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Starting Problems

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blartbox

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My recently purchased 1974 Quatrelle is a beautiful timewarp car. She does however suffer from the same problem that has affected every carb-fed French car I have owned - namely, difficulty in starting when left overnight. What I think is happening is that fuel evaporates from the carb float chamber, & from the pump to carb pipe (? possibly due to weak valves in the pump). It takes a lot (sometimes 1 1/2 batteries -worth) of churning on the starter to fill the carb & persuade her to fire. Once she has started, she will start first turn for the rest of the day. My 1962 works workshop manual tells of a fuel pump with a priming lever - does anyone know if these are still available? I had thought of lagging the fuel line with heat-shielding tape. Anyone got any other ideas?
 
They should start after 4 or 5 churns of the starter motor, so yours probably has a fault somewhere.

One possibility is that the fuel pump is not delivering fuel quite as well as it should.

I had a problem with cold starting a while ago that proved nearly impossible to trace. It turned out to be a blocked choke jet. A general chean up of the carb abd service ought to debug that sort of problem.
 
I've only got six volts on mine, and even if left for a week or a month it usually starts fairly promptly. As well as checking the fuel pump, which I've found either works, just doesn't work or just leaks, check the ignition system, like points, cap and condenser (as well as coil) sometimes the caps when they get old are prone to tracking inside. If it is the small type SEV Junior or even tinier Ducellier, there isn't a lot of room for all the bits of carbon to go before they build up and you start to get tracking inside the cap.
 
I don't think it's fuel problem,Simon is right,even if left for a month,the R4 will start easily. I doubt that the whole float chamber will evaporize in one night. Moreover if the fuel pump had so much difficulty delivering around 20 cc,then imagine what problems would you have on the road! It seems like the condenser to me, it is often overlooked on regular service. I would also guess incorrect points gap or ignition timing, fouled spark plugs or an air leak but then you would have other problems like poor running/accelerating etc. Also,especially if you have a Zenith 28IF or Solex 26IBS (no accel pump): they will not start without the choke being pulled all the way out, even if it is 50 degC outside! So make sure after you check the ignition system that the choke is adjusted correctly.
 
Many Thanks

All of you were right - I was barking up the wrong tree. The problem was the choke flap, which closes under spring pressure when the choke cable is pulled out. Probably due to infrequent use, the flap spindle dried out & got stiff - so the flap remained open. No choke = no start. Took the opportunity to work through the routine servicing items. It proved surprisingly difficult to get parts such as points, rotor arms etc in France, where the R4 appears to be regarded as a.n. other old car, rather than a classic. The rear-engined Renaults have achieved this status & have a network of parts suppliers & specialists. Got a surprise when I came to change the oil filter - there wasn't one! A large blanking plate is fixed in place of the filter, so there is no spindle to scew a filter onto. I would like to convert to a filter if possible - the main bearings sound like they need all the help they can get. Any ideas? The steering rack has the usual problem of play at the non-pinion end (this is a LHD car). Are there any suppliers of recon / new racks?
 
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