Restoring Little Bluey - my 182 FF ClioSport in Racing Blue

[Colin-S]

Nice work! did the car feel like it was misfiring with the pre-cat lambda sensor failing?

 

[Mr Underhill]

Nice work! did the car feel like it was misfiring with the pre-cat lambda sensor failing?

The only thing I began noticing was some hesitation when it was cold. You couldn’t give it any throttle until it had properly warmed up.

I haven’t used it since fitting the new sensor but I’m out in it all day tomorrow so fingers crossed.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Minter

 

[Mr Underhill]

Minter

Very kind of you to say. It's been an expensive project, to say the least, but I'm pleased with how it's turned out.

How are you getting on with your search?

 

[Mr Underhill]

After changing the pre-cat sensor, I took her for a good blast over the Yorkshire moors on Sunday, and the car feels so much better. It must have slowly been degrading as I never really noticed a reduction in performance. I've done another 300 miles since then and the cold map hesitation has gone completely now.

I've been anxious about going through puddles with all the restoration work, but now I go through them like a Boss

I'm enjoying this car so much I don't know why I stored it away. I'm convinced it does them no good.

I've had to fix a few things and still have the odd niggle as you'd expect with such an extensive rebuild, but it's driving great and starting to feel like a proper solid car. Just like my old BG did. I've definitely fallen back in love with them again. Such a great little car.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Took my original 182 axle down to a lad in the town to get it shot blasted. For £20 it was the best money I’ve spent.

I’ve never seen a serial number on one of these before, they’re usually that rusty.

The spring pads are in such good condition. The best I’ve seen.

Everywhere is just spot on with the minimal amount of pitting. I’ll be able to paint this one and have it looking like factory, such is the condition.

The lad was so good, he promised he’d call me the minute he’d blasted it so I could get it home the same day.

To protect it over the winter whilst in storage, I gave it a good coating of Hydrate-80.

Thank you for reading.

 

[JamesBryan]

Bargain for £20 that!

 

[Pegasaurus Rex]

Interesting John, is that deffo your 182 rear beam as it doesn’t have the additional support brace underneath the spring perch?

 

[Mr Underhill]

WtfInteresting John, is that deffo your 182 rear beam as it doesn’t have the additional support brace underneath the spring perch?View attachment 1672211

 

[Mr Underhill]

@Call Me Dangerous Dave previous keeper confirmed they fitted it. It’s off a 172. PMS kit incoming then 😅

 

[suzukito]

Impressive work, I also just bought an RB and I want to put the Turini in silver, I'm sure they look great.

 

[Mr Underhill]

So after changing the washer pump a few weeks back, the cars been magic. Other than needing the tracking resetting after testing the ASTs, it’s been faultless.

However, after a quick drive down to the Gare this morning, the washer pump stopped working again.

Now I wasn’t planning on getting my hands dirty today, but I thought I might just take a look. Stripped the washers and mechanisms off and noticed the feed to the headlamp washer pump is working, but not to the windscreen washer pump. So I switched them over and have washer fluid again.

Now not being a cowboy I figured I’d try and get to the bottom of it.

So I’ve established both pumps work, have power to the headlamp pump but none power to the windscreen pump. Checked all the fuses and they’re ok.

Ran a diagnostic and looked at live data. All switches on the squib function.

I have a spare squib. So just out of curiosity I whipped the steering wheel off, switched the squib over but no different. Hmmm sounds like a wiring issue.

I put everything back on. Went to pull out the drive and now the car won’t start, the serve and limp mode lights are illuminated and I’ve got the following:

DF002 - Throttle Potentiometer Circuit
DF236 - 12v after relay supply
DF126 - Pedal Potentiometer Circuit Track 2
DF125 - Pedal Potentiometer Circuit Track 1
DF129 - Pedal Potentiometer Circuit, Pedal Potentiometer Fault
DF226 - Programming Throttle Limits
DF062 - Ignition Coil 2 - 3 Circuit
DF061 - Ignition Coil 1 - 4 Circuit
DF009 - Actuator Relay Control Circuit

Marvellous 🤦🏻‍♂️😂

So it’s an early start checking over the wiring and learning how to use a multi-meter again.

Merd! 💩

 

[Advikaz]

What tail pipe trims are those matey?

 

[Mr Underhill]

What tail pipe trims are those matey?

