I need some advice regarding a little Clio I want to buy

[Poi E]

On a petrol Clio ignore the "a cam belt lasts 72000" miles bollocks. Get it changed every three years.

why the fuck do people buy these piles of steam shite? Cam belt every three years? Jesus wept. French car companies must have contempt bordering on hatred for their customers.

An aerial that leaks into the interior? You have to try hard to engineer that.

The list of potential problems with this model looks so long I'd just stay well away (spoken as a former Shitroen driver. Not my car thank God.)

 

[chymaera]

An aerial that leaks into the interior? You have to try hard to engineer that.

Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten that.

 

[votisit]

LOL the heater does work, but you need to do at least 15 miles before it starts to warm up! I have lots of blankets in the car now and have been looking for my winter gloves this morning to no avail.

I've been on lots of little journeys with it and it starts up immediately from cold, less than a second! Have to wait to turn the key though, until the little glow coils light has gone off.

I've filled it up today - 31 litres and have reset the mileage to see how many miles I can get to the gallon. Lets hope its more than 35.

I give myself lots of breaking distance as I imagine it would be a bit slippy should I need to do an emergency stop. But there is a small ABS bit on the dashboard where a light might come on, I wonder if it does have ABS.

Thanks for the good luck wishes, I'm really pleased as I have a car that starts well from cold and will hopefully be economical to run.

 

[zoltan]

You can flush teh heater matrix with a garden hose if you want - they get buggered on clios IIRC .

could also be an air lock soemwhere on the matrix. Its not insurmountable though.

 

[zoltan]

why the fuck do people buy these piles of steam shite? Cam belt every three years? Jesus wept. French car companies must have contempt bordering on hatred for their customers.

An aerial that leaks into the interior? You have to try hard to engineer that.

The list of potential problems with this model looks so long I'd just stay well away (spoken as a former Shitroen driver. Not my car thank God.)

cam chains are SO last century

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

You can flush teh heater matrix with a garden hose if you want - they get buggered on clios IIRC .

could also be an air lock soemwhere on the matrix. Its not insurmountable though.

Not to be a blakc cloud however keep an eye on the oil levels and the possibility of white gunk on the oil filler cap particualrlly over the winter yes the matrics do get clogged however a slit in the engine block can also cause the heater to stop working but then your car will start using lots of water and have this build up on the oil filler...

 

[chymaera]

You can flush teh heater matrix with a garden hose if you want - they get buggered on clios IIRC .

could also be an air lock soemwhere on the matrix. Its not insurmountable though.

Get the complete cooling system flushed, (A new radiator is expensive.)

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

why the fuck do people buy these piles of steam shite? Cam belt every three years? Jesus wept. French car companies must have contempt bordering on hatred for their customers.

An aerial that leaks into the interior? You have to try hard to engineer that.

The list of potential problems with this model looks so long I'd just stay well away (spoken as a former Shitroen driver. Not my car thank God.)

they are very cheap chap mine was just a touch under £200 cos the exhast had gone slapped a new one on and i had a perfect runner with some minor teething probs which will take a Sat afternoon to fix... so a perfectly economical ,incredably actually it's a 1.2 and will do 70 all day on a tank won't get much past 100 but who cares it's a city car. It's very eco freindly in terms of co2 out put safe as cars were at the time of build (about 7 years ago) fits 4 in reasonable comfort...

what more do you want for a runabout? they are agricultral, they're only a few steps up from a renault 5 and that was only a few steps up from a reanualt 4 essentialy they are farm cars... so what...

but they cheap as chips easy to insure as long as they are maintained they are bomb proof... that's why... not every car you have or your own has to be a lambo in flame red with dual turbos you know...

reanaults are peoples cars and farm cars citroens were always production concept cars with wacky ideas far ahead of their time or technical ability...

 

[Roadkill]

reanaults are peoples cars and farm cars citroens were always production concept cars with wacky ideas far ahead of their time or technical ability...

