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

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! 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