Clio gets refreshed ! (The ballad of the leaky power steering)

Today was the day..the day the 172 got its leaking power steering sorted.

First up was some unit shuffle to free up space.

An eclectic fleet selection.

Then it was time to batter the Clio up onto stands for initial inspection.

It became obvious that this was to be an involved job.
This is where the pipe goes into the pump. Replete with alternator mounting bracket and alternator.

Luckily, there is a union further down the pipe that you can disconnect this end from.

A 19mm spanner to hold the main union with the sensor in it, 17mm spanner for the union on the pipe. The rest of the pipe disappears under the gearbox mount and over the gearbox itself.

I got as far as these discoveries and made a tactical decision.
Wait until Brian got here with the replacement pipes so we had a reference model.
I passed the time by washing the GSA:)

That done and Brian arrived.
We worked out the route.
It starts at the pump at RHS front
goes down and alongside the bottom rad hose, left and up over the gearbox
then left again to the exhaust where it ducks under and is held to the rack before a final 270 degree turn to mount into the rack.
The Gearbox mount has to come out, as does battery tray.
We powered on, in between sweary words.
First up was ostensibly the most difficult bit – the 17mm collar bolt on the line at the rack end.

This 17mm crowsfoot spanner was modified to allow for better articulation between the pipes on the rack.
We used the crow’s foot to loosen it initially – the other rack pipes made it impossible to get more than 1/8turn at a time.
Once loose enough, it was turned out by hand, and we sought the next couple of mounts.
They were to be found in handily inaccessible places – the first onto the rack with the 13mm nut obscured by the exhaust heat shield.
The second had a round headed bolt, and no real way to get to the nut on the other side. A gearbox mount, the steering rack and the subframe also conspired to remove access.
Luckily, the clamp was of a sort where a well placed screwdriver can prize it open, releasing the pipe.
Next up was removing the gearbox mount and the battery tray – Brian is ably driving the bolts out here.

The battery tray removed ( Pro tip – smashing FUCK out the central bar in the rubber mount helps you separate it..) we were able to see the 3 16mm bolts that hold the gearbox mount to the casing.
With those removed, we could lever up the lower part of the gearbox mount, and get to the 13mm bolt that holds the pipe on at the top of the gearbox.
Round the front and there is a hugely long 16mm bolt that holds the pipe to the front of the gearbox. Again, the subframe and various erroneous pipes caused access issues, but we eventually succeeded.

I think the feelings are clear in the above pic. It took 5.5hrs for 6 bolts!
With the old one out, I saw fit to clean up and derust the replacement- never wanting to face this job again.
Once the paint was dry we got on with feeding it back through.
At close of play, the rack end was back in, and the other 2 rack mounting points were on.

Pt2 follows

Flying fleet roundup..

Although the stars of this blog in recent times have been the Oxford and the GSA, work continues on other fleet members as well.

Sometimes successful, sometimes not.

Here’s a round up of what has been done recently:

The 335.

This beast has been slumbering for a long time after it became apparent that it was running rich, misfiring and producing spectacular backfires on LPG.

My brother spent a day methodically working through causes.

First up, the plugs were filthy. He got them cleaned up and refitted – we shall order new.

A replacement AFM (Air Flow Meter) was attached, along with new sparkplug leads and she was fired up.

With her up to temp, she was pulled out of her resting place and given a swift look over. Despite being hoachin, she looked in reasonable condition bar her battery being unserviceable.

We aired up her tyres and ran it up and down before concluding it was worth the risk of slinging her in front an MOT.

a few days later, with the GSA battery (really!) fitted and a few gallons of petrol sloshed in, a return trip was conducted to the MOT station of choice.

It was a fail, but not a bad one –

The battery clamp was my fault as I didn’t refit before taking it for test – I can be dozy early in the day.

We’ll get the work completed and have her back in for a retest soon.

Clio 172 #60

This continues as the defacto daily beater for both the burd and I. After multiple hiccups , it appeared to be behaving..

Out for lunch last week and the good lady said “#60 has a rubbing sound constantly, and a metallic ting occasionally, both from the front right”.

I contained my excitement.

Back home, it was up in the air for investigating.

This piece of plastic arch liner had detached itself and made a happy little home on the bottom arm, where it rubbed off the back of the wheel causing the persistent rubbing sound.

This jubilee clip had escaped from its post as CV boot holderer onnerer, and was merrily swinging away on the ARB.

A new one was procured and fitted.

Clio 172 #54

This one is dragging on – hoping to get it MOT’d soon

2 new tyres have been fitted to the rear.

