Kermit. My £400 ebay special

[Kermit the Van]

Hi all ? Newbie here.

Upon needing to change my Jag XJ for a more practical van for work, I stumbled up a 2005 Renault Kangoo 1.5 dci70 with 82'500 miles on the clock for auction on eBay. With only 20 minutes left and bids pretty low, there wasn't much time to ponder whether buying it was a wise choice. So with a quick look at previous MOT history I stuck my bid in with only 15 seconds to spare. To my amazement I won with a bid of £420. Yep, a 13 year old Renault van, bought sight unseen off an auction sight, with little investigation into the vehicles past. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, there is the small matter of no MOT with the vehicle, and the fact that 5th gear is in-op on it. But having seen the vehicle in the flesh today, besides a few small things, such as very flat paint, a few interior bulbs not working, new tyres needed all round, the van appears to be spot on. No major rust that I could find underneath, all the panels are straight, no leaks from oil, PAS or coolant, no mayo, rad is in good condition. Yep, (and I say this with caution), it seems like a good one.

So, what are the plans for Kermit? Well, I bought a pair of Clio 197 seats for it today for £55. As my darling Wife is an industrial Seamstress by trade, she's going to re-stuff and re-upolster the seats for me over the next few weeks. I've no idea yet if seats from a Clio Mk3 will fit what is essentially a Clio Mk2 floorpan, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. After she's done the front seats I'll buy a few Kangoo door cards for her to work her creative magic on, and she's already started sketching up ideas of how to tidy up the dash, (she's a whizz with a soldering iron and pretty handy with a MIG welder)

I'll be concentrating on giving the van a good overall service, all fluids and filters, brakes, gearbox, (figuring out what is wrong with it), and if I need to remove the box, fitting a new clutch. Cam-belt, tensioner, aux belt / idler / tensioner and water pump, depending on how much room there is to get to them, I'll either do myself, or pass that on to my mechanic. Then I'll break out the polish, and try and bring some life back to the very dull paint, before tidying up the load bay, as at the moment it isn't even ply-lined.

Once all that is done, we'll be getting stuck into the exciting stuff. I'll be looking to take a leaf out of Ash's book and sticking a 172 front end on it, lowering the rear a little before going through the braking and suspension systems with a fine tooth comb, upgrading where needed.

172 conversions have been done to death with several knocking about. As much as I'd like one, 30'000+ business miles a year makes one kinda impractical. My wife's Grand Cherokee does high teens MPG, so too does my Jaguar. We need something a little more economical.......

Well, after renting a brand new Clio diesel the other week whilst my wife car was off having a CV joint replaced and a gearbox service, I was left mega impressed not only by how well the car rode and handled, but also how strongly the engine pulled, all the way up to three figure speeds. I've no idea what exact model Clio it was, (I'm passing the rental firm tomorrow, so I'll call in and ask), but the idea of a warm diesel, say 150bhp+ with mega torque and 40mpg fuel consumption really appeals.

So, a couple of questions to start off with fellas..... Any idea of the likely causes of what may cause a Kangoo to lose 5th gear, and has anyone on here done any diesel engine swaps?


Cheers all, Kermit.

 

[Kermit the Van]

I know it's been a while, but nothing at all has happened since my last post back in.....(checks date), bloody hell ! September. Has it really been that long ?

I got Kermit MOT'd and had a local garage check out the gearbox problem. They saw ££££'s and were keen to rip the box out until I informed them they'd do no such thing and check the linkages instead. The garages diagnosis ? Well, it 'might' be a linkage, or it 'might' be an internal gearbox problem. My moneys on a linkage issue. I've seen linkage kits on eBay for around £20 - £30, plus some other plastic gear linkage bushes for under £10. Anyone got any idea what these are like to fit ? Please don't go saying that it's a gearbox out job ?

If that fails, and the problem does lie internally within the gearbox, I guess there are a few other options. Either buy a like-for-like used box and fit that, repair / refurb my current box myself, (a quick look on eBay showed new bearing & seal kits for about £140), or would the six speed manual box from Clio 1.5dci's bolt straight in ? There's a 6 speed box on eBay at the moment that's come off a K9K 764, with gearbox code 7701 700 553 at a whisker under £90.

In fact if I'm going down that route, then would the 110 bhp dci & ECU be a reasonably straight forward swap ? I've seen those 110 dci's going for under £500. Can anyone advise on if these bolt straight in ?

