My Black Gold (no)mod thread

[Clio_fool]

So its been a while since my lasy update and not much has happened really. The ABS was doing my head in so had the car in the garage for new sensor fitting. All done and the pedal was smooth as butter, for all of 3 days then the ABS grumble returned! I need to get it back in for more investigation.
Finally spent a bit of time on the car last week and fitted the mist washer jets I bought 2 months ago. They gave the wipers a really good clean so had to be shimmed to hit the windscreen. I also gave the front seat belts a much needed clean, now much improved but not perfect. I noticed recently the car pulling slightly to the left, a quick investigatiioin revealed 20 psi in front tyre to be to blame. Nice easy fix but needs watching. What are the recommended tyre pressures? Rooting around under the bonnet revealed new coolant needed as its abit low and not green. Also the air feed to the air box was'nt attachend properly so I assume an IK had been on the car at some time and the bolts on the air box are very rusty so I decided to check the filter. Err, yeah I think it may be a late 2000's vintage part! Fatty kit on order:smile:. Hoping that arrives for the weekend along with some dry weather so I can fit it and my Evol dogbone. After thats done I'll just want the exhaust straightening out and carry on polishing her up as best I can then I'll enjoy as she is until next year when new wheels will be the plan and some colour:grinning:. Pics to follow after the weekends efforts.

 

[DanSej6]

I've got the Fatty's kit on my Cup. Makes a bit of a yobbo noise. I'm based near Doncaster too if you want a demo of it first

 

[imprezaworks]

Fatty kit is cheap enough to try and loads like it

 

[Clio_fool]

Cheers @DanSej6 I've got it ordered already, although it looks like the bend might not arrive by the weekend [emoji35]. Are you going to the CS festival at Blyton next month?

 

[Clio_fool]

Got the new dogbone fitted on Friday. Gear change feels a lot better and the vibrations I can easily live with. It just feels like the car is a bit more sporty. Went out in it with the wife on Sunday and as soon as I started it up she looked at me and said "Whats wrong with it?":laughing:
Still waiting on the bend for the intake though. I'm sure the Mrs will have something to say about that too!

 

[leedsboy]

Tried having it idling from cold with the air con on? My car nearly shook itself to bits first time I turned it over after fitting it with AC on.

 

[Clio_fool]

The intake bend finally arrived today, and so did the rain! The (no) mods are going well[emoji38]. A glut of overtime has lowered my willpower too, I'm considering lowering springs and new exhaust as my centre section sounds like its made of Swiss cheese.

 

[Clio_fool]

Fatty fitted last weekend and is a lot quieter than I expected! Although the last sponge cone I ran was on a 5GTT and the turbo sucked like a 2 bit whore through it!
I also had the eml light on again for over a week so I got a Bluetooth obd thingy and the Torque app to see what's what. I have a P0420 catalyst system efficiently code logged. A bit of research on here and a live trace of the lambda voltages and it seems my cat is fooked. Im hoping this is contributing to my piss poor fuel consumption, because even driving miss daisy I'm in low 30's. Looks like I'm after a used cat now then for my next (no) mod purchase.

 

[Clio_fool]

And the maintenance continues. Bought a replacememt catalyst from @M172Cup who was apleasure to deal with, and also bought an ABS pump from @levaz who's another one I'd happily recommend. As the exhaust is flapping around anyway I thought sod it and bought some powerflex mount inserts. I've a week off in August so all this will be done then, by my trusty garage mechanic:laughing:, I CBA to crawl under there and faf with the exhaust!
We made another clio related purchase just before CSF, I really don't know why I've done it to myself. Seems like I'll have a sponge in my hand every weekend now!

Clean clios. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

 

[levaz]

Happy to help dude!

