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Renault 30 —
the PRV's reason for being

It was Renault's need for an engine for its new flagship that accelerated the PRV's development. At Douvrin the lines went up in summer 1973 and everything was running by January 1974: the first V6 Renault was on its way, with the first-generation 2,664 cc — carburettors first, K-Jetronic injection later.

131
bhp · carburetted Z6V
144
bhp · K-Jetronic Z7V (30 TX)
1974
Douvrin operational
1975
M.R.167, first manual of a PRV car
Engines

Two PRV codes, one 2.7-litre

The Renault 30 only ever had the first-generation 2,664 cc: the Z6V with two Solex carburettors — a single-choke 34 TBIA and a pneumatically opened twin-choke 35 CEEI — then, on the 30 TX, the K-Jetronic mechanically injected Z7V, shared with the first Renault 25s. Non-offset crankpins, uneven firing: this is the PRV of the origins.

Renault 30 1975 — first V6 Renault Every known code →
Z6V131 bhp
2,664 cc34 TBIA + 35 CEEI carburettors12 valvesZ6V engine file →
Renault 30, from 1975 — the first PRV fitted in a Renault. A single Ducellier 4498 A distributor, but two contact-breaker sets, two condensers and two coils: one cylinder bank each, in a single body.
Z7V144 bhp
2,664 ccBosch K-Jetronic injection12 valvesZ7V engine file →
Renault 30 TX — mechanical injection and a contactless transistorised distributor with centrifugal and vacuum advance. The same engine then went into the first-generation Renault 25 « V6 injection ».
The first V6 Renault

Douvrin runs for her

The first PRV officially fitted under a bonnet went into a Volvo 264 in October 1974; the Renault 30 followed in 1975, and by the end of that year at least five PRV models were on sale. Its M.R.167 repair manual, dated March 1975, is the very first workshop manual of a PRV V6 car — and one of the three factory sources establishing, twenty years apart, that the PRV crankshaft runs on FOUR main bearings, not five.

The M.R.167 can be read in our Library — engine and carburettors section, ignition section — and its figures feed the Z6V and Z7V files.

152
KG · THE V6 WITH ITS ANCILLARIES · M.R.167
2664
CC
225
KG ENGINE + MANUAL GEARBOX
4
CRANKSHAFT MAIN BEARINGS
The lineage

From the R30 to the flagships that followed

Among the pioneers

The R30 flew Renault's colours in the first PRV wave, a year after the Volvo 264. Three factory manuals say the same thing in the same words: the March 1975 M.R.167 (folio B-9), the Alpine A310 2700 VA repair guide and the Renault « Z engines » manual — four main bearings, never five. And its figures run through the whole family: valve clearances of 0.10 mm inlet and 0.25 mm exhaust, engine cold, identical on the Alpine GTA and still on the 1991 A610; oil pressure of 2.2 bar at 900 rpm and 4.4 bar at 4,000 rpm at 80 °C, the same as the GTA's Z6W.

Renault 25, the heir

The Renault 25 took over with the Z7V then the Z7W — before entering history in 1985 as the first turbocharged PRV car, the R25 V6 Turbo. It inaugurated the engine's second generation: forged crankshaft with offset crankpins, hence even firing at last, and electronic injection.

The last of the line

Safrane, phase 1 Laguna and Espace closed Renault's PRV chapter in the 1990s. The last Douvrin V6 left the line on 15 June 1998, after 970,315 units; on Renaults it was the 60° L7X — not a PRV — that took over.

In the workshop

What the M.R.167 says about the Renault 30

Seven answers drawn from the March 1975 manual — the FAQ has dozens on the Renault 30 and its engine.

