1998 Renault Clio RL Biarritz from UK and Ireland - Comments

I have a Clio 1.2 1998. When I bought it, it wasn't leaking. A couple of weeks later water was pouring out of the interior light; this resulted in the key fob not being picked up as it corroded the sensor, therefore meant that I couldn't start my car. Bought a new sensor, which was just a waste of money.

I have been told by a mechanic that the only solution is to get a new ECU system because of the immobilizer. My car has been sat in the drive way for three weeks or so, looked in there yesterday and there was a massive puddle on floor of driver side and the seats were starting to get mouldy!!

Does it sound right that I need to get a new ECU system?

Yer just look at 2002 Renault Clio Extreme from UK and Ireland - Comments A car with known faults!!!

I have a 54 plate Clio. 3 years ago I had a wet foot well behind the passenger seat. Had it taken to two garages over a 3 month period and the problem was fixed by getting a new door seal. Now I have puddles in the driver foot well, just taken it to the garage and they don't think it's the sun roof and are saying its the door again, but are not 100% sure, so I am another member of the leaky Clio club.

**A FIX***

Would just like to add to the post a few positions up.

We have a 2001 1.2 16V Clio & have had all the symptoms described here, coil light on, rough running, poor idle, hunting revs e.t.c.

All we needed to do was to clean the throttle body, it was a simple job all that was required was some carb cleaner & a new air filter.

It now runs perfect well as good as it did before! Also the coil light has gone out so all happy & a fix for a tenner. Result.

Hi Everyone, I'm a new, fully-fledged member of the leaky Clio glass Sunroof Club!

Mine is a 2001 1.2 Expression+ recently purchased from an elderly lady who had it from new. It's only covered 10,000 miles!!

Recently I got the wet passenger seat and the mark on the headlining where it meets the sunvisor. Tried changing the rubber seal (£ 84.62 for a bit of rubber!) and cleaning out the drain tubes - to no avail. My local Renault dealer says a total replacement because the frame distorts is the only answer - nearly £600!

I am now in contact with Renault Customer Service who so far have given me the old 'out of Warranty' fob-off. I couldn't believe the number of people with the same issue until I looked at this Site! I will write to the CEO of Renault and copy emails etc. to Watchdog and keep you all informed!

Posted a few weeks ago about my leak... well I cleaned the sunroof seal and refitted it using a small bed of silicon sealer to keep it in place. It took me about a week to dry out the floor. The sponge in the passenger footwell floor needed hanging in the airing cupboard and I used a Vax to suck up the water from the carpets... no other way to do it.

Anyway, still had a little water coming in, nothing like before, and realised now that it's coming in between the sunroof frame and the roof. I'm going to squirt some silicone sealer in there this weekend, so fingers crossed.

I just bought a 51-reg 1.5L DCi Clio, and 1st day of rain both areas of headliner around the sun visors were absolutely soaked. I noticed a wet patch on drivers seat too.

Key fob only works when I'm 2 inches away from the car door, so looks like I've joined the club too.

I'm going to seal the sunroof with silicon or something today, even if it's never to be opened again I'm going to fix it. RENAULT should be liable for selling factory fitted leaking sunroofs... are you guys sure they won't do anything?

I will report back after removing and sealing the sunroof.

Well well well. I bought a Clio RN 1.2 litre R reg a couple of weeks back from a trade seller, and from the get go I had a leaky sunroof, a squeaky belt and immobiliser problems.

Me and a friend went out to a club late one night. I parked up and locked the doors with the remote central locking fob key as normal. I returned back to the car about nearly three hours later and I could not enter the car via the fob key. So I manually opened the car door with the key and let my friend in thought the passenger side by manually pressing the central locking button on the console by the gear stick shaft.

I tried to start the car and it would not move. I tried everything in my power to get the car moving as it was after 3am and it was freezing cold, and I was tired and wanted to get home. I could have left the car there and returned back early in the morning, but where I had parked it would have got a ticket, been clamped or been towed away, and I did not want to take that risk.

after several attempts to get the car started and disarm the immobiliser, I eventually phone the AA recovery services to come out to me, which took nearly two hours, and after spending nearly half and hour with the car, he could not even figure out what the problem was. The chap towed me and the car back to my house.

