GrahamS
ClioSport Club Member
335d
That made me lol
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Martin's Track Clio 182 Project Thread
CLIO 182
he's proper filthy as well!! Probably why he hates seeing it!
CLIO 182
Id watch out Alex I've heard he likes to pay in sexual favors 😊 tehehe
NorthloopCup
ClioSport Moderator
Your mum. Or so the rumour goes. Lol!
June Update
It's been a while since I've posted in here now. So here is a big update for anyone still following. The car is now down on the ground and ready for me to use (well basically). Massive thanks to @AlexW for all of his trips down to get the car up and running again. Also to @GrahamS for his helping hand on many occasions. We've had a lot of banter over the last couple of months! Fitting in a day here and there when we all had a gap in our weekend schedules...
A couple of weeks back we gathered at mine to finish off the little bits and give the car a road test. We fitted the new 4PK845 belt, put oil in the gearbox, tweaked the PMS linkage and fitted the front wheels. A quick spanner check over everything and it came down off of the axle stands where it had been for months. After an initial flat battery sigh, the car fired into life. (The exhaust was blowing from the cat gasket so I was told to order another one)
We cleared a space behind the car and Alex jumped into the passenger seat with me for the test drive. I put it into reverse, all ready to go and.....CRUNCHHHHHHH
I tried to select reverse again, but it still crunched when pulling off and made a horrendous noise. Tried first, same thing. We were all a bit shocked and put it back up on the stands to investigate. Our fears were that the noise was EXACTLY the same as the noise I was getting at Bedford back in Feb.
After investigating some other potential issues they both decided it had to be the clutch, assuming that this gearbox was OK. A quick text to James confirmed it was most likely the clutch and that the box had barely been used. He had experienced a similar noise before also.
So within the hour, Graham and Alex had taken the wheels, shafts, subframe, gearbox and clutch off. To find this:
It was a clutch failure all along and not a dead gearbox as everyone at Bedford had suspected. But because I was so quick to source another gearbox we literally straight swapped it over without even touching the clutch. As you can see the clutch was basically brand new anyway, so no one expected it to be the culprit.
After a quick laugh (tears from me) over how I'd spent all that money on a new box for no reason, we hatched a plan. We called it a day and the guys made their way home.
2 weeks quickly passed and the lads were back over again. In the mean time I had fitted my new cat gasket kit and sorted out a new clutch. They come with a 2 year - 25,000 mile warranty so it wasn't costing me anything.
An hour or so later and the car was built back up ready for another test drive. @Kelv and family even popped over too.
The problem was solved. The car was fixed. I was happy.
I'm really impressed with the EPAS, I've set it so the steering feels the same now as it was before. Plus I have a lot of scope to make it lighter for maneuvering around, and harder for track use if I want.
I could also feel the difference from the Gripper diff even on the road, I'm looking forward to feeling it properly on track.
The only thing I'm not entirely sure about is the PMS linkage. It hasn't filled me with much confidence, I feel a little disappointed with it, but maybe I was expecting too much. Second to third gear feels pretty vague. I'm worried it could be quite easy to slip into first by accident, so I will have to be careful with it until I get used to it. Also fifth gear doesn't feel great and it feels like you're almost in the position where fourth is. The guys have looked at it and it can't move anymore. So I will just have to take my time selecting gears (not that I didn't before hand) and be careful with it.
I do have a slight leak to sort out now though. A bit of a pain but I'm sure it won't be too hard for me to deal with on my own. It looks to be the seal from the offside drive shaft. No idea why but s**t happens.
Looking forward to getting this sorted so I can take it to Brands for many evening events.
I've also purchased a new rad which @NorthloopCup is very kindly sorting out for me. This won't be fitted for a while now though!
Cheers for reading.
It's been a while since I've posted in here now. So here is a big update for anyone still following. The car is now down on the ground and ready for me to use (well basically). Massive thanks to @AlexW for all of his trips down to get the car up and running again. Also to @GrahamS for his helping hand on many occasions. We've had a lot of banter over the last couple of months! Fitting in a day here and there when we all had a gap in our weekend schedules...
A couple of weeks back we gathered at mine to finish off the little bits and give the car a road test. We fitted the new 4PK845 belt, put oil in the gearbox, tweaked the PMS linkage and fitted the front wheels. A quick spanner check over everything and it came down off of the axle stands where it had been for months. After an initial flat battery sigh, the car fired into life. (The exhaust was blowing from the cat gasket so I was told to order another one)
We cleared a space behind the car and Alex jumped into the passenger seat with me for the test drive. I put it into reverse, all ready to go and.....CRUNCHHHHHHH
I tried to select reverse again, but it still crunched when pulling off and made a horrendous noise. Tried first, same thing. We were all a bit shocked and put it back up on the stands to investigate. Our fears were that the noise was EXACTLY the same as the noise I was getting at Bedford back in Feb.
