Someone on another forum just said something about Xenon headlights on the Phase 2's catching fire :S But he wasn't sure if it was true or not?
What sort of things do go wrong? and what should I look out for when I'm buying, anything specific, or just the normal car buying checks?
There been problem with phase 2 burning down but don't worry. electrical wiring problems chances are you'll win the lottery are bigger.
Not all of this will be relevent its coppiedfrom another thread i did but none members cannot read it
Common Clio problems
Noise from the wheels
Check the wheel bolts are on tightly. They can come loose
Seat belt warning light
The SERV and AIRBAG lights come on its a common problem (almost every has it) its due to the wiring of the pretensioners going to an open circuit. Fiddle with the wires under the seat an the problem will go away.
On the early cars the solution is to look under each of the seats. You will see a grey connector.
On the passenger side disconnect it and cut the Blue and Brown wires off both sides. Then solder the Blue wire to blue, and the Brown to the other brown. Make sure you use insulating sleeves over the soldered connections..
Under the driver seat there are two pairs of wires in the grey connector.. Only cut the Blue and Brown wires and solder them together as above.. Reconnect the connector..
On the facelift cars it is ONLY the passenger side connector that is affected.. So again cut and solder the Blue and brown wires.
Uneven idle
This is a problem with the new 16V Clio engines its due to emissions regulations so that when the engine cold emissions are lower there not much you can do really.
However if the idle is very poor then there are fixes. (See particular engine for any known problem areas).
Alarm.
1) The Renault alarms (made by Cobra) have a few common problems but most of the time there found in the first few weeks from new. These include.
2) The bonnet switch can fail or get rusty open the bonnet and you'll see it on the front just check it's working.
3) The interior sensors on the drivers pillar are normally from new extremely sensitive the way to fix this is for Renault (under warranty) swap the feed lines round and the sensitivity is dropped by 40% or so. Until you can get these fixed the only way to fix it is to either alarm the car without the interior sensors being activated or to close the air vents and ensure there not pointed at the sensors on the pillars.
Starting issues
If you have any problems starting the car the best thing to do is to check the light on the center of the dash if the light doesn't go out when your attempting to start then the problem is down to the engine immobiliser not the battery etc.
Petrol Clios can suffer from starter problems this most of the time stems from a poor female connection on the starter motor. You can tell if this is the problem as the plug connection goes black. Simply reconnect the female connector or take it to Renault if you're under warranty as it's a common problem with a technical note to fix it.
Keys
One of the problems with the Clio keys is that there can be very fragile you might have a good set you might have a bad set. The problem is that the wires for the battery can come loose and people then think the battery is at fault replace the battery and are annoyed when a new battery doesn't fix the problem. If you are having problems with the remote check the connection on the battery in the remote first.
Car doesn't feel secure or right at speed.
This can happen to any cars but some dealerships seem quite poor at fixing it. Its due to the suspensions setup. Renault need to do the tracking on the car to set the camber etc up to the proper setups. If this is done correctly you'll notice a significant change in the cars handling. If Renault still fail after many attempts to fix this go to any reasonably decent local garage and ask the tracking to be checked and adjusted if necessary. Its usually about £20~30.
Brake warning lights
New Clios don't have brake wear indicators but they do have a light which works off the reservoir level however its not that reliable since during services Renault top it up also during hard cornering the sensor can thing the tank is empty and set the light off. Just make sure the tanks topped up and keep and eye on how the pads are.
Bonnet
If the bonnet isn't dropped when lowered then you end up pushing it down this can damage the bonnet. It would in my view be seen as a sign of a good owner as they were gentle with the car so this might well follow thought with there treatment of the car. Its also show they have looked under the bonnet at least once.
Radiator/aircon condensor damage
The low front of the Clio can lead to stone chip damage. My cars been thought two radiators in 34k. I seem to be the only one suffering but when new radiators are £90 from Renault and its a 1.9hr job for the phase 1 and a 2.4hr job for the phase 2 just be warned. You can buy cheaper radiators from Renault if you say your trade or go to Euro parts/GSF for cheap OE radiators.
Emmissions light
The emissions light can come on because
1- faulty cat (second lambeda sensor will
2,faulty downstream oxygen sensor
3,engine misfire or running fault affecting emissions
4,upstream oxygen sensor giving ecu false readings
first sensor reference voltage-sensors are operated using a 5 volt feed direct from the injection computer or via a relay switched by the computer. the feed goes to all the sensors on the first sensor circuit and back to the computer. it goes back to the computer so the computer knows the 5 volt feed it has switched/requested is present. this fault indicates the feed was not present or has shorted out.
