2002 Renault Clio Extreme from UK and Ireland - Comments

Hi another clio owner here 2001... This car is dangerous come - on Renault, the cars are not only a hazard to the driver, but also to the other road users.

My wife has a Clio 1.2 Extreme with idle problems; lack of power and random cutting out. I think extreme is an understatement when it comes to unreliability. It's a 52 plate with 29K miles and has had the throttle body replaced at 22K miles and needs replacing again!?*?! I contacted Renault HQ but they wouldn't help at all. I've contacted Watchdog and no joy from them either.

I know the throttle body needs cleaning as it's only covered 7K miles in 18 months, but I can't seem to find any step by step instructions on how to do this (ideally with pictures). Just want to get is fixed cheaply so I can get rid of this car. My wife and I have had this car from new, and it's been back to the Renault dealer 14 times with different problems.

I will never buy a Renault again. My Ford Focus is 7 years old and has one problem, which was fixed 1st time round free of charge. I said to my wife we could buy a 15 year old Escort and it would be more reliable than this peace of crap.

Every Clio driver in the UK should hassle Renault and Watchdog until somethings done about this design fault. I heard a rumour that Renault recalled the 1.4 Clio's and resolved this problem, but as 80% of Clio sales are 1.2's; it would cost too much to recall these!!!

Well - I'm sort of glad I stumbled across you lot and your problems because I was starting to think it was just me.

1.2 Quickshift (03) Little treasure for the first few years, although it has always been slow to change gear when driven in automatic mode (it will be revving its tits off in 2nd or 3rd and needs to be manually changed up) and it can be slow to respond at the worst possible times. When approaching roundabouts for example, it will change down into 1st and then judder a little, seemingly unsure whether it should stay in 1st or go to 2nd. For this reason, I’ve driven it in manual mode because it’s not particularly safe.

Anyway, orange coil light came on and it lost auto mode, although it could be driven manually. Every now and then when I put it into gear and press the accelerator, the revs drop and it won't move. I have my foot flat to the floor but it won't shift at all. Took it to Renault who, true to form, said there wasn't anything wrong with it but the spark plugs did need changing….

It didn't make the slightest bit of difference and the car has continued to be so temperamental, I swear it has hormones. When I explained this to Renault, the guy looked at me like I was mental and I was making it up. “I’ve not had any problems with it love” was as helpful as he got.

Yesterday, the car gave up completely. Wouldn't even fire up. Took it to a mechanic who thought it had something to do with the accelerator pedal? He fitted a new one and said to see how it went (didn't charge me for it) and it drove like a dream. It was back into Automatic mode, was much smoother to change and I was chuffed to buggery.

Then guess what? The goddamn thing went back to its "No - I can't do it" mode this morning and the orange light is back on.

I'm so bummed.

Long story but please read and help if you can :' (

First car after passing my test was a Renault Clio R Reg (1998). I bought this car very cheap as it had a problem with the engine losing oil, this got fixed by the people I bought it from for free (Garage where my stepdad works). No problems with it since, great runner, loved the car.

9 months later I decided it was time for a newer car with modern amenities (electric windows, door mirrors etc). As I had loved my first Clio so much I decided to get a new one. I got my new car - Renault Clio 1.2 16V 53 plate - from a local garage Monday just gone. Within 30 minutes of picking it up the Engine Warning Light? (the graph looking orange light with a coil below it) came on, car lost 90 % of its power. I assumed this was because the fuel was on empty so I rolled it down the hill to the garage and filled it with fuel. Switched the engine back on after filling the tank and all seemed fine so I went to pick up my friend and take my new car for a drive. 10 minutes later, trying to get up a hill, car loses power and feels like I'm driving a tractor so I pull over, switch engine off, all OK for 5 minutes. After this happend another couple of time I decided to go to see my Stepdad and see what he said. He said it was some problem with the engine and to take it back to the garage where I bought it. Next day (Tuesday) I took it back to the garage, left it over night and picked it up yesterday after work (Wednesday). I took the car for a good drive with my friend, doing approx 60 miles and the problem seems to have cleared. However, a new problem has occured - the lights on the display (Speedometer, rev counter, stereo etc) keep flicking on and off intermitently and there is a noise coming from underneath the glove box (or so it seems), that sounds like an electical wire shorting. Got home and told my Stepdad who said that this could be potentially dangerous. So, this morning I contacted the garage and told them about the new problem, they told me to take it back in (which means wasting half a days holiday at work) but in the meantime the car should be safe to drive. I'm slightly worried as I doubt that my warranty will cover electrical faults and very upset that out of the four days I've now had my new car, not once has it been fully right.

On the plus side... when the car isn't in tractor mode or providing me with disco lights, it drives and handles fantastic, very nippy, very light and very smooth.

