Alpine Automotive Repair Manuals

Interesting Facts About Alpine You Probably Don’t Know – Common Problems – and PDF Manuals for Download…

Alpine is a sports and racing car manufacturing company form France which uses Renault engines in its car. Alpine was founded by Jean Redele, a Dieppe garage proprietor.

He gained success from the few French cars that were produced just after the second world war.

Redele was doing considerable modifications with the Renault engine and won many major events which included Coupe des Alpes and Mille Miglia.

These well-developed and modified cars were gaining popularity and customers were demanding those vehicles. This made Redele to establish Alpine in 1954. The name Alpine was given to firm after the success received from Coup des Alpes. It was not known to Redele that in previous year, Sunbeam Alpine, a sports coupe was launched in England.

In 1973, Renault bought the company and the production of Alpine stopped in 1995.

At present, sport models of Renault are produced at Dieppe factory. The vehicles made here are sold worldwide. This factory was originally “Alpine” factory that came under Renault after the acquisition of Alpine in 1973. Some of the sport models that Renault produces in Dieppe are Clio Renault Sport, Megane Renault Sport.

The latest Megane Renault Sport dCi is set to be built on Dieppe assembly line of Renault. Dieppe factory also produces tarmac and gravel-racing Meganes and clios.

In October 2007, Renault was in the news because of the plans to launch several sports cars. The company was planning to bring a “radical sports car” rather than a sports version of an existing regular model. The company was planning to go with a new name for its sports segment and most probably Alpine would have branded it.

The plans to revive Alpine brand were frozen in 2009 because of the recession and global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

The new model of Alpine sports car was to sport Nissan GT-R’s premium midship platform. Alpine is very famous and in France, a large network of Alpine enthusiast clubs could be seen. The clubs also exist in other countries like US, UK, Japan and Australia.

In 2012, Caterham Cars and Renault strategically came together to develop newer and affordable models of sports cars under Caterham (for Caterham Cars) and Alpine (for Renault) brands which were to be made available in 2016. In 2016, a model close to the planned Alpine production was launched in Monte Carlo and 2017 relaunch of Alpine Marque was announced.

Renault Alpines are also present outside France such as,

  • In Australia, Renault never imported any of the Alpine models but some Alpine enthusiasts and the people who don’t want the normal offerings by Renault imported the Alpine versions on their own.
  • In Brazil, the production happened from the year 1962 to 1966. Renault Alpine 108 was produced in Brazil and was branded Willys Interlagos. This model has the credit of being the first sports car of Brazil.
  • Bulgaria and Mexico produced their own versions of Alpine.
  • In Canada, few models of Alpine were imported and there were assumptions that an addition could be done in the current lineup but that didn’t materialize.

Common Alpine Problems

Alpine is known for the quality they give to their vehicles. With such good quality cars, there are less problems an Alpine car owner has to deal with. As it is a machinery and defects can happen anytime, you can check your car for following issues:

  1. Gearbox: The gearbox of Alpine faces some problems after giving you the ride of approximately 60,000 miles. You may face problems disengaging the clutch. On starting, when the clutch is released, if some judder is observed, then it’s the right time to take your car to a specialist for a thorough inspection.
    In case of worsened problem, the car pops out forth when the accelerator is released. One reason for this may be crunchy main shaft needles. Another reason for clutch problems may be poorly selecting the gears.
  2. Coolant Hose Radiator and Coolant Pipes: Depending upon the time and usability, the coolant hose radiator feed may blow out. This happens because of several thousand miles of distance your Alpine has covered or the reason may be hardening of rubber.
    This problem is faced mainly in the model of 1987, Renault Alpine GTA V6 2.8. Also, the complaints are received about the corrosion of coolant pipes which are made up of mild steel. These pipes fill the radiator with rust and sludge.
    The solution to this is replacement of coolant pipes made up of mild steel with the one made up of stainless steel.
  3. Seized Window Opening Mechanism: It usually doesn’t happen but in the same make discussed above the problem with window electric opening mechanism is observed. Either all the four windows can be seized or any specific window may face the problem. The electrics of this model are not reliable.
    The reason may be the poor-quality connectors used in the window. Have your vehicle checked by a specialist.
  4. Head Gasket: A problem that is usually seen in the Alpine cars is the blown-out head gaskets. This happens because of overheating. In rare cases, a possibility of wrapped cylinder heads emerges. If you are suffering with this problem, get the compression-check of your Alpine.
  5. Starter Motors: A common problem that is seen is the failure of starter motors and alternators. This problem can be easily fixed without spending much money. Moreover, some Alpine cars have problems with GT fuel gauges and wiper motors. Also, in some vehicles, poorly relay contacts cause indicator failure.

Conclusion

The Alpine cars are the super cars that are real performers. The unique models launched by the company were perfect for race as well as for carrying the family.

Although, there are very less cases of Alpine repairs witnessed but some models sometimes either as a result of time or distance covered may face some issues. Timely notice the sounds your Alpine’s engine makes.

It is advisable that you should consistently check for issues in your vehicle and if you feel it necessary, consult a specialist.

 

Purpose of this is to catalog and include one of most comprehensive, useful and accessible “automotive repair PDF manual” database on the web for all Alpine models.

It’s your go-to source for learning all about Alpine – when you can’t find it elsewhere.

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