Renault 30 The full FAQ →
Poids
How much does a PRV V6 weigh?
About 152 kg with its ancillaries, according to the Renault 30 manual — the first car to receive it. The manual also gives the complete unit: 225 kg for the « engine + manual gearbox » assembly, 240 kg for « engine + automatic gearbox ». These figures are for the 2,664 cc of 1975; they give the order of magnitude of what you lift when you take a PRV out. Renault 30 M.R.167, folio B-3.
Dépose
How does a Renault 30's engine come out?
Upwards — the manual boxes it: removed on its own, the engine is lifted out from above, and its lifting eyes make the job easier. Removal: disconnect the battery; remove the bonnet and the undertray; drain the coolant at the radiator and at the block — key Mot. 593 for plugs A and B — and the engine oil if needed; on automatics, the two oil lines at the radiator. Remove the air filter, the radiator and fan cowl, and the diagnostic socket; disconnect all hoses, wiring, cables and exhaust clamps; free the power steering reservoir and take off the alternator's V-belt; remove the cover plates at the starter ring and at the clutch or torque converter. Loosen the engine mounting bolts; on automatics, remove the converter bolts on the drive plate. Remove the starter. Support the gearbox on a wedge, fit two slings Mot. 477 to the four lifting eyes, lift the engine-gearbox unit, remove the two rubber engine mounts, lower the unit until the gearbox rests on the wedge, remove the upper and lower engine-to-gearbox bolts — and lift the engine out. Refitting: reverse order; mind the diagnostic socket (Electrical chapter); on manual gearboxes, lightly grease the clutch shaft splines with Molykote BR 2; adjust the throttle cable (and, on automatics, the cable of the gear-change governor); oil if needed, check the automatic's level, fill with coolant and bleed. A detail from the overhaul pages that goes with it: the clutch shaft spigot bearing is not fitted to spare crankshafts or exchange engines, and must be pressed in on cars with a manual gearbox — and a removed one, extracted with Mot. 11, is not reused. Renault 30 M.R.167, folios B-14 and B-16 to B-24.
Chemises
Can a liner-piston assembly be replaced on a Renault 30 without removing the engine?
Yes, and one at a time. The manual boxes it: “the engine does not have to be removed for this work. Each liner-piston unit can be replaced individually”. Better still, when one or more units of one bank are replaced, neither the timing cover nor the timing parts need to come off. The trick is the Mot. 589 holding tool: fit its holder (S) first, then the dummy bearing (F), and tighten the camshaft sprocket bolt moderately. With the dummy bearing in place, the crankshaft can be turned to bring each big-end cap within reach in turn, without the timing shifting. That is exactly the case the Safrane's manual reserves the dummy bearing for, fifteen years later: it is used only when the crankshaft has to be turned with the head off. And a reminder that sets the budget: the parts department supplied blocks with the oil pump already fitted. Renault 30 M.R.167, folios B-25 and B-47 · Safrane M.R.302, chapter 11.
Allumage
How many contact breakers and coils does a Renault 30's ignition have?
One distributor, but two of everything else. The Ducellier 4498 A holds a shaft with three cams offset by 120°, two supply leads, two contact breakers and two condensers, plus its centrifugal and vacuum advance devices — and it feeds two ignition coils. Breaker A belongs to the circuit of coil A, which fires cylinders 1-2-3; breaker B to coil B, firing 4-5-6. One bank each, in a single body. Which is why each circuit is set separately: dwell and timing on bank A first, then the strobe's pickup is moved to cylinder 6's lead and the dwell meter's primary lead to coil B, with the engine running at 900 rpm, and bank B's timing is set with screw V before its dwell is checked. ⚠️ And one screw inside must be left alone: “the eccentric screw “E” must not be moved — it is set by the manufacturer”. It is the screw that fixes the relationship between the two breakers, so touching it means losing the setting between the two banks with nothing to restore it by. Renault 30 M.R.167, folios C-4 to C-7.
Calage
How is the ignition timed on a Renault 30 V6?