 

[Clio_fool]

Well it's been longer than I thought since my last update. Probably because of lazyness more than anything else. As I said last time I was'nt going under the car to faf with the exhaust so it was booked in for the cat swapping. Unfortunately my man was on his hols so I had to wait until the end of August to get it done. So Tuesday off it goes to have the cat swapped and the ABS pump changed over too. Car dropped off at 8:30am, the call came at 11:00am on Wednesday! Cat changed and emissions light is finally out, my dash seems so dull now my little orange companion is no longer riding shotgun. Lookig at the old cat it's not surprising the light was on, not a scrap of precious metal to be seen inside the damn thing! Yup some tw@ had gutted the poor pussy. As a bonus my exhaust is slightly quieter now my decat has gone and its clamped together properly too, one side of the spring clamp was missing before. It's still on the piss out back though as I forgot to take the powerflex inserts with me and could'nt be bothered to walk back down with them.
Anyway 1 job done now the ABS pump. This was diagniosed in another thread as the cause of the low speed/ light braking pulsing of the ABS. It's really F'kin annoying and after spending £200 having a dodgy rear sensor replaced and the pulsing returning within the week it's been an expensive problem too. Searching for a 182 ABS pump turned up a minefield of different versions and numbers. So as there seems to be a never ending line of 1*2's being broken that seemed to be the best place to buy one from. So that's what I did, and it's different. I ain't saying it didn't come off a 1*2, they may have a variety of different ones through the years for all I know, but I was a bit miffed. For future refrence the ABS pump on my 2005 182 is Bosch part no. 0 265 225 259. Now I just need to find one!

More to come soon, I've had a burst of energy today!

 

[ADS_V6]

Looking good mate keep at it

 

[JB21]

@OssPoop is that ABS pump the same number as the one i gave you? Also presume you've checked all the ABS rings?

Mine came on AGAIN the other week just before Oulton and i was ready to plough the fuckin thing into a tree, then it just went off again and didn't return, fuckin stupid system on the CS.

 

[Clio_fool]

When I got the car the passenger headlamp was a bit misty and sun dried at the top. You could hardly see the indicator bulb and the drivers side was clear as a clear clio headlamp. After reading all guides on here I decided to set about it with some wet and dry and scratch X. It's a hard job to do by hand and not enough elbow grease was used that day. It was better, turned out there was an indicator bulb in there but it was still worse than the other side. Not to be beaten, off I went to halfords to buy a resto kit. A month or so after buying the kit while washing the car I thought it was time to have another go at that light. Closer inspection however showed that the light seemed to be degraded on the inside. I've read that it's UV light that causes the lenses to yellow over and as that bulb is a different colour to the drivers side I reckon thats whats caused the inside to go. I still have the resto kit. Unopened. This is what it looks like:

And this is the offending headlamp :laughing::

You can see the haze a couple of inches up. I did try rub it extra hard and it never changed so it's definately on the inside.
Plan B then: new headlamps. A couple of missed opportunities before I took a punt on a set @bashracing was selling. I only wanted the passenger one but as these were 172 units that would look a bit odd, one black inside and one grey so I left with one really nice one (passenger) and one with a broken adjuster and water marks inside the lens cover (drivers). Have I really just swapped my good one for a shitter and my shitter for a good one?? Should we quickly move onto plan C? A half arsed effort to aquire another drivers side headlamp at very little cost was fruitless so onto plan B.2.0:Crack the bugger open.
I have had a go at opening clio headlamps before with 50% success. Those lamps still work and adorn the black sheep which belongs to @Sj1782 . So with nothing to lose in the oven it goes for 15 mins. I'm now at 75% success and the inside was polished up nicely. Adjuster replaced it just needs putting back together. I'd bought some sealer for this job before and it worked a treat. This however is where I dropped a bollok this time. I did'nt remove enough of the old sealer, which before someone says just reheat it and press together I'll say that s**t does'nt actually melt. it just sort of goe's soft and rips apart when you pull, hard. Anyhow light reassembled and left to set with the family bible sat on top. 4 days later I remember about it and when I have a look the bottom edge of the lens cover is'nt sat right. Bugger. Plan B.2.1.0:Fit the t**t anyway and replace it next year.
In a massive skive from todays expected decorating duties it's off with the front bumper and swap lights time. Guide followed all screws located. F me every one is rusted to buggery and just getting the driver in is a test of swear vocabulary. 4 screws removed, 4 bolts reman. Passenger side just spins and isnt actually holding the bumper on. Drivers side is missing. Drivers side underneath comes out easily. Passenger side underneath shears off after 2 turns. Just the sides to unclip and its off. That little crack near the top edge of the bumper, yep right between the clips. Will it just split and I'll be stood there holding a bumper corner, It certainly looked like it so I stuck my arm in behind the clip and pushed the last one out. Ouch.

