Oops I did it again... Adey's Clio 200 EDC

[SCJM21]

Looking good, same setup as mine with the cooksports and spacer setup, only found it to rub slightly on full lock at the front.
I ended up dropping the fronts down to 16mm as 20 was a little too much for me!

 

[Adey.]

So it looks like my clutch pack is starting to let go. I'm told there is a common issue where the rear main seal mists a bit of oil onto the rear friction plate. This shows itself initially with the car reducing boost/power when it sense slip in 5th gear. So I pile through the gears and it gets to 5th and goes slower, shift to 6th and it goes full bore again. You can see the boost pressure drop down to just under a bar then climb slowly with the revs. The cars ecu monitors input and output shaft speed of the gearbox by the looks of it. It is likely effecting 3rd also but as it whips through quite quickly I'm probably not noticing it. We did keep the torque relatively low to try and keep everything together so this leans more on a contamination issue but that said it is now on 98k... Id say on a stock car you would never notice unless looking for it or if it was really bad.

I'm looking to get a stronger clutch made up by helix (through Ktec) to replace the current one, just awaiting a new rear main seal to come into stock before I drop the car off. This will be the first major job I've not undertaken in many years. To do the job the gearbox needs to be fully removed and some specialist tools used to remove and press the clutch pack into the gearbox.

Hopefully it will all go well, then later in the year I can jump back on the quest for power with bigger injectors and a few other tweaks, the clutch will be hitting the wallet a touch hard though.

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Be interesting to see how you get on with the clutch, and how much it ends up costing. Might help a lot of people out who want more power, or want to use the cars hard on track.

 

[Adey.]

Be interesting to see how you get on with the clutch, and how much it ends up costing. Might help a lot of people out who want more power, or want to use the cars hard on track.

To be fair, I think the stock clutch will be fine for most people. The price of this fitted (at the moment ) is cheaper than a new unit supplied and fitted, essentially its refurbing and relining the old one. (I've done this many times in the past, just never on a DCT)

We will see though, for me it needs to be able to hold more torque than the stock unit for a decent amount of time to be a success, happy to try it out though and go from there.

 

[Sash]

So it looks like my clutch pack is starting to let go. I'm told there is a common issue where the rear main seal mists a bit of oil onto the rear friction plate. This shows itself initially with the car reducing boost/power when it sense slip in 5th gear. So I pile through the gears and it gets to 5th and goes slower, shift to 6th and it goes full bore again. You can see the boost pressure drop down to just under a bar then climb slowly with the revs. The cars ecu monitors input and output shaft speed of the gearbox by the looks of it. It is likely effecting 3rd also but as it whips through quite quickly I'm probably not noticing it. We did keep the torque relatively low to try and keep everything together so this leans more on a contamination issue but that said it is now on 98k... Id say on a stock car you would never notice unless looking for it or if it was really bad.

I'm looking to get a stronger clutch made up by helix (through Ktec) to replace the current one, just awaiting a new rear main seal to come into stock before I drop the car off. This will be the first major job I've not undertaken in many years. To do the job the gearbox needs to be fully removed and some specialist tools used to remove and press the clutch pack into the gearbox.

Hopefully it will all go well, then later in the year I can jump back on the quest for power with bigger injectors and a few other tweaks, the clutch will be hitting the wallet a touch hard though.

This sounds very much like my car and has been doing this for years (I always assumed it was the car being over sensitive and pulling the power).

 

[Matt Cup]

Love the build thread! And it’s good to see someone working with companies developing things for this platform 👍

 

[Adey.]

This sounds very much like my car and has been doing this for years (I always assumed it was the car being over sensitive and pulling the power).

does it only do it in 3rd and/or 5th?

 

[Sash]

does it only do it in 3rd and/or 5th?

it would appear so…

 

[Adey.]

it would appear so…

could well be a bit of contamination on that friction plate, or just a little worn out with age. does it do it more/worse on cold days, when the car may be a little more fruity/powerful?

I can check the thickness of my clutch plates using Renolink, could possibly do similar on yours to confirm the issue (contamination or wear) that said its the same job to fix it.

 

[Ricardos]

I can't remember if it was clutch but I remember speaking to Dekker Motorsport about this when I was over there as he mentioned he had a car in that played up only on the odd number gears. He mapped a car and it started doing it shortly after, the customer blamed the map so asked for it to be put back to std. Tuur spoke to a 3rd party to confirm it was the clutch/gearbox, I suspect the clutch but definitely remember the scenario.

 

[Adey.]

I run most things past Tuur, he was the one that told me the issue after I ran through the issues and problem solving I'd tried already. Top bloke 👍🏼

 

[Ricardos]

I run most things past Tuur, he was the one that told me the issue after I ran through the issues and problem solving I'd tried already. Top bloke 👍🏼

He is indeed, hoping to drive out there again soon

 

[Sash]

could well be a bit of contamination on that friction plate, or just a little worn out with age. does it do it more/worse on cold days, when the car may be a little more fruity/powerful?

