Newbie with a 172

[manda3000gt]

Hello All
Just bought a 00 X reg 172 at the weekend, Anyone got any advice on what to look out for what goes wrong and what can be improved, Things I have spotted so far on mine
1 Clunking coming from the front passenger wheel and spinning up this wheel when accelerating hard in 2nd, Taking it is lower ball joint and have bought 2 new complete arms to go on this weekend.
2 When dropping to idle revs rise and fall upto 2k for approx 15-20 secs then idle settles at approx 800-1k revs, Guessing it is air flow meter dirty or faulty
3 Very small rattle around cam belt area, V. small amount of revs approx 1500 then off pedal and something vibrates as tension comes off timing belt, Putting a new belt on at weekend so having a look to see if it is a tensioner or something else in that area.

Cheers for any advice
Dave

 

[Andy GDI]

Dave

welcome to the nut house.

leaks on the rocker cover are common

the clunking when the wheels spin is usually axle tramp (sp)! its common on these cars... always check it out though.

revs is normal, its just the ecu stabilising the revs.

changing the belt is not a nice job...... take care.... unless you have the tools to do it. however the vibration is often a cover... keep an eye on it and if your anywhere near 40k miles... do the cambelt sooner than later.



Improvment wise

sports cat or decat helps... decent exhaust overall helps

matching the inlet manifold properally can make a large difference.

Something like a Viper filter is good for response and sound (of course)

after that its cams and fuel mapping.....

but have some fun with it in the meantime.... best get to a trackday..

Andy
GDI

 

[manda3000gt]

There is movement forward and backwards on the passenger side front wheel so BBJ or a bush must be shot, Revs flaring up and down to 2k and back down again cannot be normal surely , Do you need any special tools to do the cambelt over what is needed to do one normally on different cars, Also SERV + airbag light is on was not on during test drive will I need to have Renault diagnostic on this to identify problem, A friend told me it could be a connector under passenger seat :S .
Cheers
Dave

 

[Andy GDI]

Ah right.... more to it than that then.

its not got an air flow meter, it uses MAP to control fueling.. idle on your car is an ICV, so might be dirty.... its on the back of the plenum.

airbag light... yes might be the connectors etc.

someone with snapon tool or other diag equipment will be able to reset the lights etc.

ANdy

 

[manda3000gt]

ICV ? What does it look like

Cheers
Dave

 

[Andy GDI]

black valve to the right of the coilpack if your facing the front of car.

you need special tools to do the cambelt....