The brakes were shocking, so a fluid change was instigated.

It seemed like a good choice. Dropping the spanner in the bottle, not so much.

We bled it in time honoured tradition from the furthers to nearest the master cylinder. Bother backs went ok, and we kept the easy to access* reservoir topped up with fresh fluid.

Can you spot it?

Moving onto the front, things didn’t look as grand..

Despite application of “spanner in a can” many bleed nipples died.

Luckily, in a fit of forethought (almost 3 years ago!) I had bought 2 new calipers and stored them away.

Both were fitted and more bleeding occurred. The pedal still feels crap, so we will have to try again.

Additionally, the handbrake cables were removed for new to be fitted.

New handbrake cables were spotted on last night, but there appears to be an issue with the drivers side. It’s a matched pair of cables, but one appears too long, although that may be due to the rear calipers lever.. more investigation required.

Progress where once there was none..

“The beast from the east”, “Snowpocalypse 2018” – call it what you will. But we all know that to which I refer.

I called it”Damned inconvenient”, given that a large volume of snow in a short period of time wreaked havoc with my plans for automotive progress.

We left off the last blog with 3 inconvenient truths:

1. The Toledo needed work for its MOT, and time was running low for the 10 day retest.

2. “It was the wrong driveshaft Gromit” for the good lady’s Clio 172

3. The other Clio 172 needed the rear brakes sorting, should it wish to continue in service.

The obvious place to start was in repaiing the car with no MOT or gearbox oil..

Brutha_touring had managed to source a used driveshaft with sound gaitor for Babette (#54). All that lay between us and success was some snow.

Luckily, it was not yet frozen, so could be shovelled out of the way.

Fitting the new driveshaft was relatively simple, due to multiple practice runs. She was back together in relatively short order.

That done we gingerly moved her out of the space in front of the house, and down to the “waiting projects holding cell”.

It was now dark, and cold. Ideal brake fettling weather!

With #60 moved into position, the carrier was stripped, and the 30mm retaining nut holding the disc removed.

It was not pretty! An obvious failure of the disc across the bell and friction areas that appeared to have been some time in the making.

Time for the new disc

We called it a night at that.

The next day it was time for the passenger rear. All in all, a simple repair.

This done it was test drive time.

Almost immediately, it was obvious that the right rear caliper was sticking on – and it’s likely that was at least partially to blame for the disc failure.

Oh well, time for a strip down and clean.

The dust boot round the piston was poor, and the piston itself was dirty.

We got it wound out (lefty loosey), removed the seal and cleaned everything up with brake cleaner. We replaced the seal with a better spare one and wound the piston back in.

The sliders were not in great shape – they need to be if the floating caliper set up is to work correctly.

Between the ones on the car and spares from a second caliper, we got the best pair sorted and cleaned.

Some reassembly followed by spirited testing revealed a working setup that didn’t constantly drag.

I was now up to one working car!

Aiming for a doubling of working fleet size, it was the Toledo’s turn for fettling.

I’d already sorted the failure for incorrect headlight pattern by fitting the passenger bulb retaining clip correctly. That left 3 things.

“Parking brake lever insecure”

Resolved by tightening the two 13mm bolts holding the lever to the floor.

“Offside front coil spring broken”

Out again with the dugga dugga, and off with the 3 nuts/bolts (21mm top, 19mm strut onto hub).

Aye that’s buggered.

Judicious application of screwdriver and torx drive = deconstructed strut.

Repair and replacement was the reverse of removal.

Lastly, “rear brake load sensing valve siezed”

This is a common failure for there sorts of car – it only really comes into play if the car has heavy loads in the boot – not an everyday occurrence, so they stick.

Some remonstrating fluid and wiggling later, we had a moving load sensing valve.

Shortly thereafter, I was in receipt of a pleasingly clean piece of paper.

It was pressed into use the very next day, but that’s for another post!

Fffffffleet frustrations..

After last weekend’s success, I was keen to continue with progress in an attempt to move at least two of the fleet towards their MOT.

First up was the Toledo.

I got to the garage nice and early, replaced the headlight bulb that had failed and set off for the station.

About half way there, there was a *BANG* from the front end.

The car felt ok so I carried on, and got it in for a test.

It failed.

The front driver’s spring had failed. Lucky I got two then..

Its up in the air and prepped for stripping when I get a free day.

I got the headlight bulb aligned properly (the clip had popped off) and used some penetrating fluid on the apparently sticking load compensation valve for the rear brakes.