I can check the thickness of my clutch plates using Renolink, could possibly do similar on yours to confirm the issue (contamination or wear) that said its the same job to fix it.

so its a hard one to put a definite finger on as some days the car feels like someone has left the stable door open and all but a few horses have bolted. Others it feels great and pulls like it should. My gut feeling is there’s more to to that simply clutch contamination, I think there’s an electrical element to it also. But, I’m just a girl. What the fcuk do I actually know 🤷🏼‍♀️

 

[Adey.]

so its a hard one to put a definite finger on as some days the car feels like someone has left the stable door open and all but a few horses have bolted. Others it feels great and pulls like it should. My gut feeling is there’s more to to that simply clutch contamination, I think there’s an electrical element to it also. But, I’m just a girl. What the fcuk do I actually know 🤷🏼‍♀️

Could well be both. All I will say is mine is worse somedays than others. If its a warm day it seems to be less prominent.

 

[Adey.]

Not too much to update here. I've swapped out the 20mm front spacers for 16mm eibach items. Makes the front track match the rear a bit better rather than having the wheels pushed out so much. Also it feels slightly lighter and nimble, could be in my head though.

I've also received a powerflex dogbone mount that i need to get around to fitting. Im sure with just over 100k on the clock the mounts will be showing their age, so this should tighten things up a touch

 

[PP200t]

I fitted the purple power flex to mine, but I couldn’t deal with the feel of it. I fitted a purple one to my 182 and 172 and was really impressed, but for me on my 200t was too much. I was in talks to get a yellow bush instead but didn’t get round to needing one.

 

[Snicklin]

Loved reading this give me some inspiration for mine! How does the new power feel? any videos of it doing some pulls etc?

 

[Danith]

To be fair, I think the stock clutch will be fine for most people. The price of this fitted (at the moment ) is cheaper than a new unit supplied and fitted, essentially its refurbing and relining the old one. (I've done this many times in the past, just never on a DCT)

We will see though, for me it needs to be able to hold more torque than the stock unit for a decent amount of time to be a success, happy to try it out though and go from there.

What's the damage?

 

[Daz.]

It's the one thing that's always in the back of my mind on this car, and it's kind of what's stopped me so far throwing a hybrid at it.

Mine was pulling power but in 2nd and 4th,I now believe it was because the clutch was damaged in a minor bump but you could see it pulling back on the dyno. When I had the clutch pack changed it looked ok, I had no oil leaks.

Mapped fine after that but after that bill already I don't want it again!

 

[Adey.]

What's the damage?

I've been quoted just over 1500. That said I've still not heard back from them so fired an email over at the weekend.

 

[Adey.]

Loved reading this give me some inspiration for mine! How does the new power feel? any videos of it doing some pulls etc?

Not got any videos of it as of yet. I will at some point though. I had it mapped pretty linearly, so it drives a little more like a big N/A, hard to explain, pulls well though, gets stronger the further through the revs you get.

 

[Adey.]

What's the damage?

So that's now changed...... 😡 The original quotation given by Ktec was £1500 inc vat (bearing in mind a new clutch supplied and fitted elsewhere was around 2k, with it being a refurb instead of new it seemed about right price wise) that was complete removal of the gearbox, including relining/refurbishment my old clutch packs and then refitting and all fluids. Not bad and saved me doing it myself on the drive.

Any way I was told mid Jan there was a 10 day wait on the "service exchange" unit coming back from helix. I chase them up as I hadn't heard back. I got a reply on Friday.....

They made a mistake and now the cost was £3590!!!! not even sure if that includes the labour either. Stock new clutches are only 1300ish and the original price still listed on their website to refurbish the plates is £599.

Ill probably end up doing it in the future myself and ill go direct to helix or similar to cut out the KTax.

 

[RSRowe]

That’s taking the biscuit like

 

[Ian_R]

Nearly £4k for a refurbished box!!! Just buy another car for that, they seem to be interested in pushing Hyundai and fiat 500's just now. For the work you do on the cars you have had and have, i'd take the pain on taking it out and doing yourself. Easier said than done tho.

 

[Adey.]

Nearly £4k for a refurbished box!!! Just buy another car for that, they seem to be interested in pushing Hyundai and fiat 500's just now. For the work you do on the cars you have had and have, i'd take the pain on taking it out and doing yourself. Easier said than done tho.

refurbished clutch, not the box.....

yeah ive had a look at whats involved, wouldnt be too hard really. if i had a ramp itd be done by now.

 

[Adey.]

That’s taking the biscuit like

glad im not the only one thinking it...

 

[Danith]

No way can anyone have taken them up on that!! Ridiculous. 2k for a clutch is bloody mental too.

 

[Rojer]

Ktec never change, absolute c***s.

 

[Ian_R]

refurbished clutch, not the box.....

yeah ive had a look at whats involved, wouldnt be too hard really. if i had a ramp itd be done by now.

