1988 Venturi 200 - tech help needed

I have recently taken on a Venturi 200 that has been sat for a couple of years. I have some experience taking cars apart and repairing them, but am stumped here, mainly by a lack of info. I have owned loads of different cars and, being a petrolhead, was always an admirer of the characteristics of a Venturi, so I am chuffed to have one now.

As it only ran on 5 (although with commendable gusto considering its lack of a full set!) I have taken it upon myself to change the ignition and remove and clean the fuel injectors. So far so good. Injectors and rail off. Had more trouble with the plug leads, and here are the first of my questions:

Is it possible to remove distributor cap with engine in situ? Old chestnut, I know.
If not, Is there a cunning plan for removing the plug leads from the cap?
My car has a big, carpeted 'hatch' behind the passenger seat in the bulkhead, would this be of use?

The obvious thing would be to unscrew this hatch and poke around inside, but therein lies my next problem...the passenger seat will not forward or back, the motor tries to jerk into action but instantly stops, I presume because the mechanism is stuck. So my next question is: how do you remove the seat as the normal four bolts I expect to see on any other car are not really there? I notice four suspicious welded circles underneath the car, is this where we go in (fire up the angle grinder)?

I would move the (mercifully not stuck) driver's seat to find some of the answers to the above, but turning on the ignition, pumps fuel from my disconnected fuel rail pipes, doh! Tried to locate a fuel pump fuse, but failed there too. Aaaahhhh!

Well that was a couple of hours of my life I will never get back....

Sorry to burden you all with this stream of conciousness, but could I ask for some clever people to give me some clues?

Thanks in advance, Tristan

As I know it goes down well, here is a picture of the conundrum in question (I understand forum people are more verbose and friendly when full of photos!)

Nice post Tristan, and welcome to the fold.

So you have not wasted much time at all, wait till you have some real horror jobs to do.
I can guess where you may be located, but Forum people are human and like to know what town you are in, so as they can hook you up with some other enthusiastic forum user to provide you with local support, face to face, and you never know ..... maybe hands on too or with the same car so as you can compare with a working one.

Keep posting

Welcome to the fold, lovely car and nice to see another Venturi being taken care of. As regards your question about the dizzy cap, I cut a panel out behind the driver seat so I can get to it easily. Others have done the same.

Hi Tristan.

Distributor is indeed behind the passenger seat on the 200 series and not the drivers side as Pauly A610 says, his is an Atlantique 300 and possibly different to the 200, mine is a 260 so very similar to yours. There is a triangular panel behind the carpet on the firewall/bulk head. In the past I have removed this panel to get to the distributor and I was even able to change the coil/spark pack through the same access panel, though it was a bit of a faff especially with my big hands.

Yes the seats are removed by accessing the nuts via the four plates you mention underneath the car, however I don't believe they are welded in place, mine weren't when I removed my seats to resurface the leather, they are held in place by a clip/bent metal part of the disc being pushed against the inside of the aperture and the underseal, or at least mine was...... So a flat blade should lever the discs out.

I also had an issue with mine running on 5 cylinders only but I took it to somebody on this forum called "Stunned Monkey" and he did the work to get it up and running really well, he might be a good point of contact for you on that front.

I see you are in Abingdon, I am in Bedfordshire if you need a run over to look at mine for whatever reason just ask, I have sent you a pm.

Welcome

Paul.

Tristan, Abingdon, Hummm.
Maybe I will see you at the Abingdon CAR-nival that I help to organise. Sprints on Saturday and a Rally on Sunday all at the Dalton Barrocks and on the runways. This year it is 2nd weekend of June. Come along and say Hi, I will be sprinting my GTA on the Saturday and marshalling for the Rally on Sunday.
Simon.

Hi,

I am currently in the process of restoring my Venturi 200 here's the thread.

www.renaultalpine.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7179

Is you car also right hand drive?

I have managed to source nearly everything for my car and can tell you where to get hold off pretty much everything for it if you get stuck.

Ian,

Thank you to all the help above. Just been on the nervous test drive and things are mostly as they should.

The seat was removed from below and the triangular access hole revealed itself. Changing the distributor cap and rotor arm was just too optimistic, but it allowed me to change all the leads with the plugs and replace the cleaned injectors and ABV. Only an expected amount of swearing from the poor access was required to finish.

Car seems to drive much better. It is definitely running on 6 now but did give me one or two scares! At about 2500 to 3500, in 3rd or 4th most often, when you ask for some more throttle (not necessarily full throttle) there was often a dramatic stop in proceedings. A momentary misfire, but one that would throw you about the seat, and when the engine was still warming up it was accompanied by a good crack, presumably a backfire. After giving me the heart-attack, it would carry on as though nothing happened. Any thoughts?

Other thoughts: Is the throttle quite heavy on all Venturis? Rear brakes are binding a bit, recon the calipers? I know the tales about the gearbox, so I was expecting that!

