What sort of milage is a williams lump reliable till???

[Patrick_g46]

i am always worried when i car hits around 80k i think everything will start 2 go wrong! i am interested in the hybrid for sale on this forum but the milage worries me, should it? i dont think the engine will have any service history due to it being a diff engine and again that would bother me!

btw this is the car in question

http://www.williamsclio.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20317

[snowman]

To be honest mate ive seen valver williams engines still going strong after 100k+,it all depends on how well its been looked after,if its been ragged everywhere then things will be a bit loose,personally id change cambelt,pulleys and tensioners,the next thing may be piston rings if its blowing any blue smoke.Also if the gearstick moves when accelerating then maybe the dogbone mount needs replacing.Its just luck really with these engines aswell,hope that helps,im sure someone else will know a bit more than i do about these things.

[Allan]

best thing is go drive it !

or at least drive a few so you can feel how they run !

I have had a few clios all over 100k and some under and tbh if they have been looked after 80k is nothing !

you want to worry more about gear boxes then engines, check for it jumping out of gear and make sure it drives fine in every gear would be your best bet

check for smoke and also head gasket failure other then that engine / gear box wise its same as any other car...

[Daz.]

mileage doesn't hurt these cars imo, its unreliable owners who ignore vital replacements and do bodge jobs.

[Patrick_g46]

ideally i would like to carry out a compression test on it but im not 2 sure the owner would trust me to do it, i know i would be a bit wary if it was me

[snowman]

Yeah good shout that,if he wants it sold and has nothing to hide then i cant see why a comp test would'nt be ok

[Patrick_g46]

yeh but he just might not like the idea of a stranger "fiddling" with his engine and taking his spark plugs out.

[Dan_Williams]

mines almost hit 118,000m and still runs perfect not that im trying to curse it lol

[Swervin_Mervin]

ULF valver is on 132 and a recent compression test showed it was sweet as. Did have a head rebuild at 72k though after cambelt snap.

Renault engines are actually pretty bullet proof if well maintained. My dads old 25 2L was traded in on 292k and it didn't smoke and pulled well, and hadn't had a re-build at all.

[darrenm1eqn]

Every engine is different , when i worked in the car industry i'd seen
engines with only 30k on that were knocking and basically shagged .
i also used to own a BMW 540 with 297k on and drove like new ..

Then a 300zx with 176k on and drove like new , so i wouldnt be to
bothered with milage , yes its nice to have a car with low milage but
its down to who's owned it and how its been looked after that counts ..

[clowo16v]

Physically the clio engines are very good, its just the sensors etc which go you dont hear of many blowing up unless they're not looked after.

Matt

[Patrick_g46]

do the headgaskets on them go often? is there an age/milage when they tend to fail?

[MAXIBOY]

not unless there mistreated. no more common then any other engine

[Purple]

Mine's a daily driver on 130k. Still on factory gaskets. Chipped and air-filter modded. Regular oil changes, gentle morning warm-ups and I don't go past 6.5k rpm even when thrashing it. Pulls pretty much the same as when I got it at 16k.

[willy3]

my williams is on 118k and touch wood its been fine and still runs like new, never missed a service and 1 owner before me, rekon good maintenance is the key...........got a few valvers and there all over 100k, never had an engine fail, just gearboxes.........

[Patrick_g46]

do you think that i shoudl expect proof that the engine is on 81k??? some on cs said i should and walk away if they dont! surely its going to be very difficult to proove the milage of an engine, any1 could lie but we just hope they dont!

[Daz.]

well for a start don't ask on cs! they wouldn't know hige mileage if it drove quickly past them... which it often does :lol:

[willy3]

easier to prove millage on a genuine car, harder to do so in a hybrid, guess you will just need to view car and see the condition its in and make up your own mind........

[Stoker Willi 1 303]

mine is on 270,000 and i am re-building my engine at the moment only because i am worried i might have worn bores because of some smoking when i boot it. new set of rings maybe or if i have to go oversize pistons to accomodate if its excessive thats just the way it is. i knew my car had been clocked before i bought it as i had read a review on her. if your worried about mileage look up no 303 on the willy register. no history or signs of an engine re-build before now so these engines are bloody good in my opinion.

Mileage is nothing jus a number think about it the way i do what harm does 1-2 miles driving do............ Nothing 2-3....... Nothing again 4-5 and so on and so on :arrow: :arrow:

keep on top of servicing and an engine sould be fine for well over that.

BUY IT!!!!!!!!

[Hulio]

I bought my willy engine on 86k, done about 8000 miles with it now, its a cracker.

[clowo16v]

Engines are damaged more by constant short journeys where they never get warmed up than by thrashing them when they're all warmed up.

Matt

[bill.]

mines on 98k and runs like a 20k engine, sweet as **** and yes it gets thrashed! 8)

[mon]

ULF valver is on 132 and a recent compression test showed it was sweet as. Did have a head rebuild at 72k though after cambelt snap.

Renault engines are actually pretty bullet proof if well maintained. My dads old 25 2L was traded in on 292k and it didn't smoke and pulled well, and hadn't had a re-build at all.

did you belt snap after 72k mate?

[stew]

yeah imo all this bullshit about high mileage is totally wrong. when you buy a car everyone looks for a low mileage one but havin said that ive seen more wear on a 25k hyundai coupe engine than on a 80k renault "f series" engine (was an f7p). Obviously when buying a higher mileage car it is gonna have more general wear on things such as gearbox, suspension components, brakes, driveshafts (inc cv joints), and possibly more stonechips. The engine may well run better than a low mileage engine. Its quite often been proven that recently rebuilt engines can produce less power than a well run in engine. There are also different theories about how to run in an engine so it "is a good un".

Look at the general condition of the car, ask the owner about its history - if its had proper services regularly, has been taken care of, been used daily for long-ish journeys it will be fine.

As said before watch out for cars used for short journeys, or only at weekends. These are the ones that can go wrong.

This was brilliantly highlighted to me when i bought a second car, and stopped driving the clio everyday. So many little things have gone wrong! Cars love to be driven - FACT!

To answer your question there are plenty f7 engines around with 160K+ and still going well.

Obviously things will get a little tired, but as long as its not burning oil, tapping/rattling like a bitch, or leaking oil it should be fine.

[Smudger]

my williams 2 has now done about 106,000miles. bought it in october when it was on 96,000 so done a few few miles. the only thing that has caused me any bother was the starter motor going. this was down to the previous owner taking off the heatshield tho

other than that its been totally reliable and still pulls very well (even with a blowing exhaust lol)

apart from cam belt changes and servicing no other work has been done on the engine so cant be bad at all. top end doesnt even sound that noisy just a slight tap on inital start up

[MarcusW]

Ihave a 123,000 on my Clio serviced by Renault and has been drinking Magnatex and run sweet as a nut.

Look at the condition of the car and how the Owner has looked after it.