If anyone thinks they can help please do, any info / advice wil be appreciated - amylg2005@hotmail.co.uk.

Thnx, Amy.

Hi all; I think I have the answer to your problems.

Have a 1.2 51 plate clio and have been driving it since last August. Everything was great for its first 3 months, and I thought everything was fine and dandy.

But, 3 days before Xmas, while driving home at half past 5 through town with not many places to pull over, I was accelerating away from a roundabout. I changed from 1st into 2nd, when I suddenly lost power. I pulled into a side street and turned off the car. I got the book out to see what the problem was (electrical warning light).

Started the car, but the same thing happened; it couldnt drive, had limited power, so I turned it off for another 5 minutes. Then it started fine. Anyway, I got my Dad to follow me home, since we were following each other (just in case).

That night, I drove out to girlfriend and back (about 22 miles, round trip) and everything was fine. Eventually, got blasted down an empty Scottish motorway.

Drove fine on the 23rd; fine on the 24th; the car wouldn't get away from the house so I left it and got a taxi. Xmas day, it wouldn't go 100 yards along my road.

Got a mechanic to look at it on Boxing Day (someone dad knows). He didn't know and cleaned the plugs. It only worked for 2 days.

Got another mechanic friend to look at it, and he said the warning light is normally one that you would find on a diesel car (my car uses petrol). He changed the plugs for nothing but a bottle of whisky. My car ran for about a week into the new year and I thought that my problems were solved; how wrong could I be?

Car cut out again this time on the motorway just driving along at night. sat waited for ten minutes and away I went. was fine for the rest of the night. got another mechanic to look at it (chief mechanic at a mercedes dealership). he couldnt get any codes from the car but asked his friend (chief at Renault dealership along the road) to do him a favour and put it on the computer for him. got it done for nothing and he said it was something to do with the throttle, either 1 of:

1) the computer at the throttle pedal

2) the computer on the engine

3) the wiring linking up the two.

The test took him 2 hours to do, and he used 2 or 3 different computers; only one of them came up with any fault.

So 4 months on, I know what the problem is; now at least I'm not going to get it sorted as it only happens once or twice a week (at the most).

However having driven the car for so long with the problem, now I have realised one or 2 things that seem to make the car go into safe mode.

1) always happens when changing gear more often or not going from 1st into 2nd

2) majority of the time is when the engine is being run from cold eg: first thing in the morning.

HOWEVER with the better weather it has not broken in over a week. this is very unusual so I think it could be a problem with water or overnight condensation getting into the car on a cold or wet night. this leads me to believe that this might be a seasonal problem that happens during the winter in cold and wet weather.

PLEASE TELL ME WHETHER THIS STORY RELATES TO YOU IN ANY WAY.

I have been fortunate in the way that this has not cost me any money apart from a set of halfords spark plugs and a bottle of whiskey. Thus far as I know, people who don't have any contacts will more than likely have been charged a lot of money to get the checks done at the renault dealer (which by the way he was working on the car for about 2 hours nonstop).

I have had the black metal bow checked and all the other wiring and everything seems to be fine.

Please don't hesitate to contact me at STUARTPATY51@AOL.COm if you have any questions or queries.

Finally thank for reading I know I have went on a bit but I wanted to make sure I gave a full version of events.

Hello Everyone; Much the same problem has been occuring with my '02 reg Clio Dynamique. Loss of power, poor idling, etc. I've had the vehicle to the Renault dealership and they linked it to their diagnostic comp, and showed that it needed a full set of replacement coils; which I had changed. The car was fine for 2-3 months but then on way home one night from work, the orange coil light appeared on the dashboard and the revs started going crazy. I managed to turn the light off by revving the car hard. Took it to local garage the next day and they ran their own diagnostic comp on the car. (By the way this only cost me 35 quid instead of Renault's 90 quid). Anyway, the comp showed that there was a mis-fire and they changed the spark plugs. The car was running better than ever and would go through the gears very smoothly. However about 2 weeks later, the same light came on the dashboard. I phoned the garage and they said they would have to attach a smaller diagnostic tool to the car whilst they took it out for a drive to see if it brought anything up. I never did take it back to the garage, but I did look on this website and noticed many people mentioning the black box at the rear of the engine. I immediately popped the bonnet, with tools at the ready to remove this black box. However, it appeared that it had already been removed previously, as it was loose. I thought, 'job half done' and followed what other people had posted and taped up the wires with electrical tape so that they weren't touching any unnecessary areas. I replaced the black box and the lights haven't come on in over a month. I hope this has solved the problem. I haven't spent as much as some people in trying to get to the problem, and was willing to try anything, as this was really becoming not only embarrassing, but very dangerous as the car was cutting out in full flow. Thanks to all of those people who have recommended checking the black box, and taping up the wires. Hopefully the 49p electrical tape has cured the problem!