PMS 3.5 slash cut. They come free with an exhaust 😂

 

[Brigsy]

Wonder if any issues in the bulkhead loom connector next to washer bottle or uch playing up regarding the washer jets.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Wonder if any issues in the bulkhead loom connector next to washer bottle or uch playing up regarding the washer jets.

I’m going to take the whole engine loom out and inspect it. Seems like a good place to start.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Pretty much stripped back the wiring on the engine loom. It’s so clean. Zero issues with corrosion. Retaped everything back up so it’s nice and neat.

Had a good look at the connections on UCH. Again nothing obvious. No damp, no corrosion. Checked relays. All clean.

I’d recharged battery overnight, put it back on and now the limp mode lights gone out as well as the other DF codes.

But now I’ve got a new one.

Car turns over but won’t fire up. Tried my spare key. No difference.

So in summary - I’ve driven to the beach, washer pump has packed in. Swapped the squib over and now the car won’t start.

So I’ve disturbed something somewhere. It’s at this point I’m at a loss as I can fix most things mechanical, but when it comes to electrics, I’m just scratching my head.

For sale advert incoming.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Final checks for the day were to test all the relays both under the bonnet and UCH.

Two of the relays in the UCH area are washer headlamp relays. Everything checks out ok.

It’s starting to get too cold now so I’m done for the day.

I haven’t pulled the UCH out yet. Not sure what I’m looking for though. Signs of corrosion perhaps.

Anyway, we’ll push on next weekend and see what my brain thinks of next. Thank you for reading.

 

[Brigsy]

Uch issues are generally dry solder joints in the board so you wont see much unless stripping it down and looking on the circuit board carefully.

Send it off to diesel pump repairs and he will check it over and sort any issues. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28368648...QrVQpEdQKi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Whats it lacking, Fuel pump or spark? Can you hear the throttle singing with ign on? Rpm registering when cranking?

The first load of faults stink of engine ecu missing power, its one of the fuses in the underbonnet fusebox.

 

[Mr Underhill]

So after @Brigsy advice above, my old brain has been ticking over.

I haven’t done any checks on the car since Sunday afternoon and yet in that time, the car has gone through different states.

* Sunday 2:30 pm - a turn of the ignition = engine turns over, doesn’t fire, throws a ton of error codes including a limp mode light.
* Sunday 4:30 pm - a turn of the ignition key = Solid red immobiliser light, no cranking of the engine, no limp mode light and one completely different error code. See below:

That’s French for “les electrics are playing up Jon, you must sort zis out, oui? ”.

Also I noticed the UCH felt a little damp - a consequence of a leaking water bottle and all this rain perhaps?

I guess dampness around the UCH could potentially lead to failures in the wiring of the windscreen and washer jet pump. Essentially that’s what’s happened.

The other none starting and error codes are just a consequence of that, and to throw me off the scent no doubt.

So the UCH will be off to the EBay diesel pump guy to see what’s happening. 🤞🏻

Thank you for reading.

 

[Daniel]

I find unplugging and plugging in the uch numerous times (10+) usually gives a temporary fix - this will then confirm if it’s the UCH at fault.
Only if it twice admittedly but both times that ‘fixed’ it so I knew it had to be sent off for repair.

 

[Jamess182]

So after @Brigsy advice above, my old brain has been ticking over.

I haven’t done any checks on the car since Sunday afternoon and yet in that time, the car has gone through different states.

* Sunday 2:30 pm - a turn of the ignition = engine turns over, doesn’t fire, throws a ton of error codes including a limp mode light.
* Sunday 4:30 pm - a turn of the ignition key = Solid red immobiliser light, no cranking of the engine, no limp mode light and one completely different error code. See below:

View attachment 1676296

That’s French for “les electrics are playing up Jon, you must sort zis out, oui? ”.

Also I noticed the UCH felt a little damp - a consequence of a leaking water bottle and all this rain perhaps?

I guess dampness around the UCH could potentially lead to failures in the wiring of the windscreen and washer jet pump. Essentially that’s what’s happened.

The other none starting and error codes are just a consequence of that, and to throw me off the scent no doubt.

So the UCH will be off to the EBay diesel pump guy to see what’s happening. 🤞🏻

Thank you for reading.