Bumper off and lights removed, time for a quick nosy around.

Acoustic valve still present?

And is this the carbon cannister I keep hearing about?

Yeah I did a bit of cleaning while I was there! Am I right in saying the centre section can be removed? It had a couple of naked bits so could do with a paint.

Lights swapped over and all working, but yeah I did f**k it up on reassembly and there's gaps along the bottom and where it meets the wing. it will do until I replace it next year.

It looks ok from 10 paces, much like the rest of the car really:laughing:

While the bumper was off it would be silly to not look at the headlamp washers. Pulling the pipes apart saw some water dripping from them but testing with the bumper off had no water squirting from the pipes. I hoped the reason they did'nt work was the routing of the pipe on the bumper:

The pipes had more kinks than a fold up hose pipe. Washer blanks on order the pipework was fixed easily. I had the washer bottle out the other week too to trim the rubber thingy as my windscreen jets had stopped working!

Bumper replaced I need to replace a few rusty screws. A clip of some sort fell off the drivers side too, any ideas where from?

All back together just a quick polish required to get them to their best.

As I'm a clumsy t**t of course I knocked the bumper over, onto the house wall. Add to next years to do list: front end respray!

Previousley fitted fatty kit was sprayed satin black the other week and looks loads better. Shiny just did'nt look right in my grotty engine bay! Battery cover was generousley donated by @RMDavis at CSF. I might give it a lick of satin so it matches.

Next job on the list:

Good job rain is forcast this weekend, I need a rest:laughing:

 

[Clio_fool]

@OssPoop is that ABS pump the same number as the one i gave you? Also presume you've checked all the ABS rings?

Mine came on AGAIN the other week just before Oulton and i was ready to plough the fuckin thing into a tree, then it just went off again and didn't return, fuckin stupid system on the CS.

I dunno mate. The number on mine is whats stamped on the body. I think the one you sent me was on a barcode and didn'nt turn up any results when I went shopping for one.

 

[Potatoes]

Clean clios. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

Double Clio!

Nice Progress @OssPoop

You did well to make the "no mod" rule last for just over 2 months and you are right, it's absolutely the best colour :smirk:

I was just getting to know my little orange emissions light but my cat arrived today so I'll be saying bye to my little orange friend tomorrow. I always think it's better to get it out of the way rather than a long drawn out goodbye.

Will be keeping an eye on the progress mate, happy Clio-ing!

 

[Sj1782]

Do I see cooksports [emoji6] need more pictures!! I want to see a before and after when you've cleaned it [emoji23]


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[Clio_fool]

Do I see cooksports [emoji6] need more pictures!! I want to see a before and after when you've cleaned it [emoji23]

I cleaned it last week for our mini meet that you could'nt be bothered to come to:frowning:. @Steve_RS2250 was in shock:laughing:

 

[Sj1782]

Ha unfortunately I had to do overtime so I can afford the belts doing! I'm gunna have a cheeky drive to rs and see what's happening!


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[RMDavis]

Looking good bud! Great update!

