New Clutch etc. Has Arrived, Now Time to Pull The Engine!

Oh, there is nothing in the system now after the huge heater hose blowout and lots and lots of fresh water ran through it to get it home.

OK ..... so it is flushed out ...... that's half way there. However there will still be a very large volume of water in the block which will only dilute the Type "D" coolant which is not what you want. I still suggest that whilst the engine is out, that the two block drain plugs are removed to drain both sides of the block. With the engine out there should be no problem but the plugs will be tight so a good fitting key on a ratchet lever should do the trick. Each plug has a copper washer which is the same as the oil drain plug washer ... 16mm dia', if I remember rightly.
Just on the subject of Type"D" coolant .... its not the anti freeze component of the coolant that's at stake here, its the inhibiting powers that is important because of the dissimilar metals used in the cooling systems of these Alpine cars.
This is the colour of the coolant ..... and this has been in for 5 years without discolouration.

Found the coolant Type D. Only available in 1L bottles, 7GBP each. It rarely gets below freezing here, maybe a 50/50 or leaner mix will do the trick? Lots of Meganes, Clios and the like around here so no shortage of Renaults, but wow. Parts are killer. Anybody have an idea of a good oil filter? Maybe a model from a Japanese car will work?

I am all about substituting when I can. The Renault shop here says you must use Elf 15W40 for the engine oil. My beer gut tells me that a modern oil can substitute. Same for the brake fluid (was it DOT 3/4/5?). As long as it's not silicone then should be OK. But I am with you on the Type D coolant. No need to chance that one. I drive a Honda with a CVT transmission and while it uses a special oil and you can buy the off brand for CVTs, you really need to use the Honda branded oil. Oh, and the supercharger on my MGA takes a special oil as well. You have to source that from Jaguar or Mercedes....or so they told me. Toyota uses the same supercharger and a 1L can is about 6GBP vs. about 7 times that much from Jag or Merc.

No problem re oil. Any decent synthetic (or top notch semi) should do.

Re the TypeD - definitely a worthwhile investment (maybe the best investment you could ever make in terms of long term preservation of the engine, pipes, rad etc)

See if you can order it in the big 5 litre bottles. Should be a lot, lot cheaper.

It's OAT based so if you can't get the Renault type D then there are equivalents. I think VW and others use the same but you'd need to check specs to be 100% sure.

Just a quick word of warning from Red21

s I work with this stuff everyday word of advice regarding the use of the current Renault coolant,
It is best to not to mix with regular tap water that can be left after a flush as the minerals in tap water can react when heated in the mix.
This is why the Renault pre mix stuff is made using demineralised water.
I can find the pre fill liquid part number when I get back to work on Wednesday if requires.

[BIG_MVS]

Personally I think Oil is more important than Coolant.

I always put in fully synthetic 15 50w. Mobil 1 is the best I have found but also the most expensive.

I'm running the Shell Helix at the moment and it seems pretty good.

Edit this looks cheap for Mobil 1!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mobil-1-Motor ... 5d542b7b95

However I have just remembered you are in Japan so postage will be a problem.....

I;d love to know on what basis you are judging apart from most expensive but that admission alone from you is a bit of a shock Go on ...let me pull your lump apart and see if yoiu've been wasting ya hard earned

[BIG_MVS]

Got better Oil Pressure out of Mobil 1 so in my opinion I think it's the best oil for Alpines.

So clee in your opinion would you say it's OK to put any old multi grade into these engines? What do you recommend?

No idea ...had some in run on prestige oils gone tits up and others on chip fat doing just fine .Too long in the tooth these cars to be worrying overly about oils and coolant tech ...unless of course they have just been rebuilt and or pushed a lot harder .

