Project 5

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Well, it starts here.

Spotted this car in an advert in manchester.
Wasnt asking much for it and according to the description the car was a wreck. Needs 2 new doors, needs new clutch pedal, has cracked bumper, whole car needs a respray, cooling system needs bleeding, but only had 86,000 miles on the clock.
Anyway, as i was in the area, i decided to take a walk down and check it out.
First impressions, the car wasn't in too bad condition, and the more i looked around the thing, the more modest the advert appeared to be.

Agreed, the drivers door needs replacing as it has obviously had a spray can spray job, but as far as i can see, there is nothing wrong with the passenger door appart from a tiny bit of rust at the bottom, and a slight crack by the lock.
The front bumper is a bit worse for wear, but either getting another one or patching this one up wouldnt be a problem.
Could only find one spot of rust on the whole car (havnt checked under the sills yet).
The paintwork is slightly faded but a good t-cut would sort this out no problem. What wasnt mentioned in the advert was it had brand new calipers and discs all round, new suspension top mounts and a new starter.
Got the keys to fire it up, turned over nice and strong and away she went on the first turn. Idled perfectly and sounded really smooth.
Under the bonnet everything is clean and tidy, no leaks, no ticking, rattling, whining and the engine revs smoothly.

Time for a drive!
Pulled very well, boost hitting standard pressure so had not been messed with, oil pressure was textbook, unfortunately the temperature gauge was not working so i proceeded with caution, before long i heard the fan kick in, then out, so cooling system is working.
Gears are smooth, and the problem with the clutch pedal i dont think is a problem with the pedal at all. Seems more like the cable had been routed wrong, but i didnt tell the seller that.

Anyway, after looking over the car some more, i decided to make him an offer and see if he would take. Unfortunately the car was listed on ebay with a higher starting price than i offered, so we came to an agreement, if no bids were placed i could have it for my offer.
1 day later and i am the owner.

The current plan is to use this for a few months while i sort out the many problems with the clio 16v, and in the process, tidy the 5 up ready for sale when done. (if it lasts that long)

Some Pictures

[img:400:300:ac620c5f92]http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/6048/dsc003619nd.jpg[/img:ac620c5f92]
[img:400:300:ac620c5f92]http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1879/dsc003538sy.jpg[/img:ac620c5f92]
[img:400:300:ac620c5f92]http://img458.imageshack.us/img458/8821/dsc003564dg.jpg[/img:ac620c5f92]
[img:400:300:ac620c5f92]http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7990/dsc003577vp.jpg[/img:ac620c5f92]
[img:400:300:ac620c5f92]http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4162/dsc003511qi.jpg[/img:ac620c5f92]

Wish me luck!

Level 8 User Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 315

doesn't look bad from the pics, cheap?

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Well, not very cheap, but by the price of 5 turbos these days, id say it was ok.
Paid Â£500 for it.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

has it got a ticket on it?

the rust on the passenger side has probaly come up from under the skirt.

But with a good clean and polish will look loads better even.

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Got 6 months tax and mot on it.
Done a small test with t-cut and even the worst bits come up great.
Have moved the clutch cable into the proper possition and it feels loads better, just flushing the cooling system now, looks pretty manky, gonna take a while i think.

First question (as its my first 5 turbo) wheres the temp sensor for the gauge?
(dont have a haynes yet, or dialogys)

This is going to be a steep learning curve i think, but i'm looking forward to it.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

on the water pump.

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

Nice buy!

an unmolested R5 GTT (except for the dump valve by the looks of it)

I've got a soft spot for the R5 GTT but it's getting harder to find a good unmolested one.

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Time to sort out some of the dodgy wiring i think.
This little collection of wires i have found all coming to a head at the turbo heat shield temperature sensor. Off this come two wires to the carb temperature sensor, one wire to the radiator fan switch and two wires into the loom (to activate the anti perc fan).

[img:::6b5e18374c]http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7366/dsc003595jj.jpg[/img:6b5e18374c]

Both the temperature sensor on the carb and on the turbo heat shield are part of the anti percolation system which are supposed to activate the anti percolation fan when the engine is switched off. However, only one of these sensors is required for the system to work and so i shall stick with the original carb temperature sensor to do the job (this can simply be changed over to the turbo temp sensor at a later date if necessary). I think the heatshield with the sensor may have been a later addition, but feel free to correct me if i'm wrong, as this is very much a learning process for me here.
The extra wire going to the radiator fan switch has been put in place so the fan will kick in when the engine is switched off also, and is not part of the standard system. For now i will remove this as the fan is sometimes staying on for up to 10 minutes after the engine is switched off, meaning it is not having a great affect on cooling either the turbo or the carb, but is seriously draining my battery power.

[img:400:300:6b5e18374c]http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/7371/dsc003620kr.jpg[/img:6b5e18374c]

I'll be keeping a very close eye on temperatures after my next run to see that everything is working as it should do.

Site Subscriber Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 1575

nice one welcome to the joys of 5 ownership

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Here we go, another chapter in life of my first 5 Turbo, today . . . water pump replacement.
Not an essential replacement, but i had a nice shiney new pump from one of my old 5's and the current one was making i slight noise, so i thought what the hell.

Began by removing all connecting hoses and the temperature sensor cable, then losened the top bolt on the alternator and slackened and removed the aux belt.

[img:400:300:67055adcf4]http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/7352/dsc00411ct9.jpg[/img:67055adcf4]

Time to remove the pump from the head . . . easier said than done!
Handy to have a selection of spanners and sockets for this job as the securing bolts are in some awkward places.
Among my arsenal of weapons i had 10mm swan neck, 10mm ring, 1/4" ratchet with 10mm socket, 3/8" ratchet with deep 10mm socket, that will just about cover all the stupidly possitioned bolts securing it down.
Find it helps to have the pump to head gasket here to identify which bolts need removing aswell.
Well, all seems straight forward . . . not when one of the bolts decides to snap off in the pump.
Tried everything to get the bolt out, but eventually it gave way at the head aswell, leaving the shaft stuck in the pump and a stub in the head. Bugger!

