I drive a 1989 Renault 19 1.7 with the 1721 cc F2N, carburettor engine.
Over the last 3,000 miles (i.e., most of the winter) the car has had new plugs, air filter, HT leads and distributor cap - which it needed - a new starter motor - again needed, regardless of this fault - and will soon be getting a new fuel filter.
Nevertheless, when the car is cold, and irrespective of the manual choke setting, the car takes several goes to start. Changing the HT leads helped briefly, but now the problems are back. Also, it can be very jerky, moving forward suddenly, even when smooth throttle is applied. It also sounds quite rough, a bit like a diesel, and has difficulty idling. When warm, the car idles at the standard 900 revs.
All this applies only when the car is cold and has been left overnight. When the engine is up to temperature, it's fine - it gets 2/3 of the way up the gauge within 5 minutes and stays there whatever you do to it.
Does anyone have any suggestions? It's a good car but if it's not going to start reliably and I'm going to have difficulty shifting it, I'd look very seriously at just scrapping it before something else goes wrong.
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sounds like the carb needs tuning and cleaning.
Did the probs, by chance, get worse after changing any of the above items? It is a long shot but I was once supplied with the wrong specification spark plugs for my car by the twit on the parts counter and it took me a while to realise.
Billy
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I owned the same model a couple of years ago.
I too found problems with cold weather starting and found the air inlet valve was the problem. If I remember correctly it has a wax-capsule thermostat controlling the flap that allows warm air to circulate during cold weather starting. The flap was stuck on mine and I think this caused it to take in cold air only.
I sprayed some WD40 in the area and it seemed to do the trick.
On another point. What does it behave like in summer? These engines are known to run high temperatures so I used a pipercross foam filter and temporarily removed the filter housing until I needed it for winter.
This seemed to improve the economy so it might be worth thinking about.
Hope this helps
Paul
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The plugs and filter were both Renault OE, the HT leads and cap weren't but don't appear to have caused any problems and work fine together. In all cases, they were quite explicit as to what engine they were for and I'm sure they're the right parts.
In the summer, and at normal running temperature, the engine is essentially perfect - it's quiet and efficient and starts first time when left.
Fuel economy is excellent (although that's another bugbear - the fuel gauge in the trip computer doesn't work). I get 45 mpg on a run if I stick to 70, and about 30 around London (lots of stop start), which is fine for the age and size of the car.
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