Noise
Between 0~10 MPH a clicking sound can be heard. This could be a faulty ABS sensor in the wheel. Its a reasonably common problem and covered under warranty.
Mayonaise like material in the oil cap.
This is a common problem on any cars, which only do short journeys, and the 1.2's suffer a lot it should be a worrying sign for an engine but it seems to be a common thing on the 1.2's and not such a great worry.
Oil burn
The specification for Clios engine running oil is 1 liter per 1000km (or 600 miles) is deemed as acceptable. That's a lot of oil but so long as it's a burning less than that Renault can refuse to help as it's in tolerance. Its unlikely Renault wouldn't help if you were burning that much oil as that's a significant amount, but there no reason they have to. So remember to check the oil ever week.
Most engine problems are
1) Pencil coils, its a very common fault on later 16v renaults. If you have an earier age 1.2 it could be the lead and coil pack - part number 8200084401 £49.20 also it could be the TDC sensor 7700101969 £17.65
2) Defective Spark Plug/plugs. Its a Known problem will be doen under warently (new plugs). There's a tech note out about it. Also the 1.2 seems to go throught plugs much quicker than they are before there chnaged as part of the service.
3) Faulty Upper Engine loom and/or Map sensor. Possibly having to replace either Map sensor and/or upper engine loom. There's a tech note out about it.
4) Injection Computer Map. Reprogram Injection Computer to cure lumpy idle/stalling etc. There's a tech note out about it.
5) Defective Injector. Change individual faulty injectors. Takes time to find out if it is this. This isn't a technical note though about this issue.
5: Damaged Upper engine loom. Where the anti tamper cover on the loom connector at the rear of the engine moves and chaffs the cable. So causing poor running stalling etc. Renew the loom and apply a rubber sleave to the cover to stop it happening again.
Note
The 172 and 182 engines have VVT this is only activated between 1.8k and 6.5k when the coolant temp is over 80 degrees and the intake air pressure is over 650mbar. The 4k kick is due only to the cam profile the cams became much greater breathers at about 4k which leads to the kick you feel. The VVT only works on the intake cam and advances its timings by 16 degrees.
Running problems
1) One common problems happening is the coolant temp sensor failing. The tell tail signs are very poor running smoky exhausts and easiest to spot the temperature gauge will go up and down when your driving along. It's a simple problem to fix and Renault know about it
2) The throttle body (electric in the Mk2's and manual in the Mk1's can get blocked particularly if you have an aftermarket air filter etc. To clean it you have to remove the engine cover. Then remove the air filter and carefully clean the throttle body.
3) Poor running up to 4k. This can be put down to a failed lambda sensor in the exhaust, below 4k the engine runs an open loop the readings from this sensor being used to adjust the fueling above 4k these sensor reads are ignored as to inaccurate. Replacing the lambda sensor is an easy fix option.
Noise
1) The timing belt idler can be a problem requiring a new one to be fitted. Some lubricant can help but there not much else you can do. Its particularly bad in the cold weathers this problem. You an tell this problem when the cars idling and its like a squeak. Its recommended that its changed at 36k along with the aux belt and the tensioner itself at 72k. However officially the aux belt doesn't need to be changed till 72k since April 2002. Its only a visible inspection at 36k.
2) Another problem area is the 4k rattle you'll know what that means if you have it. It's suffered by both the 172's and 182s since they both use the same problematic center section. Renault have a few attempted fixes. However replacing the center section with an aftermarket one fitted which is better built is a common fix on the forum.
3) 1st and 2nd gear knocking. This is a common problem on Clios particularly the 2.0's its called axle tramp and down to the fact the engine mounts aren't strong enough to stop the engine moving under hard acceleration. There are some fixes though which can remedy the issue firstly the mounts need to be checked there tighter then check the mounts are centered remove the battery and check the engine is right in the center of the mounts if no loosen bolts and adjust engine. Stronger mounts are used in the Cup racing series however although the parts have Renault part codes that can only be purchased thought Renault sport in France.
4) One common noise is caused by the shocker top nut/washer catching on the turret top. All 172's and 182 can be modified which should help aliviate the problem but none come with the modifiication to the strut tops as standard.
