New Clio RS 197 Owner from South Africa

[Etienne_CCD]

So without further adieu, here we go!

I picked up this 2007 Renault Clio RS 197 on Thursday the 10th of September 2020. Literally 12 hours after taking delivery, I had a short 1500km road trip planned to get back home. I immediately drove the car to a workshop in the Western Cape called J2 Performance where they would let me do a minor service on the car, all arranged by a subscriber of my channel (Yes I make youtube videos from time to time ).The car needed a service BADLY, the plugs and fuel filter looked like they were from 2007 After the service I headed home for a quick 3 hour sleep before hitting the road back to Pretoria at 3.30am the following morning.

About 15mins into the roadtrip the car went into limp mode and was massively underpowered from there on for the entire road trip. The car was HEAVY on fuel, guessing due to limp mode. Error on the dash showed "check emissions" so I suspected that it has to do with the decat that has been done by the previous owner. Anyways, car behaved relatively well for the entire trip, I did a straight shoot, 15 hours in 1 day. Other than the limp, I had a trouble free journey.

Saturday morning, I decided to take out the 2 lambda's and start inspecting. I replaced the cat fooler the previous owner had in, and left the 2 lambda's in petrol over night as the internet suggested. What did I have to loose other than 2 lambda's that giving issues anywas. After the clean and cat fooler replaced, the car felt way better and did not show "check emissions" anymore. It still had a multiple cylinder misfire issue though... I was planning on doing a CAT DELETE file on the car to see if that sorts out our issue we are having, as I read on here that people actually got rid of that by replacing the flexi's and the lambda's. Before I could do that, a friend test drove the car to get a feel, and the clutch gave up. I was with him in the car, he drove it spirited but didn't do anything wrong, guess it's just time for a new clutch.

Def not the easiest of welcome to my first ever Renault, but it is what it is. My car needs a little loving and I am hoping to get it sorted out in no time. Lastly, onto some pictures...

Getting the service done


First of 5 fuel ups on the road trip


Last fuel up


Safely home, meeting my other ride, and number plates removed which is always my first thing when I buy a car.


Thanx for watching and having me on here, hoping to enjoy my stay

 

[Etienne_CCD]

Got the car back after 2 weeks, new clutch kit fitted atleast. First I got the wrong kit and then it was a long weekend and blah blah blah. It’s back atlast. Bottom 3 gears feels a little weird, apparently there’s no linkages to adjust, so I need to get new cables? Not sure how true this is, but, I am kinda broke after the clutch replacement. It was very unexpected.



Did my first wash on the car since I owned it, and boy oh boy, this colour is epic. I can’t wait to detail this car. The colour is really going to POP after a good detail.
I also took out the injectors to try and sort the misfire issue, cleaned them up and put them back, car feel way more alive now, but still getting the misfire every now and then. I am really baffled by this, but I guess I’ll have to get it scanned with a renault tool to get a more accurate reading/idea.

Video of me cleaning the injectors yesterday

 

[wootwoot]

I would also check the map sensor is plugged in and sitting correctly. It plays a big role in the running of the car

 

[Etienne_CCD]

I would also check the map sensor is plugged in and sitting correctly. It plays a big role in the running of the car

Thanx for the headsup. The map sensor was dangling around, so I cabletied it down thanx to this forum.

 

[Etienne_CCD]

Forgot to add to last nights post, I bought a set of projector headlights from someone in the UK. Still need to get them shipped to SA but this is what they look like



I believe these will make a big difference to the front of the car once I het them on

 

[Etienne_CCD]

Changed up the interior slightly over the weekend. Quite loving the new look atm

Before


After

Blue is a film and the black is rattlecan spray. Had a tough time wrapping the trims as I’m not a very good film installer so the edges was difficult and still not perfect but you really have to inspect them up close to notice the flaws. I’m happy with how it came out

 

[RSRowe]

Looks much better. The headlights are smart too
Would love a set myself

 

[Etienne_CCD]

Changed up a couple things on the exterior of the car over the last couple of days. Really happy with how it’s turning out at the moment. The projector headlights should be here sometime this week from the UK and I also need to figure out a plan on how to make the door handles black.
Getting a 20% smash&grab film applied to all the windows on the car this week too, reckon that’ll also look smart. Basically trying to get everything back & blue at this stage. Caliper will be done in yellow to match the accent on the wheels



let me know what you guys thing of this

 

[Frank Perry]

How-To section is full of goodies mate... To access, you only need to become a member of this forum - it's like £6 for 12 months of membership - super cheap!

Car looks a lot cleaner/smarter than it did when you pick it up - I've been tuned into your YT videos also - some great progress. Keep it up and keep sharing here, also!

 

[turkie172]

Ocrea racing in Europe are selling the Genuine or as very near as body kits because your front skirt is missing I think the front one looks well.

Website Link: Ocrea Racing website link

 

[VolumeX]

Nice to see another local rider on here.. enjoy the Reno Bro!