Ok, why's this happening?....

[MrRegieRitmo]

My R9, having been so far reliable stalled on me this morning whilst I was still moving. The car in front was turning off, so I slowed down but intended to keep my momentum so I kept rolling intending to pick up the speed again once the car was out of my way.....only the car suddenly died on me which was quite disconcerting, so I had to quickly restart her again & I was on my way. A bit bothersome but nothing much to worry about, I assumed the engine was still pretty cold. I tend to leave the choke out until I hit the motorway (about 7 miles) as until that point the car tends to quiver at junctions as if it wants to stall so I assume it hasn't had long enough to warm up. But I have confidence to push it in fully once I hit the motorway as it is continuous driving without having to slow down at all unless I hit traffic for some reason.(on a separate note, I'm a little bemused at why I have to leave the choke out so much longer than I did with the R14, I used to have the R14 choke fully in by about a couple of miles down the road & that was when my journey was only 6 miles instead of 25....is that just down to the difference in engine?!)Anyway back to the story, I found this morning that the car was still quivering & wanting to stall half an hour / 20 miles into my journey.....how can the engine possibly be still cold at that late stage of my journey?? Any ideas as to why the car still felt like it wanted to stall? I had to actually pull the choke out again a little way at junctions to prevent it from dying.....that can't be right surely?!

[pogweasel]

Ever thought about catching the bus?Split air line, carb icing, too much choke etc, could be any of these and more.

[Ratdat]

Is your R9 a 1.4? My R11 is and that only needs choke for half a mile or so when cold.

[ashmicro]

Gum/Waxing, other assorted gak in the carb I would surmise. Whip it off and strip it down. As Pog says, check the attached lines too. Sorry I can't be more specific, as it's been about 15 years since I worked on a Renner carb. That said, there's bound to be someone on t'internet who knows/has posted a howto etc if you know the specific model of carb.

[Guest]

Charmant used to behave like this. On approaches to junctions you had to pull the choke out or stick the clutch in and tickle the throttle a bit to keep it from stalling. Problem was quite simple really, it was running too rich, the mixture was adjusted properly and it ran brilliantly from then on.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

What does the temp gauge say? Is the heater nice and hot? It was super cold this morning so maybe it genuinely isnt warming up properly, perhaps you need to put a bit of a muff over the radiator grille (only do this if you are sure its not warming up properly)

[mouseflakes]

As Pog do say - carb icing is possible. If the problem occurs again - once the engine is nice and warm, switch off for a while and let the heat get back into the carb. Start up again - if it runs nicely now then it's likely icing was the problem. Check the operation of any little automatic 'flap' devices on the air filter that direct warm air from around the exhaust manifold. Obviously check the ducting from manifold to air filter housing too.

[Guest]

Hi RegieAre you running it on full choke? My R11 normally warms up after about 2 miles on half choke sometimes a little longer when its really cold like this morning. If you find that it’s not warming up enough there is a warm air control flap on the intake just ahead of the air filter box this will suck air in past the exhaust manifold and downpipe which should help to warm it up a bit quicker.If your R9 has the Solex carb I would be reluctant to pull the carb apart as I don’t think there is a service kit available for it anymore, I certainly couldn’t find one when I was looking for one.Hope that helps!Cheers, Andy

[Mat.T]

take to thermostat out and test it to see if it is opening at its correct temp. It could be opening early so the car never warms up properly.Edit does it even have a thermostat fitted? check it could be missing, i wouldnt bother pulling appart the carb and stuff untill you've done the basics.

[Richard]

My R9 had terrible idling and cold running problems until I discovered all the inlet manifold bolts were loose.

[wuvvum]

Pretty much every older Renault I've owned has been hyper-sensitive to choke position in cold weather, and in sub-zero temperatures the recently-departed Renner Five wouldn't idle at all with the choke all the way in. I just learned to live with it and pulled the choke out a bit if I had to stop - I don't have a very good record when it comes to fiddling with carbs, I can usually get the car running OK but it invariably then does about 15mpg, so I'm not the best person to advise you on this.

