Windscreen washer jets

[Winston]

Evening fellow Renault fans!

So I have now had my clio 197 for almost a week, I haven’t really had much chance to drive it properly yet, or take some decent photos.

I have noticed a few little niggly issues:

The washer jets seem to take a while to actually fire water out onto the windscreen. Has anyone fitted non return valves in the pipe(s) and has it had a good affect? If that won’t help then what could help? Also the pressure seems to be a bit crap, I assume it could possibly be a split pipe but I wouldn’t know where to look. The car has projector headlights but no washers in the bumper. Is this normal? My thought was that if a vehicle had projector headlights it requires a headlight wash for MOT purposes.

The next issue is that the driver side door handle seems to be a little bit loose feeling and feels as though it sticks a bit when opened. Is this a common issue and a simple repair, or would it need to be replaced?

3rd one. My key card (the one that actually works) is falling to bits, has a chunk out of one corner and the key bit falls out. The other keycard I have (which looks new) doesn’t actually unlock the car. Is it possible to swap the internals over between the two or are they a dealer only programmable item? I have yet to try a new battery in the spare remote though so it may actually work!

A weird one today, car didn’t start on first press of the button, then when it did start it came up with an error for the stability/traction control, saying it was disabled. The button had no affect, then later on after I started it up again it had cleared. Very odd.

I cleaned the scuttle drains this evening, just the driver side was blocked (which seems to be the common one) so I stuck an air hose down the really awkwardly placed drain hole and blasted it out. Once I’d done that I got the air line all around to blow out all the leaves and crap, then gave it all a rinse out with the hose to clean the grime out!

Any tips on this stuff would really help. I have had a search for the issues but couldn’t find much, unless I’m just using the search bar wrong!!

Cheers
Winston.

 

[harey]

Evening fellow Renault fans!

So I have now had my clio 197 for almost a week, I haven’t really had much chance to drive it properly yet, or take some decent photos.

I have noticed a few little niggly issues:

The washer jets seem to take a while to actually fire water out onto the windscreen. Has anyone fitted non return valves in the pipe(s) and has it had a good affect? If that won’t help then what could help? Also the pressure seems to be a bit crap, I assume it could possibly be a split pipe but I wouldn’t know where to look. The car has projector headlights but no washers in the bumper. Is this normal? My thought was that if a vehicle had projector headlights it requires a headlight wash for MOT purposes.

The next issue is that the driver side door handle seems to be a little bit loose feeling and feels as though it sticks a bit when opened. Is this a common issue and a simple repair, or would it need to be replaced?

3rd one. My key card (the one that actually works) is falling to bits, has a chunk out of one corner and the key bit falls out. The other keycard I have (which looks new) doesn’t actually unlock the car. Is it possible to swap the internals over between the two or are they a dealer only programmable item? I have yet to try a new battery in the spare remote though so it may actually work!

A weird one today, car didn’t start on first press of the button, then when it did start it came up with an error for the stability/traction control, saying it was disabled. The button had no affect, then later on after I started it up again it had cleared. Very odd.

I cleaned the scuttle drains this evening, just the driver side was blocked (which seems to be the common one) so I stuck an air hose down the really awkwardly placed drain hole and blasted it out. Once I’d done that I got the air line all around to blow out all the leaves and crap, then gave it all a rinse out with the hose to clean the grime out!

Any tips on this stuff would really help. I have had a search for the issues but couldn’t find much, unless I’m just using the search bar wrong!!

Cheers
Winston.

Hey and welcome. There's loads of good guides about washers jets and such like. The people on here are proper sound and someone will always know the answer to any questions you have

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

 

[Yiannis197]

Hi Winston,

The washer jet issue you describe might be the common fault of the windscreen water pump. These are notorious to fail, mine has so I got one from ebay with a plan to replace at some point.

The car seems to have projector headlights retrofitted because as you correctly said, the ones from factory carry the washers as well.

