Beany
Platinum Member
Glacier White 200 Cup
- Thread starter burrellbloke
- Start date
burrellbloke
Paid Member
The Clio went for an MOT today and passed with no advisories. Last year it had an advisory for having no rear seats. This year the MOT test centre did not seem to mind that the most of interior of the car was missing.
We have decided that our gearbox issues could be down to a faulty clutch master cylinder. The clutch pedal has very little resistance if depressed slowly, but works just about at low revs. We are now on the hunt for a new clutch master cylinder. I think that the OEM Renault part is NLA.
@EthanMenace has 3D printed a bracket to hold the 12v supply that used to sit in the centre console by the handbrake.
Now the 12v supply will not float around in the passenger side footwell.
We have decided that our gearbox issues could be down to a faulty clutch master cylinder. The clutch pedal has very little resistance if depressed slowly, but works just about at low revs. We are now on the hunt for a new clutch master cylinder. I think that the OEM Renault part is NLA.
@EthanMenace has 3D printed a bracket to hold the 12v supply that used to sit in the centre console by the handbrake.
Now the 12v supply will not float around in the passenger side footwell.
Last edited:
R20BTG
Paid Member
I'm confused, have we missed a step? We've gone from a car with the suspension removed and a knackered gearbox, to an MOT pass.... 
burrellbloke
Paid Member
The suspension has been serviced and is back on the car now.
The gearbox is playing up but was okay to drive a few miles to the MOT test centre to get the MOT done. The box gets worse when it is downshifting quickly at high revs. Low rev changes are less crunchy. We needed the car to be “drivable” so that if we attempt to fix the gearbox we can test it on the road.
Ethan has sourced a second hand clutch master cylinder now so we will wait for it to arrive and see when it is installed if it changes anything.
The gearbox is playing up but was okay to drive a few miles to the MOT test centre to get the MOT done. The box gets worse when it is downshifting quickly at high revs. Low rev changes are less crunchy. We needed the car to be “drivable” so that if we attempt to fix the gearbox we can test it on the road.
Ethan has sourced a second hand clutch master cylinder now so we will wait for it to arrive and see when it is installed if it changes anything.
burrellbloke
Paid Member
The gearbox tale of woe continues. Ethan went to South Wales last Friday and picked up a clutch master cylinder from someone who was breaking a 200. He also picked up another crunchy 200 gearbox.
After fitting the used clutch master cylinder the car refused to start. The dashboard came up with a message “Steering locked - turn wheel”. When the start button was pressed the fuel pump was not priming and you could hear 3 clicks. The steering lock module was not moving the steering lock pin out of the steering column allowing the car to start. Ethan connected Clip to the Clio which showed that the car was getting the signal to unlock the steering lock but the steering lock was unable to execute the command.
The next step was to order a steering lock emulator. That arrived the same day and when plugged in the Clio the emulator would tell the UCH that it was getting a signal to unlock the steering and sent back the right command that allowed the car to start. But, the steering was still mechanically locked by the old steering lock module. After a few hours of careful cutting the original steering lock module and locking pin were removed from the steering column. The car started with the steering lock module removed and the steering lock emulator plugged in. Unfortunately after a short drive it was clear that the change of clutch master cylinder had had no effect and the gearbox was still not working properly.
The gearbox is now being removed so it can take a trip to AW Motorworks.
This is the gearbox that Ethan picked up. The case looks crunchy. Plan A is to make sure that after the gearbox (the one that is coming out of the Clio now) is refurbed that it just works. If not plan B might be to rebuild one of the two spare boxes that we now have with a Gripper and leave it on the shelf ready to install if we have any more problems.
Hopefully can get this all sorted for the trip at the end of February to Zandvoort otherwise the Yaris is going to the Netherlands.