Too much pressure can be as bad as too little but for the full sp talk to Faulksie ...I'm sure he has a firm opinion but for my part on an old std smoker GTA a decent 10w40 semi synth will be good enough .
Same goes for the coolant really .Unless it's had it from day one or been fully stripped and purged ...I've seen enough of the insides to know it's a losing battle to start putting in the 'correct' stuff .
I do put type D in all my new builds mind as it;s expected

I think time is more important than what coolant you use, but OAT stuff is what I use ( Organic acid tech ? ), purely out of experience.
And that is what I believe type D will be, but at a premium Renault price, as I understood its the chemicals that inhibit corrosion, after time break down and change ( don't we all ducky !) and end up acidic, therefore doing the reverse of what they are there for.
I have experience of the blue stuff getting jiggy with alloy on more than one of my engines after time so steer clear of that stuff.
So for me it's the Red OAT stuff at 50/50 and change before five years, about £15-20 a gallon from factors.
That goes in my old rear engine stuff, bikes, Clio cup, slaggy, Alp......the lot. No probs as far as I can tell in 10+ years.
Block munching on GTa was prob not helped by blue rubbish, but as Lee says once it's started, stopping it is a losing battle.
The only thing I can remember is my old man insisting on ethylene glycol for ally/cast iron mixed Renault engines as there was some other stuff which was not suited for ally engines?
Someone will know the tech and I may end up looking a fool but what's new!
Oil I always look at the API or whatever, can't remember how it works, cos I buy the same semi synthetic every time, GTA,Clio, Slaggy, old rear engine stick with 20/50 mineral changed like your pants, bikes different kettle, has to be JASO I think 'cos it's for the box as well.
That's my take on it, pays your money takes you choice,

Alright, alright let me qualify that statement......

maybe the best investment you could ever make in terms of long term preservation of the engine, pipes, rad etc

Yep Lee's right of course in that if the coolant has started to chew away at the pipes, and more importantly the liner bases, then yes of course you're not going to make that back. Then again if you're one of the lucky ones and your block hasn't been corroded from the inside out then of course a switch to TypeD is going to be beneficial in the longer run as it's going to stop it happening hopefully. So JonC is right there (as usual - that man talks sense)

Marv is right in that oil is the most important as we'd all get about a mile without oil, and he's right in that Mobil1 15w-50 is very good stuff and correct viscosity (plus I work at their offices at the moment so have to be nice). Don't get the 5w-30 or similar as it's pis*sy stuff and is actually thinner than the specs would suggest as it's at the low end of the '30' scale (or was last time I looked at the specs). Lee's right though in that regular changes are probably just as important as anything else, plus if it was a new build then I wouldn't run fully-synth to start with as it can stop the rings 'n' things bedding in properly and you can lose compression and wotnot.

Plus oil on a GTA is a funny issue really as you want thin for the turbo, but thicker to fill in the tolerances on a block designed in the 70s.....

And Mr Turbell is right in that it's the OAT bit that's important and regular changes of oil and to some lesser extent coolant.

So we're all right to an extent. And of course most importantly I'm right, coz I say so

Love all the information and debates. Keep it coming! I tend to side with the mechanics because, ahem, that was my career many years ago. Way out of practice these days sitting in an office!

I can get my hands on Mobil 1 here from Costco of all places. I can also find plenty of non-synthetics. Everything here in Japan is pricey, but that's the way it is. I can get the type D, only in 1L bottles not the 5L jug. Anyway, in Japan you don't normally see quantity discounts i.e. the 5L bottle will be the same price per litre. That's the way they roll here. High prices and lots of illegal price fixing. That's why I get so many things from the US, UK, and Australia.

I don't know the internal condition with reagrds to corrosion, but I do know what came out was not Renault Type D. It was your standard (green in the US) ethelyne glycol, probably from the local car supplier. Car has been in Japan all it's life so who really knows? It is the 14th GTA imported into the country by they way.

[BIG_MVS]

OK OK Oil and Coolant is important.

When I next change the coolant I will take the plunge and put in type D.

Is your GTA RHD or a left hooker japanalpine? Any pics of the outside of it?

This is what usually sits round the pots up one end ........

WP_20150210_001[1].jpg

Might be worth searching for GlycoShell TypeD coolant as an alternative.

Should be the same stuff and compatible with the Renault fluid. You might find it cheaper........