Not sure on the key card but yes, doing the obvious and changing the battery in the decent key might do the job

Don't worry too much about the error, keep an eye on it and start looking for causes only if it does it regularly.

Enjoy the car and make sure you upload some pics!

 

[Winston]

Yiannis,

Cheers for that, I’ll look into the washer pump. I will have a go with some NRV’s for the pipes then if that doesn’t help will investigate it further.

It does work but just can sometimes take 2-5 seconds to squirt the fluid out.

Will having no headlamp washers affect the MOT if the headlamps have been retro fitted? I can hear the washer pump making noise as though it’s trying to wash the lights (nothing comes out of the windscreen jets) and it pumps a few times after doing the screen. I’m starting to think that possibly the front bumper has been changed for one without the cutouts for the headlight washers and the lights are factory fitted

As far as my key card goes, the decent looking one seems to work now, maybe I just hadn’t pressed the button hard enough the first time I tried to use it. Weirdly though it won’t let me start the car unless it is in the slot in front of the gear shifter, whereas the old knackered key card didn’t need to be and I could start the car when it was just in my pocket. I guess this could also be a battery related issue, they are only cheap so I’ll get a couple ordered!

Thanks again

 

[Dumdum]

Sounds like it has had a new bumper without washers if the pump makes a noise when requested, although doesn’t it just pump at the same time as the front screen of the head lights are on?

Keys can drop out of sync if they are like other French motors... if the battery doesn’t work it may be worth seeing if there’s some kind of sequence for re-syncing the keys...

 

[Winston]

Sounds like it has had a new bumper without washers if the pump makes a noise when requested, although doesn’t it just pump at the same time as the front screen of the head lights are on?

Keys can drop out of sync if they are like other French motors... if the battery doesn’t work it may be worth seeing if there’s some kind of sequence for re-syncing the keys...

The pump washes the screen the. You can still hear it humming a second or two after the windscreen jets stop spraying fluid, my missus Volvo does the same, but sprays the lights because it has the jets!

As far as the key goes, it now works to an extent. The buttons lock and unlock doors and boot but it’s proximity function doesn’t seem to work. The card has to be fitted into the slot to allow me to start the car. The other key doesn’t need to be in the slot and I can also open the doors without having to press any buttons on the card. I replaced the battery this evening for a new one and it made zero difference ‍
Ah well, french electrics

 

[Yiannis197]

Something to bear in mind mate is that OEM Xenons would have an auto leveling system as well as different bulb fitment to projectors headlights (H1). Hope that helps.

 

[Winston]

Cool in that case then I don’t think they are Xenons, they don’t do the auto levelling callibration on startup (a previous be scirocco I had did that) so hopefully MOT time shouldn’t be an issue.
I have also somehow got the good key with the new battery to start the car without being in the slot, although it still has to be near it and not in my pocket. Maybe the “new” Duracell battery I bought isn’t the best.

Next issue,
On lowering and raising the passenger side window, it seems to go in steps, even holding the button won’t make it go all the way up or down with one press. Is it meant to do that or not? Seems odd if it is!

Cheers.

 

[Yiannis197]

There you go mate;

https://www.clio197.net/threads/reset-one-touch-electric-windows.36538/#post423144

 

[Doogle]

If they are projectors theres no requirement to have headlight washers, if they are xenons there is but most MOT places dont care from my experience (my last 3 cars have had washers Ive blanked and all passed in 4 garages)

The windscreen washers have a non return valve already but its common for the rubber tubes to perish underneath and drip washer fluid onto the 4th coilpack, occasionally causing misfiring. Also worth cleaning out the washer bottle to get it all clean and working.

 

[Winston]

Doogle,

Cheers man. That’s good news!

I think a reason it was taking a while to squirt was because the fluid level was pretty low so after I’d filled it again it seems to work better.

I don’t think the bulbs are xenons but the headlamps are projectors. I haven’t had a chance to look at the back of the light at the bulbs yet.

Gave it a wash today, here’s some phone photos post wash:

Cheers