After fitting the used clutch master cylinder the car refused to start. The dashboard came up with a message “Steering locked - turn wheel”. When the start button was pressed the fuel pump was not priming and you could hear 3 clicks. The steering lock module was not moving the steering lock pin out of the steering column allowing the car to start. Ethan connected Clip to the Clio which showed that the car was getting the signal to unlock the steering lock but the steering lock was unable to execute the command.
The next step was to order a steering lock emulator. That arrived the same day and when plugged in the Clio the emulator would tell the UCH that it was getting a signal to unlock the steering and sent back the right command that allowed the car to start. But, the steering was still mechanically locked by the old steering lock module. After a few hours of careful cutting the original steering lock module and locking pin were removed from the steering column. The car started with the steering lock module removed and the steering lock emulator plugged in. Unfortunately after a short drive it was clear that the change of clutch master cylinder had had no effect and the gearbox was still not working properly.
The gearbox is now being removed so it can take a trip to AW Motorworks.
This is the gearbox that Ethan picked up. The case looks crunchy. Plan A is to make sure that after the gearbox (the one that is coming out of the Clio now) is refurbed that it just works. If not plan B might be to rebuild one of the two spare boxes that we now have with a Gripper and leave it on the shelf ready to install if we have any more problems.
Hopefully can get this all sorted for the trip at the end of February to Zandvoort otherwise the Yaris is going to the Netherlands.
burrellbloke
Paid Member
The gearbox was removed from the Clio in record time by @EthanMenace. It took 3 hours to get it out of the Clio. He came home from work at 5.30 pm and I said if you can get the gearbox out tonight I will drop it off at AW Motorworks tomorrow. The work was finished by 8.30 pm.
The fancy gazebo was used as it was pissing down with rain at the time the gearbox came out.
Now we are waiting for the expensive bill. When the gearbox is ready we will pick it up and see how long it takes Ethan to fit it again.
The fancy gazebo was used as it was pissing down with rain at the time the gearbox came out.
Now we are waiting for the expensive bill. When the gearbox is ready we will pick it up and see how long it takes Ethan to fit it again.
R20BTG
Paid Member
EthanMenace
Paid Member
It means I never have to do bench press in the gym
burrellbloke
Paid Member
I am hoping that we have now diagnosed our gearbox issues from early 2025 and have now got a solid gearbox. The morale of the story that I am going to tell you is that whenever you do any work on your Clio gearbox that involves some element of refurbishing or servicing always, always, always replace your slave cylinder.
In 2022 we had the gearbox refurbished with new 3rd and 4th synchros when we had a Gripper installed. At that time we had a new slave fitted. All this work was done by AW Motorworks.
It was early 2025 when our box started to crunch on gear changes. We thought it was the obvious issue of worn synchros as the crunchy gears were upshifts and downshifts in 3rd and 4th. The Gripper also needed a service. We had the box properly serviced by AW Motorworks again with new 3rd and 4th sychros, output shaft bearings and driveshaft seals. We ignored Alex's advice when he said that we should replace the slave and did not replace the slave as it had been replaced in 2022. That was a big and very expensive mistake.
We now know that the slave that was failing and that had caused the crunching in early 2025. As we did not replace the slave the box was just eating itself. Roll on to March 2025 when the slave completely failed to Mallory Park. We replaced the slave which hid problems until a track day at Snetterton in June when the crunching came back.
Ethan then rebuilt the gearbox in the shed replacing the 3rd/4th gear sliding hub, and the 5th/6th gear sliding hub and lots of other expensive parts just in time for us to get the Clio to the Nurburgring. The box seemed okay on the trip and managed to do about 1,200 miles including about 35 hard laps of the Nurburgring on some TF laps and a track day. These expensive new parts were now hiding the fact that the 3rd and 4th gears were getting damaged and that new synchros helped, but only hid the underlying problem.
At the Clio’s last track day of 2025 at Donington Park the gearbox gave up and became extremely difficult to change gear under load, particularly in 3rd and 4th. The car was parked up in November and not touched until recently.
