Clio Mk3 water in electrics

[mnde]

Hi all,

I've found out today my sister's Clio has failed to proceed and is booked in to be towed away to an auto electrician. She said she drove it through a deep flood a few months ago since when the dashboard lights have been playing up, then after recent heavy rain it failed to start and she had to get it recovered home from work. After reading up a bit it sounds like water has been getting in the fuse box under the bonnet, which I understand is a common fault with Clios and Meganes. It happened to me with my 1997 Megane when an inability to start turned out to be a corroded fuel pump fuse due to inadequate protection from water ingress.

it's a 60 plate and I'll hazard a guess that it's a 1.2 petrol.

Apparently it may need something replaced that will need recoding by Renault and independents can't do this? I believe Renault's equivalent of PSA's BSI is the UCH? Which I thought was under the dashboard in most Renaults. The fusebox under the bonnet apparently contains a UPC control module. Would this need recoding if it was replaced? Just trying to find out before she's quoted a shed load to get it fixed.

Cheers,

Mark

[GiveMeABreak]

Depends what you are talking about.

The UCH (Unite Centrale Habitacle) is the equivalent of PSA's BSI - the master computer brain that controls and talks to all the other ECUs along the vehicle data networks. These are generally expensive - but don't get these mixed up with the under bonnet engine fusebox. The engine fusebox can become susceptible to the elements being in the engine bay - whereas the UCH is ususally found in the passenger compartment glovebox or similar.

Generally, if these are anything like the PSA units, then the under bonnet engine fuseboxes don't need coding but need to be correctly matched. But I'm no Renault expert so can't confirm this. The engine fuseboxes are generally a lot cheaper than a UCH as they are pre-programmed to do certain functions on command from the UCH and supply power.

[mnde]

Depends what you are talking about.

The UCH (Unite Centrale Habitacle) is the equivalent of PSA's BSI - the master computer brain that controls and talks to all the other ECUs along the vehicle data networks. These are generally expensive - but don't get these mixed up with the under bonnet engine fusebox. The engine fusebox can become susceptible to the elements being in the engine bay - whereas the UCH is ususally found in the passenger compartment glovebox or similar.

Generally, if these are anything like the PSA units, then the under bonnet engine fuseboxes don't need coding but need to be correctly matched. But I'm no Renault expert so can't confirm this. The engine fuseboxes are generally a lot cheaper than a UCH as they are pre-programmed to do certain functions on command from the UCH and supply power.

Yes I wasn't confusing the two; what confused me was talk of recoding, which to me would be if the UCH was at fault - or my sister has been given incorrect advice. I've not seen the car yet, but I know it gets very light use. My mum has a slightly older Clio 3 and similarly it doesn't get driven much. I'm imagining opening the bonnet and finding lots of leaves on the grilles over the scuttle drains and/or that the channel coming off the windscreen is blocked up meaning water is overflowing and trickling down onto the fusebox lid.

I'm wondering if the wiring between the fusebox and UCH has become damaged, or a short in the fusebox has damaged the UCH.

By fusebox matching, I'm guess you mean the replacement has to come from a car with the same spec and options fitted like heated seats or rain-sensing wipers? Or at least the original UPC module needs to be undamaged so it can be swapped over - if it is indeed possible to swap this over - is it integrated into the fusebox? I can see lots of Clio Mk3 fuse boxes for roughly £50-90 on eBay.

Cheers,

Mark

[GiveMeABreak]

The engine fusebox - if like PSA ones will be marked or labelled with a part number - either a Renault part number of a manufacturer part number usually beginning 96 or 98. These need to match up - it's not good getting one that looks the same or from a 'similar' car as they can all have different and not so obvious options and when fitted will cause electrical glitches..... matching the part number is your safest bet.

As for the UHC - no! You cannot swap these from any vehicle. They are coded once to the original vehicle and are paired with the Engine ECU and the Transponder system. You can't transfer these units to another vehicle.

[mnde]

Thanks for this, much appreciated - and I meant transferring the UPC (switching unit?) from inside the fusebox between vehicles, not the UCH - I get that the UCH is paired with the ECU similar to a Pug/Cit BSI and can't be just swapped over. I'm no Renault expert so I don't know if the switching unit is integrated into the fusebox, or is a module that can be unplugged and swapped over to a new fusebox.

I don't suppose Renault has an equivalent to service.citroen.com where I can put in a VIN and bring up part numbers for the exact vehicle?

[GiveMeABreak]

No, the engine fuseboxes are a complete unit - they contain electronic cards (pre-programmed) and are not intended to be switched out - they are incorporated into the unit circuitry as a whole and a generally 'non-serviceable'.