I have the same problem.

I have had the car from new in 2002, a few years later this started not cutting out but jittery idle. its defiantly worse on first start up and in wet weather. it has also jittered at 80mph on the motorway in heavy wet weather. this is when the Electronic fault warning light (coil) first came on and it was jittery all the way home, next time I went to drive it it was perfect for the first time in a long time, it came back a few days later.

I have just come across this forum now, with this information and the facts. my first guess would be shorting due to black box. so will check this tomorrow. if that doesn't fix it I will strip down and clean the throttle body.

Big thanks to everyone whom has posted on here!

After reading all the posts, I realized that I also had made the mistake of buying a Renault Clio...

I have had the same problems outlined by others and I have had enough; my finance company are letting me swap my car for a different one.

As with the problems, I also lost total power, lost speed on hills, etc.

I have literally just tried the black box method and this seems to have worked, (wires touching each other and touching the box lit itself so I covered them in 24p insulation tape). I want to point out that I have had my fuel sensor, crank shaft sensor, new plugs, and a few other bits replaced, some of which I don't know as the guy at the showroom never told me.

I'm going for a drive now so I will post my results.

Good luck anyways.

Clio Auto 1.6 RT stalling:

Can someone please help. My auto 1999 Clio starts well and runs well until it come to a traffic light when at idle it suddenly stalls. I turn the ignition on again and starts immediately without any problem but on pulling out I feel the power is not there even though it drives. Also when I approach a hill, the car does not pull fast enough, again lack of power. I need to adjust the gas up and down to get the speed. Another problem I noticed is when I drive for a long distance, say 5 to 10 miles without any stoppage and when slowing down to park the car, the car stalls before I manage to finish parking the car. Other faults I have with the car are: the central lock does not work and the radio/cassette player has no power. Can anyone please tell me what could be causing the stalling problem and does it have anything to do with the electronic system since the central locking system does not work. My email: mra18@msn.com.

Hey all. You know the drill:

Juddery when idle, splutters when easing off clutch. Last Friday the exhaust emissions light started flashing, cue me crawling and cutting out on the way to work. Thankfully managed to get it home again and to a mechanics, where they looked at it and saw nothing on the diagnostics.

Car seemed OK from then until today - just came off the motorway (thank the lord) and that stupid annoying light started flashing at me again. Cue me crawling home again.

REALLY annoyed. I'm meant to be driving cross country for the next couple days with the missus.

Doesn't seem like it methinks!

Renault, I'm afraid first impressions of you are awful, I'm never going to buy one of your cars again. Yes, it took me 5 weeks to realise that.

I have a renault clio and I've been reading theses comments. I got it off my sister and it is a 2004 reg. I has had non stop electrical problems and has spent more time in the dealership than on the road but now it has got big problems with the engine not driving properly and now has a slow top speed of 40mph and well really has no chance of going over a hill so I can't even get it to my house. we have had enough of these clios to the point we have written to watchdog to get them investigated as the engine problems and electrical problems in my brother clio which is same age and identicle model got the same problems the same days everytime. its bit weird that when you need it repaired the dealerships are always full with cars being fixed why don't they just build them properly its ridiculous. and for you people with the sunroof rattle you broke it by not opening it with the button and closing it with the button which the instruction manual tells you to do and renault will just tell you the same.

Hi, I have a 2002 clio 1.2 16v, my car started to judder and cut out when I came to a stop, I have had the diagnostics test on it and they said it was the inlet sensor, renault wanted £88 plus vat just for the sensor!! I didn't really have that kind of money so I took apart the fuel rail and took the throttle body off. I cleaned all the throttle body and cleaned up all the sensors with an air line, put it all back together and now the problem is solved, I think its because the oil from the oil breather spits out all over the throttle body and its sensor, hope this helps everyone, if there is anymore problems contact me on jamie_1988_@msn.com thanks.

Hi I have a renault clio billabong on a 03 and the engine is misfiring.i have had a diagnostic check done and came up with no faults. i have cleaned the throttle body and fault still remains.has anyone had this before if yes what was the fix.

Regards gary.

Hi.

Just discovered this great site after being quoted stupid money to sort my wife's clio. I have looked under the bonnet and couldn't see a black box, so could someone give me a hint please. The car is a 51 plate 1.2. Many thanks.

Same old story Y reg Clio 1.2 16v Sport with the electric light coming on when coming to junctions and having to rev the engine in neutral to stop from stalling (spending £££ on petrol). Had it in and out of garages for years and Renault won't admit it's a common fault. My mates a mechanic and he drilled a 1mm hole in the pressure manifold (where the flap opens and lets air in) gave a clean and then started the car... to my amazement it works and has done for a week now!!! I won't be getting rid, but I won't be buying another Renault as long as I live. Ford for me next or Japanese.