Major car manufacturer watching too many crap old films.....

[oldjerry]

Was it 'Logans run'? (when you were 30 you got bumped off cos you were too old)...Anyhow,clearly it rang a bell with Monsieur Renault,who decided to do the same with his motor cars when they are 15.You cant get parts for a 15 yr old R21 diesel estate,not only do they not make'em,renault UK have 'discarded/recalled them all!
So there I was gliding down the road the other day,in my dead volvo replacement[(£325,7 seats, good nick) and the drivers side wiper arm broke off and landed in a field,little did I know I was to spend the rest of my life peering out of the wrong side of the windscreen.
Incredibly hard to find in breakers yards(no luck so far),and no good looking in france they rotate the other way....as do their wipers.
Obviously they aren't built to last longer than 15 yrs,which is a shame as mine is a good runner...(hope you don't get reference back to the film,or you'd be as sad as me....)

[Susie]

I don't get the reference to the film but I'm sad in other ways ;-).

Windscreen wipers. Ours went (on the driver's side otherwise frankly I'd have left it) about 5 minutes after we bought our Punto second hand but relatively newish. A nut had gone. But you can't replace the nut, you had to replace practically the whole unit costing £150. Because of a nut. The man in the garage thought this was as daft as I did and kindly put a plastic treasury tag on it to tide us over while I got over my fury. He fitted it in the driving rain and it took ages because it was really fiddly. At one point he told me to turn on the headlights so he could see better, so I started up the engine, forgot I had left it in gear, lurched forward and he fell forwards on the bonnet and went 'oof!'. I felt terrible AND he didn't charge me anything.

Good luck with yours! I remember the leaning-to-one-side-technique very well ;-).

[oldjerry]

Double hell,not only the is the car U/S,this bloody computer won't let me edit the post to spell too properly.

[123sologne]

I remember Logun Run... I think it was on TV fairly recently (well a couple of years ago...). Sorry I couldn't resist...
As for the Renault 21, the only thing I can suggest is hunting on the web... Maybe even the good old Fleebay....

[oldjerry]

I remember "Logan's Run" well; it had Jenny Agutter in it.

Jolly nice costumes. I hope she didn't get too cold.

I expect that the plot and the acting were probably good too.

Hmmm... me too,glossing over The Railway Children....,loved Walkabout,....and that Civil War thing, and loads more,then 4or5 years ago I bump into her at Mousehole lights..............andI'm a complete jibbering wreck!! She didn't seem impressed.......................there again if she saw my new car...........

[Millymollymandy]

Double hell,not only the is the car U/S,this bloody computer won't let me edit the post to spell too properly.

It's not you, I can't do it either, and I should be able to!! Maybe Renault's gremlins have escaped from your car and are infecting everything you touch.

[Millymollymandy]

Aha no forget that, you had the max number of characters in the title so by deleting a full stop I was able to insert an o.

[Carltonian Man]

Searching round the breakers yard OJ it may be possible to use an arm from another make. Locate a same length arm as on the Renault but with a slightly larger spline fitting (it needs to be only just a bit too big). Fit it to yours then fill the spline gaps by knocking in as many needlework pins as you can. Cover the heads of the pins with a washer and finally the nut. Sounds like a long shot but it does work.

[oldjerry]

Aha no forget that, you had the max number of characters in the title so by deleting a full stop I was able to insert an o.

Thanks for that.................you any good with wipers?????

[oldjerry]

Searching round the breakers yard OJ it may be possible to use an arm from another make. Locate a same length arm as on the Renault but with a slightly larger spline fitting (it needs to be only just a bit too big). Fit it to yours then fill the spline gaps by knocking in as many needlework pins as you can. Cover the heads of the pins with a washer and finally the nut. Sounds like a long shot but it does work.

That may turn out to be the only solution.Hard to walk round scrappers these days (H&S I spose),and the bloody things got the biggest screen I've ever seen.Plan B is get the Old escort going,(we've always been a 2 car family,one working(hopefully) the other always being fixed).
I'm too cold ,and not well enough, to get worked up about it, I'll get it sorted somehow, thanks for your suggestions,if it gets much colder,I might just torch it so the kids can stand round it and keep warm for a bit !

[boboff]

Try ebay, do a saved search for VOLVO within 50 miles of you, and when ever something is posted you will get an email.

Try old car, enthusiast forums, they may know of cars that are being "broken"

I am sure that these people who can make 30 year old cars look mint, can't think of the term now, will be able to help.

I had a mate who ran one of those megga old Saabs, and he was always getting bits from all over the place.

[oldjerry]

Thanks boboff, I have been hard at that sort of thing,and when the volvo was our 'running' motor life was easier for bits,which is probably why there are so many of them still around,they have a buzzing owners club/forum etc (bet Saabs do too for the same reason)........but who the hell is proud to own a crap old renault?! I'm switching the passenger side wiper across on monday it just about works like that and it'll save me getting a stiff neck.

[Archanejil]

My OH car geek suggests the following:

http://www.gsfcarparts.com -- they tend to have bits and pieces for old cars. Or...
http://www.eurocarparts.com -- as do they or
http://www.breakeryard.com/ -- who have some random parts.

He also says that the R21s had engines in common with Volvo, so therefore an old volvo might have the right bits. They also had some design bits in common with Nissans, so a similar sized Nissan from that time period might also work. Hope that helps!

[Archanejil]

Oh, he also says that some of the car enthusiast sites about may have a converter to make it a single wiper that works on your screen. He says a numbered part would help with that (good thing that windscreen wiper bits come in pairs!).

[oldjerry]

Tried 2of thse3,no joy, converter sounds like a really good idea,many thanks for that.Today someone on Fleabay has one listed as breaking,so I'll call him tomorrow.........things are looking up! ta everyone.