Console/Cambelt/Air Con/ Spotlights

[BigfellaV6]

Hi,

After over 30 years of driving I purchased my first ever Renault last weekend. I thought it best to do it properly & go in big with a phase 1 V6. Being new to the forum I'm hoping some of you more experienced V6 owners can assist me with the following queries?

i) How the hell do I get the centre console clean? It's a plastic/gel type material which has become discoloured & grubby and lets the interior down.

ii) My V6 last had its cambelt & water pump changed in 2015, but its only done 2,300 miles since. I presume its best to get it changed irrespective for peace of mind? Do the phase 1 & 2's share the same cambelt kit & water pump?

iii) My aircon look like it needs re-gassing. Is this a simple straight forward job as with any other car, plus where is the air con connector to re-gas?

iv) My front foglights don't seem to be working. Is this a simple DIY job to replce the bulbs?

Any help would be much appreciated?

 

[Jamesv6]

Some useful links
Foglights - knowledge/60
Cam belt - viewtopic.php?p=190053#p190053

I recall the aircon system was quick to deal with when re-gassing. Access to connectors is under bonnet on driver side inner wing. Remove front luggage tray. (Aircon compressors on a few older cars have needed replacing, and check hoses for leaks)

Someone like [mention=4813,#000000]Tannman[/mention] would be good to answer about the centre consol.

 

[allanmac]

I gassed my air con yesterday, 750grams R134a, remove front tray and ports are on o/s.

 

[Tannman]

i) How the hell do I get the centre console clean? It's a plastic/gel type material which has become discoloured & grubby and lets the interior down.

Congratulations on your purchase :race:

Best solution for me was to completely remove from dashboard, soak them in petrol to remove the sticky ness feeling.
Once cleaned spray using plastic primer then spray using satin silver (phase 1) or satin black (phase2)

Hope this helps

 

[Kett]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLlZr8g8_c

 

[DaveL485]

[post]235040[/post] ii) My V6 last had its cambelt & water pump changed in 2015, but its only done 2,300 miles since.

Mine were also done in 2015, I've done about 10k miles since, I will be doing mine next year (7.5 yrs, +50%).

I do this time extension on all my cars that are under half of the belt mileage. The time expiry is designed to cover cars that do regular but small around-town trips and live in lower gears. Low use/mileage cars like my Vee (3rd car) I happily extend. I just did a 10yr old cambelt on a mates 21 Turbo that I last did in 2009, having only covered 4000 miles it still looked in great nick.

 

[Ben123]

I gassed my air con yesterday, 750grams R134a, remove front tray and ports are on o/s.

Do you have one of the re-gassing DIY kits? If so, can you recommend which one?

 

[allanmac]

I gassed my air con yesterday, 750grams R134a, remove front tray and ports are on o/s.

Do you have one of the re-gassing DIY kits? If so, can you recommend which one?

I have my own gauges and vacuum pump, I’m a tech to trade.
I’d advice taking it to a local garage that does air con. Mine was completely empty but held vacuum and I put dye in with it just incase it has a wee leak.

 

[dal.a]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLlZr8g8_c

That looks easier than I thought, is the ph1 the same by any chance?

 

[Ben123]

Very very similar yeh. I once swapped a full PH2 interior into a Ph1 172. All the screws were in same positions as far as I recall.

 

[Ren5Clio]

Yes the front fog light bulbs are easy to change, just turn the round cap on the back of the light unit to access the bulb. If the light units have been changed for aftermarket ones then the bulb configuration fitment is slightly different but still easy to change.

With regards to the centre console then "Tannman" is correct, you have to remove the old rubberized finish. I did my centre air vent first with it in place by using standard thinners with a rag. If you're careful you can remove the rubber finish to reveal a nice satin silver finish. I re painted my centre console and it's a lot harder to do as it's a lot larger and the chance of only removing the rubber finish & not the silver finish over such a large area is next to impossible!.

The answer as "Tannman" says is to take it out & remove all the rubberized finish with thinners or perhaps petrol (i used thinners). I then rubbed down the hole panel with 600 wet & dry paper and water back to the factory grey GRP gell coat. After washing it in soapy warm water, drying it in the sun & running a tac cloth over it, I then sprayed it with U-Pol Grip [v6plaque]4[/v6plaque] Adhesion Promoter Plastic Primer. Give that 2 coats (mist coat first) waiting 10 mins between coats, then after 30 mins I sprayed straight on top with 3 coats of Titan Silver (leaving 10 mins between each coat with the first coat a mist coat). Put the last coat on at quite close range & quite heavy to get a nice glossy finish when wet, it will then dry to a satin silver which matched my centre air vent quite close with colour & finish. I decided not to gloss clear top coat it as this will look too shiny but you could do that if you wanted to seal the silver paint. You could also get it clear sealed in a satin finish but it's hard to get that in aerosol. :race:

 

[Ren5Clio]

P.S. PERHAPS OBVIOUS BUT REMOVE YOUR HANDBRAKE & GEAR LEVER LEATHER TRIM PIECES, V6 PLATE & HAZARD SWITCH BEFORE ANY PREP !!!!

 

[BigfellaV6]

Many thanks for the responses. Cannot believe the centre console is such a ball ache to get clean. Surely there has to be an easier solution rather than having to remove?

 

[MrBlueSky]

I've not attempted to remove the stick rubberized finish from a Vee console, however I have done it on several electronic items of that era using isopropanol alchohol. Took a bit of time but eventually revealed a nice shiny paint underneath.

 

[BigfellaV6]

Many thanks for the tip, may give it a go. How much pressure do you tend to apply on a job like this?

 

[MrBlueSky]

Pressure probably dependent on paint/job. I'd go lightly to start in an area that not too obvious.