1998 Renault Clio RL Biarritz from UK and Ireland - Comments

Joined the leaking Clio club 2 years ago with an R-reg Panache. Test drove the Clio, all was well, went to collect it and the very first corner got a face and lap full of water.

Replaced the aerial seal - still leaked.

Asked a local Renault garage. Their opinion replacing seals did not improve the situation they could only suggest replacing the whole frame at £350 + labour. (The sunroof would be worth more than the car!). They also informed me that on this model there is no drain tube.

Last winter sealed up the roof with gaffer tape which worked until it perished. The glue took ages to clean off the plastic trim.

During the summer removed the seal and cleaned up all the channel etc. Then bedded the seal onto a bead of silicone sealant. The result is that today after quite a lot of rain the car is a mobile shower again.

Will try the old inner tube on the aerial mount first and if this doesn't work try removing the frame to bed this onto some flexible silicone sealant.

Renault are definitely at fault for persisting with a defective design that is not fit for purpose.

My other son is now looking for a car, it will not be a Renault and it will not have a sunroof although the sunroofs in both Volvo's (had one for 14 years the second for 6 years) have never caused any problem. Just shows that Renault quality is not up there.

Apologies for the long thread but thought you might like to see what we all have to put up with.

Hi there I have had in the past a Renault 5, Renault 25, and Renault 19 with no sunroof leaks or leaks.

So Renault can make cars in the past with no leaks, so why are Renault so bad now.

Anyway, I had no trouble with the cars I said, but I will not buy a new Renault now.

Maybe Honda.

My wife's 51 Clio 1.5 Dynamique has a wet floor on the driver's side, but for the life of me I've not been able to identify the source. Not seen any drips around the window seals or sunroof. The wet patch is directly under the steering wheel. Any ideas?

Hi All.

I last wrote on 3rd. October reporting my solution to the aerial leak.

Sad to report I'm getting a nasty leak again and it's definitely the sunroof frame. I partially stripped out the headlining and checked the tightness of the bolts securing the frame to the roof, and they're all OK.

So it must be seals that have degraded over a few years.

I'm now covering the car with a half cover (the sort that covers the roof and windows) whenever rain is forecast. When there's a dry spell (some hope!) I'm going to loosen all those bolts and force silicon into the gaps.

What a horrendous nightmare.

Agree with the comments about old designs that didn't leak. I had a Rover for years and it never leaked; the frame was metal. That, I feel, is the crux of the problem-the plastic frame flexes with the heat (a roof will get very hot even in our climate) and then the seals degrade.

I'm nearly 60 and I want to cry! I don't need this at my age. The worst car ever! Why did I buy it? What have I done to deserve this?

Lol... I too recently joined the Clio club (1.4 RN V reg) and have been honored by several leaks across the roof and passenger foot well! As great as they are to drive, I would not buy another one! It doesn't matter how old the car is it seems that if it's a Clio... it's gonna leak! I can handle the water but the smell and soaked immobiliser unit makes it hard to love.

You may be loving your Clios now, but when winter hits will you still love em then?

A follow-up to my 8th. October report:

During that last warm, dry spell we had I pulled down the headlining (need to take out quite a few components but it's fairly simple) and slackened off all the bolts holding the sunroof frame.

After having a good clean with white spirit, I forced afore-mentioned expensive Loctite silicon sealant into the spaces between frame and roof-from the inside. You have to do a few inches at a time and clean up as you go along otherwise you'll get in a mess. You'll need to use fingers mostly as it's very restricted for space to work in.

I then did the same from the outside. First forcing a white spirit-soaked cloth between the black plastic frame and the metal roof to clean it. Then I used a thin spatula (the sort of thing used for applying filler) to lever up the plastic a couple of inches at a time and forcing the sealant in using the nozzle on the tube. You'll need to clean up quickly as you go along as I found that the sealant cured quite rapidly in the sun (the roof got quite hot).

Then tighten up all the bolts from the inside in the same sort of sequence you'd adopt for doing a cylinder head, making sure you go round again to ensure the wretched thing is secure. Another quick clean up is then required as the tightening will squeeze out some sealant.

So far-after some very heavy rain-it's OK. Joy!

I guess it will need a periodic check. But this seems the simplest and most cost-effective solution to the horror.

To re-cap: the number one suspects are the sunroof frame and the aerial mounting.

Good luck to all. Don't despair; a few years down the line we'll all have disposed of our Renaults!

My boy bought a T reg 1.2 RN yesterday. Went out to it this morning to find 1/2" water on the foot-well, water splashes all over the drivers door, and wet stains in the head lining on both nearside and offside near the windscreen. I phoned the trader who said it will be the drain holes. I told him that I had read this forum and that it was a sun roof problem. He has agreed to pick up the car tomorrow and fit a new sun roof. I now know why the Clio was the only car brought out from under cover when we went to view. I feel guilty because my boy took me along for advice on whether to buy the car or not (£1300 is a lot for a youngster). Hopefully the trader will be true to his word.

