Twingo 1 major Service

[JdeW]

Today I start with a major service on my 2001 Twingo mk1 phase 3 as well as a minor service on my 2008 Honda CR-V.
Everything has arrived as seen on the picture, on the left for my small Twingo and on the right for my larger Honda CR-V.


The Twingo major service consist of;
- Timing belt replacement with tensioner.
- Waterpump replacement and new coolant.
- Replacement of two poly V-belts one with tensioner.
- Engine oil flush and fresh oil.
- New air-, oil- and fuelfilters.
- New spark plugs
Also a new speed sensor which was lying around in the shed for two years.

The timing belt replacement is a bit more extensive since my Twingo is equipped with an airco.

I'll keep you informed.

 

[JdeW]

Starting with the major service on my 24 year young Twingo mk 1 phase 3 with airco.
I think it's gonna be a rather nice tutorial though there are tutorials on the internet but hardly any for the Twingo 1 with airco, and especially that airco makes it more challenging but doable, but as always a 24 year old car can surprise you every now and then, but hey, one challenge more or less doesn't bother us we're used to R4's, right?

The weather is really nice so I'll work on my driveway, so let start with putting the Twingo an a couple of supports and remove the left wheel to make work "easier" and further some plastic bits like wheelarch liners, covers etc.



And there's the first surprise a nice mud stack accumulated behind the wheel arch liners, of course the other side is also affected.


So first job is to clean out both areas, free the "drainholes", let everything dry and hopefully there's no rust....

Spark plugs will also be changed so remove the Renault cover.



And for more "easier" access I'll remove the complete left headlight.

 

[JdeW]

Let's get the hands more dirty, and support the engine with a jack.


Remove the four bolts from the left engine support.



Then remove four bolts from the camshaft timingbelt cover.



Remove the plastic waterpump and tensioner pulley cover.


Remove the airco compressor poly V-belt by loosen the tensioner pulley with a torx 50 bit and remove the pulley.



Remove the 3 bolts which holds the airco compressor to it's support and put the compressor aside.

 

[JdeW]

Next step is to remove the compressor support but to do that you've to remove the alternator.



The alternator has 1 large axle bolt and 1 retaining bolt and to get "easier" access to the large axle bolt you need to remove the front stabilizer bar, drain the coolant and remove the lower coolant tube.
So let's drain the coolant and open the 2 bleed nipples 1 on top of the upper hose and 1 on the thermostat housing.


The removed hose and front stabilizer bar.


Removing the alternator should be pretty straightforward but it took quite an effort.
The retaining bolt was easy but the large axle bolt was a real PITA


It took me almost a day, but no matter what I did, the bolt wouldn't come off. So I decided to take the angle grinder and saw off the aluminum end to weaken it.
My suspicion was that the bolt was rusted into the aluminum and my suspicion was right, now the bolt released and I went to the next village to get an second hand alternator that cost me € 25


Now both the compressor and alternator support were removed.

 

[JdeW]

Now set the engine to TDC and lock the engine at the flywheel.



Remove the crankshaft pulley and the plastic cover.



Remove the timing belt tensioner, remove the old timing belt and loosen the 7 bolts of the waterpump.



Remove the old water pump and here's an overview of everything I have removed to replace just the timing belt.
Just think what a garage charges per hour for such a job.

 

[JdeW]

Clean the surface area of the old waterpump from old gasket residu then install the new waterpump with new gasket also mount the new tensioner pulley.



Install the new timing belt and pay attention to timing marks on the new belt.



Before tensioning the timing belt put a drop of loctite on the thread and tension the belt. Install the plastic cover and crankshaft pulley.

 

[JdeW]

Further with the reassembly.
The plastic water pump cover and coolant hose are reattached.



Next are the compressor and alternator supports.



Next the alternator and for the large axle bolt a firm copper grease application. Next the upper timing belt cover.



The lower coolant hose and airco compressor in place.



And finally the engine support and two poly V-belts.

 

[JdeW]

Between disassembly and assembly on the timing belt side, I'd change the spark plugs, change airfilter and did some general cleaning.

Old spark plugs out and the new NGK (5675) BK5ESZ went in and check the gap (0,90 mm).



Removing the air hoses and clean the throttle body valve and air hose the muck is clearly visible.



While the air hoses are removed I'd look for the speed sensor and found it behind the cabin heating coolant hoses. That spot is rather thight for the size of my hands on no way to use a levertool or whats so ever to remove the sensor, again a real PITA location. I'll dive into that later from underneath.



Now remove the air filter cover and replace the air filter.


Finally attach the air hoses and again a small job done.

