Lord Stig
Member
Hello all - I'm new to the site and just wanted to say hello and ask a quick question (or four), mostly related to the fact I'm not that familiar with these cars. I have already run a search for some of this information, but didn't find exactly what I was after. You have a nice site here, by the way!
On Saturday I bought a 1990 Renault 19 GTX with an incredible 48,000 miles on it. The past three owners had taken great care of the car, and it looks and drives almost like new, with no rust and a virtually complete service history. For the price I'm very pleased - I'd never considered buying a Renault before, but this is a very solidly built car, and its age for me is a plus point because of the relative simplicity of the mechanicals.
However, I've noticed that the needle in the temperature gauge sits halfway up the dial when the engine is fully warmed up. Someone mentioned on another thread that the gauge should normally sit lower than this. Is this the case, or is there some variability? A related matter is that the temperature rises rapidly in town, with the fan cutting in early. There is no evidence that the head gasket is at fault, and I suspect the problem is a sticky thermostat. I'll change that and give the cooling system a flush with rad flush at the weekend, but I was wondering if anyone else had had similar problems and, if so, what the cause was. I also noticed that the cooling fan sometimes comes on for long periods when the ignition is switched off, even when the temperature gauge doesn't show the temperature to be higher than normal. Is this fan thing normal, or is it possible there is an electrical fault?
Lastly, the gearbox is quite stiff - especially attempting to get into 2nd gear. Is this normal?
One of the first things I will probably need to do is get the cam belt replaced, as it might well be the original one. If so, although it's only done 48,000 rather than the recommended 72,000 miles, I imagine a 17 year old belt is likely to have degraded a fair bit. I gather everyone here would think that is a good (prudent!) idea, or could I save the expense? I've never heard cam belt life being measured in time rather than miles, so for all I know an old one is not a problem so long as the mileage is not close to the 72,000 mile service limit. Does anyone know if a Renault garage would recommend changing a belt just because of its age?
Sorry for the long post, and thanks for your help!
On Saturday I bought a 1990 Renault 19 GTX with an incredible 48,000 miles on it. The past three owners had taken great care of the car, and it looks and drives almost like new, with no rust and a virtually complete service history. For the price I'm very pleased - I'd never considered buying a Renault before, but this is a very solidly built car, and its age for me is a plus point because of the relative simplicity of the mechanicals.
However, I've noticed that the needle in the temperature gauge sits halfway up the dial when the engine is fully warmed up. Someone mentioned on another thread that the gauge should normally sit lower than this. Is this the case, or is there some variability? A related matter is that the temperature rises rapidly in town, with the fan cutting in early. There is no evidence that the head gasket is at fault, and I suspect the problem is a sticky thermostat. I'll change that and give the cooling system a flush with rad flush at the weekend, but I was wondering if anyone else had had similar problems and, if so, what the cause was. I also noticed that the cooling fan sometimes comes on for long periods when the ignition is switched off, even when the temperature gauge doesn't show the temperature to be higher than normal. Is this fan thing normal, or is it possible there is an electrical fault?
Lastly, the gearbox is quite stiff - especially attempting to get into 2nd gear. Is this normal?
One of the first things I will probably need to do is get the cam belt replaced, as it might well be the original one. If so, although it's only done 48,000 rather than the recommended 72,000 miles, I imagine a 17 year old belt is likely to have degraded a fair bit. I gather everyone here would think that is a good (prudent!) idea, or could I save the expense? I've never heard cam belt life being measured in time rather than miles, so for all I know an old one is not a problem so long as the mileage is not close to the 72,000 mile service limit. Does anyone know if a Renault garage would recommend changing a belt just because of its age?
Sorry for the long post, and thanks for your help!