R4 TL restauration

[Jurjenz]

Finally had some time to remove the starter. I had to put aside the steering bar and the airfilter housing & upper engine mount. It was fairly easy to remove the starter. I hope the reverse is also easy

Looks like the relais on the starter above is non-serviceble. Looks like an inner spring has set loose? Also the inner plastic lever in the starter has worn badly, so I think it is a wise decision to order a fancy pancy new starter.

Maybe you can help with one question? I see new starters can be ordered with two turning directions. Spinning clockwise and anti-clock wise. I have an 845cc Billancourt engine. Which starter do I need?

 

[Andy McGhee]

There's what looks like a really good starter on eBay UK - it's been on for a while, so they might even accept an offer. They'll post to mainland Europe:

12v Starter Motor Lucas Exchange Unit P74351/ LRS203 for RENAULT for sale online | eBay UK

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 12v Starter Motor Lucas Exchange Unit P74351/ LRS203 for RENAULT at the best online prices at eBay UK! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

It's a Lucas LRS203, which will be a rebuilt genuine Renault starter - looks like a Ducellier, but I can't be sure. This matches up with Renault 7701499199:

LUCAS ELECTRICAL LRS 203 Starter

Starters for Billancourt engines have 2 fixing holes. Cléon starters have 3:


The French R4 websites - like Oscaro - give the rotation for Billancourt starters as anti-clockwise:

Démarreur LUCAS LRS00203 au meilleur prix - Oscaro.com

Achetez votre Démarreur LUCAS LRS00203 ✴️ Pièces d'origine pas cher ✚ Retours 90 jours ✚ Paiement 4 fois ✚ Livraison relais / domicile

www.oscaro.com

Probably best to go on part number. Good luck!

 

[Jurjenz]

Thanks for your advice!

 

[malcolm]

I just replaced a starter on a 747cc. All the Renault 4 747cc and 845cc engines turn the same way (clockwise when looking from the front of the car). In the rear engined Renaults the engine turned in the opposite direction. I got confused by the description of the starters as they never say which end they are looking from. So long as the starter is listed for a Renault 4 845cc engine it should be good.

eBay is useful as it allows you to enter your car details and lists the parts that fit. Often the parts have cross reference numbers to other parts that you can look up and see what they fit. My new starter motor was about £55. Here it is: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333110181021 with the big list of comparable part numbers from other manufacturers.

 

[Billancourt]

Holy moly, unfortunately I had to dismantle the complete gearbox to be able to replace the broken shifter. We had real trouble to get one of the differential bearings out. It was stuck like & #@(=%

We used heat, made a special tool, and eventually we used brutal force and and airhammer. The other side came loose like butter.
View attachment 26074
View attachment 26073

Fortunately I had a spare part lying around . I cleaned the threads in the gearbox which were very dirty and a bit rusty. I applied high temperature grease and the parts screwed in very easily, just by hand .

I marked the bearing on the passengers side, so that's in the original position. The other bearing(drivers) side needs to be adjust. Which clearance to the differential do I need to measure? Any advise, tips?

Cheers!

Hi Jurjenz

I had the same problem with a seized differential bearing cap. I managed to get it off but did some damage to the cap in the process. I have a spare used differential cap which I would like to use as a replacement. I was just wondering when you fitted your replacement, did you take off the differential bearing race from your old cap and fit it to your new bearing cap before fitting the new cap to the gearbox or did you just leave the one which was already in your new cap in place?



The race is just visible in the image of your turned upside down cap in your image above.

Any advice will be greatly received.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jurjenz]

Hi Billancourt, sorry for my late reply

To be honest, I don't member what I actually did. I do think that I left the bearing race in place in the spare bearing cap. How did your job turn out?

 

[Billancourt]

Hi Jurjenz

Thanks for your reply. I have not done the job yet. One forum member has advised that I should swap over the race to the original.

 

[Jurjenz]

Oeff, almost a year ago since my last update. Last year I finally found a storage for the R4, so I haven't drove it for a while. Until last week! I gave the car a good clean, polish & wax (Collinite no. 845). Still up & running!

(Don't worry to foam, give it a rinse afterwards, and use a leafblower to dry.)




Cheers!

 

[JdeW]

Louise is shining and now keep driving

 

[Jurjenz]

Hi everyone, wow, time really flies.

This weekend I took Louise out of storage again — and actually for the last time, because I’ve found a new place for her. My parents are moving nearby and they have an indoor garage, so from now on I’ll be able to keep the car there, very close to where I live. That’s really great news, because it means I’ll be able to take her out and drive her much more easily. Next month they move in.



But seriously, time goes by so fast. Last year I took her in for inspection and she failed because the filler neck at the fuel tank was leaking. A friend of mine repaired it very neatly afterwards. Anyway, after that I put her back into storage and didn’t really drive her very much. (repair october '24)


Until this weekend, that is. I gave her a proper wash, noticed that two lights weren’t working because the ground connections had corroded, checked the engine oil, and tightened the tension pulley for the fan belt a bit. Then I took my youngest daughter out for a little drive, which was really fun and gezellig.



So, time for some new updates. I’m also thinking about ordering some new trim pieces, because some of the chrome strips are starting to look a bit dull.

Anyway, it’s good to be back.

 

[André4Renaults]

As your Renault's over 40 years old, can you fit the old-style number plates to it? I remember Dutch plates were "2 numbers, 2 letters, 2 numbers" (or was it the other way around?) I think they would look more in keeping (appropriate) with a classic car. Somehow the "EU" symbol looks too "new", although the blue in the symbol matches the car!

 

[JdeW]

Hi Jurjen, good to be back and good to hear that Louise is back on the road.
Nice soldering on that fuel pipe neck.
Anyway we meet on the 18th july at my home to do some suspension setting with "The Tool"

 

[Jurjenz]

Small job, great result. The weel nuts became rusted, so I wire brushed them and gave 'm a coat of clear paint. 45 min job.

 

[Jurjenz]

Finally some time to give the paintwork on the roof and bonnet some love.

First, I washed the car with a snow foam. I used Bilt-Hamber Autofoam with a few squirts of car shampoo mixed in, so the dirt could really soak loose properly. Then I washed the car and rinsed it off.




At that point the car is already reasonably clean, but to get the paint truly clean, it’s always good to clay the surface as well. You can see that in the photo too. That really helps remove dirt from the deeper pores of the paint.

After that I used the iron remover, [Bilt Hamber Korrosol] to remove iron particles from the paintwork. That was definitely needed as well. That laid the foundation for polishing.

I only did the roof and the bonnet today. I’ll do the other panels another time. I first polished using Menzerna polishing compounds, with Cut Force Pro and Menzerna 3800.

The final step was waxing the roof and bonnet with Collinite 845. A very good and well known wax. It gives the paint a beautiful glass-like shine. So those few hours were definitely well spent. Next time I will do the doors and fenders.
With a little friend.

The proof is in the pudding, haha:


Cheers!