On the short drive home from the MOT station Kermit threw an electrical wobble. The sidelights don't work, but the headlights do, and the dash lights are intermittent. So I guess the question is, is this fault related to a switch problem ? A relay problem ? Or a connector problem ? Has anyone had the clocks out of a Kangoo ? Is it a nightmare job that requires me to grow another three arms, to have the hands of a toddler, the dexterity of an Octopus and will take several days ? Answers on a postcard please.

And the next issue is tyres. All four of mine are dried out and perished around the sidewalls, not to mention being a mish-mash of unknown Chinese brands. I've seen a set of Clio 172 alloys going very cheap on eBay, but they'd still require tyres. Another option could be fitting some 16 inch steelies, if I can find any of the correct offset. Any recommendations on what fits without fouling bodywork, fouling suspension struts, or causing excessive uneven tyre wear ?

I'm starting to think the best thing to do is going to be to get Kermit reasonably healthy as cheaply as possible, then save up a few grand to get all the work I want doing and get it all done at once. The XJ has gone in today for a replacement gearbox, (suffering from the dreaded ZF 'lurch' from the gearbox that is allegedly "sealed for life"), new o/s/r airbag strut and a whole host of other work. I'm expecting that to be an expensive bill, so money is likely to be tight over the next few weeks.

 

[Louis]

Suprised you don't fancy putting in a 1*2 engine, mine gets me 43mpg down the motorway and 30 around town. They're pretty economical engines!
Might be worth joining the kangoo and kubistar owners group on Facebook. Some real helpful people on there. Post some pictures too, has your wife had much luck with the seats?

 

[Louis]

The electrical issues may be an earthing problem, have a route around. Unsure how how the linkages are on these kangoos but if they're similar to the clio you can get to the linkages underneath by removing the undertrays. Then try getting gears manually if you can.

 

[Kermit the Van]

My Wife hasn't even started on the seats yet. Over the past few months we've sunk a fortune into getting our own business off the ground whilst the only income coming in has been my wifes. Once Kermit is up and running, I'm all good to go. This has meant having to spend our money wisely. With things like the seats, every time I have a good week, I'll treat myself to getting things like that sorted, (another example is the fish tank in the office, which is going to cost around £200 to get up and running. at the moment it's an empty tank).

Over the course of the next few days I'll have a good poke around the van and see what I can figure out. Good shout on the earthing points. I'd only got switch, relays and connectors at the back of the dash in mind.

Regarding an engine swap, I was thinking of the 110 / 115 dci. I had a new Clio on rental a few months back with one of those engines in and was left utterly impressed. Fuel consumption is going to be another major issue as I'll be doing around 35'000 per year. I used to have a 1.2 Clio and I'm not sure the engine would be torquey enough with some weight in the back of the van.

 

[Louis]

Sorry 1*2 means a 172 or 182. My 182 got 42mpg today down the motorway on cruise

 

[Kermit the Van]

Sorry 1*2 means a 172 or 182. My 182 got 42mpg today down the motorway on cruise

Bloody hell ! That's very impressive. I'd have thought they'd have struggled to nudge over 30mpg ?

Fitting a 172 / 182 hasn't been ruled out, but for the mileage and the weight I'll be carrying, I think a diesel is the way to go.

 

[Louis]

Bloody hell ! That's very impressive. I'd have thought they'd have struggled to nudge over 30mpg ?

Fitting a 172 / 182 hasn't been ruled out, but for the mileage and the weight I'll be carrying, I think a diesel is the way to go.

They're very economical. I wasn't on cruise all the way either and was pushing round some winding roads.
Keep on top of precat lambda and tyres pressure and you won't struggle with 40+mpg. I get 30 around town.

 

[Brigsy]

My Kangoo with 172 conversion does 40mpg on a run and mid 30s around the streets, reasonably economical for a 2.0

Gearbox probably needs repair if no 5th gear. 6 speed wont fit without a fair bit of work, custom driveshafts etc.

 

[Kermit the Van]

Thanks Brigsy. Are you the guy who bought Ash's mental 172 ?

Pity about the 6 speed box not fitting. I'd assumed it would be like the 6 speed box conversions in the 205 / 309s. IE: relatively simple. As anyone on here ever tried it?

