted to add cruise to my van. Assuming what you plan on doing will work on a bogo diesel. I know some did come with cruise but the buttons were in an odd place and have often looked at getting a new retrimmed wheel.
Will be the same to retrofit as diesel, will keep you updated once i get cracking on with it. Looks like mk3 clio/modus squib with cruise will work, then just a bit of wiring and switches/clutch switch etc.
 
Will be the same to retrofit as diesel, will keep you updated once i get cracking on with it. Looks like mk3 clio/modus squib with cruise will work, then just a bit of wiring and switches/clutch switch etc.
perfect. Can you just buy snappy wheels or do you need one to send to be re trimmed? Really like the way yours has turned out.
 
Updates

Fitted new flow matched 630cc injectors from Efiparts. Reset the ecu/throttle adaptives with clip, stuck another 9ltrs of fuel in & fired it up. Runs good, nice steady idle so was well worth spending the money on fresh injectors.

With that result decided a quick test drive was needed to see how/if it all works.

Maiden voyage pic at the front of the driveView attachment 1526240
Can report that it works and drives good. Everything as per oem works and no warning lights, 197 speedo works and all gauges working. Gears and clutch ok, nothing untoward really, drives like a megane. Another milestone achieved.

Short vid and a little bit of boost



Noticed drivers outer cv was clicking a bit on lock, i half expected this as the driveshafts were made up with dci 175 inner cv/shaft & old r26 outer cv's i had lying about on an old set of driveshafts that @andybond give me years ago.

Brake pedal travel was a bit long but working OK, thats resolved now as bled again with clip actuating the abs module and some more air came out, brake pedal feels good now.

With that positive result, dug out the compomotives and fitted them, with new centre caps. Ive fitted new wheel bolts now, not shown in the pic as they arrived this week. Removed the remains of the compomotive stickers, they look fairly clean considering have been on a track car previously.

View attachment 1526241
Still tempted to change the colour to anthracite, can anybody do a quick photoshop?

Need to get the rear end rideheight down. Ive measured the arch to tyre gap and its 100mm, i reckon its stock height on the Kangoo2 H&R springs(n)

Been sniffing around for alternative springs, and i reckon clio 197 rears will go, as same pigtail top and bottom. Been looking at 197 H&R rears, could do with a measurement on compressed length first though. Typically my mates have all had 197s recently and sold them so working on that.

Current rear setup, springs compressed are 250mm. I believe clio 197 lowered rears are around 200mm but need to confirm, that could work good if so, and shorter shocks are easy to order from gaz.
View attachment 1526243

Interestingly, could shim the stub axles easy, i reckon clio3/meg3 will prob work.

Also check out this large cast iron ballast bolted to both sides of the rear chassis rail, apparantly some Kangoos have it, and some dont. Its going as soon as i find a suitable spring, as taking it out now might raise the rear more :LOL: View attachment 1526242
Its booked in for custom 3" exhaust on 27th of this month, insurance is sorted at £325 fully comp/everything declared. Logbook has been sent off to Dvla with a cover letter to get the fuel type and cc changed, hopefully wont take ages.

Cant wait to get some proper miles on it. Thanks for reading!!


Amazing project, congratulations on even getting it to start, let alone work.

I made a wheel edit for you - hope it helps to make your mind up about wheel colour:

1615984938875.png
 
Bakewell tarts - my MS Paint skills are offended.

I think your wheels would 100% look better in anthracite Brigsy, maybe someone who can actually use photoshop could sort that image for you. What are the next steps? Just MOT and use?
 
@Touring_Rob I think anthracite will defo be the better option as it will hide the brake dust. Ive done the white on white thing on the last Kangoo and the brake dust used to drive me insane, only clean for ten mins.

Its in for custom exhaust next Sat, and then straight for mot week after if all goes well. Get a couple of hundred miles on it to make sure its happy/iron out niggles then book it straight in for mapping.

Small list of things to do before mapping, fit 5 bar intank regulator and dw65c fuel pump, boost circuit leak check, flush coolant out/new thermostat.

Hoping dvla pull their finger out and get my logbook back sharpish with new cc and fuel type on so can tax it hassle free.
 
Done a few small jobs yesterday.

Wiring is knacker tight next to battery, its routed ok but have fitted some plastic conduit to protect it furthur and pulled the crappy original pvc tape that was falling off and replaced with cloth loom tape.
20210320_180612.jpg
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Done a couple of small jobs to finish the interior better.

197 clocks had a small gap when fitted. Used a bit of silicone vac hose split down the middle to cover the gap, takes your eye off it. Will revisit with more hose as cut it a bit rough as quick job to see if it would work.
20210320_172037.jpg

Recaros had no trim to cover the pre tensioner up on the inside, again looked a bit rough. Before i binned the original seats i cut the felt material bit off to see if i could fit it on, slipped it over the buckle and tucked under the seat, job done
20210320_172003.jpg

Heat wrapped the front section of exhaust with some short bits of dei titanium wrap i had kicking about, clipped and wired in place.
20210320_172309.jpg

Had to do this as the gear cables are directly above and no heatshielding, theres only a 30mm gap. Ive had to stainless p clip the gear cables tight to the floor to get them away from the exhaust and run some firesleeve over them for protection. Awful job drilling as access was tight but its done now.

Thanks for reading!!
 
Small update

Bought a set of clio 197 H&R springs to see if the rears would fit to sort the rideheight out

Kangoo H&R on the left, 197 on the right
20210323_160652.jpg


Original rideheight
20210308_171950.jpg

Fitted, on its arse
20210323_162342.jpg
20210323_162237.jpg

If anything its actually too low on the back now :LOL:

To run this low, id have to drop the front a bit, and it feels a bit scene to me, ultimately i just want a reasonable arch gap, 25mm from tyre to rear arch will be ample.

Ive had to refit the Kangoo H&R as the clio springs just fall out when jacked up and need some shorter shocks, i ordered some gaz last week but 6 weeks lead time. Will revisit soon.

Made a start on fitting my aem afr and spa oil pressure/temp gauge. Knocked up a quick gauge pod for the cubby hole, wiring needs fitting next but ran out of time and light. You might notice the gauges are slightly offset,this is to suit the cubby hole behind and save chopping the dash. Nice discreet install though quite hidden.
20210323_191251.jpg
20210323_192115.jpg

Thanks for reading!!
 
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what about sitting a coilover spring adjuster in the back with one of the shorter springs to raise it a little.
 
That could be a plan mate. Will see if the new shocks are short enough to keep the springs in. Van shocks are ridiculously long, springs are about 50mm too short currently.
Have you taken the rear ballast off yet? If not that might be an option.

id lower the front a touch if not.. for scene points..
 


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