New to Clio, new to Renault, new to life.

[E30kev]

Hi folks, total newbie to enjoying life.

Im Kev from Kelty, situated in the glorious Kingdom of Fife. I've been lurking around in the background for a while debating on which Clio to buy.

I had initially been looking for a mk3 200, but.......but I'm happy to say I came to my senses and made the right choice, I went for a 182 😝

I've never felt more enjoyment from driving a car, I'm totally in love with it.

I've had some decent ish cars in the past (Peugeot 309 sri, e30 325i 2 door, e34 535i, e36 328i to name a few) but nothing as fun as this.

The last 8 years I've been driving Skoda Octavias. Both mk1 and mk2 petrol vrs. Great cars at what they do, practical, reliable, decent turn of pace, but really, really boring.

Anyway I picked up my RB 182 from Beverley in Yorkshire about a month ago and haven't had a dull moment since 🤣

I received my membership welcome pack today and thought I'd better show my face.

The joining fee has been well worth it, some excellent guides and advice.
I just changed all 4 injectors today with genuine, glad I ordered the new fuel line o'ring too as mine was shredded, so cheers for that 👏

Anyway here's some pics, the car does need a bit of work here and there and excuse the mess, I'll have to get cleaning 🙈

 

[Coops Mk1]

welcome, best colour that ;-)

 

[White16valver]

Welcome to the forum!

As above, RB is the best colour for the 182s

 

[Clio_fool]

Welcome. That's definatly the best blue 👍😂.

 

[Darren S]

Welcome aboard!

There are many little tweaks and changes that you can do to these that just make the overall experience, that bit better.

Have you any record of the tracking having been done recently? Or any of the bushes up front?

 

[Cub.]

Welcome along! Good bunch on here, just don’t tell them I said that else they’ll start taking liberties. 😉

 

[Clio_fool]

Wait a minute. How the hell does a 4 day old drive a clio🤔.

 

[E30kev]

Welcome aboard!

There are many little tweaks and changes that you can do to these that just make the overall experience, that bit better.

Have you any record of the tracking having been done recently? Or any of the bushes up front?

Hi mate,
The spec from the advert and the receipts I have from the previous owner is as follows:-

Suspension:-
cup dampers.
Cooksport springs.
Trophy/Cup hubs.
Eibach front camber bolts.
Blink motorsport full geometry set up.

Mounts:-
Powerflex engine and dog bone.
INracing modified exhaust mounts.

Brakes:-
Brembo front calipers.
Brembo discs.
Ferodo ds2500 pads.
Braided lines all round.
Front wheel spacers.

Engine:-
Scorpion cat back exhaust.
Ramair induction kit.
Group N cam timing by Efi 189.3 bhp, 166.1 lb/ft.
Gearbox has just been rebuilt

Exterior:-
16" refurbished speedline turini wheels.
Goodyear Eagle f1 tyres all round.
High downforce (allegedly ) canards.
Front splitter.
Pms towing eye.
Cup spoiler.

Interior:-
Omp steering wheel.
Rear seats removed.
One piece custom boot/back seat carpet.
Half cage.

There is a shed load of maintenance bills here, the belts and dephaser were done 5k ago, aux belts, water pump, new alternator, engine gaskets blah blah blah.

The car needs a few bits sorting though and I'll get through them as soon as I can.
Rust is just starting to bubble around fuel filler under the flap (going by searches on here will probably need the inner arch done) and there is a little showing at the outer arch at the same area.
A few age related chips, dings scrapes etc.
I plan to have the car booked in to a body shop next year and I'll try to get all the issues resolved In one hit 🤑😖.
The rear wiper is snapped somewhere inside and is just flapping about as I go over bumps etc, don't know if its the arm inside or the motor itself.
Horn doesn't work.
AC doesn't blow cold.
Lights are out for the clock in the centre of the dash.
High level brake light doesn't work.

Sorry for the biblical post mate, cheers for the welcome though 👍

 

[E30kev]

Cheers for the welcome everyone 🤝

 

[Darren S]

Hi mate,
The spec from the advert and the receipts I have from the previous owner is as follows:-

Horn doesn't work.
AC doesn't blow cold.
Lights are out for the clock in the centre of the dash.
High level brake light doesn't work.

Sorry for the biblical post mate, cheers for the welcome though 👍

The horn is pretty easy to access from inside the NSF wheel arch with the liner removed. Mine went years ago and I got a replacement fitted with my own fair hands

AC could be a number of things. The AC rad is in front of the main radiator so is far more susceptible to high-speed debris hitting it from the road. My AC felt like a fridge door being open, then standing 10ft away from it - one half of useless. Apart from my original rad being way past its best, I had some bad corrosion on some of the pipework. As part of the overhaul my car had earlier in the year, I added the AC revamp onto the list also whilst the engine and gearbox were out.

