Newbie - Redditch,Worcestershire

[wilsofar]

Sold my Clio Renaultsport 197 as it frightened me to death and will be picking up a relatively mild 10 plate 156 manual petrol on Monday.

All the usual problem areas seem to have been covered especially timing chain/tensioner etc so I'm hopeful of a reasonably trouble free period.

On just under 90k with some body work needing to be tidied,a couple of new tyres (ouch!),and alloys refurbed .

It doesn't have leather but air con works and drives really nicely.

I thought £4600 wasn't too bad to pay and no expensive timing chain either.

We shall see if it is as reliable as the Renault.

 

[neilgsxr69]

Hi and welcome,
Your RCZ sounds cheap enough and the little bit of tidying doesn’t seem to bother you so hopefully you’ll enjoy your new ride :thumbup:

 

[Plecodoras]

Sold my Clio Renaultsport 197 as it frightened me to death and will be picking up a relatively mild 10 plate 156 manual petrol on Monday.

All the usual problem areas seem to have been covered especially timing chain/tensioner etc so I'm hopeful of a reasonably trouble free period.

On just under 90k with some body work needing to be tidied,a couple of new tyres (ouch!),and alloys refurbed .

It doesn't have leather but air con works and drives really nicely.

I thought £4600 wasn't too bad to pay and no expensive timing chain either.

We shall see if it is as reliable as the Renault.

Hello Wilsofar and welcome,

Nice to hear that you've come to your senses and bought a RCZ - LOL...

Yes very cheap for super sexy looks of the Z, but to compare reliability you need to give more info..

ie: your Z has 90k smiles how many did your Clio Renault sport 197 have on it when you parted and did you have to spend a small fortune on that for maintenance ?
Either way you will find all sorts of help on the forum and we're a friendly bunch :greetings-wavingblue:

If you get chance post some pics and to help others with similar problems etc. it's nice to share your work and tips, it all helps someone !!

Cheers M. :beer:

 

[DKZ5745]

:greetings-wavingblue: Welcome :text-welcomewave:

Great choice. I went from a Renault to a Peugeot (Megane CC so no comparison to my 200 GT). :thumbup:

Hopefully your Z will give you many miles of smiles. You seem to know what to look for, but as has been said, there is almost always someone on here that has experienced any problem that might arise, so don’t be afraid to ask, although often a search will reveal your answer.

Looking forward to seeing some photos, maybe, before & after shots ? :eusa-think:

 

[RCZIain]

Welcome [WINKING FACE]

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[wilsofar]

Nice welcome thank you.

My 197 had done 103000 without any history but the timing belt and dephaser were changed when I bought.

Whilst not unreliable ,as such, there were many things such as an enormous flat spot which members of the forum spent years trying to eradicate - I sussed it out after changing/adjusting many things,by re-instating the centre silencer which had been replaced by a drain pipe and normal service was resumed.

Anyway back to the RCZ ,whilst I was giving its first wash I realised that the reason I wanted one was that I had owned (apart from 405s 406s 607s etc) a 406 Coupe diesel which I had chipped to 170bhp and I loved it and without any problems the whole 2 years I owned it even though it had done over 100k .

Finally back to the RCZ ,I spent a whole afternoon washing it and going over any problem areas.

Bodywork is completely straight and the multitude of stone chips (only on the nearside front bumper but not the offside ) are easily vanished with my 'patent' school wax crayon application.Black works as well on dark grey.That saved me £300!

Wheels are awful,heavily corroded in many places so have budgeted for refurb together with all new rubber as the tyres on are all different makes and all different tread depths,so it seemed logical to bin them. Anyway prices for the 18"tyres are not as expensive as 19" which I had assumed were fitted.

Funnily enough despite the tyres being all different,when I checked the pressures they were spot on - that's the first time ever I have bought a car either trade or private that that has happened.

The interior is mint apart from a worn patch on driver's carpet -can't think why Peugeot didn't put a patch there!

Everything works as it should although there are 5 led lights absent from HLBL -possibly my next job.

The engine bay was the dirtiest I've ever seen ,but some judicial wiping with car shampoo and water followed with wipes made all the difference.

It does have FPSHistory and in the main the general condition seems to confirm that.

As the timing chain kit has been replaced I'm fairly confident of a resonably trouble free future given all other things being equal!

Oh,by the way,it drives beautifully

Thanks for 'listening'

 

[wilsofar]

Ps I had a brain fade and put the remains of half bottle of Redex assuming that there was a reasonable amount of fuel in the tank which there wasn't -I know that you add to full tank!

Anyway went to start it and it sounded as if an old fashioned choke was in operation plus the EM light together with a doom message to STOP.

Drove to Tesco a mile away and filled up with Momentum (I always tend to use that on all my cars).

Soon sounded back to normal but with the Light still on.

I assume this will need resetting at my local garage or will it clear itself after some spirited driving?

What a dummy!

 

[wilsofar]

My local Indi -non specialist has brought up various codes

P0012 Inlet cam dephasing
P0171 mixture adjustment Too lean
P0011Inlet cam dephasing

Also
40A oil level guage ,not recognised,Permanent
4AE locking fault short circuit to positive
5FF BSI internal fault permanent.

Long story short - garage unable to clear any of these.

Just as a further thought ,would my changing to Tesco Momentum from ordinary have any detrimental effect on general running -I know the Renault Clio 197 took about 3 full tanks before it settled down and ran well.

The after effect of my Redex misfuelling seems to have disappeared but left all these fault codes which may well have been present any way.

 

[DKZ5745]

From joining the forum I have used Shell V-Power Nitro+. Many members expressed an opinion that they felt faster smoother acceleration after changing to this fuel, and I too felt a difference as soon as I had run a tank or two through the car.
I suspect that Momentum will be a similar grade fuel to V Power, so I don't think you'll go far wrong using that.

 

[DKZ5745]

As for the error codes, I believe using the correct type of OBD reader can re-set the codes. I don't have one myself as my mechanical knowledge peaks at topping washer bottles up & checking tyre pressures, but I'm sure there are members on here that could advise you in that respect.

 

[RCZ-R]

Welcome to the RCZ world!

A Renaultsport Clio 197, very nice car. I for myself considered owning one of those a while ago. A 200 Cup, to be precise. I was still infected from my earlier days with my Megane R26. What a car. I still consider it the best hot hatch I ever drove (compared to the successor Megane 275 Trophy, several Focuses ST and RS, multiple Golf GTIs or the beemer M135i).

Reliability-wise those Renaults from the late 90s into 2000s were almost bullet-proof. I had no serious issues with over 140.000 miles of driving.

The RCZ has its own issues but nothing serious. Timing chain is sorted as you stated, so other than that maybe the HP fuel pump may fail you one day. :greetings-wavingblue:

 

[tianorth]

The Peugeot's use a system called PP2000.
If you can find a independent Peugeot specialist (maybe citroen but they use another system but might have both!!)
They should be able to clear the faults or possibly give better understanding of the error codes.

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