As much as I like the 172 conversions, (and I like them a lot), but for my purposes, I don't think they would be the best option. The 110 dci Clio I drove pulled like it had 150bhp, maybe a bit more. I was gobsmacked to find out it was only a 110 / 115, (it was a rental from Enterprise, so doubt it had been chipped).

I had hoped that the 110 / 115 dci and six speed box out of the latest Clios would pretty much drop straight in without too much work.

As I haven't even lifted a spanner on the Kangoo yet, I was wondering if the Haynes (book of lies) for the MK2 Clio was compatible for most of the stuff on the Kangoos ?

 

[Kermit the Van]

Thanks Brigsy. Are you the guy who bought Ash's mental 172 ?

Pity about the 6 speed box not fitting. I'd assumed it would be like the 6 speed box conversions in the 205 / 309s. IE: relatively simple. As anyone on here ever tried it?

As much as I like the 172 conversions, (and I like them a lot), but for my purposes, I don't think they would be the best option. The 110 dci Clio I drove pulled like it had 150bhp, maybe a bit more. I was gobsmacked to find out it was only a 110 / 115, (it was a rental from Enterprise, so doubt it had been chipped).

I had hoped that the 110 / 115 dci and six speed box out of the latest Clios would pretty much drop straight in without too much work.

As I haven't even lifted a spanner on the Kangoo yet, I was wondering if the Haynes (book of lies) for the MK2 Clio was compatible for most of the stuff on the Kangoos ?

 

[DrR]

Great pics

 

[Kermit the Van]

After finally getting my Unit for work set-up to my liking, (almost) getting the Wife's Grand Cherokee tidied up ready to sell, and getting our XJ road-worthy again, (new gearbox, OSR suspension airbag and a whole load of other little jobs), I was finally ready to get Kermit on the road.

Managed to get a refund on the insurance, (bonus), even though the Kangoo was being classed for business use. The bad news was the Road Tax was £250 !!!

A few faults became immediately apparent. And they are.....

One key locks / unlocks the Van. The other key starts it, (sometimes). I reckoning on an immobiliser fault, although I've no idea where to start with finding out how or where.

There's still the issue with 5th gear being in-op. As I'm only pootling around town in it at the moment, that can wait.

The dash lights have a habit of turning off. I haven't investigated the issue yet, but I suspect an issue with the switch.

The money light is on, along with the ABS light. Even under lightish braking there is a pulsing from the break pedal. Faulty ABS sensor perhaps ?

The NSR brake was sticking on. Investigation showed the wheel cylinder was in need of replacement and the wheel bearing was past it's best. Brake shoes, wheel cylinders and wheel bearings have been replaced on both sides of the rear. One point of concern I found was that the OSR had a spacer on the stub-axle, whilst the NSR did not. I've had to order another one from Renault, (£4.02), and I'll fit it tomorrow when it arrives. Then I can finish off the brakes and bleed the system. The front discs and pads look almost brand new.

After trying all four of the different air filters on offer from ECP, non of which fitted, (all were too long), I had to pay just under £20 for one from Renault, but at least it fits. The whole air box assembly is a bit of a crap design in my opinion. The cold air trunking has more holes in it than a sieve and doesn't join with the air box properly, (gaffer tape fixed both of those).

Two of the rubber exhaust hangers on the back of the back-box had rotted away. What surprised me was that the exhaust look pretty new, but the hangers were clearly not. I can't understand why a new exhaust would be fitted, but £3.00 of rubber hangers would not, especially when it was only a two minute job to fit them.

The coolant was like bog water. Brown and stinky is not how coolant should be. I expected it to only take a couple of hours to drain and flush the system. What I hadn't counted on was those bloody awful Clic-R hose clamps, the lack of room to get to them, or the fact that the bottom hose hose clamp had been fitted in such a way that the hump on the clamp that needs cutting through would be facing the front of the vehicle, making it pretty much inaccessible. There was much cursing directed at the Frenchman who fitted that at the factory. After two hours, two long, frustrating and fiddly hours, I finally managed to get the bloody bottom hose off so I could drain the system and flush the radiator.

Jobs still left to do;

Locate the engine block coolant bung, remove, drain the block, flush the block, refill coolant and bleed the system.
Fit the spacer to the NSR stub-axle, and change the brake fluid.
Change the engine oil and filter.
Give the van a dam good clean inside and out. As it's an ex gardeners van, it's minging inside.

