r4 query

michaelh

michaelh

Member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Apr 27, 2001
Messages
176
Location
Canberra
i have recently acquired a lovely r4 which i am in the process of getting roadworthy. now, i realise the r4 has one of the most basic interiors around but there is one switch whose function i am yet to work out. my r4 is a 65 or 66 model. the switch i am referring to is on the right side of the instrument cluster. it is a white rocker-style switch with markings which look like sparks on it. with the car on i have flicked the switch on and off but can't see anything come on of go off. :confused:
i though someone might be able to shed light on this before i pull the instrument cluster off.
any ideas?
thanks
 
The R8/10 has it too - I think it is switch between town and country horns ie loud and not so loud, but was never hooked up on Oz models.
 
OK, this'll be fun using the worlld slowest computer after my screen suffered a permanent attack of epilepsy. I'm too cheap to buy a new computer.... Anyway this question is easy.

This was Renaults attempt at descriptive international symbols. Sort of like the pictorial baby blowing on an early 16 vent switch, the flow was exactly that, like a baby blowing.

The zaggy switch on the 4 was not used in AUS, as the cars here were fitted with a key operated combination steering lock and ignition switch. The switch is to switch on the ignition, the starter then operated by the pull starter above the choke, or a rotary switch where the sterring lock is located, these cars did not have a steering lock fitted. The zaggy switch was only used on the very early 1962 R1120 series in AUS. It was later replaced on the R1123 by the oil pressure light, and on the later R1123 the light was replaced by a blank when the oil pressure light was combined with the temperature light.

This car doesn't sound like a 1965/66 model, unless the 1962 cluster has been fitted to a late model car.

1962 R1120 series, slam lock rear hatch with lifting tab (opens with key).
1963 R1120 (Rare in AUS) and R1123 T bar turning hatch handle. R1123 has the 845cc motor and folding rear seat.
1964 R1123 (released in AUS in 1966) Sliding glass in rear doors, fixed rear quarter windows, grey crackle painted dash cladding. The last cars had black crackle painted dash cladding.

Of couse the nature of R4's being totally interchangeable I guess a lot of parts could have changed in the intervening years making exact year identification difficult.

The switch below the zaggy switch, the one with the two black pictorial globes, is the parking light switch, which is also not connected on the AUS spec cars (no parking lights fitted to the side of the car). A similar (unmarked) switch was also fitted to the 8/10 which I think must be the switch Haakon is describing, as the town/country horn was operated by soft/hard pressure on the light switch of the 4,8 and 10.
 
thanks simon, that sorts out the mystery switch problem. on the issue of what year model my R4 is, i am still completely vexed - the car seems to have features from both earlier and later models. according to the (interchangeable) identification plates and old rego papers, it is an R1123. It has the sliding windows front and rear, folding rear seat and the the T-bar turning handle on the rear hatch. However, the engine number (which also corresponds with old rego papers) is a 680-01 making it the 747cc(?) model. Is this correct? :confused:
To add further confusion, mine has both horns (only one of which is connected) but only the one switch on the right side of the steering column.
 
Sounds like the car is indeed a bitzer. The 680-01 motor is a 747cc block from an R1120 (845cc liners fit straight in), but the doors will fit either early or late cars. Probably the key is in the oval plate, the late (AUS delivered)cars with sliding windows seem to be in two main batches from what I've seen R1123 82xxx and R1123 149xxx. Both of these are late 1966 AUS build cars, although the numbers identify them as 1964 French models. Those two batches can be further identified if the oval plates have been swapped, then again it could have been a good rustfree R1120 chassis installed under an R1123 shell, compare the punched chassis number adjacent the RH seat slide (if legible) with the diamond plate. The R1120 also has a Type 313 gearbox (synchro2/3), the R1123 a type 328 gearbox which is all synchro.

With the horns, the RHS binnacle switch is for the non fitted side lights on the AUS spec cars, the horn switch (incorporated into the LH light lever) is actually a dual pressure switch, lightly pushed it operates the polite people beeper, heavy, panic pushing of the lever operates the strident semi-shifter horn.
 
Simon said:
With the horns, the RHS binnacle switch is for the non fitted side lights on the AUS spec cars, the horn switch (incorporated into the LH light lever) is actually a dual pressure switch, lightly pushed it operates the polite people beeper, heavy, panic pushing of the lever operates the strident semi-shifter horn.
Click to expand...
HMMMM, semi-shifter horn, I'll have to try that when I get my R4 on the road.
Then again, maybe not. If I want to commit suicide, I'll do it in a manner that doesn't damage the car.

Ren
:cheers:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top