Which distributor

[Skoura]

Hello all,

To cut a long story short, I live in Canada but have a Renault 4 GTL in Morocco. I think the year of the car is 1991. My wife and I bought the car 2 years ago (my wife is Moroccan) and we are heading back to Morocco for the winter. When we last used the Renault it was running poorly, acceleration was poor and cruising speed so it all points to the timing. Before heading to Morocco in a few weeks time I was hoping to buy an electronic ignition kit but i'm not sure which distributor is fitted to our car.
The Oval plate reads - 1128 - Mar - G134712 and the Square plate reads VF1 112800.
Any help and advice would be greatly received.
Thank you,
Christian

 

[Andy McGhee]

Hi Christian
It's hard to be sure without seeing a photo of your car's distributor. I have a friend in Morocco with a similar car to yours (the oval plate number is just 5000 away from yours!). Looking at the photo below, his seems to be a Ducellier:

Of course, yours could be different. This thread might help you identify the distributor:

https://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/th...-marchal-electronic-ignition.8917/#post-60549

You could always try one of the non-specific units, e.g. :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gammatro...ystem/200540069425?hash=item2eb11e9e31:g:C70A

However, it might be that the distributor just needs an overhaul - perhaps there's a problem with the condenser or points (or even plugs/air filter)? I'm sure you could get a good replacement distributor from a scrapyard if the original is beyond redemption. A brand-new one would make a huge difference!

Also useful:

http://www.la4ldesylvie.fr/index.ph...etien-d-un-allumeur-ducellier&catid=18&Itemid

 

[Skoura]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for your prompt and comprehensive reply. Unfortunately I don't have any photo's which show the distributor, only ones with the engine plates. I'm guessing that it will be a Ducellier but not 100% certain. I would like to replace the entire distributor but I think i'm right in saying that that is a 350.00GBP job.
My wife's relative who is a mechanic carried out a service on the R4 but clearly there's something wrong with the timing, I even took it back to him and within a couple of miles the engine was running poorly again. I was told that HT lead in Morocco is far inferior to what is available in Europe.
I have spent many years rebuilding British motorcycle engines so I am ofay with points etc. so I think I will start with replacing the plugs, points, HT and condenser and go from there, although I do like the look of the Gammotronix as a back-up/replacement, would be interesting to hear any reviews on here.

Christian

 

[Andy McGhee]

You should be able to get a brand-new distributor for much less than that.
Most R1128 (688 D7 12 engine in Europe) distributors I've seen in the UK and France have the following curve: R244D61; they're fairly difficult/expensive to find new. *
Mister-Auto (they have UK and French websites, and are excellent and fast) say that this distributor fits the same engine :
https://www.mister-auto.co.uk/distributior/valeo-242039_g683_a021242039.html

The Valeo number is 242039 (although it's a Ducellier distributor - apparently, Valeo took over Ducellier in the 80s); its curve is R268C34. I've never tried distributors with this curve before, but maybe others on the forum have fitted them. At any rate, at £85.90 (plus, at the moment, an extra 8% off if you spend £89), it's not a bad deal!

* I'm pretty sure that the Valeo number for this distributor is 242070; it's also available from Mister Auto - amongst others - but it's worth double-checking the curve.

This is worth checking too:

https://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/threads/uneven-running.9004/#post-61155

If that pipe gets blocked/falls off the carb, it causes all sorts of running problems.

 

[Skoura]

Hi Andy,

Thanks once again. To start, I am going to go down the Gammatronix route and then wait and see what distributor I have. At least by purchasing the Gammatronix I will arrive in Morocco with something to maybe improve the running. I have a Haynes manual to take with me so should be pretty well armed to improve the running.
I appreciate your help and efforts,

Christian

 

[Andy McGhee]

Hi Christian
You're welcome!
Hope your R4 is running smoothly soon.

 

[Skoura]

Just a quick update on a couple of things. Having arrived in Morocco and retrieving the R4 from the warehouse, fitting a new battery, radiator and gammatronix ignition, all seems very well. Last week, my wife, 15 month old daughter and I completed 500 miles in 2 days. The odd tweak with the timing was all that was necessary and overall the R4 ran great!
I'm really impressed with the gammatronix ignition, very very easy to fit and so far, so good.

 

[ecurb.renots]

Skoura, any other observations since you fitted the Gammatronix last month.

 

[Skoura]

Hi, thanks for your message. I have found the Gammatronix to be faultless. It was incredibly easy to install and the price was great. Overall I would say that the car runs smoother on acceleration, about the same on tick over and fuel economy. I have probably covered approximately 1500 miles since fitting and everything so far has been great. Highly recommended.