Subframe mount lower suspension arm hole wear - check your Clio!

[murcod]

ill inspect mine on friday.

Thanks. If you can take some pics and post them up that would be fantastic.

Mines going back into Renault soon for the measurements of the worn areas to be taken for Renault Australia's investigation. They'll no doubt be contacting Renault France about the issue (if they haven't already) - so if they're getting feed back from all around the world that it's a common problem they won't be able to ignore it.

 

[Russ_16v]

il check mine on saturday

 

[murcod]

Any updates from the people who were going to have a look?

I spoke to my local dealer yesterday and they've had another RSC booked in for the same problem and he's heard from Renault Australia that other people interstate have also reported sub frame wear to dealers.

Mine is back in again getting measurements done.

 

[franx]

my job has been delayed. I think the car will be in next week.

 

[murcod]

OK, no worries.

Another Aussie owner has posted on OzRS their 172 was affected and has been fixed by welding washers in place. No before or after pics though.

 

[franx]

OK, no worries.

Another Aussie owner has posted on OzRS their 172 was affected and has been fixed by welding washers in place. No before or after pics though.

these washer had better be of the srongest material available ?

 

[murcod]

these washer had better be of the srongest material available ?

Yeah, I know its a bit of a concern using "home remedies" to fix this sort of fault. However, when you look at your own car you'll realise just how flimsy that section of metal is from the factory- most washers would be "heavy duty" in comparison for thickness.

 

[franx]

one thing i noticed from the pics is that the wearing is prettymuch the same all round, i'm meaning to say that they are worn in a perfect circle ? That's strange , i would think the movement/wearing would cause a more "oval" type of mark..

 

[racingroo]

one thing i noticed from the pics is that the wearing is prettymuch the same all round, i'm meaning to say that they are worn in a perfect circle ? That's strange , i would think the movement/wearing would cause a more "oval" type of mark..

I've seen a couple with oval shape wear.

 

[Butler205]

Mines ovaled too. Today fitting poly wishbone bushes. Will weld in a washer, but it looks like poly bushes would actually help stop this happening because of the size of the inner, versus the standard bush.

The car has done 104K though.

 

[murcod]

Mines ovaled too. Today fitting poly wishbone bushes. Will weld in a washer, but it looks like poly bushes would actually help stop this happening because of the size of the inner, versus the standard bush.

The car has done 104K though.

Thanks for checking and posting what you found.

So the inner metal tube that the bolt goes through has thicker sidewalls or something, does it?

I think most of the holes have been "out of round" that I've seen- it's just very hard to view the hole shape without totally removing the bolt.

 

[Butler205]

Correct.


Mine had only worn the rear mounting points. I looks caused by heavy braking forces, causing the wisbones to toe out and push the rears in.

 

[Russ_16v]

i couldnt check mine on sat, though i will this weekend, could this be causing a bad knock/vibration i get sometimes?

 

[murcod]

It could be Russ- particularly the knock.

Butler 205 - all the Aussie ones only seem to have the rear most hole enlarged/ elongated. You might have noticed the front most hole has a metal support / stay that's bolted to the body- I wonder if that is to prevent the same thing happening at the front?

Accelerating or braking would put a lot of pressure in the areas worn IMHO ; and any movement there will be changing to toe angle, causing "tramlining" and increased torque steer. I've also had mine "dart" off line when accelerating on a sweeping bend after hitting a rut in the road.

A lot of Aussie owners have now reported this to their dealers and Renault Australia (I've been told) is taking a lot of interest.

 

[skini]

I checked mine today. Same thing. It is ph1 with 130 000km.

 

[hkka]

I fitted Powerflex before but not working, I thought it was the Powerflex which caused the problem. I then changed it back to a new arm and it works!!! Problem was solved, but well, after water pump changed at the same garage, problem come again :-(

I am wondering if the H&R camber adjusting bolt can help the problem slightly. I had removed it cos my friend said we don't need it.

I will check mine soon, but my garage's friend is busy. Maybe in 2 weeks. Will update my status.

Hello from Hong Kong Clio.

 

[Butler205]

If you wishbones or moving and enlarging the rear hole you will notice the car squirm under heavy braking.

 

[murcod]

I checked mine today. Same thing. It is ph1 with 130 000km.

Thanks Skini.

I got mine back yesterday, they actually removed the lower arm/ wishbone completely and measured it and took more photos. I was told the holes were enlarged by 3mm (so a 15mm hole with a 12mm bolt moving around in it.) That's 15000km on a 182 Cup - I think the 182's might be affected worse due to the wider track?

