Shifting on my '87 R11 TL goes a little hard, so I'd like to check the oil level of the gearbox (4-speed JB0). According to the drivers manual, there should be a fill-plug somewhere, but I don't understand the picture ..

That is, I do see a bolt on the front side of the car, but that bolt looks a lot larger than it looks in the Haynes manual, and the shape is different too (Haynes shows a square bolt, 'my bolt' has six corners and has a diameter of about 25 mm). Also, I think it's a low place for the plug. It would surprise me if there isn't any oil above that plug.

Am I looking at the right plug? I don't want to turn a plug loose and getting all the oil out of the gearbox..

you might have to take your lower hose off the bottom of the radiator, then move a wiring harness out of the way to get to the FILL PLUG of the JB trans.. it is a rather large plug-- like 22 MM or larger-- but then I take a large hose with funnel attached, and fill up the trans with it.... once you find the plug it is easy-- the hard part is finding the PLUG!!!

I guess you've been looking at the Pic 3.5 on the page 128 of the Haynes manual? Yes, the plug has a square end in the picture, and so is the plug in my car. However, your car is that much younger than mine ('83) and probably the one they used for the Haynes manual that there may have been a change in the design.

To help you locate the fill plug, it's on the same level with the lower of the two mounting bolts that attach the gearbox-to-subframe mount to the 'box. Almost straight downward from the point where the clutch cable sleeve meets the gearbox case (the 'ear' thing with a hole in it).

I'm a little surprised to hear your '87 car has a JB0. I thought the later TC/TLs were supposed to have either a JB4 or a JB5? Well, maybe it varied depending on a market...

Hi Juha-- in USA came the JB0 (4 speed)
JB01 (5 speed), JB03(5 Speed in 2.0 GTA)
I see you posted about the JB-4+5 but I looked into my Euro Haynes manual-- that the gearing is different for the JB-4+5
can you tell me what is the strongest Gear box for the R-9, 11 series??? Is it the 1.4 Turbo series??? what JB box is standard for the turbo???
PS Does the R-19 use a JB Box?????
thanks
Joe

Hi Joe,

The JB3 is the strongest of the R9/11 'boxes. It was used in the R19, too. And yes, the R9/11 1.4 Turbos were fitted with the JB3.

The weakest point of early JB 'boxes was the 5th gear bearing lubrication. Early Renault internal service memoirs reported from 'boxes expiring after a few thousand kilometres of autobahn driving! That mainly concerned the 'weaker' JB0s and JB1s, the JB3 was a lot stronger from the beginning. However, JB3 owners usually tend to have a heavier right foot...

There is more than one version of the JB3 as Renault introduced many improvements over the years, mainly trying to make it stronger. Unfortunately, I've very little information on available gear ratios.

Interestingly, the JB-series still lives in the modern Renaults, having evolved to JC-series.