One thing he did say was these Clios are a ba****d and has a history of playing up. He also said the leaky sunroof might have contributed to messing up the infra red receiver board by the interior light. I am angered by this as it's Christmas and I need the car to get from A to B.

The trade seller said there is nothing he can do, and Renault are quoting me over 200 hundred pounds to see to the problem. What a joke!!!

My wife's V reg Clio started to leak some time ago on the nearside above the door and rear seat(which seemed bizarre). Before reading these comments I took out the sunroof glass & thoroughly cleaned the area and also tried to 'rod' the drain holes with a thin copper wire. A little later after rain the offside headliner above the driver's door began to get wet too. It would seem that I may have inadvertently blocked the offside drain (or disturbed the offside glass mounting point.

Next decent period of dry weather I'll attempt to follow the advice & reseal the sunroof. I noted that the plastic seems inflexible and has a gap between it & the metal.

We like driving & parking the Clio in town, but don't enjoy the smell of wet!

Hi, I've got the same problem with my 02 Clio.

A few months ago I noticed under the driver side visor was wet. Husband took the sunroof out and cleaned it and tightened it, which cured the rattle. Next downpour and the drivers visor was dry but the passengers wasn't, the leak had swapped sides.

For months the car was struggling to start after short trips. Went out to start the car about 3 weeks ago and nothing - garage dried out the immobiliser and gave the car back. Still leaked but started like a brand new car until Saturday evening - wouldn't start.

Just got the car back and is starting well again and they have sealed the sunroof closed!! Hope this works as I can't afford to change it!!

Will let you know if it works!!

Love the car, but I am really annoyed with the leak!!

I have a 1997 Renault Clio RT 1.4 auto, and it is a nightmare! Gallons (well it feels like it, especially when freezing cold) of water pouring in via sunroof switches (or somewhere round there).

Sometimes the immobiliser won't let me start the car. After messing around with silicone (loads), paying out for silicone, car cover, had loads of garage guys shaking their heads and telling me it will be an expensive job to fix it, reading loads of stuff on the Internet - thanks everyone!

I have just gone out to the car and turned off the immobiliser by starting the car and pressing down and holding the central locking button in the centre console. The light on the console has gone off all together, so it looks like the central locking has turned off. The car starts now, however many times I open the door with the engine off. I hope this makes sense - this whole thing is driving me nuts.

I know this means I will still get rained on, but at least I won't be stuck without transport until I can get another car - not a Renault!

Hope it helps someone.

Officially joined the club, developed the leaking sunroof - Renault should be ashamed.

I am also officially a member of the leaky Clio club. I passed my test in October and within a week of passing the car (a 1997 RL Panache) started leaking around the IR sensor and I got soaked when ever I drove it, if it was raining or not!

A local mechanic sealed around the Ariel, cleaned the rubber seal and put a silicon seal around the frame of the sunroof. However within 2 weeks the leak was back and the immobilizer decided to pack up as well, only working when the key is held inches from the IR sensor.

I've since tried electrical tape on both the inside and outside of the sunroof, but this only worked for a few days. Now the inside of the car is so damp that I get frost on the inside of the windscreen on cold mornings!

I think its ridiculous how many people have had the same problem and Renault should offer to fix the problem for free. It's a shame because other than the leak, it's a very nice car to drive.

Well well, I could have written the previous comment! Looked at my daughter's 1998 Clio Panache RL and the sensor only works a couple of inches away from it, so it's useless for the central locking.

It has leaked from the sunroof of course, and that is no doubt the root cause of the defective sensor. Buying new batteries for the key was in vain... made no difference at all.

Very interesting to read the scores of comments concerning this leaky sunroof problem. I have an R-reg 1.2 Renault Clio Biarritz and have the same problem, perhaps not on the scale of a lot of you.

This is my first car and I'm only 17 so I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to problems such as this. Use of the sunroof is a nice addition, especially when summer comes around, but if I'm going to have this problem I may just go a bit trigger happy with some sealant! Glad to hear I'm not alone, but also a little sorry I can't provide any help!