Future plans remain the same. I'd still like to go down the route of 150bhp and shed-loads of torque dci with a six speed box, re-trimming all the interior and kitting out the back very nicely. Unfortunately, aspirations don't match bank balance at the moment, so I'm just trying to do what I can to ensure that the van is safe for use.

 

[Martin_172]

I came in here for picture p**n and am disappointed!

I know people have said the 6 speed doesn't fit, is that when bolted to a 2.0 16v Turbo or just in general, Im sure last time I had a shot of a Trafic 1.9 DCi 100 it was a 6 speed (I might be wrong) and I know the 1.9 DCi was available in the Kangoo in certain specs.

for economy a tuned 1.5 DCi is hard to beat but I know the kangoo is probably 200kg up on the clio so may not feel as nice to drive. My Clio van in 65hp spec as it is the now drives perfect even with a light load, looking forward to getting 130hp/190lbft from it!!!!

 

[Kermit the Van]

Sorry Martin, I'll post pics tonight, I promise.

Yesterday was spent changing the oil and filter, (who on earth thought it would be a good idea to mount an oil filter upside down ?), re-re-flushing the coolant system, fitting new thermostat and filling the coolant system up with what appears to be more air than coolant.

Jobs for today, bleed the brakes, clean the inside, (it was a minging gardeners van), fit the bulkhead, wash the outside and try and bleed the coolant system.

I'm not expecting to have fun today, chasing air locks.

 

[green]

Pictures of said beast!?

 

[Kermit the Van]

I’ll upload some tonight. In middle of changing brake fluid, then got to try and sort out the airlock in cooling system.

 

[Kermit the Van]

As promised, photos of Kermit.

New brake shoes, wheel cylinders and wheel bearings. I hate changing brake shoes. I hate it even more when a well known motor factors supply me with the incorrect wheel cylinders and incorrect wheel bearings.

Oil and filter changed. What idiot Frenchman thought it would be a good idea to locate the oil filter upside down, preventing you from priming the oil filter prior to fitting ?

Coolant drained, rad flushed and reverse flushed, block flushed through the expansion tank and thermostat. New thermostat fitted.

According to the Haynes Book of Lies, there is supposed to be a drain plug on the block to unscrew in order to drain the block of coolant, (or in my case, brown stinky bog water). Can you guess who spent two hours looking frantically for this mythical engine block drain plug ?

I hate Haynes Manuals.

Brake fluid changed and brakes bled. I’ve no idea how much brake fluid these things hold, so I just flushed through a full litre. A neighbor called round to see why I kept shouting “Up” and “Down” to my Wife.

New air filter fitted as well. The same motor factors who supplied the incorrect wheel cylinders and wheel bearings also supplied me with three different air filters, non of which fitted. In the end I paid nearly £20 for one that did fit from Renault. My air inlet pipe had more holes in it than a colander until I attacked it with gaffer tape. Due to the flanged end of the inlet pipe, the end near the headlight that refused to come off, I had to attack it with a hammer and a chisel. I now need to fabricate a new air inlet.

Somewhere in France is a bitter, workshy English hating Frog who thought it would be a right laugh to attach my rad bottom hose with a Clic-R hose clip, with the clasp pointing to the front of the car, making it near impossible to remove. There may have been quite a lot of swearing involved in getting that little b*****d off !

 

[Kermit the Van]

To add to my list of setbacks over the last few days, imagine my surprise when after doing one rear quarter of the van, I noticed on the other side that there was a spacer missing from behind the brake drum. A quick phone call to my local Renault dealer and I was told they’d have me a new spacer in two days for £4.12. Two days later I go to the Renault dealer only to be told they’d forgotten to order it, there’s non left in the country, and it will take 10 working days to get one from France. No apology from them, only a gormless expression. I wasn’t particularly impressed or happy.

Que frantic ringing round of local scrap yards until I found one with a similar age Kangoo in stock, but I had to remove the part myself.

So, how long do you think it takes to remove a seized on hub nut and brake drum from a Renault Kangoo that’s been sat in the mud with no wheels on for the past four years ? The answer is about 3 1/2 hours and quite a lot of swearing.

Next up was a funny, (or tragic, I’m not yet sure which), episode whilst bleeding the coolant system. You know that little bleed screw on one of the top hoses ? What I didn’t know was how short the thread on it was. So there I am undoing it with a screwdriver when out it popped, bounced off of the front of the block and fell straight into a tiny hole in the front crossmember. I tried to fish it out, but I only ended up knocking it further in.

The Wife came up with a great idea, “Why don’t you just get it with a magnet?” she asked. “It’s made out of plastic darling” I replied. “Yeah, so just use a magnet” she insisted. “Darling, it’s PLASTIC”. She looked confused. I wouldn’t mind but she has an Engineering Degree LOL.

Yet another trip to the scrapyard all for a 50p screw.

 

[Kermit the Van]

So, finally, for now, the Kangoo is done. It still has a multitude of faults, mainly the rear lights go out when I put the indicators on. Faulty headlight / indicator switch perhaps ?

I’ve also got air in the fuel lines running from the fuel filter. I’m guessing the fuel filter needs changing ?

I take it as a given that the EGR valve is minging and needs cleaning ?

And all four tyres are knackered. I don’t know whether to stick with 14’s, or try and find 4 stud 15” or 16” steelies that fit ? What I wouldn’t mind a set of the alloys that were on the very early (1998 / 1999) Mk2 Clio rsi’s.

Anyway, pics of the (partially) finished article......

And lastly, tomorrow’s job is to see if I can get this to fit.....

Sorry for the poor quality photo, but I had to go down to the Unit to get the seat out of my Office and it was dark by the time I got back home.

Tomorrow I’ll see if I can get the Kangoo seat subframe to fit the Clio 197 seat. If not, the Wife has said she’ll have a go at knocking a subframe up at her work. Fingers crossed for tomorrow I guess ?

 

[Kermit the Van]

Oh, and I’ve just bought a Sparco steering wheel for it off of eBay for a bargain-tastic £14.

 

[Kermit the Van]

I had a quick trail fit of the 197 seats in the Kangoo today.

The simple answer is they don’t fit. But......

If you look at the floorpan of the Kangoo there is a great big propshaft tunnel in the way.

This means that the seat subframe of the Kangoo is significantly staggered, whilst the Clio seat subframe is staggered only very slightly. This makes swapping subframes from one seat to another somewhere between very difficult and impossible.

However, whilst I went to make a cup of tea, the Wife went into full-on work mode, and in a flurry of tape measure whirling, figured out that the Clio seat will fit, (just), between the sill and the propshaft tunnel. Some extra holes will have to be drilled into the floorpan, then support / bracing welded over the holes before using some very big bolts to hold the seat in place. The only real difference is that the Clio seats will sit about 20mm lower, and I’m not yet sure how compatible the seatbelt pre-tensioners will be.

We’ll have a crack at fitting them this weekend if it’s not raining. Now, I haven’t seen the weather forecast, but I reckon I know what the weather will be like.

 

[Kermit the Van]

Kangoo vs 197 seat side by side for comparison

Kangoo seat on the top. 197 seat on the bottom.

 

[Martin_172]

the indicator/ rear lights fault usually happens on the mk2 clio when the connectors on the rear lights need a clean out as they are a bit corroded and cause an earthing fault, have a look at that!
EGR valve your right probably worth pulling out and giving it a good clean, will run a lot nicer, remember the inlet pipe too as this gets clogged!, messy messy dirty job! ive just started ramming the pressure washer down it!

that would look awesome with mk2 172 wheels! If your looking for 15" steelys then mk2 clios that came with 15" alloys have a 15" steel wheel spare wheel, ive used 4 of them in the past!

 

[Kermit the Van]

Cheers Martin.

The last time I cleaned out an EGR and inlet manifold was on my old 6N Polo that had been clocked back to only 180’000 miles ! The dam thing was about 75% blocked ! Although let’s be honest here, it’s not a difficult or expensive job to do, just a bloody messy one. Steady away on a dry Sunday and it’ll be ok.

For the wheels, I’d got a couple of ideas. Either the alloys that we’re on the very early Mk2 Clio 16v (1999 / 2000 I think?), or maybe some from an old Renault 19 16v ? Either way, both will be hard to find I expect.

I saw a very cheap Clio 172 on eBay the other day, that would have been great for suspension parts, but until we get our Jeep sold, we just don’t have the room for it.

 

[Kermit the Van]

And thanks for the heads up about the connectors on the rear lights. I’ll give that a look this weekend.

 

[Martin_172]

yeah the older stuff is getting hard to find, going up an inch would suit it quite nicely I think without having to worry too much about having to lower the ride height, Daniel from here when he had his white kangoo im sure he got 15/16" steels from a scenic and had them powder coated silver, looked good!