After investigating some other potential issues they both decided it had to be the clutch, assuming that this gearbox was OK. A quick text to James confirmed it was most likely the clutch and that the box had barely been used. He had experienced a similar noise before also.
So within the hour, Graham and Alex had taken the wheels, shafts, subframe, gearbox and clutch off. To find this:
It was a clutch failure all along and not a dead gearbox as everyone at Bedford had suspected. But because I was so quick to source another gearbox we literally straight swapped it over without even touching the clutch. As you can see the clutch was basically brand new anyway, so no one expected it to be the culprit.
After a quick laugh (tears from me) over how I'd spent all that money on a new box for no reason, we hatched a plan. We called it a day and the guys made their way home.
2 weeks quickly passed and the lads were back over again. In the mean time I had fitted my new cat gasket kit and sorted out a new clutch. They come with a 2 year - 25,000 mile warranty so it wasn't costing me anything.
An hour or so later and the car was built back up ready for another test drive. @Kelv and family even popped over too.
The problem was solved. The car was fixed. I was happy.
I'm really impressed with the EPAS, I've set it so the steering feels the same now as it was before. Plus I have a lot of scope to make it lighter for maneuvering around, and harder for track use if I want.
I could also feel the difference from the Gripper diff even on the road, I'm looking forward to feeling it properly on track.
The only thing I'm not entirely sure about is the PMS linkage. It hasn't filled me with much confidence, I feel a little disappointed with it, but maybe I was expecting too much. Second to third gear feels pretty vague. I'm worried it could be quite easy to slip into first by accident, so I will have to be careful with it until I get used to it. Also fifth gear doesn't feel great and it feels like you're almost in the position where fourth is. The guys have looked at it and it can't move anymore. So I will just have to take my time selecting gears (not that I didn't before hand) and be careful with it.
I do have a slight leak to sort out now though. A bit of a pain but I'm sure it won't be too hard for me to deal with on my own. It looks to be the seal from the offside drive shaft. No idea why but s**t happens.
Looking forward to getting this sorted so I can take it to Brands for many evening events.
I've also purchased a new rad which @NorthloopCup is very kindly sorting out for me. This won't be fitted for a while now though!
Cheers for reading.
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At least I now have a spare low mileage box too. Almost smashed it to bits a couple of week back. Glad I didn't now!
Might try and get some more miles on the car before I do brands. Maybe a trip down to yours to play with the cup.
That might help me get a bit more used to the shifter. Hopes so haha!
Cub.
ClioSport Moderator
The shifter does take some getting used to, and as Graham said very minor adjustments can improve it.
Any excuse for a diff
Any excuse for a diff
I would like to have a back to back drive of another car with one and mine to be honest. To see any differences.
I've driven @Ant_Smiggy car but that was a while back now and can't remember much past yesterday let alone months.
Fitted a new seal to the box where the O/S drive shaft connects, was a b**ch of a job getting the old seal out but got there in the end. I put 2.3L of oil back into the gearbox as that's all it had left in it when I drained it. Was 3 fresh litres a couple of weeks back, so I've lost 700cl from the leak.
I'll top it up when the new stuff arrives, hopefully today. Then start the car again and give it a test drive around the block. There's no leaks yet so I'm hoping there will be nothing when it's full and has been driven again.
I'll top it up when the new stuff arrives, hopefully today. Then start the car again and give it a test drive around the block. There's no leaks yet so I'm hoping there will be nothing when it's full and has been driven again.
I think I put a brief how to somewhere on here for adjusting the pms linkage.
Two hours crawling around in the pouring rain I got it perfect.
I set it in 2nd then tweaked it bit by bit to get the higher gears. 5th is a very short shift.
I've got a genuine seal going spare for the box too if you want it posting out.
Two hours crawling around in the pouring rain I got it perfect.
I set it in 2nd then tweaked it bit by bit to get the higher gears. 5th is a very short shift.
I've got a genuine seal going spare for the box too if you want it posting out.
I think I need to get used to it. I'll see how it feels after my Brands track evening before I start getting it adjusted I think.
I'll have a search and read of your 'how to' though.
I might take that seal off you, I'll let you know if I need it. I noticed a small leak again last night 😧 I have cleaned it up now though, topped the oil up and taken the car for a spin. So I'll check again tonight after work to see if it's leaked again.
Doesn't sound too good! What is the oil seal collar, the silver sleeve in my picture?
I'm not entirely sure how old it is to be honest. It was Porkies old box. I'm told it had done about 3 track days since it was rebuilt though.
The oil seal collar is that silver sleeve that sits over the splines. On the older diffs this is just glued on to the shaft, and over time the glue breaks down and the oil tracks along the splines making you think the gearbox oil seal is at fault.
If you look at this pic you have taken the splines appear to be full of oil, if it was just leaking from the gearbox oil seal itself these splines should be dry, so I reckon there is a possibility that might be your problem.