It's a bit of a shame that Citroen have gone so conventional, IMO. Love 'em or hate 'em, at least cars like the DS, CX and BX were innovative and distinctive. In contrast, the 1998 Saxo I used to use was a very conventional little car, although it was a nice drive, and not all that well screwed together either.

 

[chymaera]

what more do you want for a runabout? they are agricultral,

The Clio we have is not agricultural, I wish it was. It has far too many electronic devices and bells and whistles. It also has an engine in it, that no-one seems to have any specifications on.
(It does not resemble any of the engines in a Haynes manual. When it broke down in France a new exhaust system had to come direct from Renault, because "Speedy" did not have the engine in their manuals either.)
I suspect the car would do 120mph easiliy, from the way it goes like a scalded cat.

 

[votisit]

You can flush teh heater matrix with a garden hose if you want - they get buggered on clios IIRC .

could also be an air lock soemwhere on the matrix. Its not insurmountable though.

Sounds like a good idea. Do I just shove the hose pipe into the radiator? I could try that today if its easy to do.

 

[votisit]

Not to be a blakc cloud however keep an eye on the oil levels and the possibility of white gunk on the oil filler cap particualrlly over the winter yes the matrics do get clogged however a slit in the engine block can also cause the heater to stop working but then your car will start using lots of water and have this build up on the oil filler...

I shall. When should I check it next? in a month or a couple of weeks? I once changed a heater matrix on a mini and was about to change another one on a Chrysler Avenger (my life) so I don't think I will have a problem doing this one, just have to go to a breakers yard.

 

[votisit]

Garfield, if you are in North London and are obviously very knowledgeable with cars, what do you do for a living? can't you be my mechanic? Somehow I think if I ask Chymaera he would probably slap me first for buying this car anyway

 

[chymaera]

Sounds like a good idea. Do I just shove the hose pipe into the radiator? I could try that today if its easy to do.

No flushing the system is quite complex, to remove all the crap it it needs a proper cleansing using chemicals designed for the job, backflushing and refilling with a water/anti-freeze mixture of the correct strength.

 

[votisit]

No flushing the system is quite complex, to remove all the crap it it needs a proper cleansing using chemicals designed for the job, backflushing and refilling with a water/anti-freeze mixture of the correct strength.

OK sounds like a job for a garage then as my limit is hose pipe, spanner and jubilee clips.

Any idea of the cost involved in this flushing thingy?

 

[chymaera]

OK sounds like a job for a garage then as my limit is hose pipe, spanner and jubilee clips.

Any idea of the cost involved in this flushing thingy?

Should not be dramatically expensive at a railway arch mechanics. (They are often a better deal than a main agent.
I suggest you get local advice as to who is a trustworthy mechanic.

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

I shall. When should I check it next? in a month or a couple of weeks? I once changed a heater matrix on a mini and was about to change another one on a Chrysler Avenger (my life) so I don't think I will have a problem doing this one, just have to go to a breakers yard.

and get a star drive all clios screws are star screws not cross head or flat head...

check it weekly just open the fill cap (under the bonnet on the passenger side near the wind screen, plastic bottle with black flimsy looking cap shaped like a lozenge) It should be too hard to replace.

As for being your mechainic I'm afraid i'm too old to greese monkey under a car unless it's my own and even the an emegancy but if you're in North London then i can recommend a great mechanic http://www.touchlondon.co.uk/business/list/bid/52018

 

[votisit]

and get a star drive all clios screws are star screws not cross head or flat head...

check it weekly just open the fill cap (under the bonnet on the passenger side near the wind screen, plastic bottle with black flimsy looking cap shaped like a lozenge) It should be too hard to replace.

As for being your mechainic I'm afraid i'm too old to greese monkey under a car unless it's my own and even the an emegancy but if you're in North London then i can recommend a great mechanic

I'm in North Essex, but will travel far for a good mechanic!

*note to self, get a star drive screwdriver*

 

[g force]

It's a bit of a shame that Citroen have gone so conventional, IMO. Love 'em or hate 'em, at least cars like the DS, CX and BX were innovative and distinctive. In contrast, the 1998 Saxo I used to use was a very conventional little car, although it was a nice drive, and not all that well screwed together either.