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[Clio_fool]

Mini update as not much has happened. Drivers side arch liner fell off. Luckily it waited until I got home and went over a speed bump rather that coming off on the 40 miles I'd just done on the M1. Going to need another one as the front edge of it has rubbed away and is about 20mm short!
The other weekend I set about the suspension. Didn't get very far as the top mounts are ether very very tight or welded on. I gave up when my 6mm allen key resembled a drill bit cos it's twisted so much. Last week I found an impact gun at work that still works (f**king miracle I'll tell you!) but couldn't find a socket deep enough. I've ordered a socket so next weekend is d day for the suspension.
Exhaust is still on the piss. Logic says fit the powerflex bushes while the cars jacked up for the suspension, so yeah didn't get that far
I did manage to fit some new wiper blades today. I can nearly see where I'm going now. If only my windscreen wasn't so old and scratched /chipped. It's only really bad when the sun's on it so in a couple of weeks I can forget about it as all my commuting will be in the dark.
That reminds me that I must dip the headlamp aim a bit.

I won 3rd prize in the Adrian Flux August comp and recieved this :

Not used it yet though. I think first test will be on the wifes clio since she took it to the hand wash and it now has no protection on and the diamond wheels look a bit cloudy. I'd rather spend time on her's as mine needs more than a little work to smarten up.
I really should take some pics to fill this thread out a bit too. Maybe I'll do some grunge ones when winter comes.

TTFN, Paul. [emoji106]

 

[Jekyll]

Paul, how/where is the headlight adjuster? Mine sits too low I think?

 

[Clio_fool]

Paul, how/where is the headlight adjuster? Mine sits too low I think?

It's on the motor which auto adjusts the beam height, in the middle of the headlamp. Theres a white part for a (6mm maybe) allen key. I'll grab a pic in the morning if I remember.

 

[Clio_fool]

Ok so it's not morning but I remembered @Dr Jekyll
Drivers side:

Passenger side with fatty in the way:

You want the white adjuster central in pics. At least you can get to them without dismantling half the car.

 

[Jekyll]

Thanks for that Paul! Yes they are allen key heads to, although they are plastic.

Bit confused as the 182/xenon headlamps are self adjusting via the sensor on the rear beam, but you can adjust them like this also?

 

[Clio_fool]

Yeah the self adjustment just dips them if you load up the boot. You still need to set them at the correct level this way.

 

[Clio_fool]

Clicked over 87,000 miles today. We celebrated by driving the way a renaultsport should be driven. [emoji4]

 

[Clio_fool]

Armed and dangerous, to mounts are now removable by normal means. Tomorrow will be interesting.

A rare find, something in this s**t hole that actually works!

 

[Clio_fool]

I have an update of substance this time! Had these lying around the house for too long now and with a break in decorating/gardening/anybloodythingelse duties I jumped at the chance to get them fitted.

OK, I say jumped but I did'nt start untill 11-o-clock. :laughing: I even manged to take a few pics along the way.
Before I got to it a quick snap for comparison purposes.

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr
I had attempted this job the other week but found the top nounts to be reeeeeeely tight. @bloke said impoact gun them so a search at work found the gun but no socket:weary:. Ebay to the rescue and during a break at work the top mounts broke loose. Nipped up for the drive home all I had to do was get my arse out of bed early Friday to do some house chores to leave Saturday free to spend under the car. That nearly went to plan, I got obviousley got to spend Saturday on my back anyway.:wink:
Having studied the Cliosport guides many times I was confident I would be successful. That was until I'd removed the first front shock and was trying to fit the new one. It's strange how identical parts come out one way but never fit back in the same way. After a few blue words and a little panic I pressed on and finally got it in. The second one did'nt go any easier though!
It's at this point I'd like to say a big thanks to my dad, a mechanic for 30 odd years, for all the work he did on my cars over the years while I watched or went to the pub! So thanks dad:up:

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr
The back end is a lot easier and was much more calming to do.

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr
While she had her arse in the air there was one other thing worth doing:

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr
My rubber mounts were'nt too bad but the exhaust did bang on either the bumper or the underside of the car, fitting stiffer springs could'nt have helped that so in with the poly bushes. My exhaust is still on the piss, it is a scorpion after all but it does'nt move now.
About 4 hours all in and the car was in one piece with none left over and all looked good. :smile:
A dry afternoon on Sunday gave the opportunity for a quick wash and a test drive. There's a couple of speed bumps in our estate and a twangy spring noise was not what I wanted to hear driving over the first one. A quick look at each corner and nothing looked out of place but the scary noise repeated over the next bump. I worked out what it was this time though, I'd put the old suspension parts in the boot and locked up for my Dinner! I've not chucked her about beacuse of the boot full but the springs don't feel that much harsher at normal pace over our bumpy roads, but the ride does have an extra firmness.
A couple of comparison shots, standard cup springs V's Cooksport springs.

