Richard Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 its nice to see that Bosch now prevent you from just replacing the brushes by making it sealed with the voltage regulator! $62!. I thought Bosch had always done that? It's always been more like £10-15 for me, but that's not genuine Bosch parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Nexus Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 My old Golf had replaceable brushes (but it was a MKI) I found aftermarket regulators around $30 but they looked a bit "Chinese" and as it is such a pig to change I went OEM.The brushes where worn down quite a bit, but about right for 180K miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselnutjob Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I bought 2 litres of ZF transmission oil from this bloke yesterday. He told me that an alternator for his BMW has £400 because it's water cooled. He had to whisper so that the wife didn't hear how much it cost. Water cooled alternator? why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Nexus Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 Some of the energy that is being turned into electricity unfortunately gets lost as heat in the coils, on the larger output alternators this heat cant be removed by air cooling.They are using water cooling on the larger electric motors fitted to electric vehicles now toohttp://www.brammo.com/empulse/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 I bought 2 litres of ZF transmission oil from this bloke yesterday. He told me that an alternator for his BMW has £400 because it's water cooled. He had to whisper so that the wife didn't hear how much it cost. Water cooled alternator? why? I drove my Fiat through a ford fast once. The water got in the alternator. The warning light came on. It was never quite the same after that and the diode pack quit after about 15000 miles thereafter; water cooled, pft. Working this weekend plus it's forecast to rain. Progress on halt until more clement weather arrives. At least autumn begins tomorrow. DeeJay 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 Weather's been bipolar lately.Got a bit of a mojo boost today and headed down to the car. Started, first twist as usual. Put it in Reverse, gave it a bit of gas, brought the clutch in... All it did was lift it's butt like a female dog in heat. Gave it a bit more welly and backed it out of the carport. Oh dear. Took it down the road and BANG it freed off.Drove it to the end of the road with the handbrake pulled on to clear the rust. Jacked it up, got soaking wet as the rain decided that it was going to hammer down. Got the rear left adjuster slacked off a little. o pictures because it was lashing it down. Runs better now, without the brake binding. Tucked it away for the night. No sooner is it away, brother in law has piled his junk in front of it. I need to get it moved... --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 We had some weather* here today and after work I was in quite high spirits. A visit to the Renault is in order! Got all the crap cleared out from behind it and backed it out into the late afternoon sunshine. Wheeled my toolbox out and stuck my most recent creation- the TrueShite® Ghetto Ghetto Blaster on top of it. (Two crappy speakers from the parcel shelf of the GTA, an empty dishwasher soap box, a small amplifier board and an iPod) Got my jam on to a bit of Poison and decided to begin stripping the door down. Pulled the weather membrane off, which was already all cut up and split and duct-taped. Armed with a trusty 10mm spanner, I undid the winder mechanism from where it looks like it's clinging on to the door for dear life: Liberated the mechanis... Hang on, that ain't right Ok, there's the rest of it The plastic tube that forms the main join between the window slider and the gears has perished and cracked. Looking at it, it's a fairly simple contraption; a piece of plastic tube with a slot cut out of it, threaded through the mechanism and the gears poke through aforementioned hole. Decided to take it apart being as it's already halfway there.Applied some heat with my trusty BBQ lighter to soften the plastic- it's the type that smashes into millions of fragments if you apply too much force: Attacked the now considerably-more-pliable plastic with a knife: ..and popped it all open to investigate the insides. Well, it's all a bit mucky. The drive gear is in very good shape though, and the dreaded piece that "always breaks" according to the owner's club- which is a mixture of a wire and a hairy spring- is all in good shape, and the anti-stress spring is still inside here: Oh dear. That's not good. The piece that stops you from forcing the mechanism too hard against the window stops has fractured. No wonder it was hard to turn, this was jamming it all up. I made a start on cleaning it up but by now the sun's on the horizon and the gnats are starting to come out, so I packed it all up, parked it back in under the carport and took a moody shot as a bonus: It does look reperable, but I'm launching enquiries as to the availability of these things. Oddly, for MoT equivalent here the driver's side window at least must open... the sides are swappable- ie I can put this in the passenger side and move the working passenger side one to here but I'm not really wanting to do that if I can get away with it. Fun should continue later in the week. --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormee Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Maybe order the entire winding assembly on ebay in Europe? Must be the same as in Renault 9/11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 That is a possibility. It's the same as the R11- apparently slightly different from the 9, as the distance between handle and glass center on the 9 is shorter. I have no idea if they sell the thing as separate parts- where the second tube goes into the window slider base it appears just to push in.If not, it may pay for me to electrify the doors- power