Get a shot of a hoist and whip the whole lot out? My neighbour loves doing engine changes on transits (Don't ask - but we've managed to do 4 engines out in a day, a really really long day) Plus get to clean up all the engine and box while its out

 

[Adey.]

Got a hoist ready to go if needed. Thing is I have another retro Renault project on the go currently in my single driveway space

That said, the issue is intermittent and tbh unless I told anyone what to look for you would probably never notice the issue when driving

 

[Adey.]

Still not gotten around to fitting the powerflex dogbone mount, I also need to get in and do the aux belt and tensioner. Anyone know if there is a special tool needed? Pretty sure the exhaust is blowing again so I need to order up a mls gasket rather than the ones I have to replace it. TBH Most of my time currently has been working on my other, more retro Renault. Spent the last 4/5 weeks of spare time getting it all up and running after it not seeing the road since 1989 (thats the last time it was taxed anyway)

 

[Danith]

Pretty sure there's no special tool needed for the aux. Even I considered doing it myself, but in the end dropped it at a local garage to get the all important invoice for the history.
Think some folk have loosened the engine mount to get some more space that's all.

 

[Sash]

No special tools for the aux, I did mine all by myself, so if I can do it you sure can 😂

 

[Adey.]

Had some spare time so fired on the Powerflex mount. Not actually driven it yet to see what its like but there's is an increase in vibration just at idle, it was expected but we will see how it is once I take the car for a run. Captured a bit on camera so slapped together a quick vid.

 

[Matt Cup]

I had a purple gearbox bushing in my first Cupra, would have preferred the red or yellow to be honest as the vibrations were a little too much for that as a daily.

 

[Adey.]

I had a purple gearbox bushing in my first Cupra, would have preferred the red or yellow to be honest as the vibrations were a little too much for that as a daily.

I've been told to give it a week or two to bed in. I drove it yesterday and its pretty savage at fast idle and when pulling away. Feels lovely when on the move though and even though I didn't notice much slop, the front end feels more connected. I may end up going to Powerflex to see if I can just get a softer bush for it. We will see though.


On another note, an order has been placed on some more service items. When under the car yesterday I did notice the inside edge of the discs were showing corrosion and I wanted to refresh them anyway. I'm usually they type to go throwing on track/race pads but being honest with myself, the only time it will see anything more than spirited spurts of driving will be at Cliosport Festival. With this in mind, and that the car has a 1/3rd more power than factory I have opted for some Brembo discs and their "X" type pads. They are supposed to be an upgrade on standard with higher brake coefficient but still a "fast" road pad, that and some fresh ATE type 200 should be an ok road setup fresh oil and filters on the way too

 

[Matt Cup]

I had mine in for approx a month. It completely eliminated wheel hop which this car is susceptible to, it just vibrated things a little to much for me. But it may be a completely different story to you and hopefully will soften up and be a bit more bearable.

 

[Adey.]

Parts still aren't here from autodoc.... annoying as I wanted to get it all fitted up this bank holiday weekend.

Anyway bit of a check over on the turbo which is still fine, has no excessive play. I whipped off the filter and gave it a clean. The ducting pipe and filter are pretty dirty so that kind proves that it's working I guess. There's also a fair bit of dirty water staining so it's also throwing dirty road shite up there pretty well too.

Gave everything a wipe down and gave the filter a rinse off too. Should be good for another few miles.

The powerflex mount has definitely quietened down too. There's still more vibration than stock but a lot less than when first fitted. Still undecided if its more than I want to live with though.

Other than that the car still remains to be one of the best I've owned, for me it ticks every box I need, from half asleep commuting to flat out with my hair on fire

 

[Adey.]

I have really neglected the body work and cleaning side of this car for way too long. I have spent the last 6+ months driving it through the local spiny scrub and blow dry and its really starting to show....

So today I have made a start on correcting it a little, ideally it needs a pro but itll be better than it was. So the usual deep clean stuff going but one side at a time, along with a some clay bar action followed with a light polish to remove some scratches and greatly improve the swirls. I still have the drivers side and roof to machine and then I need to protect the whole car with something (plus do the trims, tires, glass and wheels)

I absolutely hate cleaning cars with a passion, way too much effort for not enough reward but im way to cheap to pay someone to do it.

I'm a little ashamed I let it get this far instead of just cleaning it myself.

The rest of the car is starting to come up nicely, though the day kept getting postponed due to showers

 

[Adey.]

Finished it off today, coated with some wax and from now on ill stick to cleaning it myself. Doesnt look that different from a distance but up close its loads better. That said I now see more imperfections. Could do with a new bonnet in the future and a front spray/refresh. Looks ok for a daily though.

There are no filters on these pics, but you can see how bad it was, no where near pro level but a definite improvement below.

Ill remove and scrub the exhaust trims sometime too.

Thanks for reading