[img:400:300:67055adcf4]http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1861/dsc00413qo0.jpg[/img:67055adcf4]

Then when trying to separate the pump, the back of it cracked, ahhh!
Good job i have a spare 5 sitting in the barn at my dads house. Poached the rear of the pump off there, put the new pump together and away we go.
Back on the head, hoses back on, belt back on, sensor back on, back in business.

[img:400:300:67055adcf4]http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2338/dsc00415ol5.jpg[/img:67055adcf4]

Anyone who has filled the 5 turbo cooling system will know it can be a bit of an arse (not nearly as bad as the clio 16v though) so i created this little device to make everything sooo much easier.

[img:400:300:67055adcf4]http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8357/dsc00418ub4.jpg[/img:67055adcf4]
[img:400:300:67055adcf4]http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2430/dsc00416oa8.jpg[/img:67055adcf4]

Made from an old bike innertube valve and an old filler cap, oh, and lots of RTV sealant.
Can pressurise the system to force air out of the bleed screws, good for checking leaks aswell without having to run the engine.

[img:400:300:67055adcf4]http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6281/dsc00419ju0.jpg[/img:67055adcf4]

Anyway, cooling system now fully loaded and pump doing its magic.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

PITA the c type pumps. normally though the bolt snaps but it just unwind sout of the head.

see when you seperated the pumps, did you clean the wee groove in the pump body? I find on a lot of them the build up is so hard it seems like metal, until you dig in and find the groove.

I have a similar coolant system tester, well i did it went pop one day Laughing

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Here we go with further adventures with the 5.

Today: Starter Motor

Went out to the car to go out, turn the key, and it goes a little something like this . . . . tick . . . tick . . . tick.
Solenoid is working but the starter is doing nowt.
Checked the battery, fine. Removed the turbo and downpipe heatshield to get to the starter and check the wiring.
The live on the back of the starter seemed a little loose, reached round to see if i could tighten it by hand, and the whole terminal fell off in my hand.
Theres no way this could be fixed, so, time to replace the starter.
Good job i still have my old 5 still stashed away for spares (dont know what i would do without it).

Removing the starter from the turbo was fairly easy despite the lack of space. Purely because the idiot who last replaced the starter only used one bolt to secure it in place and didn't bother with the heatshield or supporting bracket at the back.
To get the old starter out of the car, i went through the off-side arch, this also involved removing (partially removing) the downpipe to block supporting bar to make enough room.

[img:400:300:4eca44b85a]http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/5484/dsc00455ui3.jpg[/img:4eca44b85a]
Starter out

[img:400:300:4eca44b85a]http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1048/dsc00462al9.jpg[/img:4eca44b85a]
Broken terminal, looks a bit melted to me

[img:400:300:4eca44b85a]http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/8624/dsc00454az3.jpg[/img:4eca44b85a]
Proper renault 5 starter on the left (from my old 5), the broken one i removed from the turbo on the right. Quite a difference in size, and different solenoid location too. Maybe contibuted to the premature failure as it was apparently replaced less than a year ago, got too hot perhaps, who knows.

Put the replacement starter in possition and bolted into place.
Had to use a universal joint on an extension bar to reach one of the bolts as it was a very tight squeze, not enough room to turn a spanner.

[img:400:300:4eca44b85a]http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/3458/dsc00458fp7.jpg[/img:4eca44b85a]

Connected all wires up, placed support bracket and cable support (which was left hanging down from the previous muppet) and finally a nice starter heat shield from the spare 5.
Re-secured the downpipe to block support and clipped all cables in their proper locations, job done!

[img:400:300:4eca44b85a]http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/7331/dsc00459ry0.jpg[/img:4eca44b85a]
Not the best picture, but the most satisfying, a job complete.

While the tools were out, why not change the alternator thats been slightly dodgy.
Nice recon unit, kindly supplied by our very own retro renault don, Mr Chris H.

[img:400:300:4eca44b85a]http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4619/dsc00460ad7.jpg[/img:4eca44b85a]

Easy job, top bolt, bottom bolt and wires off the back.
New alternator in place, bottom bolt, top bolt (tension belt) wires, and job done.

[img:400:300:4eca44b85a]http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/5374/dsc00461it7.jpg[/img:4eca44b85a]

Running spot on once again.

What nex? Place your bets . . . . lol

Retroholic Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 3315

i bet

HG
turbo
you crash
or my fav
non categorized renault fault that fixes itself then breaks again but yet is not enough to want to get your hands dirty over so you leave it alone Razz

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Yea, the unidentifiable intermittent fault sounds about right.
Had one of them on every renault i've had, it's all good fun though. Dont mind getting my hands dirtynow and then.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

Glad the alt arrived ok, as you can see its not very old, has maybe done 200 miles on the red car and was on it for maybe 5 months.

the starters, I prefer the smaller ones myself. They tend to be more reliable and theres more space around them so don't get affected by the heat so much.

Changing the alt is a dream job, especially on the 19 as theres about a foot of space in front of it and the bonnet opens the right way so you can get right in there.

Site Subscriber Joined: 29 Dec 2004 Posts: 395

Yea, the smaller one was much easier to manouver, but i found the solenoid sits at the top when mounted as opposed to the side and almost touches the exhaust manifold.

I blame the failure on being poorly fitted though, one bolt and bodged wiring.