Renault 11 Automatique

[Squire_Dawson]

What a lovely car, I have always liked the look of these. Ground clearance looks decent too. The colour is great, the fact that it is an actual colour is the main thing - do you know what it's called?

 

Regarding the garage weather problem, try fixing down a single, long batten of suitable wood about an inch high (dependent on the gap) to the ground behind the door when its closed.

[captain_70s]

I fear I may be developing a want for some old Renner...

[MarvinsMom]

now that is a lovely looking old thing.

 

dunno what i like most. 

 

the colour, them wheels, the interior......

 

i just hope that this doesn't happen to it

[RobT]

What a lovely car, I have always liked the look of these. Ground clearance looks decent too. The colour is great, the fact that it is an actual colour is the main thing - do you know what it's called?

 

Regarding the garage weather problem, try fixing down a single, long batten of suitable wood about an inch high (dependent on the gap) to the ground behind the door when its closed.

Thanks for the tip squire. I've got a weatherstrip on the outside but nothing inside.

 

The colour is Eméraude. It was also available on the 4 but not sure about other Renaults of the period.

 

[brownnova]

I’m so glad it has stayed in the fold! I really wanted this.... but bought a 2CV instead...

 

It’s a beautiful thing. Here’s to many happy miles motoring in it!

[Skizzer]

The colour is Eméraude.

 

See? Told you it was green. Whoever heard of emerald blue?

[Parky]

Just had a look at the Haynes manual for the R5 (yes, I know) and the transmission drain and fill is about the easiest I have ever seen on an autobox. There are two drain plugs though apparently (because French).

 

Basically park on level ground and drain only when cold. Pop out the dipstick, remove the two plugs and go make some tea (very important). Biscuit optional but advised.

 

The book suggests that whatever comes out will need to be replaced with approx 2 litres of fluid. Lob in one litre, check the dipstick and when the level is close to the cold level start the car in P, run for a couple of minutes and check and top up accordingly with the engine running.

 

The dipstick seems to have a hole in it, bottom of the hole is the minimum cold level, top is the maximum.

 

Oil is Renaultmatic d2 as stated. Comma AQM meets spec (simple mineral based dexron2 atf) and that’s only £7-£8 a litre on Amazon

[Eric]

Please don't use Comma ATF...it's changes into petrol when hot...and petrol doesn't lubricate.

Thes boxes do change from second to third a bit hard...mine does the same, I bought a Renault 9 automatic in red (705) recently

[Parky]

I’d listen to Eric then, nothing like real world actual experience!

[rovamota]

I remember when these came out and our (she was what would now be considered a hot MILF) sales executive at the coffee firm I worked for back in 1983 had a brand new A registration 11TXE. I was as jealous as hell as I looked across the yard at my ropey P reg Princess 1800HL.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnsVqB964oY

[Burnside]

Back in 2003 I had a job Valeting cars at a Mercedes Main Dealer. 

 

One day I got asked to move a Car that had been traded in. It was a Identical Renault 11 to this one in Colour and spec! Was a 1 lady owner car on a C reg and had sub 50,000 miles from memory. The alloys were in need of repaint and the plastics needed blacking too but otherwise it seamed A1 and drove perfect on a short test drive. 

 

Sadly my hopes of bagging it were dashed as the Salesman was on holiday and I was away the week he came back for 2 weeks holiday. So it got sold despite my asking to buy it to a local trader who paid about £150 and then had it parked around the back of his unit for about 5 years before disappearing. So sadly it's most likely long gone now.

 

Great to see one that still survives in this colour and spec and all the best with yours it looks transformed now the plastics have been sorted. 

[sierraman]

I’ve just bought a Renault 11. Only cost me 99p though.

[RobT]

Time for an update. I've been pottering about using the 11 as much as possible. Not on a daily basis, but regular enough. Cold starts involve several cranks and then letting it sit for a short period otherwise it stalls (even on full choke), but apart from that it really is proving easy to live with. The heater isn't that great, so useableness will take a knock when the temperatures plummet...

 

In the meantime, last weekend I cleared out the wheel arches at the jet wash

 

 

 

I still wasn't done, and when I got home found this lot still up there.

 

 

I was expecting some dampness to appear in the boot, and sure enough there was a small puddle in the corner near some rust. Must be some pin holes there as the floor is intact otherwise, so I let it dry then brushed Vactan over the affected bits.

 

Today I swapped the seats over, as the driver's seat was a bit baggy and not that comfortable. They are interchangeable and just eight easy to access bolts between them.

 

Moses Hightower compliant driving position.

 

 

The better seat is on the left. The gifferette PO was quite a large lady whereas I'm a weedy fecker, so the new seat is much better for my back having actual lumbar support.

 

 

It got dark but I did an oil change, which it needed.

 

 

I'd normally have the front end in the garage for this. The stylish yet impractical bonnet arrangement prevented this. I also checked and cleaned the plugs. They had 'light deposits' which is nice. No carbon fouling here, thank you very much.