This Might sound daft, but I've had on a couple of occasions the solid red immobiliser light flash up after extended periods of storage. Wouldn't crank and all dash lights would go out. Car shuts off completely.

On both occasions all I had to do was lock / unlock the car a few times with the key in the ignition and try to start it every other time, a bit of trial and error essentially. Basically trying to get the immobiliser to recognise the key?

I know that doesn't correspond with the error codes being thrown up but worth a go surely?

 

[Mr Underhill]

I find unplugging and plugging in the uch numerous times (10+) usually gives a temporary fix - this will then confirm if it’s the UCH at fault.
Only if it twice admittedly but both times that ‘fixed’ it so I knew it had to be sent off for repair.

Good to know Daniel. I'm just going to send it anyway as it'll at least help me narrow things down.

 

[Mr Underhill]

This Might sound daft, but I've had on a couple of occasions the solid red immobiliser light flash up after extended periods of storage. Wouldn't crank and all dash lights would go out. Car shuts off completely.

No, it's not daft at all. I've attempted this multiple times

On both occasions all I had to do was lock / unlock the car a few times with the key in the ignition and try to start it every other time, a bit of trial and error essentially. Basically trying to get the immobiliser to recognise the key?

I believe my issue is a short circuit in the two washer pump feeds between the bulkhead connector and UCH. I've got continuity running from the squib to the UCH. And also from the pump connectors to the bulkhead connector. So the only area I haven't looked at is between the bulkhead connector and the UCH.

I know that doesn't correspond with the error codes being thrown up but worth a go surely?

Code reading is another language completely. A Black art lol. For me anyway

When I first bought a diagnostic tool, I ended up replacing an immobilizer code ring, throttle body, and pedal when the issue was a break in the wire to the starter motor. I'm getting better at understanding them though. It's just a hunch, so we'll see what the outcome is soon enough.

 

[SharpyClio]

The code reader will tell you the issue but not necessarily the cause. I tend to start with the code and then understand all the parts in between and work from there. I like looking at the wiring diagrams and the like.

An example is a radiator fan, it wasn’t powering on I got a code that told me as much as it was overheating, turned out to be the fuse box after a bit of diagnostic work logically checking back from the fan.

I’m sure you’ll figure it out Jon.

 

[Mr Underhill]

The code reader will tell you the issue but not necessarily the cause. I tend to start with the code and then understand all the parts in between and work from there. I like looking at the wiring diagrams and the like.

An example is a radiator fan, it wasn’t powering on I got a code that told me as much as it was overheating, turned out to be the fuse box after a bit of diagnostic work logically checking back from the fan.

I’m sure you’ll figure it out Jon.

I went from looking down my nose at other drivers in their inferior cars, to wondering why on earth am I still driving a pile of shite at my age.

 

[SharpyClio]

I went from looking down my nose at other drivers in their inferior cars, to wondering why on earth am I still driving a pile of shite at my age.

Ha. I keep getting asked why I don’t buy a good car… I love my Clio and don’t care what others think. It’s a them problem not a me problem. 😉

 

[Touring_Rob]

Seen this?

https://cliosport.net/attachments/fault-finding-pdf.154814/

This doc seems to say that DF015 is a Xenon headlight computer issue - code might be a red herring?

Did you sell the black Clio?

 

[Mr Underhill]

Seen this?

https://cliosport.net/attachments/fault-finding-pdf.154814/

This doc seems to say that DF015 is a Xenon headlight computer issue - code might be a red herring?

What a great manual Rob, that’s going to be a good read, thank you.

Did you sell the black Clio?

I sold YU54XBF last year to a chap on here, who subsequently sold it shortly after to another chap on here.
I then sold my circuit car to a lad doing 750MC and it’s going very well.
I bought another 182 BG hill climber off another chap on here and that’s going to go out on track this year.

 

[Touring_Rob]

What a great manual Rob, that’s going to be a good read, thank you.

I sold YU54XBF last year to a chap on here, who subsequently sold it shortly after to another chap on here.
I then sold my circuit car to a lad doing 750MC and it’s going very well.
I bought another 182 BG hill climber off another chap on here and that’s going to go out on track this year.

You're most welcome. I did start reading through the immobiliser section but got bored quite quickly 😂

Wondering if you can swap a few parts between cars to help you fault find? I believe you can swap the UCH and Ecu together (@Brigsy).

Did you already try swapping squib back to the original?