I collected the gearbox from AW Motorworks earlier this week. The gearbox has been given a new 3rd/4th gear selector hub, new 3rd and 4th synchros, new input shaft seals, and new driveshaft seals. The 3rd and 4th gears have also been replaced. 4th Gear was only a good used gear as a new one was not available from Renault and may now be NLA. The tear down showed that where the slave had started to fail, and did fail, it had caused damage to 3rd and 4th gears. The replacement parts in June had masked the problem but had done nothing to stop the engagement teeth being chewed up and the gears themselves being damaged.
An OEM slave cylinder costs about £120. Had we replaced the slave in early 2025 we probably could have saved ourselves about £2,000, possibly more. We have put in a new OEM slave for the freshly refurbished box.
The gearbox has now been bolted back on to the Clio but there is still some work to do to get the Clio off the axle stands and back on to it's wheels for a test drive.
We have another 2 quarts of Redline transmission fluid to fill up the box. Our plan is to change the gearbox oil regularly rather than wait for any more issues before changing the fluid.
I am looking forward to using the Clio again. The first track day for the fresh box will be a 2 day event at Zandvoort so we will soon find out if 2025 was a bad year for the box which we can forget about in 2026.
In 2022 we had the gearbox refurbished with new 3rd and 4th synchros when we had a Gripper installed. At that time we had a new slave fitted. All this work was done by AW Motorworks.
It was early 2025 when our box started to crunch on gear changes. We thought it was the obvious issue of worn synchros as the crunchy gears were upshifts and downshifts in 3rd and 4th. The Gripper also needed a service. We had the box properly serviced by AW Motorworks again with new 3rd and 4th sychros, output shaft bearings and driveshaft seals. We ignored Alex's advice when he said that we should replace the slave and did not replace the slave as it had been replaced in 2022. That was a big and very expensive mistake.
We now know that the slave that was failing and that had caused the crunching in early 2025. As we did not replace the slave the box was just eating itself. Roll on to March 2025 when the slave completely failed to Mallory Park. We replaced the slave which hid problems until a track day at Snetterton in June when the crunching came back.
Ethan then rebuilt the gearbox in the shed replacing the 3rd/4th gear sliding hub, and the 5th/6th gear sliding hub and lots of other expensive parts just in time for us to get the Clio to the Nurburgring. The box seemed okay on the trip and managed to do about 1,200 miles including about 35 hard laps of the Nurburgring on some TF laps and a track day. These expensive new parts were now hiding the fact that the 3rd and 4th gears were getting damaged and that new synchros helped, but only hid the underlying problem.
At the Clio’s last track day of 2025 at Donington Park the gearbox gave up and became extremely difficult to change gear under load, particularly in 3rd and 4th. The car was parked up in November and not touched until recently.
I collected the gearbox from AW Motorworks earlier this week. The gearbox has been given a new 3rd/4th gear selector hub, new 3rd and 4th synchros, new input shaft seals, and new driveshaft seals. The 3rd and 4th gears have also been replaced. 4th Gear was only a good used gear as a new one was not available from Renault and may now be NLA. The tear down showed that where the slave had started to fail, and did fail, it had caused damage to 3rd and 4th gears. The replacement parts in June had masked the problem but had done nothing to stop the engagement teeth being chewed up and the gears themselves being damaged.
An OEM slave cylinder costs about £120. Had we replaced the slave in early 2025 we probably could have saved ourselves about £2,000, possibly more. We have put in a new OEM slave for the freshly refurbished box.
The gearbox has now been bolted back on to the Clio but there is still some work to do to get the Clio off the axle stands and back on to it's wheels for a test drive.
We have another 2 quarts of Redline transmission fluid to fill up the box. Our plan is to change the gearbox oil regularly rather than wait for any more issues before changing the fluid.
I am looking forward to using the Clio again. The first track day for the fresh box will be a 2 day event at Zandvoort so we will soon find out if 2025 was a bad year for the box which we can forget about in 2026.
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