[Mr Lobster]

Used to have a 1.4 R5 that suffered from carb icing once you got upto motorway speeds. Mainly due to running a big Jetex foam air filter though Check the warm air hose (that draws heat from the exhaust) is in its winter position, other than that try a bit of carb cleaner spray, might just solve the problem.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Thanks for the replies guys - yes it is the 1.4, the heater works fine & the car certainly gets warm on the inside! The temperature gauge does normally rise to around halfway, although I watched it on the way home & it didn't budge from the bottom at all which made me think the engine wasn't warming up. As an experiment on the way home tonight I left the choke slightly out for longer, in fact for pretty much the length of the motorway part of the journey i.e. until about 7 or 8 miles from home out of the 25 miles. Once the choke was finally in & I had to slow down for junctions, I noticed the car was not quivering as it had been this morning. In fact once near home I waited at a 'quiet' junction to observe how it was idling & it was idling fine again with no sensation of being about to stall. By the time I got home the temperature gauge had finally risen making me think it might indeed just be getting excessively cold in these freezing temperatures.....either that or like me it has decided it doesn't like mornings! Be interesting to see what happens now tomorrow - can't wait! I'm fairly sure though that in the past it has been in gear when it has wanted to stall whilst manoeuvring & I've found that my foot hasn't quite got the clutch flat on the floor which obviously explains that one but this morning when it wanted to stall I didn't even have it in gear at the time & it still wanted to stall & I'm fairly sure that if I planted my foot on the clutch (but out of gear) it was still wanting to stall although it shouldn't, should it?I remember Mr Reno showing me the summer / winter setting on the hose when I picked up the car & I'm 99% sure he showed me that he had already set it to winter for me but I might have to recheck that.

[Richard]

You might have shitty fuel.Another possibility, the fuel tanks are a weak point on those. Maybe there is rust or water getting into the fuel.

[Split_Pin]

Mr Hirst beat me to it - is there a mixture screw you can adjust?

[Maltelec]

Sounds a lot like carb icing.One thing to try:If it is quivering with the choke in even after 20 min or so when the engine is upto temp, stop the engine for 5 min and then continue on as normal. If the problem has vanished completely, its ice in the carb.My land rover used to be awful for it.As for the choke, every engine is different. I used to have 2 identical land rovers, even down to the same colour.One needs the choke out 1/2 way for 3 miles, the other needed the choke out 3/4 way for 1 mile.

[nigel bickle]

Its cold out there, Reg-they all act up a bit -no computer to balance the mixture etc.If itpersists- once it warms next week-then its apotential problem.But I'd guess that a rise in temp sorts it.

[mr-reno-139]

hi Regie

good to hear its still running and hasnt ended up like my F6 van

 

http://www.renault4.co.uk/forum/showthr ... #post13053

 

pretty sure i set air intake to winter but there is abit of flexi duct that is sposed to fit on back of ex manifold if that has split or fallen off carb icing is def going to cause probs at -5

 

other possibility is dirt/ water in fuel- tanks do go rusty have you checked inline fuel filter ?

 

have got a new tank if needed

[j-j]

But you shouldn't really get carb icing at non motorway speeds!I'd also have your timing checked and whip the plugs out for a check and regap if necc. If they're sooty give them a clean with a clean wire brush. What make of carb does it use? If it runs ok but gets worse it could be that it has heated up but now has too much choke - there is usually a choke 'lift off' device that teleases the choke a little with revs but sometimes these can stop working and leave you with too much choke.Anyway, like the others say, take the carb off for a rebuild - it will not be difficult - if it's a Weber carb than the main jet and idle jet can be removed without taking off the carb - also the main jet, air jet and emulsion tube are all the one thing so come out in a one! (handy)

[wuvvum]

Fit a carb from a Cessna 152 or similar. They have carb de-icing fitted as standard.

[scrappylad]

To add to the list of replies it does sound very much like your thermostat is stuck open too. If it didn't leave the bottom marker on the journey home on the m/way, thats pretty telling.