The 3 door C4 is a very nice car...although the whole centre of the steering wheel being fixed is slightly freaky but cool

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

Garfield, if you are in North London and are obviously very knowledgeable with cars, what do you do for a living? can't you be my mechanic? Somehow I think if I ask Chymaera he would probably slap me first for buying this car anyway

I code for a living websites and web apps...

hence the huge post count and the ominpressence here

 

[votisit]

LOL in which case, can you help me get a letter D for a lenovo laptop? my darling daughter tells me that her fingernail caught it and it flew off, but bearing in mind she removed some letters on her school laptop for a joke, I suspect she wanted to learn how to put them back on or face a fine. arggh.

 

[Firky]

My mum gave me her old clio 16 as inesntive to drive. I drove it and liked it but didn't want it.

Anyway it had 150,000 miles on the clock and was immaculate, clutch was a little slack and the brakes felt soggy but other than that I really liked it but not enough to drive

 

[Firky]

LOL in which case, can you help me get a letter D for a lenovo laptop? my darling daughter tells me that her fingernail caught it and it flew off, but bearing in mind she removed some letters on her school laptop for a joke, I suspect she wanted to learn how to put them back on or face a fine. arggh.

Go into currys and nick one. I did it with this laptop

 

[votisit]

Go into currys and nick one. I did it with this laptop

OMG NO! I couldn't do that, even as tempting as it sounds!

Lenovo want to charge £44 for a whole replacement keyboard BOOO

I've sort of found a way round the situation though and its sitting in a box in front of me, a new ordinary keyboard and an adaptor so I can change it to a USB one. I really ought to get off this thing, turn it off and install it as having to press the letter D twice every time I need it is so frustrating!

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

LOL in which case, can you help me get a letter D for a lenovo laptop? my darling daughter tells me that her fingernail caught it and it flew off, but bearing in mind she removed some letters on her school laptop for a joke, I suspect she wanted to learn how to put them back on or face a fine. arggh.

that's easy stratford computer fair if it's not there it's not made...

(google cache only as for some reason their site is down...)

should be about a tenner for a new key board and they might even give you the key for a quid...

IBM laptops and their key boards will work just as well (they are the same machines just IBM's rebadged)

 

[zoltan]

Sounds like a good idea. Do I just shove the hose pipe into the radiator? I could try that today if its easy to do.

Probabaly best to get someone to do it TBH - if its just a matrix probelm, the i would just disconnet the matrix from the rest of the the Water system and donnect a decent hose through it to reverse flush it out.

but im used to taking taking cars apart

but it may free itself up - keep on running the car regular to see how it goes - this may solve the problem with the temp guage being 1/4 - ist may just need a good run to free thermostats etc up

 

[Firky]

OMG NO! I couldn't do that, even as tempting as it sounds!

Lenovo want to charge £44 for a whole replacement keyboard BOOO

I've sort of found a way round the situation though and its sitting in a box in front of me, a new ordinary keyboard and an adaptor so I can change it to a USB one. I really ought to get off this thing, turn it off and install it as having to press the letter D twice every time I need it is so frustrating!

Look, just go into Currys - go to a display Lenovo laptop and pull the D off

Where do you think I got the "S" key from on this laptop after hammering it a bit too much in HL2?

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

Look, just go into Currys - go to a display Lenovo laptop and pull the D off

Where do you think I got the "S" key from on this laptop after hammering it a bit too much in HL2?

why don't you be a good samaritain then and do it and then send it to her...

 

[votisit]

why don't you be a good samaritain then and do it and then send it to her...

I've not really solved my problem at all! I've just installed the new keyboard but am still typing on the internal laptop one. Hmmmm me thinks I need to disable the laptop one somehow and then reboot.....

 

[Firky]

I still have jam under my spacebar and I am way too lazy to pull it off and fix instead I opt for hammering harder