The Douvrin family was an all-aluminum inline-fourautomobile engine designed in the early 1970s and produced from 1977 to 1996 by Compagnie Française de Mécanique, a joint-venture between PSA and Renault located in the town of Douvrin in northern France. This engine is designed by the engineer Jean-Jacques His. It was produced in the same factory as the PRV V6, which also is sometimes known outside France as the "Douvrin" V6. The Douvrin engine is also referred to as the ZDJ/ZEJ engine by Peugeot, and as the J-type engine by Renault.
Douvrin "Suitcase Engine"
Constructed from aluminium alloy, chain drivenoverhead camshaft, with gearbox in the sump sharing engine oil for lubrication, typically mounted almost on its side. For this reason it is often nicknamed the "suitcase engine" owing to the way in which the engine has to be split open in order service the transmission. It was available with versions from.
2.0
The was an oversquare design with a single belt driven overhead camshaft, an bore and stroke. Though somewhat dull and slow in throttle response, the normally aspirated 8-valve versions proved extremely reliable. Mileages of over without major repairs are not uncommon. The 12-valvers are much livelier and also boast above-average reliability. The turbocharged versions have only average reliability.
Applications
PSA
Renault
It was produced in a variety of configurations for Renault:
normally aspirated 8-valve, single-barrel carburetor,, from 1978 to 1993
normally aspirated 8-valve, double-barrel carburetor,, from 1977 to 1992
normally aspirated 8-valve, multipoint, Bosch L Jetronic fuel injection, , from 1984 to 1989
normally aspirated 8-valve, multipoint, BENDIX ECU-driven, fuel injection, , from 1989 to 1996
The version was derived from the by a simple stroke extension from, making it an undersquare design. Most parts, including the cylinder head, were identical to the those of the 2-liter unit. This engine proved as reliable as its 2.0-liter counterpart. It is often confused with the somewhat similar Simca Type 180, which displaced that had a history of cracking valve seats under the pressure of the turbocharging in the N9TE engine used by Peugeot, after acquiring Simca-Talbot.
Applications
PSA
Renault
It was produced in fewer configurations than the smaller version for Renault:
normally aspirated 8-valve, double-barrel carburetor,, from 1977 to 1992
normally aspirated 8-valve, multipoint fuel injection, , from 1983 to 1996
normally aspirated 12-valve, multipoint fuel injection,, from 1989 to 1996
The Diesel version was derived from the petrol version by a bore reduction from and a stroke extension from. Cast-iron cylinder liners were used to withstand the higher compression ratio of Diesel combustion. The cylinder head was of course specific and was a Ricardo-type pre-chamber design fed by a mechanically controlled fuel pump. This engine was only used by Renault in three versions:
turbocharged 8-valve with variable-nozzle,, from 1990 to 1996
Reliability of all Diesel versions has been poor with many problems at the cylinder head and block connection has been verified, usually around, often the pre-chamber number 3 present cracks, requiring a head change, especially on Jeeps, due to an excessive mass for this engine. In 1995, Renault issued a Technical Note 2825A regarding an updated head gasket torquing procedure for both the petrol and diesel Douvrin engines as a number of reported head gasket failures in the diesels were due to overheating of the block and failure to follow existing Renault Factory procedures on removing the head w/o requiring installing new bottom cylinder seals and required using new head bolts.
