Engine

Several engines were fitted to the R4. These are known by the engine code numbers and by their capacities.

All engines are water cooled, 4 cylinder in-line, petrol OHV. with wet liners and alloy heads. Because of the historic use of these engines in rear engined cars, the engine is back to front by most manufacturers standards, with the clutch and gearbox in front and the timing chain up against the bulkhead.

If attempting either a gearbox or engine swap for a unit from a different variant, care needs to be taken since some engines rotate anticlockwise and some clockwise and it is necessary to get the gearbox with the correct final drive in order to avoid ending up with one forward and three reverse gears! To identify an engine find the engine identification plate, which is located above the oil filter as shown in the photo.

A typical engine plate from a late GTL is of the form:

688 X 7 / 00

Y 000000

where in this example '688' is the engine type, 'X' is the engine type approval letter, '7' is the Renault identity, '00' is the engine suffix, 'Y' is the factory code and 000000 is the engine number.