320touring's Exclusive Clio 172 - Unbroken brakes 03/03/19

[320touring]

I went out to see if I could sort this.

 

Swapped TPS with the other 172, no difference.

 

Stripped and lubed the throttle cable, no difference.

 

Stripped off and cleaned the idle control valve.

 

No difference.

 

To top it all off, it's now screaming from the power steering pump, so the fluid is low.

 

I've parked it.

 

I'm not going back to it until next weekend at least.

[The Moog]

Hopefully it will learn from its seat on the naughty step 

[bigfella2]

Have you had a good look at the inlet manifolds for any leaks, upper and lower, cos that's were I would be looking.

 

It's not unknown for the bolts holding the inlet on to come loose or even make a bid for freedom, there was someone on the Clio forums with similar symptoms and that was the cause.

 

If any are loose don't go mad at tightening them up too much as the torque number is quite low with it been a aluminium head.

[320touring]

Have you had a good look at the inlet manifolds for any leaks, upper and lower, cos that's were I would be looking.

 

It's not unknown for the bolts holding the inlet on to come loose or even make a bid for freedom, there was someone on the Clio forums with similar symptoms and that was the cause.

 

If any are loose don't go mad at tightening them up too much as the torque number is quite low with it been a aluminium head.

I'm 400 miles south of it the now - entirely to its benefit..

 

I shall do some planning when not working and see where we end up.

 

I reckon I can sort the major issues for sub £400 so may be sensible to spend that on it..

 

I may need people to keep me from going full Basil Fawlty on it though!

[320touring]

After calming doon frae may tantrum re this week fucker, I haz dun the decent thing and organised for new parts..

 

 

I'll also be getting new bottom arms and ARB droplinks, plus a replacement power steering pipe.

[Split_Pin]

You've gone radge with the old parts buying there, nice one! Glad this is getting sorted, its a mega wee thing.

[bigfella2]

Do these have ARB drop links? on the phase 2 they are mounted with a bracket to the lower side of the arm. Thought ph1 and ph2 were give or take the same.

[320touring]

Do these have ARB drop links? on the phase 2 they are mounted with a bracket to the lower side of the arm. Thought ph1 and ph2 were give or take the same.

I know what I mean;)

 

Aye I meant that - I think it has a rubber?

[bigfella2]

Yeah that's right, febi bushes are dead cheap of the bay, be daft not to change them if your changing the arms. If you get stuck for any pas parts let me know.

[320touring]

Hopefully this weekend I'll put a damper (or 4) on proceedings..

 

2x gen Renault front, and 2 X Sachs rear.

 

Crow's feet are for getting into the power steering pipe (if they work!)

 

[bigfella2]

Looking good, you might struggle to get enough leverage on the bolts with those baby spanners.

 

Bending up the heat shield gives a bit more space near the rack if there the ones your trying to get at. It's quite tight for space round there, but you probably know that.

[320touring]

Looking good, you might struggle to get enough leverage on the bolts with those baby spanners.

 

Bending up the heat shield gives a bit more space near the rack if there the ones your trying to get at. It's quite tight for space round there, but you probably know that.

Those spanners are designed so you can put an extension into them...

 

Like so

 

https://goo.gl/images/qsh6mg

[bigfella2]

Didn't realise that, might have to get some!!!

[320touring]

Didn't realise that, might have to get some!!!

Let me find out if they work first - I'm hoping it will let me remove the pump end of the pipe without having to the the Alternator off..

[bigfella2]

Where do you think it's pissing out fluid?

[beko1987]

Where do you think it's pissing out fluid?

At the point its leaking

[320touring]

Where do you think it's pissing out fluid?

It's rotten at teh steel to rubber join where it comes down to go underneath the front of the car.

 

Gunna swap whole pipe as patching it hasn't worked

[320touring]

Got the reliable modern in to cover for this whilst it's in getting work done...

 

[Split_Pin]

YUSS

[320touring]

Today was the day..

 

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.

 

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.

 

[davehedgehog31]

That looks like an utter bastard.

[320touring]

I got as far as the discoveries in the last post and made a tactical decision.

 

Wait until Dome got here with the replacement pipes so we had a reference model.

 

I passed the time by washing the GSA:)

 

 

That done and Dome 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 270degree turn to mount into the rack.

 

 

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.

 

 

We used a 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 - Dome 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!

[rainagain]

Are French car designers just really angry at the world and want to it suffer? All the French cars I’ve owned seem to be riddled with parts that are impossible to access like that.

[320touring]

Are French car designers just really angry at the world and want to it suffer? All the French cars I’ve owned seem to be riddled with parts that are impossible to access like that.

I have a suspicion that the folk who did the gearbox worked in a different building to the folk doing the pipework.

 

If there had been 1" of extra space between the timing belt end and the chassis rail it would have been a straight pipe and relatively decent access.

[SiC]

Tbf they did cram a large engine into a small car.

[320touring]

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 2rack mounting points were on.

 

 

That just leaves putting it all back together, then moving onto the suspension..

[bigfella2]

Now you understand why I fucked off my hpas for epas. It's a monumental arsehole to work on.

[320touring]

Now you understand why I fucked off my hpas for epas. It's a monumental arsehole to work on.

Yup.

 

If the engine was out I would have done the same.

 

Given this is the reliable modern I'm hoping not to have to pull the engine out.

[320touring]

Yesterday top Shiter and all round good guy Tickman came over to assist with Clio recommissioning..

 

We got all the mounting bolts/brackets for the high pressure pipe into place and tightened, then made a bespoke* tool for tightening the rack end union

 

 

Cutting away the shoulder allowed for better access and the ability to rotate the union without bending the pipes that surround it.

 

We made sure everything was tight then moved on to replacing the low pressure return to the ps tank

 

 

As you can see here, the clutch arm has worn a nick in the side of the pipe, and it would likely have failed soon.

 

 

The new pipe was offered up and modified to avoid the clutch arm completely. It was then fitted.

 

 

That done, we refilled the system and started the car. The pump refilled and there were no odd noises or drips.

 

Thereafter it was a mix of attempting to troubleshoot idle issues and the fitting of shineh shineh.

 

Currently, the car will randomly 'hang' at 1500-2000rpm when you release the throttle pedal /idle.

 

We pulled the Throttle body off for cleaning.

 

 

Despite this, even with the throttle cable removed, it still exhibits the same symptoms. We think there may be an issue with the throttle body. I will take the one off the other 172 for comparison.

 

Onto the **NEW PARTZ** section of the day - new front damper fitment.

 

 

 

Looks good, eh? Not quite, this is the passenger side, and the spring is cracked and not sitting correctly - I need to order a new one (drivers side is 6 months old or so).

 

Over to the Drivers side, all came apart lovely. "I'll just have a look at the topmounts to make sure the bearings are ok.."

 

 

FOR FUCKS SAKE!

 

We gave up, refitted the struts and moved onto the discs and pads..

 

 

I'm just off the blower to the local parts emporium, and have new topmounts and a spring ordered.

 

Just need to source the bumpstops now.

[beko1987]

Fuck look at the state of that! You'll notice the difference now!