5) Another area of problem is the noise caused by a pressure build up in the PAS (power assisted stearing) system this is caused by a restrictive PAS return pipe. The modified pipe is a lot bigger and the one which can be replaced as part of the warently work (as of 6/3/05 this part is not on the Renault tech system) . All 182 come with the new pipe.
Lights on the dash
Emmisions light.
This problem of the emissions light coming on is a much greater problem on car with decats etc. It has no issues on engine running etc all that is happening is the second lambda sensor is detecting that the emissions after the cat are to high than they should be (either due to the dacat or a faulty sensor) and so set the warning light off. The simple fix is to disconnect the second sensor and tape up the connections to prevent them from shorting etc. Then either put some tape over the light, unplug the light wire from the dash or best of all get Renault etc to clear the fault log from the computer and it will never come on again. There is an issue that 182's seem to have a problem with this disconnecting and clearing the fault still results in the light coming back but no fix is known at the moment
Lower on one side/rattles whilst driving.
A few 172 particularly older ones have suffered with snapped springs there is no obvious reason why. It would look like they just get rusted up and they break but it has suffered from even the newer phase 2 172s as well
Starting problems
The 172's can suffer from the TDC sensors failing its a simple fix just swap for a new one.
Clutch issues
The 172 has a week clutch its a difficult one to fix. Either have an up rated/new one fitted. Or try and burn off the clutch material by getting to the car to point of max torque (~5k) when driving along and lower the clutch slight so its slipping slightly then floor the accelerator and let off the clutch quickly. This isn't the best idea but a comply used one by high torque diesel owners and it seems to help. If you intend to do significant modifications and use them fully you should (in my view) look into an up rated clutch as is a clutch breaks it can take other gearbox/flywheel bits with it.
Clutches can wear quite quick depending on the driver if you learn to blip the throttle on the way down the box is will help considerably increase its life.
Gearbox issues
Another week spot for the Clio really the box isn't the cleanest shifter and isn't geared for a high speed motorway run. A few gearboxes gave been swapped under warranty the best idea is to be easy with the shifts i.e. no short shifters
The 5th gear on the Clio is on another shaft as such so any 5th gear issues usually revolve round this.
One option to fix the high revs at speed is to swap to a Mk1 box which has slightly longer ratios (the Mk2 172 has shorter ratios to help with the extra weight disadvantage it has it has). However it's expensive and the increase isn't huge
Brakes
The brakes on a 172/Cup/182/182 Cup are all the same there very powerful. The rear brakes have a problem in that they can stick when starting the car up in the morning as the pad material stick to the disk and they can need a bit of a shove to loosen them in the morning there is no fix though. Also ensure the brakes are used now and again to stop the buildup of rust and pitting on the pads since this is an MOT failure point if you don't use hard now and again you'll never stop the rusting and pitting appearing. A good idea is that after washing the car take it for a run and use the brakes hard to dry the water from the disks.
The rear pads are very small as new and wear very little so just because you only have 4mm doesn't mean you need to change them as they only have 6mm on them new.
Power stearing
Some people have experience the power steering going the most likely thing is the aux belt has snapped its happened quite a few time and one of the reasons garages often stick a new one in at 36k. If the belt snapps then you looses the power steering, alternator, air con and coolant pump. It's easy to see the belt open the bonnet remove the cover and see if the belts down on the driver's side of the car near the front of the engine are OK.
Temperatur gauge /poor running
This seems to be happening more and more particularly on the 182's. The temperature gauge failsSome people have experience the power steering going the most likely thing is the aux belt has snapped its happened quite a few time and one of the reasons garages often stick a new one in at 36k. If the belt snapps then you looses the power steering, alternator, air con and coolant pump. It's easy to see the belt open the bonnet remove the cover and see if the belts down on the driver's side of the car near the front of the engine are OK.
182 problems
A common problem is the ABS, serv and Stop lights to come on its a problem relating to the brake pressure sensors on the pedals they seem to be set too low and set the lights off and logs a fault on the ECU. There is a technical note at Renault for fixing of this under warranty.
Final note
Don't take this list as showing poor Renault build quality. A recently survey showed 80+% of Clios would buy another one and many owners have no problems with there cars.
Renault have a history of building good small cars the competition are no better in my view even ones costing much more.
