I had realised for some time that the outer plastic section of the accelerator cable had broken where it is attached to the engine on my GTA turbo. This was aged brittle plastic. The throttle did not always return fully back to idle position. Fortunately it is easy to release the inner cable from the horizontal pulley and pull it off. The parts were cleaned, joined together with epoxy and reinforced with an external mechanical strap which just clear the water pipe below and the wiring loom above.
Everyone likes pictures, so before and after: -
Great result.
All back together and turn ignition key. Fuel pumps prime, engine cranks over lustily and that's it. Not a hint of wanting to fire up. Dismay, but it must be something fairly trivial. Probably disturbed an electrical connection as I had taken off the cast "turbo" pipe. Perhaps I could have breathed on a terminal, causing sudden corrosion and no current.
Checked everything in the engine bay. All seems re-assembled correctly. Do various checks - sparks are a sparking, but dry plugs = no fuel. Why?
Go away and forget about 30 year old cars for a while.
Took off cover on engine computer and pulled out fuel pump relay. It was held together with insulating tape! A bit of judicious wiggling and pushing on connectors, then turn the key to see if it clicks.
I didn't hear the click, but the engine made nice noises again.
I thought I had taken most of the car apart over the last 5 years, but still discover odd corners of bodge / fix / maintenance that I hadn't seen before.
Can't blame Renault and poor quality materials for that one.
Isn't it amazing how unconnected things in different areas of the car can conspire together to die at the same time?
Is this what they mean when they say old cars have character and soul that modern ones lack?
