my rover sd1 rescue

[CreepingJesus]

Great car, that. It's actually nice to see a pov-spec 6!

But I have to ask, are the 6's really that fragile? A neighbour of mine had a S2 2600SE, and despite his utter lack of mechanical sympathy, or ability, it ran really sweetly.

It was a rock up the sump which heralded its' offloading to an SD1 specialist in Kirkcaldy!

[cort16]

They're supposed to be fragile but my 2600's never given me any bother. It sounds a bit clattery sometimes but doesn't use any oil or smoke or anything.(I've cursed it). The best bit about them is you can get in next to them to fix stuff.

[CortinaDave]

I had zero bother from my 3500 vanden plas either - and I revived it after a 6 or 7 year lay up. All it took was a bit of work on the brakes and some general recommissioning and it went straight through an MOT.

 

Aside from the heart stopping fuel consumption - it was actually a really reliable car!

[Bren]

My dad's 2.3 succumbed not to cam or head gasket issues, one day it started running on five pots. One plug was fouled with oil - it was cleaned and put back, and was ok for a day or so. Then it fouled again.

 

Exit rover. Enter montego.

 

A few years ago I bought a B reg. 2300 with a fooked engine but good body (it ended up with an equally knackered V8 in it but that's a story for another time). It knocked and smoked like hell, obviously it had been thrashed to within an inch of its life.

 

I think the six pots only have a four bearing crank, and contrary to popular belief they dont like being revved.

 

Could the 2.3 possibly have ther most issues because it is somewhat underpowered?

 

Having said that, my cousin inherited a main dealer serviced from new 2300 S - the motor was so smooth and quiet it really would have put a BMW to shame. It rammed home how good the engine was with regular maintainence.

[cort16]

I think the auto box helps as its harder to rev the nuts off them (other than mine that's stuck in first). The story goes the 2600 was detuned as it made the v8 look a bit pointless performance wise.. Possibly bollocks mind you as I one nearly got out dragged by a Hyundai atoz. Saying that I recently found what I thought was just it just being a bit grumpy at cold turned our to be be an Intermitant misfire causes by shagged ht leads. It's much smoother now.

[oman5]

Yes, back in the day the 6 pot really was that fragile. I can remember a firm selling a device called "rosdiwatch" or something which was basically an extra oil pressure sensor in the head to alert you to when it was about to self destruct so you could shut off. (the problem with the six was due to an oil restrictor valve in the head getting clogged and stopping the supply of oil to the cam) throughout the '80s/90's s6 sd1s were worthless largely because of this, even when relatively new.

I do also vaguely remember something about the crank being a weak point on these too .

Having said that, I had a 2300 and a 2600 and (with admittedly regular flushing/oil changes) they were fine. the 2600 did around 170k miles. when running well a manual 2600 isn't far behind a v8 and its better on fuel too, I loved mine.

I sold my 2300 on 120,000 still running well although the gearbox synchro in third was on the way out, largely because third was the highest gear you could get any acceleration in.

 

I owned a 2000 sd1 automatic as well, that poor little O series looked lost in that engine bay. reliable enough and not too slow thanks to much lower gearing than the bigger engined ones, but no better on fuel.

[CreepingJesus]

Sorry to be dragging this topic all over the place, but I'm learning stuff here!

Can anything be done about the restrictor valve, or is it easy to get to, to clean it out properly?

An SD1 is a long-standing itch, so I'd like to be well armed, if it ever comes to pass.

[Richard]

I would certainly rather have a four or six cylinder SD1 than one saddled with that fugging boat anchor cast-off V8.

[Wilko220]

Would it be safe or completely naive to assume that any 6-pot which has survived on the road for this long has probably either been effectively modified with new parts or was lucky enough to be ok in the first place?

You'd think if it was going to bang it would have done it years ago.

Waiting for SD1 experts to tell me how wrong I am!

[dollywobbler]

The six-cylinder engine just has a Pinto-esque oil feed issue. Change the oil regularly (and it's a fair chance any surviving SD1 has been well looked after) and it should be ok. Ignore changes and the oil feed gets clogged up and the camshaft goes all knackered.

[Wilko220]

Thanks DW. Sounds like another one of those OMG horror stories that can depress prices but, in reality, isn't much of an issue.

 

An SD1 has long been on my want list. I always remember loving the old opening credits to CrimeWatch UK years ago, which basically showed a couple of crims ragging an SD1 through town before dumping it and running off. I trace it back to then...

[oman5]

One of mine was a 1986 D plate 2600 vanden plas, a company car since new with 58k on the clock and FSH. I paid £100 for it, complete with its destroyed cylinder head. It's not a myth, trust me.

[Wilko220]

Must have been a good while ago though at that price though?

[oman5]

yes that was about 1995 or so. I fixed it with a good spare head I had and then found I hated driving  it because of the auto box, a totally different (worse) machine than a 2600 manual. Someone bought it and promptly stuffed a v8 in it.