French cars..........WTF DESIGNS them?????
 

Spent THREE hours this afternoon trying to change the rear pads on the lad's Clio 197 Sport.

Once they were off, the pistons need winding in. 45 minutes of winding, (and it's hard work), produces a 2mm change on the level of the piston.

Never seen such a rubbish system.

But imagine using a French whindee-ghunn on zem....

At £75 an hour....

dunx

P.S. The fronts are o.k. for Brembos....

They also use METRIC bolt head sizes too - I had to buy an 18mm spanner when I change the front pads on Rachael's Clio. I mean, who else uses that size - 17mm, 19mm, yes - but 18mm?!

Rachael's 1.2 Clio also has a useful design of throttle cable that rises vertically to the throttle body. That means that moisture rolls down the cable into the sheath and rusts the cable away. Usually snaps after couple of years!!

was the owner of a cliosport 172 know how you feel.

still could be worse you could have to change the plugs on a scooby!.

What's wrong with the 172 pad swap?

Mybe cos its smaller/ specialised , changed pads on the xsara no problemo !

have done the job on a Renault used the right tool took a couple of mins :thumb:

Did you try using a caliper winding tool? I always find they're useful for, well, winding back calipers :D

On my old Renault 19 16v the plug wells were about 9ft deep and situated directly under the bonnet scoop. Whenever it rained the water would fill up the plug wells causing misfire.

Great design there you garlic eating, bath avoiding, surrender monkeys :freak3:

Ah French cars. They are fantastic, I remember my Peugeot 406 came with a swimming pool in the boot :D

And my 309 had a small one in the passenger side foot well. Passenger: ''My feet are cold'' :D

French cars - they invent some shyte alright

My first dabble was a pug 205 1.9 GTi.
I remember one night getting a puncture and it was raining quite heavy.
I remember getting absolutely drenched trying to get the spare wheel from underneath the car
I sold that car in a moment of rage shortly after the incident.

Another encounter was a pug 406.
This was a company car I was driving temporarily with electric seats etc

They were fantastically slow to move back whilst its raining

Stupid french cars designed by stupid people!

They seem to love convoluted designs that only they understand! I had enough of it after my ID19 years ago.

Les

I've had 3 205GTIs and it wouldn't bother me to have another. I'm actually considering buying a Clio Trophy right now.

I won't deny the Pugs were stroppy swines but they were cracking cars nonetheless.

agree they may be ****ley made but they can certainly do some decent hot hatches. had a few cars over the years and the clio 172 was probably one of the best to drive and bring a smile to your face (when it worked of course :D)

Oh aye, fun to drive, handle like a dream etc, but work on one? No thanks.

Every single dash light used to illuminate in my 205GTI whenever I went round a left hand bend.

I think the last clio was designed by a brit, not that there aren't stupid brits ;)

I don't get where all this hatred of french cars comes from... if I consider my own personal experience they have been less hassle to own than an audi (new A4) and cough cough subaru (classic wagon). Only bettered by a Ford (focus ST) !

My Grandfather owns a clio, every seal in the windows and sunroof leaks :(

Had a 205 1.6 Gti, the oil filler pipe ruptured / perished on mine. £45 for a Main stealer only part later I try and fit the bugger. Tope ned was easy, that was a couple of jubillee clips, bottem end was metal zip tied onto the spigot. Right foofing PIA thatw as to get off.

Was it the ZX that had all its wiring in grey, with the odd little dabble of a colour every now and again to mark them all out?

Sometimes i think they just make them different, for the sake of being different :cuckoo:

french cars are a fooking arse to work on , i swear its the frenchies way at getting back at the world .


the biggest pisser though is when i balance the rims at work some of the renault and pug models they dont cut holes in the centers of the wheels so you cant put the shaft through:freak3: , so to balance them i have to dissasemble my balancing machine , mount up a hub and then bolt the wheels to the hub with the wheel nuts , so a 2 min balance takes about 10 mins

all i can say to them is 1. why do you do this only on some models , because you clearly have a machine to cut the holes
and 2. F*ck you , smelly cheating *******s


mags

+1

Both Peugeot 106's I've owned have been the most reliable cheap cars I've EVER owned. The 205 although "stroppy" as Edd puts it was the most fun car I EVEr owned - beating the Scoob on handling stakes quite easily (I hate to say :( ).

Some weird systems of fixing things though. :wonder:

very weird systems indeed

Bulb change on a Megane anyone.... six hours labour to remove the front of the car.

IIRC

They certainly have their quirks, but spend enough time on them and you eventually sort what works best, i can strip and rebuild rear beams, normally a mare of a job even most garages wouldn't touch, but it's a big pussycat once you know a trick or two.

Some of the best mechanics i know cut their teeth on a pug. ;)

My 309 taught me plenty, and now thanks to that car the subaru has been a big pussycat on the grand scene of things.

I laugh when people fuss how hard a scooby is to work on or how much it rattles :D

Fifth gear made a meal out of that one, Megane bulbs are no easier/harder to change than any other car.

I dont think Renaults are bad to work on at all tbh :)