windows and central locking. Heh -Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Nexus Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Same thing happened to the winder mechanism on my Skoda Favorit, it looked exactly the same.We have new licence tags this month, not sure i like the design :- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Same thing happened to the winder mechanism on my Skoda Favorit, it looked exactly the same.We have new licence tags this month, not sure i like the design I'll probably end up with a plain white one or the usual beige (win!) one with the pelican on I don't think there's anything "special" going on over here, except they ran out of the SADxxx and SPYxxx plates already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Nexus Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I got bored with having "1AN" on my pickup truck and just took a regular one when the yearly renewal came around last month, "IAN" is still taken by someone else, I saw "ENZO" on a Yugo convertible at a local "Eurofest car show" parked next to a McLaren MP4 12C owned by a member of the local British Car Club... and a Arkley MG Midget 1969. I really should have taken my camera along... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 I was considering a vanity plate for it, or alternatively an "antique" as it's 25 years old this month- but that requires it to be "factory original" with "no modifications from factory build sheet", so I guess with my paint scheme in proposition puts it out the window... --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 I was considering a vanity plate for it, or alternatively an "antique" as it's 25 years old this month- but that requires it to be "factory original" with "no modifications from factory build sheet", so I guess with my paint scheme in proposition puts it out the window... --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Been doing a little Sherlock Holmes-ing, and have found someone with electric ones for sale, along with the switchgear associated that goes into the dash. From what I can tell, it's possible to make one good winder from the slightly different mechanisms bits. Might get a deluxe version after all --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Been doing a little Sherlock Holmes-ing, and have found someone with electric ones for sale, along with the switchgear associated that goes into the dash. From what I can tell, it's possible to make one good winder from the slightly different mechanisms bits. Might get a deluxe version after all --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Had a bit of spare time yesterday. Went down to the car but with the recent cold snap the battery was flat and it wouldn't start. Picked up the window winder mechanism and brought it home Cleaned up and glued together the broken tube. No idea if it'll hold: Cleaned up, the over-tightening piece was a bit out of shape: It's supposed to fit in here, with a spring: I tried to bend it and it fractured.So I glued it to the shaft with super glue. It's all sat up right now waiting for the glue to cure. I'll head down tonight and check on the car and hopefully fit the thing to the door. **** As good as it was, that didn't hold upon winding the window back up. That is unfortunately where the load is on it pulling away. Back to square one. I think I'm going to have to make a sleeve of some description to extend the winder mechanism, drill a bit of the old pipe out and give a sleeve for the remains of the lower section to be glued into Plus the window is bloody stiff to move compared to the other side. I think the runner may be bent. the door is cracked at the bottom where it bolts in, it's been twisting. The battery charger popped off the battery terminal overnight so the battery was flat when I got to it. Left it to charge a little while and got it running. It needed it because it was all BRAPBRAPBRAP until the valves settled down again. --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 Haven't done much, this is just a bump so I can find the thread easily again. Work soon set to recommence. I've not started the car since November... ought to be fun. Good to be back. --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 Actually did something to the car. Took the old window gearbox, and a drill (closest Imperial I could find to 10mm) and carefully removed the old tube. Took to using FIRE to heat things up. Camera didn't like my hand so focused on the car instead. High quality photography is on back-order today. Carefully marked out the bit that the gears poke through. Glued it. Stuck it all together. Unfortunately the hole up the middle of the tube appears to be a lot more accurate than the old one and as such it's a tight squeeze. Did manage to get the coil up into it and gave it a few winds... to whit the glue broke and it all fell apart. Gave up with that to go on to Plan B (still in drafting stages). Have been ferverishly working in the lab* on the electronics stuff also:IMAG1028 by renault9gta, on Flickr Undeterred, decided today wasn't going to be a complete bust so hooked the jumper cables up to the Silverado and gave the key a twist... Not too bad.Back on in the right direction now --Phil fatharris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madman Of The People Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Here's some inspiration for you. A (still running!) 1987 Renault Alliance GTA convertible. Deer whistles on the front bumper optional. Enjoy! http://hooniverse.com/2013/03/04/v-i-s- ... ore-123626 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Here's some inspiration for you. A (still running!) 1987 Renault Alliance GTA convertible. Deer whistles on the front bumper optional. Enjoy! http://hooniverse.com/2013/03/04/v-i-s- ... ore-123626 That's pretty cool. In really very nice condition, considering. Mine's a bit more dog-eared! Funny that the convertibles started out as a sedan like mine, had all the reinforcement added in the floorpan, then the roof lopped off. They're actually heavier than the tin-top by a fair margin -Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moggy Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 you could always go Electric??? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-11-TU ... 4158c8b99d but then knowing renaults..... the motors will pack in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 you could always go Electric??? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-11-TU ... 4158c8b99d but then knowing renaults..... the motors will pack in! ...but that's cheating. --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted April 12, 2013 Author Share Posted April 12, 2013 Nothing much to report, unfortunately. Did get the test equipment calibrated, set up and working adequately to be able to capture the car's ECU's brainwaves: IMAG1110 by renault9gta, on Flickr TestEquipmentShite Might be able to actually get somewhere with this. Unfortunately it doesn't fix the brakes, which are waiting on $$$ which is something I don't have right now. Pay cuts suck --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Are the brakes the same as euro spec models Phil? Just wondered if buying parts from eBay UK and shipping them might be cheaper? I know a few American car enthusiasts who sometimes find it cheaper to buy stuff in the states and ship it over. Just a thought. If they are the same as the R9 and R11 I sometimes see discs and pads, etc for sale for silly prices. Seriously impressed with the attempted window repair and the oscilloscope work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 Are the brakes the same as euro spec models Phil? Just wondered if buying parts from eBay UK and shipping them might be cheaper? I know a few American car enthusiasts who sometimes find it cheaper to buy stuff in the states and ship it over. Just a thought. If they are the same as the R9 and R11 I sometimes see discs and pads, etc for sale for silly prices. Seriously impressed with the attempted window repair and the oscilloscope work! From what I can tell the front brakes are unique to the model. This I do find hard to believe, but given the few odd bits of engineering on the car, it is all too possible. The master cylinder is the same as the 1.7 on the outside but has a smaller bore (the 1.7 has a 1 3/4" bore I think and the GTA has a 1 5/8" bore) to make the brakes feel a little more positive. I fitted the 1.7 version because the 2.0 variant is like hen's teeth.The rear brakes are stock R11 stuff. That doesn't present an issue. The brake balance valve I think is unique to the American market, the European market used the funny valve bit underneath attached to the rear suspension to gauge the pressure required by the rear brakes. I'm not sure if it's a massive airlock or if the master cylinder is borked. It could be either. I get pathetic pedal about halfway down the travel which is spongy at best. I've driven myself to distraction trying to bleed it manually and with an Eezi-Bleed. Window winder is on the "scratch head, think about it" list. ECU doodads are sitting on the table here waiting on a new battery. Car's still there. I checked today. That's a good thing --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 April, May, June... soon it'll be July. And nothing will have happened to the Renault. I went through one of these phases with it a couple years back, but this one, driven by pay cut, weather, the wife having surgery etc., has been a little more of a hiatus. Slight amount of work has ben happening in the background. I'm working on a computer project for someone on the Jeep Owner's forum to get the ECU reader programmed and built, as he's torn out his Renix fuel computer and replaced it with a Ford one. Payment is a Snap-On MT2500 tester with the Jeep/Chrysler ROM cartridge which works with my car. Car definitely needs new tyres now, the battery... I think is still in the car, the fuel tank will need a good flush, or at least a couple tankfuls of fresh fuel.. and the paint is peeling off more with every passing day. The rof is starting to rust and the bubbles on the driver's door step have turned into a rusty scab which needs fixing. Inquired at work about a trailer to use to move it. Apparently the bosses decided that nobody is to be able to borrow any equipment, so that's a no-go. Mind you, having been off work for a week means my pickup truck here has the "I don't drive it, I just mow around it" look, which the GTA would rapidly acquire. More to follow. When? dunno. --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 Well, the computer project I had was a success. This arrived in the mail: 20130704_141259 by renault9gta, on Flickr More retro test chod. It's got the ROM cartridge for the help files and also GM, Ford, Chrysler and Jeep diagnostic sequences, if the correct plugs are to be had, up to 1997. Need to get the extension wire for it to be able to connect it up (Snap-On genuine item about $60, standard PC joystick extension cord $10, same thing) and should be able to connect it up to the car to get a reading of what it's doing.Then, pick the code apart and see exactly what's what to help me along building mine. Should be fun. Looking forward to tinkering with this. --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatdaft Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I admire your skills and perseverance ,its a pity your car doesn't have obd2 ,but that would be cheating a bit ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 I admire your skills and perseverance ,its a pity your car doesn't have obd2 ,but that would be cheating a bit ! Yup. Ultimately I should be writing machine code for this to connect up to the car and read what's going on: Desktop computer by renault9gta, on Flickr I have an ACME cart here with little wheels on to punt it about from point to point. White lab coat time. --Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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