Each cylinder bank is set separately. Dwell angle: 76°, which reads 38° on the six-cylinder scale of the diagnostic centre, or 63% on a percentage dwell meter — set on screw C, at cranking speed. Ignition point: 10° ± 1°, at a steady 900 rpm idle, distributor vacuum pipe disconnected. The manual warns twice: re-check the setting after tightening the distributor, and do not touch the dwell angle again once the timing is right. Renault 30 M.R.167, folio C-6.
Diagnostic
Where is a Renault 30's diagnostic socket, and what is on its pins?
At the end of the right-hand cylinder bank, on the flywheel side. With it and the recommended equipment, the manual lists what can be done: setting the ignition timing; setting the contact breaker of bank A — dwell and contact resistance; checking the advance curves, centrifugal and vacuum; and checking the coil's primary circuit. The socket has 12 pins, of which 6 are used: 1 pulse generator, red · 2 earth, yellow · 3 breaker A, black · 4 + coil, white · 5 pulse generator lead shielding (no colour given) · 6 pulse generator, grey. On the harness side, three leads: A to the breaker, B to the coil +, C the pulse generator. One boxed warning: only connect the matching plug to this socket. And a detail that follows from the table: only bank A's breaker is wired to the socket — bank B's is reached with a separate clip on coil B's breaker terminal when the diagnostic centre tests it. Renault 30 M.R.167, folios C-10 and C-15.
Ralenti
How is a Renault 30's idle set, and how do its two carburettors open?
In two stages. The throttle cable turns a drum, and a rod opens the throttle of the single-barrel 34 TBIA. Once the drum has turned 30°, a driver pushes a lever, whose rod moves left and frees a stop pin: the throttles of the twin-barrel 35 CEEI are released — and they open when the vacuum taken at the venturis of both carburettors is enough for the membrane of the pneumatic device. Releasing the pedal turns the drum back and both rods close both carburettors. Idle — engine warm, air filter fitted, ignition sound and set, no extra air (a leaking vacuum advance hose or the automatic's vacuum capsule, for instance), rev counter connected. Idle only slightly off: bring it to 875 to 925 rpm with the air screw (A) of the 34 TBIA alone. After a carburettor overhaul or with a wrong mixture: screw A and B in alternately to 680 to 700 rpm — without ever screwing them fully home; then unscrew them alternately until about 960 to 980 rpm, in steps of about 50 rpm, always starting with A and finishing with B; screw B back in until idle drops by about 60 rpm; and finally set idle with A to 875 to 925 rpm, aiming for a smooth-running engine. Checks: 34 TBIA cold start, air filter off — on a cold engine (6 hours after stopping, at 15 to 20 °C) the choke flap must be closed and there must be a clearance J of several millimetres between the throttle stop screw (1) and the throttle lever (L); on starting the flap must open slightly at once (manifold vacuum on the membrane), then open fully as the engine warms, the clearance closing up until, warm, the lever rests on the screw. 35 CEEI pneumatic opening, engine stopped: connect the diagnostic centre's vacuum hose to capsule (T), apply 30 to 40 mm Hg, open the 34 TBIA's throttle with rod (M) — rod (11) must move left and free the stop pin of the two toothed sectors (N), and both throttles must then open under the vacuum. The Alpine V6 GT keeps the same two-stage control with one extra part: a thermovalve in the coolant circuit that warms the choke cuts the vacuum to the membrane while the coolant is below 43 ± 3 °C — the twin-barrel cannot open on a cold engine. Beside the Alpine V6 GT and its 800 to 850 rpm with an analyser, the R30 is set with a rev counter, a hundred rpm or so higher. Renault 30 M.R.167, folios B-69 and B-71 · Alpine M.R.273, folios B-33 and B-42.

In the Library

The very first workshop manual of a PRV V6 car, in two excerpts readable page by page: M.R.167 — engine and carburettors (March 1975) · M.R.167 — ignition

On the forum

The Renault 30 has its own section on the forum — presentations, restorations, questions to members who drive one. Renault 30 section →

The codes behind the R30

Z6V and Z7V — the two first-generation 2.7-litres, code by code — and the Renault 25 that took over.

Z6V file →Z7V file →Renault 25 file → All vehicles →