2003 Clio 172
In the six months or so I've owned my 172 I've always thought the engine sounded a little 'tappety', but put it down to the fact that the F4R isn't exactly the smoothest or quietest of units at the best of times. Had the car in the garage yesterday for some other work and mentioned to the mechanic (who really knows his stuff) about the noise. When I picked the car up he confirmed that there was a noise there, although only slight. He thinks possibly one of the hydraulic lifters is a little noisy. Belts and dephaser were done recently (effectively twice as the first garage made a pigs ear of it). The head was rebuilt by Renatec in Bristol in 2014 prior to me owning the car after the cam belt jumped a tooth and bent some valves, so he thinks the noise may well be a legacy of that. Let's just say that Renatec aren't exactly the best garage out there, and I have first hand experience of their cackhandedness, so I wouldn't be surprised if they bodged something whilst doing the repair work to the head. Car runs fine otherwise with no loss of power, but I'm p**sed off about yet another's issue after spending so much money on the car in the short space of time I've owned it. Add to this the fact that my gearbox has a slight wine and a stiff downshift (although fresh Elf gearbox oil has significantly improved this) and I think I need to start planning for a replacement engine and box, although I'll continue to drive it until it really needs doing or goes bang. Ah, the joys of RS ownership ??