 

Next jobs are change the coolant and ATF, and possibly the thermostat. I think the heater might just benefit from a flush as the feeder pipes feel hot. A few rusty brackets and suspension bits underneath probably need treating too if I'm going to use it all winter, but overall it's very solid and well protected.

[Zelandeth]

I do so prefer the look of the front end on the early cars.

 

The heater in mine was never that great from what I remember.

[RobT]

It's warm but not toasty, so I'll just double up on socks.

 

Another good thing about it are the headlights. I've got used to the Cavalier's candles so these are a bit of a revelation. Quite surprised considering they're small units.

[Parky]

Be ultra diligent on the coolant change, these can be feckers to bleed. I managed to ruin the head on my R5 by not bleeding it well enough. A mechanic I knew used to run around with the top bleed screw slightly open for a few days just to make sure

 

You could try doing it with a vacuum pump like this chap does on the MG Rover forum - https://forums.mg-rover.org/mg-zt-rover-75-sponsored-rimmer-bros-90/how-vacuum-refill-coolant-system-using-pela-6000-rubber-bung-315806/

 

Happy to lend you my Pela for the weekend if you don’t have one, although I don’t have the extra pipe work and t-pieces you would need

 

To echo Zalendeth, I don’t remember the heater in my dads R9 to be up to much so perhaps the overall design is a bit marginal on heat output anyway

[brownnova]

That truly is a beautiful car... one of my absolute favourites on AS currently!

[RobT]

Thanks Parky, I got the feeling it might be tricky by the plethora of bleed screws on the hoses, and the Haynes manual showing a photo of the header tank suspended about 5 foot in the air!

[Zelandeth]

I'd buy a few spares for the bleed screws too.

 

A couple of mine snapped the heads off when disturbed.  Think I just replaced them with bolts I had in stock which had the same thread.  This was back before the internet was something I had access to so improvisation was the name of the game.

[RobT]

I've been unable to use the 11 for a month because of this

 

 

Shoe lining made a bid for freedom, which caused an awful noise plus very spongy brakes. I think the automatic adjuster was seized, and the cylinder looked a bit moist too.

 

A combination of lack of time and motivation (due to some stressful life stuff going on at the moment) means I've only just got them fixed. The fact Bendix brakes are bastards doesn't help either. I've found them much harder to do than the simpler set up on the Metro, but I got there in the end. I'm sure my ignorance made it harder than it should have been.

 

Nice shiny shoes ready for fitting, which I did last Sunday.

 

 

Next problem was the brakes wouldn't bleed. My heart sank thinking the new cylinder was at fault, but I persevered and eventually the pedal no longer fell to the floor. Must have been loads of air in there as I did accidentally let the reservoir go dry previously. Whoops.

 

So today I finally finished, and to celebrate I did an oil and filter change and went for a drive. I'm so glad it's drivable again as it's such a charmante petite voiture to potter about in. I want to drive it ALL THE TIME. Lovely.

 

[320touring]

YAAAAAASSSSSSSS!

[PhilA]

Nice. The heater in mine is volcanic, but it's the original Valeo design one, which has about 3x the number of tubes and fins as the "non-explodey" later type. It's also the lowest point of the cooling system at the back and fills up with crud. Try flushing it backwards, it should be really very good. The maximum comfortable setting on mine, even in icicles weather is just over halfway.

 

Phil

[Split_Pin]

What an absolutely smashing little car. The seat design and corduroy material are fantastic. I hope you enjoy it!

[hughwbarrie]

I had a c reg one in the standard blue these were all in way back in 1998. Mine wasn't as good as this one then. Christ it seems so long ago now. This one looks amazing for over 30 years old.

[Skizzer]

Great job, I know those brakes have been a right pain. Such a bonny wee car though, glad to see it’s not stopped you bonding with it!

[bramz7]

Really happy to see you progressing with it. I do kind of miss it, but it desperately needed a garage!

[bigstraight6]

Good job, rear brake shoes can be a pain thinking back to when I did the same job on my sons Polo a few months back, picture an idiot ripping the shoes and associated adjusters and springs off the back plates and then having no idea how to reassemble and wishing I’d stripped one side at a time...

I just love the colour of the Renault, don’t think I’ve ever seen an 11 in that eye catching hue.

[RobT]

Thanks all. The biggest war was getting the top retaining spring back on. I spent 40 minutes trying to fit it in 2 degrees of cold one evening. Gave up, came back another day, and realised the adjuster wasn't fully backed off. Once resolved it was a 2 minute job...

[RobT]

Nice. The heater in mine is volcanic, but it's the original Valeo design one, which has about 3x the number of tubes and fins as the "non-explodey" later type. It's also the lowest point of the cooling system at the back and fills up with crud. Try flushing it backwards, it should be really very good. The maximum comfortable setting on mine, even in icicles weather is just over halfway.

Phil

I'll give that a go, thanks Phil. An actual heater would be nice, although I'm mindful the cooling system can be a sod to bleed properly (based on Parky's experience) so it might have to wait until I've got more time to do the job properly.

[dollywobbler]

Sounds like it might also benefit from an overnight filling with cheap cola too. Worked wonders on the Bluebird, which went from zero heat at all to really rather snug.