 

[JdeW]

Time for oil filter and oil change but looking at the drain plug I'd to fabricate a fitting square socket out of an old Allen key.



By the looks of the old oil and oil filter it really was time for an oil change. Always nice to see the difference old vs new.
Also gave a very good clean to the oil filter holder and don't forget to clean the area where to oil filter resides.



And after I filled the engine with new oil and coolant it's time to start the engine and she spinned beautiful wait to warm the engine up and bleed the cooling system.
Checking the poly V-belts showed that the compressor belt needed a bit more tension.


Now time to change the speed sensor. It was a bit faulthy the last few years, suddenly the speedometer showed 0 km/h and that's not that bad but the sensor also controls the power steering and at 0 km/h there's also 0 power steering.

From underneath I could easily remove the sensor and installed the new one into that hole.



I'm nearing the end of the major service on that tinny Twingo.
Cheers

 

[angel]

Nice job, Joop!

Twingos are always a PITA to work on, due to the very small bonnet.

 

[JdeW]

Nice job, Joop!

Twingos are always a PITA to work on, due to the very small bonnet.

Absolutely right @angel I'm glad I can dive back into my R4 after this.

Time to finish the major service and the other things I noticed and need to be done, soon or sometime

The fuel filter is the final one in this major service. So old filter out and the new one installed.


I saw that a fuel line of the Twingo was repaired in the past. The disadvantage is that there is less ground clearance left.



At last the front stabilizer is back in place and the base plate is reattached.


Spending a couple of days working on my Twingo I notice more things that need attention like:

Some rusty base protection plate and the tyres with cracks in the longitudinal direction (the tyres are from 2013 and from a dreadful ching chong pong brand.


Also the exhaust needs some attention because paste was once smeared on it to fix a leak.


Looking back at my 24-year-old Twingo, which I bought for next to nothing in 2022, it's not a bad car.
She only needs some TLC.

Time for a beer, cheers.

 

[petak]

Cheers.
You deserve it after all this work

 

[JdeW]

Tomorrow 4 new feet for the Twingo no ching chong pong rubbish

 

[Megacatares]

Hello from America,

I have imported 3 twingos. I plan to do the timing belt and water pump on all of them. Thank you for the instructional.

Do you have the procedure present for setting the tensioner before tightening down?

Also do you have the torque spec on the crank pulley bolt?

Thanks again

 

[JdeW]

Do you have the procedure present for setting the tensioner before tightening down?

Do you mean the timingbelt tensioner pulley? That depends on which engine the Twingo has.
My Twingo has the D7F engine so I just marked the timingbelt (position) tension on a T-square or ruler before I released the tensioner pulley.

After replacing the timingbelt I checked it and fastened the tensioner pulley nut with 50 Nm torque.

The D4F engine has another type of timingbelt tensioner pulley.

Also do you have the torque spec on the crank pulley bolt?

Torque spec crank pulley is 20 Nm and 90 degrees on the D7F engine and 40 Nm and 70 degrees on the D4F engine

 

[Megacatares]

I have a ‘96, ‘98e and a ‘99 initiale

Yours being a 2001 maybe has a different engine. I have the kits I just need to change them. My oil filters are the can style not cartridge like yours

Oh you measured the distance between the old belt to reference the new belt?

No Reserve: 1996 Renault Twingo Parisienne 5-Speed

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 1996 Renault Twingo Parisienne 5-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #181,779.

bringatrailer.com

Attached are my twingos and the bat ad for the Parisienne. Thanks again!

 

[JdeW]

I have a ‘96, ‘98e and a ‘99 initiale

Yours being a 2001 maybe has a different engine. I have the kits I just need to change them. My oil filters are the can style not cartridge like yours

Oh you measured the distance between the old belt to reference the new belt?

No Reserve: 1996 Renault Twingo Parisienne 5-Speed

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 1996 Renault Twingo Parisienne 5-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #181,779.

bringatrailer.com

Attached are my twingos and the bat ad for the Parisienne. Thanks again!

Here a nice overview of Twingo builds and models https://twingo.guide/
I think a couple of your Twingo's have the Cleon C3G 8 valve engine and those engines have a timing chain not a belt!
Timing chains need a replacement after 400,000 to 500,000 kilometers as timing belts need replacement after 120,000 km or 5 years.
Nice Twingo's you have and especially the Initiale is a very special one.
Indeed I measured (marked) the old timing belt position on the D7F engine. The idea behind is that the engine runs well in the old setup so it must be good in the new setup.

And nice dog by the way I love dogs so attached my dog as well


Keep up the good work and don't hesitate to ask.