Leaky Clio club again. Mine has been driving me mad for 6 weeks or more. I had a guy come out, take sunroof out, clean it etc. Guess what, it still leaked above the visors. He came out another two times. On the last occasion he cleared the drainage tubes again and sealed up the sun roof. Problem was on a morning I had terrible condensation and a drip onto the seats from the glass sunroof. My seats have been marked very badly.

Here is what I have done. At night I fold a jiffy cloth and put under each sun visor. I went to Argos and bought a plastic 9.99 roof cover that clips on the wheel arches. On the front seats I place a bin bag. I then make sure both windows are left open about 3/4 of an inch. Come out in the morning - dry car, no condensation. Give it a try, it can't harm the car any more can it? I cannot afford to change the car and also am not prepared to pay Renault 600 for a new sunroof that maybe just as bad.

Another leaking Clio. Mine is a 1996 reg 1.2 and the problem got so bad after heavy rain water would pour out from the interior light all over me and I would get to work soaked and really pi***d off. Left me stuck on several occasions with the IR remote not working. Tired sealing the sunroof with silicon, problem has slightly improved. Gonna take the roof lining down when its dried out and get a better look.

Amazing so many people are having the same problem.

Bought my S reg 1.2 Clio a few days ago. Got in this morning and it took ages to demist. I then noticed the passenger footwell had about 2 pints of water in it. I looked up and found the headlining wet on the passenger side.

Am going to dry it all out this weekend, remove the sunroof and seals, and clean it all up and use some sealer, and will check the aerial seal too, and drain tubes if there are any.

I will report back afterwards.

Recently my sunroof had leaked, when I was driving my Renault Clio 1.2 RL Panache. The water went all over me, luckily I managed to fix it, but my infrared sensor had stopped working, so I hair dried it, still didn't work, got a new sensor for £45.00, what a rip off. Plugged it in and still not working!!... I have no idea what is wrong.

Oh no, why did I not look at this page last week? 99 Clio, same problem when I got in on Monday. The bath was had; guess what I will be doing this weekend. Let's hear it for the French.

Anyone in despare with a wet clio take note. i spent 4 days finding out were water gets in and it is offical if it is not ur aerial then the frame of the sunroof is distorted. Depending which way you park the car uphill or down hill will determin if the rear or front footwell gets wet. I removed the headcloth completely and observed for 4 days. the water seeps in the sides of the sunroof along the bolt line it runs along the solid headcloth to the corner were it meets the rubber around the door and runs down inside the rubber channel until it reaches the floor. my car had the drivers floor wet when I parked the car downhill when I changed to uphill it moved to the rear, so this can happen to either side depening which side the sunroof is leaking. to fix the problem is not that easy if you r not of a mechanical mind. You do not have to remove the headcloth completely just drop the front down although awkward this makes the job a lot less time consuming. Losen all the sunroof bolts until the r ready to come away don't take them out fully as it will be harder to get them back in. the frame of the sunroof will be loose enough so you can lift it up 1 inch. fill the cap round the outside between black plastic frame and the roof of the car this was were the original seal was I used tiger seal which is 10 pounds a tube but well worth it be cause it remains flexible for any future movement. It is not needed inside as the water should not pass this seal anyway make sure you use plenty as the access can be cleaned of when you bolt the s/roof back into position. luckily I use to be a mechanic so I still had my tools altough you only need screwdrivers ;helix bits ;10 socket and small drive and a tube gun. so please don't waste anymore money on garges telling you they cleared ur drain tubes as you will get soaked again hope this helps you all.

17th Nov 2008, 13:01 comment Thank you.

I think RENAULT should fix them all for nothing. Why should you pay out for it when it's Renault's fault, they must know.

There just riping people off.

Hi I have come up with a way to fix the immobiliser on a mk1 Clio after it has been water damaged, this is a last resort but has worked for me and been fine for the last few months.

The water corrosion got so bad on my Infared detector, that the three infared diodes were totally wrecked and the immobiliser didn't work at all.

To get around the problem, I took the IR diodes out and soldered two wires onto the points where one of the IR diodes would be. I ran these wires down on the drivers side and put a connector on them.

Next took the key fob apart and soldered two wires onto the infared led inside the key fob. These two wires have a matching connector to the one in the car, and the connector just sticks out the back of the key.

So now I get in the car plug the connectors together, press the button on the keyfob and the immobiliser goes off and the doors unlock as normal. I can now start the car.

If it doesn't work, try reversing the wire, they will only work one way round.