 

[Mr Underhill]

You're most welcome. I did start reading through the immobiliser section but got bored quite quickly 😂

yeah it’s a heavy read for sure but I’ll learn a few things which is always good.

Wondering if you can swap a few parts between cars to help you fault find? I believe you can swap the UCH and Ecu together (@Brigsy).

My circuit car is a bit too modified - runs a Gen 90 ECU and a lot of custom parts. And I can’t see how things would just break by me changing a squib.

Did you already try swapping squib back to the original?

Yes, as soon as it took a wobbler, I immediately switched back. It was a bit of a shock to be honest as I’ve swapped these lots of times. Bottom line - the car had a fault on those two wires anyway. I just need to focus on getting those 2 wires live again and power back to the pumps.

I mustn’t get carried away looking for things that might not be there. I know a good auto electrician anyway, but I want to expand my knowledge and fix this myself - with the help of CS of course 😃

I have alternative transport so I’m taking my time.

 

[JamesBryan]

Have you checked all the earth points Jon, including the earth strap?

 

[Brigsy]

You're most welcome. I did start reading through the immobiliser section but got bored quite quickly 😂

Wondering if you can swap a few parts between cars to help you fault find? I believe you can swap the UCH and Ecu together (@Brigsy).

Did you already try swapping squib back to the original?

Yep uch, ecu and key thats all you need. Id try the trophy one but dont have the oem ecu as its on standalone.

I do have another ecu set somewhere but that had issues from memory.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Have you checked all the earth points Jon, including the earth strap?

Pretty much checked it all.

I've been speaking to one of our techies today and he's offered up a few more suggestions so we'll have a go at those this weekend.

 

[Mr Underhill]

I’ve literally spent the whole week reading wiring diagrams, watching YouTube videos, talking to techies and reading similar stories on here.

Armed with renewed enthusiasm and a cranium full of useless knowledge, my first job was to see what sort of fault codes magically appeared this time. Low and behold we have a couple of new ones. 🤨 All the other codes, mentioned in the thread earlier, have gone and I haven’t even touched it.

WTF!

Still have a solid red immobiliser light and engine won’t crank.

At this point I thought let’s have a look at the battery. It’s been fully charged, but that doesn’t mean much right?

11.67v on my diagnostic and 12.07v on my multimeter. Should be higher?

Went back around the car testing as many earths that I could access and all had the same reading as the battery. I bought myself a cheap and cheerful relay tester after watching a YouTube video.

The brown ones worked. The pink and purple ones didn’t.

Dashed down to my circuit car and tested those and got the same result. So threw the Chinese piece of shite in the bin and retested on my multimeter. All seem to be working.

By now I’m losing the will to live 😂

Last job was to whip the UCH off and have a quick look inside and also around the looms. Everything is so clean and dry.

At this point I’m sitting there thinking should I send it off to get tested or just call an Auto Electrician.

I did the latter. He’s coming on Tuesday.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Colin-S]

Good luck mate! just read through that, what a nightmare!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Good luck mate! just read through that, what a nightmare!

Thanks Colin. If my posts deter any future wannabe auto electricians from messing with their Clios, then it’s all been worth it 😂

Crazy how I’ve gone from having a perfectly functioning car to this. I suppose it’s better happening on the driveway than out in the sticks with “er indoors“ sat in the car.

 

[NorthloopCup]

Fair play for giving it a go mate at least. A lot of the time the generic code readers can lead you up the garden path tbh.

You will never beat product knowledge and the correct diagnostic software specific to the product either. And even then, it’s the product knowledge that gets you out the s**t as the software tries to send you up the creek without a paddle! 😂

 

[Mr Underhill]

Fair play for giving it a go mate at least. A lot of the time the generic code readers can lead you up the garden path tbh.

You will never beat product knowledge and the correct diagnostic software specific to the product either. And even then, it’s the product knowledge that gets you out the s**t as the software tries to send you up the creek without a paddle! 😂

So true Mark. I just did the obvious checks without getting myself into a whole world of pain. I’m sure it’ll be something daft. I‘d hate to let this one go after all the work I’ve put into it.

 

[Ian_R]

Daft Thought, have you tried cleaning the UCH with some IPA - worth making sure circuit boards are as clean as possible. Highly doubt it will work, but if any slight moisture hiding on the board that will get rid.