Thanks again for the help, Tristan

I can be of no technical help whatsoever. But just thought I'd mention that I happened to be driving around Abingdon in my Venturi on Saturday, as I went there to watch a school rugby match. So if you saw a blue Atlantique go by, that was me.

Best of luck with your repairs and I trust the effort will be worth it in the end.

If you get really stuck (whether for information or parts) don't hesitate to contact Tony at Extreme Limite in Nantes (France). There were several of your era of Venturi in his workshop when I visited a few months ago.

Thank you to all the help above. Just been on the nervous test drive and things are mostly as they should.

The seat was removed from below and the triangular access hole revealed itself. Changing the distributor cap and rotor arm was just too optimistic, but it allowed me to change all the leads with the plugs and replace the cleaned injectors and ABV. Only an expected amount of swearing from the poor access was required to finish.

Car seems to drive much better. It is definitely running on 6 now but did give me one or two scares! At about 2500 to 3500, in 3rd or 4th most often, when you ask for some more throttle (not necessarily full throttle) there was often a dramatic stop in proceedings. A momentary misfire, but one that would throw you about the seat, and when the engine was still warming up it was accompanied by a good crack, presumably a backfire. After giving me the heart-attack, it would carry on as though nothing happened. Any thoughts?

Other thoughts: Is the throttle quite heavy on all Venturis? Rear brakes are binding a bit, recon the calipers? I know the tales about the gearbox, so I was expecting that!

Thanks again for the help, Tristan

The misfire when warming up issue...... my 260 has a cut out on it that does not permit spirited acceleration when the engine is not up to temperature, could be this, if memory serves kicks in at about 3000 rpm until warm. Also I suffer from a misfire/engine switch off on occasion, basically it will seem like it has turned itself off for a fraction of a second and then it is back again as if nothing has happened it can cause a bit of a lurch at motorway speeds and did scare the living cr+p out of me until I got used to it, apparently one or two GTA owners on here have a similar issue.

Rear brake calipers are Citroen BX fronts just as the Alpine GTA rears, when getting them reconditioned treat them as GTA brakes as the Citroen uses dodgy brake fluid and will not have the right seals fitted. When I had mine done a few years ago they were sent off and quoted as being off a GTA.

Not really aware of the throttle being heavy on mine but haven't driven it for a few months! Having said that the throttle cable will be quite long with the engine being where it is and the route is probably a bit tortuous so a certain mount of frictional resistance could be expected and therefore a heavy pedal???

Paul

Hi Tristan.....I also live in Abingdon....pm me and maybe we can meet up, swap stories (I have a GTA not a Venturi though!).

Cheers, Simon

Thanks again for the help. Been running the car around a little waiting to be brave enough for an MOT (In case anyone is bothered, I have trade plates!). The big misfire has not reappeared, so I have thankfully not had to change my underpants as often.

But it does now have 4 brand new tyres (which really annoyed my normal tyre shop as the wheels don't have the central hole which makes balancing a long pain in the proverbial). Had a look around the wheel wells and was very pleasantly surprised with the condition and originality of everything there. But then I also worked out the massively over-reading speedo problem I thought I had - it's actually a kmh speedo despite being RHD! This makes the odo reading of 37000 even more attractive and possibly explains the overall condition.

Blimey it goes when the turbo kicks in (back to the undergarments problem again) and the ride, steering and interior are lovely. The engine still needs a 'tune-up' as it can be a bit lumpy at pull away - any recommended experts here in the good old south? The other little project tomorrow is to fix the 2500rpm idle... I'm aiming to lengthen the rod that goes from the throttle cable wheel to the throttle body itself as pushing the throttle-body-end hard home returns an engine speed that is a bit more sociable.

Might sound a bit obvious but if the throttle linkage is anything like that in the GTA (it may well not be) make sure that it's all moving freely. If not, lubricate the mechanism. Years ago, I had a high idle that was purely down to the mechanism sticking.

First time out for a proper drive today -and what a lovely thing it is. The ride is really impressive.

Anyway, we are feeling chuffed as it's passed its MOT, hurrah.

Good run, and boy, it likes to tell you it's a turbo! One problem, I'm getting a flash from a dashboard light, but I have no idea what the light means! It's the red graph/oscilloscope trace that's above the oil pressure light. It only flashes momentarily, and often not at all for long periods, but as soon as I take my eye of it, flash. It was difficult to decipher a pattern, but it seemed to only happen when accelerating, but was not repeatable in any other helpful way. I guess it is ECU related, but any more hints and tips?

In my pitiful lack of an owners manual, an explanation of the light would be a start. I'm sure it's not measuring the driver's heartbeat, even though it looks a little like it...

In a GTA, that could be the Electronic Indicator warning light.
Signifies "electrical or electronic malfunction".
As it is orange, it is not mega-serious.

[Alpineandy]

I'm getting a flash from a dashboard light, but I have no idea what the light means! It's the red graph/oscilloscope trace that's above the oil pressure light.

That's the 'Self-Distruct' light..........