The only fault that could be problematic is the “handbrake lever insecure”. This seems a common fault on MK2/3 golf floorpan cars. The usual repair seems to involve welding, but a lack of power at the garage may need an alternative solution to be found.

Not too bad but more work to do.

Then it was on to the burd’s Clio 172.

A split inner CV boot meant lashings of gearbox oil everywhere bar the gearbox.

The easiest option seemed to be a new driveshaft, and I procured one from eBay.

We got the 30mm nut on the hub end of the driveshaft loosened before jacking up the car.

Car up in the air and we decided the trick was to take off the bolts between the balljoint and bottom arm.

A bit of tippy tappy and removal of the 3 13mm retaining bolts at the gearbox end had it out easily enough.

Then it was time to fit the new one.

Before buying it, I’d double checked with the vendor that it would fit, as the car is a ph1 172 made in the year they changed to the ph2. I provided the reg number and explained all this, recieving assurance that it was correct.

Ehh, that’s not the same fucking part..

Refund being sought and the car is still on axle stands outside the house.

Still, Clio 172 Exclusive #60 was still faultless eh?

Ah.

Good lady working til 4pm on Sunday. Called me to say leaving work, and should be about 30mins.

4.25pm *BRINGBRING*

Me: *pauses scrapheap challenge* “Hullo?”

GL: “Hi, thecarwentbangandnowwontmove”

Me: “OK, are you alright?”

GL: “I’m fine, I managed to get the car to the side of the road”

Me: “OK, I’ll see if I can scare a lift up and come to get you”

*Cut to scene of doors being knocked and neighbours helping out*

When I got there I had a cursory look under the car at the front.

Luckily no gearbox oil or hanging driveshafts were to be seen. Working round to the back, It rapidly became apparent what had happened.

The driver’s rear disc had failed and locked up the caliper. This had jammed the wheel, causing the car to slow rapidly.

Nothing for it but to call the RAC.

They were out pretty quickly, and got the wheel off.

It looks like there was a crack in the disc, and the rear caliper had stuck on, causing the disc to heat and shear.

Alarming!

On the Clio, the rear discs bolt onto a stub axle. This means that the bell of the disc holds the bearing, and is the only thing the rear wheel is bolted to.

Understandably, both I and the RAC chap were reticent to tow it with the rear wheels on the road. His computer said he could not rear tow.

He radio’d in for a flatbed.

An hour later, this turned up.

A spec-lift.

Great.

I told the chap the situation, and we looked over the car to see if anything obvious would cause a problem. Couldn’t see anything.

So she was trussed up and towed home no problem.

Rear discs and pads have been ordered to go with the fronts that were booked in for the weekend.

Let’s hope we get something done next weekend.

I’m off to potter about in an E60

Spring has sprung – A good start to the weekend!

Today was a day for success. It had been decided.
I met my Brother and Split_Pin of this here parish at the Fu’Gutty shack and we set to work.
First job was to apply the uggadugga (buzz gun) to the topmount bolt.

With this slackened off we could turn our attention to the bolts holding the hub to the strut.
Application of a short breaker bar had them moving and free in no time.
Pulling it off the car was simple and allowed inspection of the obvious issue.

The topmount was removed, and the spring seat split off.
I had bought 2 new springs, and will likely do the drivers and possibly swap the struts for new once an MOT has been achieved.

Judicious use of the uggadugga saw the new spring compressed and fitted in jig time

That done it was time for a pre MOT checkup.
All this revealed was a need for an H1 headlamp bulb and the fact that the strike plates for the lights in the bootlid needed cleaning to give foglamps and reversing lights.
It’s 1 bulb away from being in for an MOT

Today also saw some working on the 172 Exclusive #60.
Having dropped it’s backbox on the way home from getting the drivers driveshaft replaced, it’s only had an exhaust to the rear axle.
I’d skooshed the mount bolts and the nuts on the c clamp for the sleeve join with Remonstrating fluid earlier in the week and had high hopes..

This was the sight that greeted me – it’d obvious had at least 1 replacement mount before as it was fixed with a mix of 13mm and 8mm headed bolts.
All the bolts came out cleanly, and a new ‘ uprated’ mount was fitted. The stock rubber aftermarket ones fail far too easily, so polyurethane was the way to go!

Happily, the c clamp nuts loosened off fine, and the backbox mated right up. 10mins start to finish.

We then went for a well deserved coffee to warm up, and I managed to grab a pic of the Shree Motahs:)

Clio Cranking Capers

A ditty about the joys* of getting Clio sports to start..

Today. Was. The. Day

Up early, having arranged to work from home.

Called RAC.