 

[Kermit the Van]

At the moment, it’s a question of priorities and money.

I have lots of priorities and not much money.

 

[Kermit the Van]

The steering wheel got delivered on Saturday, £14 inc delivery, (neither cat or awfull blanket were included).

I’ve no idea what boss is attached to it. Neither did the guy selling it.

I know it needs a bit of tidying up. I’ve found replacement centre bolts for it on eBay for a couple of pounds, and the Wife has offered to re-trim it for me, (she’s trying to build up her portfolio).

Are there any issues with airbag warning lights staying on when replacing the steering wheel ? If so, how can these be deleted ?

 

[Brigsy]

You can reprogram the airbag ecu to get rid of the steering wheel airbag with can clip. I have a 300mm momo steering wheel and boss for mine, cant decide whether to fit it or not ! Prob best off fitting an early clio2 indicator stalk with horn button on it as you will lose the horn.

 

[Kermit the Van]

You can reprogram the airbag ecu to get rid of the steering wheel airbag with can clip. I have a 300mm momo steering wheel and boss for mine, cant decide whether to fit it or not ! Prob best off fitting an early clio2 indicator stalk with horn button on it as you will lose the horn.

Thanks Brigsy.

Kermit is about as basic as can be inside, (wind up windows and interior light delete). Got to be honest, I’m not 100% sure if the horn is on the wheel or the indicator stalk ?

Any recommendations for reasonably priced Can-Clip scan tools ?

I’ve also heard mention of a Kangoo / Kubistar Facebook page, but in my crapness, I can’t find it. Do you have any links to that please ?

 

[Kermit the Van]

I investigated the ABS fault today.

Having had each rear corner fully stripped to change wheel bearings, wheel cylinders and brake shoes, I was quite confident the issue was at the front where all I had done was quickly remove the front wheels, seen it had new discs and pads already, before sticking the front wheels back on.

Upon removing the front wheels, it didn’t take long to find the source of the problem.

I know it isn’t a very clear photo, but the ABS reluctor is broken in two and missing a tooth. This is the drivers side, and although the passenger side is complete, the reluctor doesn’t look in great condition on that side either.

There are other issues I noticed today as well whilst having a poke about.

Although the front discs and pads look pretty much brand new, I think I’ll take the disc retaining screws out and Copperslip them before the inevitable happens.

On the passenger (N/S), the inner CV joint looks to be leaking, although I couldn’t see any obvious sign of the gator being split or damaged today. Are there rubber seals on the gearbox / driveshaft join on these ?

On the drivers (O/S), the good news is that it looks, based on the cleanliness of the inner and outer CV joint gators and their clips, that both CV joints have been replaced recently.

The bad news is that the bottom ball joint has gone there’s a bushing joining the lower wishbone to the ARB that’s gone, and the upper ball joint doesn’t look great either.

Fingers crossed this isn’t going to be one of those pain in the ass jobs where everything goes wrong and it drags on for several days.

 

[Kermit the Van]

Got a few bits for the van today.

New Bosch wiper blades, ABS reluctor ring, fuel filter, ball joint and ARB to wishbone link. I also managed to pick up a nice Momo gear knob for £5 from a local scrappy.

I’m currently in the process of fixing up a mates girlfriends heap of junk 206, (new centre section and back box, new front brakes and brake caliper, gearbox oil change), but it’s done nowt but piss it down all week here, and I’ll be dammed if I’m fixing someone else car for free in the pouring rain. Alas, I need to get that done and fired off before I can start on the Kangoo. And I still need to get round to getting the 197 seats installed.

Another thing of note is that according to the service history, in 14 years and 82’000 miles, there’s no mention of the cam belt, aux belt or water pump being changed. The aux belt slips really badly in the rain, to the point that PAS doesn’t work and it isn’t turning the alternator, (the battery light comes on). I suspect I’m on borrowed time there.

Has anyone here done a cam belt change on one of these ? Is it an engine out job ? What special tools do I need ? Does the crank bolt need changing too ?

 

[Kermit the Van]

A few more jobs have been done since the last update.

Whilst giving it an Italian tune-up, the turbocharger decided to commit suicide, so that was replaced with a used item off eBay for £70.