When you say that the lights are out on the centre dash - are they completely out or just very, very dim? Mine did that where I lost the majority of the display and couldn't make out the rest of the display in any form of daylight. I'd resolved myself to the fact that the bulbs had either failed or were failing and that the dash had to come out. Not having the patience to do it myself, I left it a while - yet even bought the replacement bulbs??! A few months later, my battery started to die and once I fitted a new unit, ta-da - the centre display lit up perfectly again. It could just be that the battery is on its way out?

 

[E30kev]

The horn is pretty easy to access from inside the NSF wheel arch with the liner removed. Mine went years ago and I got a replacement fitted with my own fair hands

AC could be a number of things. The AC rad is in front of the main radiator so is far more susceptible to high-speed debris hitting it from the road. My AC felt like a fridge door being open, then standing 10ft away from it - one half of useless. Apart from my original rad being way past its best, I had some bad corrosion on some of the pipework. As part of the overhaul my car had earlier in the year, I added the AC revamp onto the list also whilst the engine and gearbox were out.

When you say that the lights are out on the centre dash - are they completely out or just very, very dim? Mine did that where I lost the majority of the display and couldn't make out the rest of the display in any form of daylight. I'd resolved myself to the fact that the bulbs had either failed or were failing and that the dash had to come out. Not having the patience to do it myself, I left it a while - yet even bought the replacement bulbs??! A few months later, my battery started to die and once I fitted a new unit, ta-da - the centre display lit up perfectly again. It could just be that the battery is on its way out?

I had read somewhere that when fitting an OMP steering wheel that in order to get the horn to work there is an earth wire that needs clipped around the boss.
I'm not even sure what to remove to check this or how it comes apart.
You are probably right though, the original horn has probably given up, I'll have to have a look.

Are the parts easily available for the AC and is it best to go to Renault for this?
Would this be a pig of a job with everything in place?

The centre dash has no illumination but can be seen from certain angles during daytime.
The battery was replaced this year by the previous owner with a Lion (budget) battery from eurocarparts, but the indicator is showing green.

Thanks for all the tips mate and sorry for all the questions.

 

[Coops Mk1]

A/C get it leak tested before chucking parts at it imo. Kit on my heap is original 220k miles old and works fine so general wear and tear may not be it.

Rust, expect inside out so whatever you can see it'll be worse, more than likely chop out and weld new metal in job. I'm in the same boat with my RB

Wiper, remove the arm and see if it's seated on the motor correctly and then turn on with wiper off and see if motor works and go from there. May just be split arm and pop new one on and done

Cup brakelights are rare now so check connections and pray for an easy fix. Last new one I sold was 120 quid

Dash is probably bulbs, top dash off job but that's like ten minutes max, easy

Horn probably earthing at the horn itself in arch unless some animal fitted your wheel so whip front off that first to see if it's even connected

 

[E30kev]

A/C get it leak tested before chucking parts at it imo. Kit on my heap is original 220k miles old and works fine so general wear and tear may not be it.

Rust, expect inside out so whatever you can see it'll be worse, more than likely chop out and weld new metal in job. I'm in the same boat with my RB

Wiper, remove the arm and see if it's seated on the motor correctly and then turn on with wiper off and see if motor works and go from there. May just be split arm and pop new one on and done

Cup brakelights are rare now so check connections and pray for an easy fix. Last new one I sold was 120 quid

Dash is probably bulbs, top dash off job but that's like ten minutes max, easy

Horn probably earthing at the horn itself in arch unless some animal fitted your wheel so whip front off that first to see if it's even connected

I did plan to have the AC charged to see if its leak free, I had a similar issue with my mk1 Octavia vrs just blowing warm, luckily it just needed a recharge.
Fingers crossed its just that.

I looked at some threads similar regarding the rust area and yes what you can't see is a lot worse.
Really not looking forward to that.
I'll get it looked at as soon as I can next year.

I'll try that with the wiper and check the brake light connections also.
Is there an aftermarket/diy fix for the brake light?
I take it they are nla?

Dash bulbs best to get from Renault or just any old online site?

Does the horn button on the centre just pop out or do I need to remove something else?

Again sorry for all the questions, but cheers for all the advice.

 

[Coops Mk1]

Yeah think in most aftermarket wheels the horn button should just pop out, but don't quote me on that!

Bulbs yeah just match on ebay

And yep cup brakelight is nla so new old stock aren't cheap. Yes you can swap insides out for led, I've never done it but sounds simple enough. If not pretty sure there was chap on ebay doing it as exchange, or maybe even on here

 

[E30kev]

Yeah think in most aftermarket wheels the horn button should just pop out, but don't quote me on that!

Bulbs yeah just match on ebay

And yep cup brakelight is nla so new old stock aren't cheap. Yes you can swap insides out for led, I've never done it but sounds simple enough. If not pretty sure there was chap on ebay doing it as exchange, or maybe even on here

Thats brilliant, I'll be tackling everything bit by bit as soon as I get time.
Honestly though, thanks for all the help mate.

 

[Coops Mk1]

no worries chap, you'll find this place a great resource as after 20 years of mk2 clios, between us we all know pretty much everything

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

welcome along