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

And a couple of extra ones just cos I need to photo whore more!

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

A new low for the clio. by Paul Dent, on Flickr

Next up a service and try to survive the winter.

 

[Clio_fool]

Had flashing eml light briefly last night while sat in traffic. Code scan today and have this:

Now I'll have to look into new injectors.

 

[Louis]

Those cooksports mate? Look ace! Will be my next investment me thinks.

 

[Clio_fool]

Those cooksports mate? Look ace! Will be my next investment me thinks.

Yeah they are. It sits a lot better on them but I'm not sure about the handling. My tyres are low though so they might just be lacking bite now.

 

[Clio_fool]

Injectorsremoved today ready for @dann2707 to perform his cleaning process on. Hopefully this will prevent the misfire happening again. A worthwile preventitive measure and great value compared to replacement injectors.

 

[Louis]

Car looks great, although not a fan of the renaultsport sticker on the side trim. Post more pics!

 

[Clio_fool]

Yeah I never got around to removing those stickers. Will do next year when the car (finally) gets a proper clean and polish.
Every time I see @Dr Jekyll thread I think I must take more pics of mine but I never do [emoji38]

 

[Clio_fool]

So injectors were cleaned and re fitted within 5 days. An excellent turnaround by @dann2707. Car fired up straight away and ran lovely, as it had before to be honest but that 1 off misfire shouldn't be a problem again hopefully. The misfire one spat a load if s**t out.

As I've had use of the wifes car for a couple of weeks the 182 has only done a mile or so 10 days ago when the injectors went back in. I thought it best to use her this week so went to fill her up this morning and was happily reacquainted with the joy of 182 ownership. It took a while to clear the moisture from inside the windscreen but as the fluids were up to temperature it seemed rude not to have a little blast. [emoji4]
And then to punish me for neglecting her this evening she refused to carry me to work[emoji30] . Turned over fine but just refused to fire. Not having time to mess around I swore at her and left in the diesel. I hope this is just a minor lovers tiff and not the start of a long and bitter divorce. I'll try her again in the morning and then probably be calling the AA! [emoji1] #cliolife

 

[Clio_fool]

Just been out and the bugger fired up straight away!

 

[leedsboy]

The joys of owning a french car eh.

 

[Clio_fool]

Lol yeah that's why I on my 8th and 9th frenchie atm!

 

[Clio_fool]

Nothing has changed since the beginning of December, cars still running fine which is good! I'm going to have a sit down and think what I want to do on the car this year. I still have a long list of house stuff to sort so budget planning may be needed. Anyway sisnce my piss poor effort in the dirty car comp in December I've caught up somewhat so as it's still mild a quick clean was in order today. She did'nt look too bad when wet but dry it was definately a different type of black. Even the birds tried to brighten the paintwork!

Clio cleaning day by Paul Dent, on Flickr
And of course having one black clio to clean isn't enough work so I had t do the wifes dci too:weary:

Clio cleaning day by Paul Dent, on Flickr

Clio cleaning day by Paul Dent, on Flickr
Noticed the turned wheels have started to corrode on that so they will be getting a refurb in spring. The dci also has loads of tree sap on the roof and bonnet. That's going to have to be adressed in spring too, along with the tree at her work:laughing:. Three hours later and both cars vacuumed out and washed. I'm always surprised by how shiny my car looks after a basic wash, I can't wait to spend some proper time cleaning it.

Clio cleaning day by Paul Dent, on Flickr

Clio cleaning day by Paul Dent, on Flickr
Yes I know I said the stickers would be removed months ago, but I kind of like them now! Next update with action plan to follow soon. :up: