Changing the Renault Clio 2 passenger compartment heating radiator

First, disconnect the car battery.

Put the wheels straight

Remove the 3 screws from the top ventilation grille.

Unclip the right and left plastic uprights by simply pulling them.

Remove the cover just above the glove box and remove the screws.

Remove the cover above the headlight adjustment wheel and remove the screw.

Put down the ashtray

Remove the cigarette lighter holder from its housing and disconnect its connector.

Unclip the gear lever gaiter.

On each side, unclip the central console and remove it from the rear

Unclip the clip located in front of the gear knob

Pull the console towards you to release it

Remove the steering column cover held by 3 screws.

Under the steering wheel, press the two airbag module mounting springs.

Once unclipped, the airbag can be removed.

Unclip the 2 connectors on the airbag.

To unclip them, you need to use a small screwdriver.

Loosen the steering wheel fixing screw.

Unclip the upper trim (between the steering wheel and the speedometer) and release the half shell. There are no screws.

ATTENTION: Once unscrewed, put marks so that you can put the steering wheel back in the same position.

Unclip the remaining electrical connector in the steering wheel.

Then remove the steering wheel.

Remove the rotary/comodo switches by removing the 3 screws holding them.

Disconnect the associated connectors.

Depending on the version of your Clio, you may also have radio controls.

Remove the two screws securing the handset

Remove the right and left screw from the upper dashboard trim located towards the door seal, behind the air vent.

Unclip the headlight adjustment cover and disconnect the connectors.

Once all the screws are removed, you can slightly peel off the covering and pull it towards you.

It should come without forcing. If it forces, check that all the screws have been removed.

Once the top cover is removed, you can easily flip the handset over and disconnect the cables.

You must first push/unclip a first part of the connector to then be able to remove the complete connector.

You do not have to "pull" on the connector, the connector is inserted then "blocked" by a small plastic system.

Once you have removed the top cover, you can remove the passenger airbag.

Remove the 4 airbag retaining screws.

Disconnect the airbag from its two connectors, one on the right and one on the left.

To remove a connector, you must first remove a plastic part so that you can then pull it out.

To remove the instruments from the column, we start with the car radio.

To remove the car radio, simply remove the surround from the radio and pull it towards you to remove the cables.

Normally you should have the power cables, speaker cables and the antenna jack

Unclip the switch support.

Disconnect the connectors.

Remove the switch bracket.

Remove the two screws securing the ventilation control panel

Push in and then move the panel so that it is dislodged from its location and can be removed.

Remove the cables that are on the ventilation buttons to be able to remove the front panel.

To remove the last cover, simply pull it.

There are 7 fixing screws for the dashboard.

Unscrew the 3 screws located under the lower cover that you just removed.

Then remove the screw which is in the lower right corner, next to the glove box, which is just hidden by a small cover.

At the top and in blue are the board support pawns.

There is a screw in the lower left corner to remove, hidden under a small plastic cover.

two screws on the steering column, shown as in the 2 photos.

To remove the dashboard, lift slightly and pull the dashboard towards you to release the retaining pins at the level of the upper fixing screws.

Once removed, note and mark where you put the cables because the length of the cables is correct.

The left ventilation duct must be unplugged.

To do this, simply unclip it from the heating outlet (which comes from the center).

Then we can remove the plastic heating block which is presented in front of us under the console.

Before removing the heater block, the coolant inlet and outlet hoses must be pinched.

The 2 hoses are located below the coolant reservoir.

Remove the jar (put it aside without disconnecting its hoses).

We can then see the inlet and outlet hoses of the heating radiator.

To prevent coolant from leaking when removing the hoses, they must be "pinched".

To do this, you will use either hose clamps or clamps with wooden wedges at the end to avoid damaging the hose (my solution).

Then just disconnect the hose.

The hose is connected by a "quick" clip.

To remove it, you have to press left and right (red arrow) then pull back.

To put them back, you just have to "clip" them.

To access the screws, you have to remove the windshield wipers.

Remove the windshield wipers using a 13mm wrench.

Then remove the plastic protections.

Finally, unscrew the two screws indicated by the blue arrows which correspond to the screws holding the heating block from above.

The screw (red arrow) is not easy to access because there is the wiper blade (circled in blue) in its path.

Once the hoses are disconnected, we can remove the heater block without the risk of getting coolant everywhere.

First remove the beam retaining screw and move it aside.

At the top, the heating block will be wedged into a slide taken in the transverse tube which will have to be removed.

When you have successfully removed the block, you will see the location of the hoses that were pinched on the engine side (circled in the photo).

Once the heater block is removed, the car really starts to look bare! :)

Remove the radiator.

Put the new radiator in place, remembering to put the small piece of foam all around it which is supplied with it.

To reassemble the heating unit, you "simply" have to redo the tutorial in the other direction!

In my case, I had to remove the seat and floor mat because coolant had leaked on them. And like everyone else, it's almost impossible to clean coolant!

Once you have everything back together, you need to top off the coolant level.

Also remember to bleed the circuit again!