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Oh dear, of dear, oh dear, how embarassing!

Paul Narramore

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Location
Aylesford, Kent
Another day trip to France yesterday. Lovely sunny day, calm sea, car spinning along nicely what could possibly go wrong? We were going to meet up with some friends from the local Citroen 2CV club at a bistro in Wissant, just a few miles south of Calais, along the beautiful deserted country road. My mate Dave (75yrs) was along for the ride for the first time. It was such a pleasure driving along in the sunshine with so few cars on the road, a road which climbs up to Cap Blanc Nez and twists down through some hairpin bends to Escalles and other coastal villages............and then I found my brake pedal slowly getting closer to the floor. I was running out of brakes! We passed Wissant and intended to drive on to the next large town Wimereux to find a garage but things were getting bad. I pulled over and had a look at the front calipers but could find nothing wrong other than a sorry lack of brake fluid in the master cylinder, so turned around and headed back to Wissant where we parked up and went to seek directions. In the first café the owner an Englishman from Brixton (what are the chances of that?) gave us a sketch map of a garage in Maraise some 6km away. Having to resort to ultra careful driving and the handbrake (gulp) we finally got there in one piece. Brake fluid was found to be leaking from the front O/S flexible hose so within minutes the R4 was up on the hydraulic ramp, the hose tighten, cleaned up, front brakes bled, and we were on our way, 10euros lighter. I overhauled the front calipers a few weeks ago and must have failed to properly tighten the flexible hose. What a bloody fool, and something I am so particular about.

What else went wrong? One of the indicators kept giving up on me and was found just to be a slightly sloppy fit in the light fitting.

And the temp warning light came on (again). Now I know the fan works as I'd tested it, and I had fitted a brand new radiator sensor, yet I hadn't heard the fan actually come on. Rather than buy yet another sensor I think I'll wire in a switch and just manually switch the fan on in future.

Other than that, it was a lovely day.

The mechanic was unwilling to bleed the back drum brakes because of corrosion so the next step is to clean off and paint the back plates, free off the bleed nipples and make sure the back brakes are fine too. Deep joy.
 
Sounds an adventure Paul. How much does the ferry/tunnel cost you for the day?
 
wow what a trip that was Paul, on my Baby i have a switch wired up to the sensor on rad so when in a bit of traffic i can turn the fan and not get too hot, their is a red lamp on dash as well so i know its on /off . it was fitted by last owner . got me out of many a jam ok. regards mike:waving:.
 
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They have special offers on during the Winter and early Spring. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the present offer of £19 includes a case (6) of Banrock Station wine. The Nord Pas de Calais region is a really nice area to drive around with miles of almost deserted roads. I tend to go on days trips three or four times a year - I can get to Dover in 45 minutes - and usually take to picturesque D940 coastal road down through Wimereux to Boulogne or Le Touquet. Many of the WW1 memorials are within reach such as Ypres and the evening 'Last Post' ceremony at the Menin Gate is a real choker.
 
wow what a trip that was Paul, on my Baby i have a switch wired up to the sensor on rad so when in a bit of traffic i can turn the fan and not get too hot, their is a red lamp on dash as well so i know its on /off . it was fitted by last owner . got me out of many a jam ok. regards mike:waving:.

Mike

I fitted a new radiator sensor only a few weeks ago but yesterday noticed a tiny amount of corrosion within the two female connectors. I've cleaned them as best as I can using a needle file but if the fault persists, I'll cut them off and fit new connectors.

A manual switch? Along with a new temperature gauge, a manual switch would be my next option.

Yesterday I found both brake nipples seized solidly on the rear drum brakes and have tried various methods to free them. Soaking in WD40 hasn't worked so far so I may have to remove the drums and unbolt the slave cylinders, and fix them in my vice where I would have better access.
 
If you ste going to take them off might as well fit new
That's if you can unscrew metal popes out of cylinders
Oh and then if you can unscrew metal pipes out of flexis at the other end once metal pipe broken
Oh and then if you can get rusty metal clip off to change flexible hose and finally have great fun trying to get metal pipe out of compensator valve
Oh then try and get correct unf pipes made up
 
Well that sounds pretty straightforward Paul. Actually the rigid brake pipes on both sides look pretty new, and you may have fitted them? And then you would have applied a smear of Copaslip on the threads. I have a blowtorch with a fine flame but when I tried it, I could smell hot rubber so stopped thinking I might have been cooking the slave cylinder seals. Like every other glitch, it's all solvable, one way or another ;-)
 
Mike

I fitted a new radiator sensor only a few weeks ago but yesterday noticed a tiny amount of corrosion within the two female connectors. I've cleaned them as best as I can using a needle file but if the fault persists, I'll cut them off and fit new connectors.

