Leaking Sump - R4 GTL

[oren]

hello guys,

i have a nice 83' GTL which i have baught recently.
there is a small leak around the sump drain plug and i guess it is the washer to blame. unfortunatly its hard to find a new original washer, but maybe the washer is identical to the ones in different (more common) cars? if so, it could help a lot in finding one.

thanks for any help,
oren

 

[Steve Hennessey]

Most motor accessory shops here in the uk have a selection of crush washers in different sizes. They are quite common so I would expect that you have them in your country. Do you have any Renault dealers there?? They would help. When you do find the right ones I suggest you buy a few of them for the future. When I got my R4 I used two washers and that was enough to stop any leaks in that area permanently and I never needed to buy any more.

 

[pepper]

I also use a little PTFE tape in the sump plug, if the leak persists even after a new crush washer has been fitted, PTFE tape is used for sealing threads on water and gas pipe installations here in the UK, I'm not sure if its available in Israel tho.

 

[jjad]

Can you tell me which way up a sump plug sealing washer (crush washer) should go? Should it crush against the sump or the plug? Or does it matter? I never remember, so just put the new one on the same as the old one

P.S. I'm about to change the oil for the first time on our C4 and have noticed that I was sold a flat washer by the main dealer when I asked for a sump plug washer. Can that be right? Shouldn't it be a crush washer? It was only 14p which at the time I was pleased with - I only looked at it when I got home because they 'helpfully' put it in the oil filter box. I should have questioned it at the time - 14p seemed too cheap!

Thanks

 

[oren]

thanks for the replys. im sure many motor accessory shops here have suitable washers, but when i ask them they say they don't, simply because they don't know that their stock feats R4 as well as other cars.
as to guidance from a renault dealership - when i went there to buy an original oil filter they didn't even know it's the same filter as in the new renaults. i wouldn't trust them on specific information about the sump drain plug washer.

if you have the sizes for the washer it could help a lot. i would take it out of the sump and sheck it myself, but it's in a condition which i'm affraid will not allow me to put it back on afterwards (and then i won't have transportation to go to the motor shop, since at the moment my R4 is the only working car i own...)

pepper, thanks for the PTFE tape advice, i will keep it in mind (hopefully just in mind). sure it's available in israel.

 

[angel]

Hello Oren, don't ask for a Renault 4 sump plug washer, ask for a 16mm copper or aluminum washer!

Jjad, there are solid copper washers, crush copper washers, aluminium washers, composite washers, all for the same job, to provide sealing to a plug. The latest trend (your C4 may be as such) is an aluminium flat washer with a tiny rubber seal on the inside diameter.

 

[oren]

Angel, thanks a lot man, it's exactly the info i was looking for.

 

[jjad]

Angel,

thanks for your advice - it seems that the C4 uses a solid copper washer (which is what the Citroen dealer sold me). The old washer has a groove in it, but I can't tell whether the groove was always there, or whether the groove was made when the plug was tightened. I'll let you know in 6000 miles what the new washer looks like!

It hasn't leaked so far...

Thanks.