Two weeks in, I have overall been loving the ownership experience of my first Clio 182. Having come from a Peugeot 207 1.6, it’s the first performance car I’ve ever bought. And at £2,000, it’s more than double the price of the second most expensive car I’ve ever owned - a 2003 Clio 1.2 16v I bought back in 2013 for a grand.
Although the service history was good, to satisfy my OCD the 182 went to Mike at Ren-tech in Portsmouth for a full service and gearbox oil change. In addition to that, it needed the following:
- Rear wiper
- Track rod end
- Front brake lines
In addition to these minor bits, I’ve also done a couple of things myself, including:
- Changing the (hideous) aftermarket gear knob cap for an OEM job.
- Changing a perished exhaust mount, again with an OEM part. I’m aware that there are better poly upgrades available for these, but I’m slightly put off by talk of increased resonance through the boot floor.
- Put the plastic engine cover back on. Does anyone keep these on? I put mine on as I figure it’s better there than in the boot when I bought it!
I also noticed that the windscreen washers weren’t working. After a top-up of screenwash failed to cure the issue, and with the pump suspiciously silent, it was time for a new washer pump.
Unfortunately, this didn’t do anything either. Balls. By pure chance, I happened to test them again when the headlights were on and – lo and behold – a steady stream of washer fluid.
After following the excellent guide to washer bottle removal, it turns out that some previous numpty has fitted a new bottle, presumably from a standard Clio or a Cup as it’s a single pump model, and then fitted the headlight washer pump, but not the windscreen pump to it. Brilliant. So I’ve just bought a proper two-pump washer bottle from eBay which will be arriving later this week.
View attachment 1556045
So that’s it. Next on the to-do list are:
- New tyres (currently weighing up between Rainsports and P Zero Neros)
- Small weld to exhaust clamp where it joins to the rear silencer – slightly wobbly
- Investigate lumpy idle – I know these are all supposed to do this, but mine keeps stalling and smells like it’s running rich too.
Thanks all for your advice so far!
View attachment 1556046