They also confirmed that it was only the rear most hole that had wear. The other three on each side were fine.

 

[r8byb]

mine area all fine 62k 04 182

 

[murcod]

mine area all fine 62k 04 182

Any pics?

 

[r8byb]

fraid not it was on a ramp having stuff done so checked all of them

 

[Mark One]

serious stuff this.
Will be interesting to see what renault say

 

[Gavin J]

Will check mine tomorrow, it's a phase 1 with 106k so will be interesting to what wear there is.

 

[lemonnobby]

ive never seen this but i have to do a bottom arm the next few weeks so will have a look

 

[Darren S]

Balls. I had one of the wheels off today as well. I wish I'd seen this thread earlier.

I'm off work Tuesday & Wednesday. I'll have another look then...

D.

 

[Gavin J]

Right guys i have checked mine today.

Mine's a 2000 phase 1 172 with 106,000 miles on the clock.

I've been suffering a from clunking from o/side front since i have owned the car. I have took it to a garage to investigate it and all they could find was some slight play in the driveshaft and and slight wear in a ball joint but nothing serious, but i had these replaced anyway in hope of solving the clunk! but this made no difference and everything looks in perfect order.

My symptons are i get 2 slight clunks when pulling away (only ever clunks in 1st & not when changing through higher gears) and it sometimes clunks very slightly on hard cornering.

So this morning i stripped down the o/side and found the following to the rear control arm bolt hole,

I've changed the contrast in this one to make it a bit more clear,

I checked all other holes and they are in perfect condition with no distortion/wear.

So i'm quite confident that this is the cause of my clunking and it explains why the garage didn't solve the problem as you literally couldn't tell unless you undo the bolts! Hope that helps you Murcod, thanks for hopefully solving my problem!! just need to find a suitable high tensile washer now...

 

[Mark One]

it'd be interesting to know if your knocking is solved by the washer fix. Let us know.

 

[riz]

it'd be interesting to know if your knocking is solved by the washer fix. Let us know.

yea definately, update us as soon as

 

[Gavin J]

Mark One, i meant to say on my post that the very front control arm subframe mount has a washer in place between the bolt head hole in the subframe (the front mount where you have the arm from the body fixed to the control arm/subframe mount) this hole was perfect but the washer its self had taken a beating but looked to have saved any wear on the subframe itself.

So i'm thinking that this washer could probably be ordered from renault as its quite a substantial washer and used to fix damaged holes by being welded in place?
Washer and front mount minus washer in place with no wear whatsoever..

 

[Butler205]

it'd be interesting to know if your knocking is solved by the washer fix. Let us know.

Fixed mine. But I fitted poly bushes too which redices the movement a lot.

 

[hkka]

Fixed mine. But I fitted poly bushes too which redices the movement a lot.

Hi, may i know how you fixed the problem?
By welding a washer?? How you do the welding?? How many point did you weld?

Also, I am wondering if everyone's problem are happen at the same driver side?

I will have mine check on Wed hopefully.

 

[Alex_X93]

Will inspect my ph1 guess it will be a case of how to fix the problem from above pics. Renault design eh! Is the washer on front most point not secured by welding? Would a washer on the bolt solve the problem or does it have to be welded. Also do 197's suffer from this...

 

[Gavin J]

Alex the front washer is not welded in place but does look to have avoided any wear at the front.

I think now that the damage has been caused that the washer would do very little without being welded. I'm Hoping to get mine done in the next week as i'm going to the nurburgring on the 27th! so trying to get it sorted before then - will post the outcome.

 

[Laura]

mines going into gdi in a few weeks, i have a strange clunking noise from both sides, ill have a look at this

 

[murcod]

Thanks for the pics GavinJ. I've been away all week with no internet access and also haven't had a chance to chase up the dealer for a progress report.

For repairs a number of people on Oz Renault Sport have had the 12mm high tensile washers welded in place and reported a big improvement.

 

[skini]

How thick washer should be used?

 

[Gavin J]

I've ordered another 2 washers from Renault same as the one pictured above - only £1.98 for two - welding them in place tomorrow will post pic's and let you know if it stops the noises.....and put the part number up for the washer....

 

[Fred@BTM]

^don't forget to grind the galvanising off first dude

 

[Gavin J]

Won't do matey just soooooo hoping it solves my clunking as i've ran out of ideas if this isn't the cause..

 

[ijaen]

I had a feeling something wasn't quite right because it's been "tram lining" a lot under power (torque steering badly over rutted roads.)

my car does that, it is not an RS but I'll have a look tomorrow