A manual switch? Along with a new temperature gauge, a manual switch would be my next option.

Yesterday I found both brake nipples seized solidly on the rear drum brakes and have tried various methods to free them. Soaking in WD40 hasn't worked so far so I may have to remove the drums and unbolt the slave cylinders, and fix them in my vice where I would have better access.

Mike

I think I also should do that especially as our GTL's have a spare space for a rocker switch on the lefthand side of the dashboard to use. I think any one of the other rockers switches would do the job. Anybody have a spare rocker switch please?
 
paul, you can get a flick switch (rocker switch) from most car outlets , Halfords, euro car parts etc. get new cylinders you save time and swearing in the end .mike:waving:
 
Mike, I know I can but I want one to match the existing ones and that will fit. Der Franzose sell them.

I agree about the slave cylinders and they are pretty cheap but as ever with me, I like to at least try to fix what is there before resorting to replacing stuff. With the seized bleed nipples, I found that my 8mm spanners were trying to round off the hexagons so have splashed out on a Facom six-point long reach socket which should be a snugger fit. That plus my rocket fuelled blow torch and they should free off. If they don't I can fall back on your suggestion, ta.

I see Faversham has another new micropub ;-)
 
Good luck, dont set yourself alight now, yes i seen the micro pubs ,but not gone in as yet, must give them a try when more room get in.:drunk:
 
Very many thanks to Andrew of Barnet who very kindly sorted out the trailer socket wiring yesterday. A numbskull had transposed two of the wires and hadn't utilised another (or something like that) as only one brake light worked and one rear light. All was well in the end. Thanks again.

I was en route to Lambourn in Berkshire as I'd bought a Cabanon Venus 2-berth trailer tent, and interesting trip around the northern section of the M25 and down the M4. .......and the water temp light began to flicker yet again. It didn't light whilst driving but always when I reached a hold up. I had cleaned up as best as I could the female crimped connectors on the back of the new sensor but still the problem exists. Cruising at a steady 60 all the way there and all the way back, she wasn't laboured towing the TT, however it's a bit of a worry. OK so the fan doesn't come on (although it does work when I join the wires together) but why does she get so hot that the fan NEEDS to come on? This morning I'm going to replace the female connects with new ones. I've already fitted a new rad and water temp sensor so am running out of things to replace. Oh well....

Whilst in Lambourn a jovial Irish man came up to admire the Renault. "Was it for sale?" he asked. He said that in his youth, the Garda used to have R4s and they called them 'Mountain Goats'.

(Later today) Success, or at least partial success. I cut off the two female connectors which fit on the back of the radiator temperature sensor and found the black/yellow wire which goes back to the wiring loom close to the alternator, the copper wires were all black instead of shiny. I replaced the 18" length of stiff black/yellow wire with a new length and piggy back female connectors onto the radiator temperature sensor as I shall fit a manual rocker switch if all this fails to work. I started the engine and fifteen minutes later, the fan came on. A glimpse at the dashboard and the red light from the engine coolant sensor had also come on. Damn!

The radiator temperature gauge comes on at 85C and the engine coolant sensor at 115C but they both came on together. The coolant in the expansion tank is the correct colour and no bubbles are showing. I presume the head gasket is still intact. Now either the radiator temperature sensor is coming on late or the engine coolant sensor is faulty and coming on too early, yet the radiator temperature sensor is new and in the correct range.

Head scratching time - although I shall fit a manual rocker switch now. I don't trust anything anymore.
 
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Sounds like another electrical problem and you'll have to pop back to Barnet again.... Next time I'll take you to my garage to fix it, instead of doing so outside my home!
 
Don't forget the sensor on the head is what's turning the red light on
Without a an accurate guage to monitor actual temp it is more likely to be a faulty sensor which is coming on before the 105 degrees that it should do
 
Yes, and that was the next option. If the head sensor was a dud, Perhaps swop it for a one known to be OK?
 
Yes, and that was the next option. If the head sensor was a dud, Perhaps swop it for a one known to be OK?

These engines were used by Daf in their 55 and 66 vehicles. I have a sensor from a 1108 cc Daf 66 engine which I'm happy to post to you if you want it.
 
Thank you Andrew, I will pm you. The more I learn about R4s, the more I discover their engines appear in all sorts of other vehicles even ride-on lawnmowers.
 
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