ok so the misses clio' clutch went a while ago and its been sat on the drive for 3 months, waiting for me to diy it in the summer...

 

How ever, after starting it up and getting to temp once a week, it has started blowing white smoke, and there is mayo under the oil cap.

 

So now my dilemma is, is it worth the hassle to sort the clutch if its head gasket has gone...??

 

Car i recon is worth no more than £900. But is a real shame as its had timing belt, water pump, aux belt, new battery literally a few weeks prior to the clutch going. Its been in the family since new, Mother in laws car, she gave it to my misses, to 2 former female owners. Body is in spotless condition. Miles is a tad high at 98k for a 1.2 liter.  So dilemma really..

 

The scrap value is no more than £80, lol

 

Its taking up drive space... what to do?? 

Edited 5 July, 20169 yr by FromTheDarkness

Are you sure the head gasket has gone? Starting a car like that, even though it gets to somewhere near temperature, can cause more problems.

 

I'd put money on the white smoke just being condensation being burnt off, and the mayo caused by the oil not getting hot enough to evaporate the water.

 

If it were me, fix the clutch, oil and filter change, then give it a long run to get it properly hot then sell if you don't want it.

Are you sure the head gasket has gone? Starting a car like that, even though it gets to somewhere near temperature, can cause more problems.

 

I'd put money on the white smoke just being condensation being burnt off, and the mayo caused by the oil not getting hot enough to evaporate the water.

 

If it were me, fix the clutch, oil and filter change, then give it a long run to get it properly hot then sell if you don't want it.

 thats what i was thinking about the smoke and mayo. But then thinking of the mileage, it prob isnt uncommon for it to go.

For me to sort the clutch i will need to book 2 days of work, and hire a engine host, and ofc pay for parts so its not exactly a "free" fix, not sure its worth the time and effort. Ive just been looking at these on auto trader and there are the same with half the mileage for around £500 :P 

The car has already been replaced, its just what to do with it ..

Donate to a school or colege as an educational project

Reading between the lines you'd like to get the car back on the road but really can't be chewed with spending a day underneath it.

 

Flog it as is.

 thats what i was thinking about the smoke and mayo. But then thinking of the mileage, it prob isnt uncommon for it to go.

For me to sort the clutch i will need to book 2 days of work, and hire a engine host, and ofc pay for parts so its not exactly a "free" fix, not sure its worth the time and effort. Ive just been looking at these on auto trader and there are the same with half the mileage for around £500 :p

The car has already been replaced, its just what to do with it ..

 

I bow to your superior knowledge on the common issue of the head gasket.

 

I get your point about time/effort vs payoff, I hadn't realised they were worth that much. Granted it'd be worth more to you if it is was your main car, but this isn't.

 

Maybe flog it as it is, for spares?

Strip and sell for parts

Reading between the lines you'd like to get the car back on the road but really can't be chewed with spending a day underneath it.

 

Flog it as is.

 

Kind of but also, i hate the waste of a good car. Body work is spotless, and mechanically its been well looked after. I like cars, i hate waste.. But yes it has to be worthwile getting a bad back, and taking time off work. As much as i want to, is it worth while. Autotrader has over 20 pages of clios under £1000. Even fixed i think it would be hard to sell lol.

Strip and sell for parts

Again is there really the demand, seems these are thow away cars. If it was a clio sport maybe.

Got any fuel in it?

As meb90 says, likely to be running it for far too short a time - nowhere near long enough to burn off condensation.

To save syphoning the tank, with attendant foul taste in mouth, fire her up and leave on a fast tickover for at least half an hour. That should clear the white smoke. 

Get a gallon of the cheapest 10/40 oil and do a change but drain the old off while it's still hot.

Is it still taxed? If so, chop it inh.

Advertise it on t'bay

Best of luck

SWMBO's Fiat (value £500 ish) had a total of £1100 spent on it in the 9 months before I went back to the UK last year, and it still felt like the donk and suspension had issues.

 

Got the we buy any car quote, and then offered the car to the garage that serviced it all those times.  He matched the WBAC price and we walked away with £400 and no more worries.  He did some work on it and made a decent profit on it inside a week, but we didn't care cos we'd moved on.

 

The year before, my Fiat was at the same point, a decent runner, but shaping up for £600-1000 to get it through MoT. Drove it round to the scrappers and walked home with £108 in my pocket.

 

 

Bottom line, if you're now thinking it's becoming a money pit, it already did a while ago. 

 

I'd get rid.

Edited 5 July, 20169 yr by camelspyyder

1.2 Clios were gutless so it's probably been ragged to death it's whole life.

Might be wear and tear in the internals.

 

Happy thought - Could it just be a build up of water through it sitting around through cold damp months?

As others, it sounds like the engine isn't actually getting properly up to temperature.

Got any fuel in it?

As meb90 says, likely to be running it for far too short a time - nowhere near long enough to burn off condensation.

To save syphoning the tank, with attendant foul taste in mouth, fire her up and leave on a fast tickover for at least half an hour. That should clear the white smoke. 

Get a gallon of the cheapest 10/40 oil and do a change but drain the old off while it's still hot.

Is it still taxed? If so, chop it inh.

Advertise it on t'bay

Best of luck

 

Yes so doing this confirmed its a head gasket failure. Coolant boiled over when turned engine off... also wouldn't accelerate much, and engine management light on ^^

 

Now on ebay, and classified http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/404788-spares-repairs-clio-12/

Edited 6 July, 20169 yr by FromTheDarkness