Both front lower ball joints were replaced, along with both front ABS reluctor rings and both front ARB to lower wishbone drop links. The bolts for the drops links were just a couple of mm too small, so I used some threaded bar, M8, (or it might have been M6, I can’t remember), with washers, nylock nuts on the top and double-nutted with threadlock on the bottoms.

No pictures as I was in a rush to finish the job. And as the saying goes, ‘more haste, less speed’, in my hamfistedness, I accidentally pulled the near-side driveshaft out of the gearbox, rapidly emptying the contents of the gearbox all over my driveway. By the time I’d retrieved an old paddling pool of my daughters that I use as an extra catch tank when doing oil changes from behind the garage, most of the gearbox oil had already come out.

 

[Kermit the Van]

As things stand at the moment, the next jobs are going to be:

1) To try and fix the in-op 5th gear. Googling the subject suggests that it may be the nut holding 5th gear in place has come loose, which can be re-fitted by removing the black gearbox endplate. I’ve ordered a new gasket for that which should be hear by Wednesday.

2) I desperately need to change cam belt, aux belt and water pump.

3) The starting problems are becoming more frequent. I’m pretty sure it isn’t an immobiliser issue as I originally suspected, as the red light isn’t going mental. I’ve changed the fuel filter and primed the system. It isn’t hunting or miss-firing at any other points either.

I’m starting to suspect either a fuel pump, an injector pump, or an injector issue. Fuel pumps are £85 at ECP. Injector pumps aren’t cheap, even 2nd hand, and neither are injectors, but I’ve yet to see how much it would cost to have them re-jetted.

I’m starting to think that leaving all those jobs and going straight into a 172 conversion might be the better option ?

So my questions are, how complex are the electrics on a 172 swap if you have a complete donor vehicle ? Electrics / ECU wise, what would I need to do ? I’m guessing I’m going to need a good version of Clip ?

If I was to go down a 172 route, I’d want to strip and rebuild the 172 engine prior to installing, just for my own peace of mind. What’s going to be needed there ?

Strip the block, degrease, deck the block and check for ovality of the bores ? Strip the head and skim ? Any ideas on machining costs ? Besides new piston rings, would I also need new valve springs ? I’m guessing new collets for the valves are cheap ? Would it be worth replacing the oil pump at the same time ?

How much of a faff is the exhaust on these conversions ? What’s insurance like ?

If the 172 was stripped prior to starting on the Kangoo, and any other problems are sorted, such as suspension bushes replaced, can it be done in a week with a mate helping me do the heavy stuff such as engine out / engine in ?

In advance, many thanks.

Ps; does anyone know of any cheap 172 / 182’s for sale ?

 

[Mickb]

Could do it in a week I'd say,

exhaust wise not overly hard. Can you weld. They come out the right hand side..mite be easier/cheaper to get it made up at custom exhaust place. I had my PMS on modified to fit.

Insurance isnt that bad Tbh. My turbo was 500. My mpv conversion one was 500 and my na van was 450 iirc. Just usual factors will come into play I guess.

Dash loom just needs earths extending, as for the side doors youd be best getting a 5 door clio rear loom will make it easier for the central locking, what I did with my mpv. And I just splice into the kangoo light loom at the rear quarters and into the fuel pump loom so it still has original gromet

 

[Kermit the Van]

Thanks Mick

 

[gez 172]

Jesus - surprised you’ve bothered buying bits for the DCI engine... the van sounds like it’s on a thread of hair for life.

I’d just bite the bullet and find a 172 for a donor and get it done. I wouldn’t spend another penny on the DCI parts.

The underside bolt on parts (lower arms etc) all look pretty corroded also, so I’d just bin the whole lot off abs start again from the 172 parts.

 

[Kermit the Van]

I missed out on a tidy(ish) ph1 172 the other week by a matter of hours. It was sold for £350. The problem is, I don’t really want to go spending more than £500 on a donor vehicle, and the prices of 172’s only seem to be going up.

If I was to get hold of a cheap 172, I’d rebuild the engine before fitting, and get all other bolt on bits shot blasted and powder coated.

But you’re right. Mechanically, it’s pretty tired, however, besides a couple of tiny little spots, it is rust free up top.

 

[Brigsy]

I wouldnt even bother rebuilding the 172 lump before fitting if it runs ok. Do the timing belt & dephaser, and send it. Loads of cheap ph2 172’s with tatty bodywork for sale, see them all the time.