Waited,

Waited some more

RAC arrived and checked it all out. Starter motor not playing ball even when contacts powered directly.

Fucksocks.

Called up one starter motor place ,”leave it with me 10 mins”

Call back 12 mins later.
“Ah’ve no got tae it yet”

Phone second starter motor place “£120 supplied and fitted plus a year guarantee”

Says I, “when could you do the work?”

Says he, “bring it roon ranoo”

We bump start it and I drop it off.

20mins later get a call from an employee there to see if I wanted to sell the car. Say “No”.

Call a couple of hours later (just to see if it would be tomorrow as have borrowed parent_touring’s CRV)

“We’ve got the motor off, it’s burned out – looks as if it has stuck on. We’re finding the correct motor for you now, as yours is a 9tooth, not the usual 11tooth. We’ll also check the ignition wiring to make sure nothing is shorting out.”

“Ok, cheers” says I.

Some hours pass.

Brrring brrring “Hullo, ats yer wee Clio ready mate, nae wiring faults fun”

I telephone a taxi.

A Civic EP2 diesel turns up.

“Ah took this Tae the Ross Auto for a starter on Friday err, thems guid cunts” said the driver.

I smile, nodding and grunting as appropriate. Pay my fare.

Go intae the shop, boy says “ahh, the auld heid came in useful err, ah says Tae them, if it’s a 9 tooth, it’s a Bosch motor, they walloped wan in and away she goes”

I count out 6 twenties and wait until my hand written invoice is produced.

Keys are proffered and accepted.

Plipper plipped, door opened.

Seatbelt on, key to start.

The f4r barks to life.

Select reverse, align car with exit.

Select first.

Go.

Like.

Fuck.

Mending the mischievous missfire

Since coming into fleet, Ph1 Clio 172 Exclusive #60 has been a mixed bag. Bought sight unseen from Dudley, she was cleaner than I had any right to hope, and drove the 300miles home in fine fashion.

With just a front spring and a set of handbrake cables, she was MOT’d and pressed into service. Since then, there has been a persistent missfire.

Previously, the code reader had reported “multiple cylinder missfire”.

A cardboard test had shown #4 injector had a poor spray pattern, so it was swapped out. The missfire got better, but still remained.

With sister car #54 sitting raised up, I took the opportunity to do some substitution elimination.

Generally, on the F4R, missfires are down to one of 4 things

1. Injector failure

2. Coilpack failure

3. Plug lead failure

4. Spark plugs. (They need some “super long service interval” specific plugs)

First up was to eliminate the injectors.

So I pulled the whole injector rail off of #54 and swapped it to #60.

This gave me 4 known good injectors, so out for a test drive I went.

It was driving lovely, pulling beautifully and I was having my confidence restored.

I stopped at a set of traffic lights and the the missfire came back. Interestingly, the car was fully up to temp by this point.

I took it back and parked it up in disgust.​

After a nice day cleaning and playing with the Toledo and Oxford, I decided to apply what logic I had left to the situation.

My brother and I set to work in the dark, in -2 degrees. A happy working environment it was not.

With the missfire returning when the car was up to temp, We suspected something was getting warm and failing on the ignition circuit.

We decided to strip the whole Coilpack/leads/plugs package off of #54 and fit it to #60.

Even going as far to keep the sparkplugs in the same order so they were matched to the same injector, plug lead and coil pack point as on the other engine.

#60’s upper manifold was removed,

Like most 16v engines, the spark plugs live way down in a hole in the middle of the head. Back in the day, I’d jetwashed #54’s engine and got a missfire. Solved by drying stuff out and replacing the plugs.

Imagine my surprise* when it turned out that 3 of the 4 plugs were rusty.. not only that, they were not the correct plugs!

The car had been sitting for about 7 months when I got it, so there was every chance they’d got wet and grumpy.

We fitted the known good stuff and went for a drive.

Performance was gooood – staying squirrelly through 3rd gear (no traction control on the ph1s)

We travelled further than previous, and the car was fully up to temp with no missfire.

She gets to be the ‘station car” this week. If she behaves, she may go further afield thereafter.

Please cross your digits in the customary fashion!

Exclusive Frustrations.

I was sitting on a train as I wrote this. Held at signals due to a failure further down the line.

Yet this is not the frustration of which I write. My ire is reserved for the numbers 54 and 60 respectively.

Clio 172 Exclusive #60 was bought and driven up the road from Dudley a couple of weeks back. Initial inspection showed nowt much wrong with it.

An MOT revealed a cracked front spring, and the need of 2 functioning handbrake cables.