If you look at this pic you have taken the splines appear to be full of oil, if it was just leaking from the gearbox oil seal itself these splines should be dry, so I reckon there is a possibility that might be your problem.
The oil seal collar is that silver sleeve that sits over the splines. On the older diffs this is just glued on to the shaft, and over time the glue breaks down and the oil tracks along the splines making you think the gearbox oil seal is at fault.
If you look at this pic you have taken the splines appear to be full of oil, if it was just leaking from the gearbox oil seal itself these splines should be dry, so I reckon there is a possibility that might be your problem.
Very interesting thanks mate. I'll have to keep a close eye on that then. What's the fix??
Although I think I might have just poured oil over the splines before taking that photo. Can't remember for sure now.
What I can't work out. Surely this collar can't be fixed to the splines? If it was then when it was spinning it would surely destroy the seal around it so quickly?
Cheers
The oil collar is fixed to the splines yes, that's how it works, it seals against the gearbox oil seal. On the older models the collar is glued to the splines.
On the new units the oil seal collar is an integral part of the shaft, no glue anywhere in sight! If that is the problem the good news is gripper will fix it for free by fitting a new shaft. The bad news is you will need to remove the diff from the gearbox and take it to them.
That would be a right pain in the arse if so 😧
Remove the actual diff from the gearbox? Or just take the gearbox to them? The former would be a lot more difficult for me.
Arghh not what I want right now.
Hopefully this is not it in your case, and it was just a dodgy gearbox oil seal, as yes you would actually have to remove the diff from the gearbox and take it to them.
I'm praying that mate because I'm living on credit these last couple of months trying to catch up. But knowing my luck it will be this collar 😧
The fact I still had a couple of drips leak, even after I had changed the seal is what worries me.
I'm desperate to get home now to see if anymore has leaked out since taking the car for a test drive around the block.
I wouldn't be able to remove the diff from the box myself unfortunately, I'd have to pay Gripper to do this or a local gearbox place.
Thanks for posting and giving me the heads up though.
Dayyymm this is a clean track toy, very nice going mate Just curious was it black spray paint used on the inside of the car?
Thanks mate.
It was just done with a brush, easier to do, cheaper and easier to maintain
It looks pretty good think ill have to do it in the back of mine
really good build so far mate given me some thoguht for mine!Fingers crossed for you buddy! Hopefully this is not the case.
One way to check is to get a firm grip of the collar and try to move it. If it move's independently of the shaft it is definitely the older glued version and the glue is definitely gone. It will only move if the glue is quite badly gone though.
The cheap/easy fix would be just to glue it back on which can be done in situ, but this is not ideal.
If you knew how old the diff was it would give you more of an idea. They switched to the integral collar about 3 years ago.
Should it not move at all? Because from memory there was a tiny bit of movement when I carefully took the old seal off. But it wasn't free moving and completely loose.
If the car hadn't been off the road for so long already, it wouldn't bother me too much, but buy the time this gets sorted, if it is the problem, it will pretty much be track season over for the year.
I'm still surprised it was even glued in the first place. How can glue hold moving parts together lol!!
I've sent @BIGASH a text, to see if he knows how old the diff is. I suspect that even though it had a recent rebuild, it's probably older than the 3 years you mention.
No it shouldn't move at all. I had one that gone really bad and the collar actually came off completely! The collar should be a fairly tight fit anyway.
It was a poor design in the first place, over time the gearbox oil dissolves the glue and the collar comes loose.
Gripper rectified the problem a few years ago and they will fit you the new design of shaft free of charge under their lifetime warranty. But you will need to get the diff to them.
What a load of hassle!
You probably have to be the original purchaser too right?
Although James (being that original purchaser) very kindly said that he would help me out with it if it ever needed to go back to them.
Guess I'll have to wait and see if there is any oil on the floor when I get home now. I expect there will be
As far as I am aware no you don't have to be the original purchaser, the warranty is on the diff not the person who bought it.
Would be handy if so. But I wouldn't want to say that when speaking to them, just in case it blew my chances of a fix lol. Until I knew for sure. Wonder if I can find out from a few google searches hmmmm
I wasn't the original purchaser of the diff I had problems with and they sorted me out free of charge.
I am 95% sure the warranty is on the diff itself not the person.
Thanks mate. Fingers crossed I don't have a leak for starters. But if I do, fingers crossed the warranty will still cover me.
Still the aggro of getting the diff out of the box and getting it to them, but I can cross that bridge when I get there.
Cheers
James has just confirmed it was new in March 2014. So hopefully it means it has the solid oil seal collar like you mention. Maybe I was imagining it when I thought it moved slightly. Fingers crossed!
What a PITA, hope it is/was just the seal. Make sure the box is upto temp to surly check for any leaks, did you put the undertray back on?
Will be checking for leaks when I get in mate. And if, IF, there isn't anything since yesterday, I'll take the car for a proper drive to get it nice and hot then come back and check again.
No under tray, yet to source one