The back disks were not the prettiest either.

Finding the right handbrake cables was fun – there are 3 different lengths for each side. On a single model (all other clios had rear drums). A chap called Matt Hill on the Clio Sport Owners Club Facebook page was a great help in tracking down the correct part numbers for the cables.

The repairs done an MOT was obtained, and the car transferred to my daily driver policy.

Before so could use it in anger, I was greeted by this sight..

This is the Burd’s Exclusive (#54) doing an exemplary job of failing to retain its gearbox oil. This looks awful like a return of the previous incontinence on behalf of the driveshaft boot.

By now #60 was ready to be pressed into use – handily taking #54’s place. 

All well then. Except maybe not.

Fast forward to Monday evening, and me getting a call today say that #60 won’t start. It sounds like a classic immobiliser fault – with the flashing red light.

After a mercy dash with the other key, order was restored and it drove home no bother. 

Except it wasn’t the end of it. Yesterday morning saw it misfiring heavily, and with a flashing EML.
This is a ‘classic’ injector issue on the Clio 172 – and I expected to see a code for such an issue.

I went to the pub.
Today a code reading showed no injector faults and the car drove fine. I remain perplexed!

Collecting ANOTHER Clio..

The phase 2 Clio 172 I collected in September has had the gearbox replaced and is conducting it’s duties in a sterling manner.

Chief amongst which was participating in a rather convoluted Clio collection.

A week ago, I was idly perusing my Facebook feed as I made dinner. As the sauce swirled, my heartbeat quickened at the sight of something beautiful.

#60 was on my Facebook feed, and at a great price too. Yes, friends, another Ph1 172 Exclusive was the object of my desires.

The Burd’s (#54) has facinated me since we got it – unassuming yet rapid, frugal and fun. Now was my chance.

I started surreptitiously messaging the seller whilst working out the best way to break it to the boss. In the end, a straight up “I think I’m gonna buy this” was met with an “OOOH, THAT’S PRETTY” and we were on.

A paltry deposit was sent and the troops were rallied.

Did I mention it was in Dudley?

I’m pleased to say that I’m mates with folk who you can message on a Tuesday evening saying “I’ll be at Birmingham Airport Sat evening- will you take me to buy a car I have never seen?”

And they say YES. Take a bow Dave!

Saturday came, and the day started with me taking the ph2 50 miles east to Edinburgh and a prior appointment that awaited.

Once ended, I had precious little time to dash back to the station, and dump the car before training into Glasgow. Once there I’d meet my brother for onward conveyance to the Airport.

Except, the rolling stock destined for the 2.50pm train to Glasgow had a fail to proceed, and duly smote me with cancellation.

Undeterred, my brother was good enough to meet me at the station – meaning the schedule suffered not a jot!

Things went smoothly with the flight – a 10 min delay turning into a 7 min advance as the pilot took full advantage of an assisting tailwind.

Upon landing, I stalked to the familiar meeting location at the arrivals area

There I met a man I did not expect

He took me to a waiting Berlingo parked in a most legal of ways by this chap.

Once ensconced in the warmth of the Berlingo, we hared down many a route until we arrived at the sellers yard.

The seller was a top bloke – good chat, and the car was as described. He’d even cleaned it, and checked all the fluids etc.

I was very happy. Money changed hands, and that’s when things got slightly more surreal.

Instead of doing the sensible thing and heading straight North, I filled the tank and wandered off to a local hostelry.

There we met Julian (he of the “gearbox less 172” escapade)  and ate, drank and were merry.

9.35pm came, and I decided to head north. 

As is always the case, the nerves were high for the first 10 miles, slowly receding as the numbers clicked up.

At least until the 40th mile. That’s when all hell broke loose! A thudding scared me enough to force a stop at the nearest services – sounding for all the world like an aux belt slapping about as it slowly failed.

Investigations were undertaken, but no obvious source could be found, and the belt looked sound.

I retired to relieve myself of my concerns, and then saddled back up to press on.

In a 40mph section of road works I had time to play hunt the sound – tracing it to something slapping on the roof.

Tebay revealed the cause.

It was Midnight and freezing, my brain struggled to compute. I headed inside in search of sustenance.

Whilst waiting on my coffee, I asked if there was some tape that I could borrow – to allow holding of the seal.

No tape was available, but the helpful chap behind the counter provided me with some stickers (as used to seal their takeaway boxes).

Top work by that chap, and excellent customer service!

After application, the remainder of the trip was much quieter.

At 2.26am, #54 and #60 met.

And I went to bed.