220SLi: Roverdue Maintenance

[phil_lihp]

Well today we had our first fail-to-proceed moment, it turns out that two weeks in the lockup, a short journey home and a further 3 days on the driveway were too much for the battery which couldn't quite muster the oomph to start the engine this morning.  Luckily there's a garage at the end of the road who kindly loaned a booster pack to get it going, might have to keep an eye on the battery as it looks very small and has "£15" written in yellow marker pen on it so I'm guessing it's not an OEM item.

 

Decided to swap the waterpumps over, got as far as snapping off one rusty radiator mounting bolt and emptying this muck out of the cooling system:

 

 

I'm guessing six-cylinder's radweld dose is the colouring agent in that filthy muck, I'm hoping that's all it is.  Didn't actually get any further as it turned out my only 8mm spanner was too knackered to even think about getting the waterpump bolts out so refilled and 'burped' the coolant and put it all back together.  New coolant mixed with remaining old muck so it looks no better and immediately starts pissing out of the pump, that was well worth the effort.

 

I'm expecting the pump bolts to snap off when I do get to it, allegedly it's pretty much standard and mine have been soaked in coolant for the last year or so.  Will take that as it comes anyway.  

 

Finished off by scrubbing some of the black oily marks off the seats and wondering if there is a way to get the wood trim off the dash to change the clock bulb without snapping the trim in half - didn't look like it so sacked that off for now.

 

Only other change is a newly mismatched passenger electric wing mirror sourced for a full £9 - the original one had 3 pieces of glass glued on top of each other and weighed far too much, probably the reason why it wouldn't stay in the housing and kept falling out.  The motor also didn't work so now that's in the bin and the car sports a black body-coloured one off a P-reg convertible, actually looks OK and the difference isn't terribly obvious.  It works and the glass doesn't fall out so I say that's a win.

 

Still need to source a couple of part-worns for the front, maybe change the driver's door lock solenoid and change that waterpump, then it's on to tidying the rust scabs on the arches and door bottoms.  I also need to work out what I can do about a blow around the exhaust manifold as it's quite loud and apparently a common issue.  I think this one will keep me busy for a while.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

COINCIDENCE - today I picked up what i think is the original radio for this - PM me your address and I'll bosh it in the post!

[phil_lihp]

Cheers fella, you have PM.

[phil_lihp]

Time for an exciting update and another Rover pun.

 

As you might have seen on the News 24 thread, I lost the battle with the seized waterpump bolts and sacked it off to my tame local garage to change.  This, as it turns out, was a monumental success.  The bolts put up such a fight they ended up removing the waterpump and housing as one unit and attacking it with gas.

 

This done, they then found that the £10 OEM waterpump I'd bought didn't fit.  Ã‚£35 for one that did.

 

That got fitted, followed by a phone call to suggest I pop by to inspect the radiator they'd removed as it was looking a bit sorry for itself.  I wish I'd got a photo, it was absolutely shot, the fins were all rotten and came off in chunks with the brush of a hand and a good deal of them were already gone around the bottom.  Also, the plastic top pipe was leaking.  New radiator it is then.

 

Finally, after nearly 2 weeks (in fairness, I did say it wasn't urgent and they had trouble getting the right radiator delivered) I rocked up at the garage during my lunch break and went straight into the workshop to find the mechanic who'd been working on it.  

 

"Yeah mate, it's all done but...looks like your head gasket's gone.  Absolutely pissing oil out the front."

 

I offered him some expletives and various horrified facial expressions, then the foreman came over to offer some soothing words.

 

Turns out that it is indeed pissing oil, the block is absolutely soaked in it, I really should have noticed there was probably too much for a weepy cam cover to produce.  He's suggested that it may seal up when hot but obviously that's not exactly a fix.  His other suggestion was a product that would, when mixed with the oil, help to congeal any leaks and stop them. 

 

This second option sounds like radweld for oil and I don't fancy the idea of it at all but does anyone know what he's referring to?  I didn't have time to stand around and chat about it so not entirely sure what it is he means.  It's due an oil change so I could lob some in when I do that if it will help without screwing up oil flow.

 

Just to put a cherry on this particular Viking-themed cake, a quick spin around town proved that while the engine and heater seem to get hot, the temperature gauge does not move from the bottom so I'm hoping they've just left something unplugged.  Any ideas?  It's been too dark to investigate properly, I may well just drop it back to them tomorrow to sort out but I'm worried it'll result in more expense if it turns out to be something else like a buggered thermostat I could change myself.

 

On the plus side, when I arrived home and had to perform a 10 point turn in the narrow lane outside my house it didn't bat an eyelid, normally this would have the coolant frothing and the radiator fan going into overdrive so it's at least running cooler.

 

I remember the plan to run this car until the MOT ran out, then either run it through if it was really cheap to fix or scrap it.  How did I get here?  

[Lord Sterling]

Because you like it? I really must get an R8 Rover 200 at some point to potter about in.

[KruJoe]

Good effort Phil! Glad to see an update on this.

 

After the cooling system overhaul and HG leak fixage, what is else is she wanting?

Must be just about bob-on?

[Vince70]

Is there anyway you could give the head a torque up just to see if it helps stop the leak or at least stem the flow of oil coming from the head.

 

I took my old girl in for a service and mot a couple of years back and the garage owner said while we were at it we gave the head a couple of clicks on the torque wrench as it had a small leak which cured it apparently..

 

 

It hasn't leaked since but then again I didn't notice it leaking or using any oil beforehand as it never seemed to use a drop of oil apart from when I stupidly trusted the local Kwik Git to give my car an oil and filter change and the spotty kid didn't do the filter back up properly..

 

But try and look on the bright side the oil must be going over the crossmember and underneath the car giving it some rust protection and it may have been leaking for years with no ill effects apart from the odd top up and now that the cars apart it may have only just come to light.

 

I had a mate who had an old Zx which had an oil leak from the head it was there for the two years he had the car and the bloke who he sold it to had it for another 4 years and it never gave an ounce of trouble apart from the odd top up between a service.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

What a bastard, I fitted a new steel head gasket on this thing with a tiny bit of sealant on the 'critical area', if its leaking now that tells me that you can't expect more that 60-70,000 miles on these T-series engines without needing to replace the flipping gasket, I don't see what else could be done to make it last longer. 

[phil_lihp]

It's back at the garage this morning to get the temperature gauge sorted - fingers crossed they just left something unplugged, presumably the coolant temperature sensor.

 

The head gasket's weird, isn't it?  70k doesn't seem long, I like the idea of retorquing the head bolts, that I might just do.  Can't hurt.  For now, it's not using vast amounts of oil so I'll continue to live with it indefinitely, as said it's at least keeping the undersides rust proofed!

 

Parts left to do?  Nothing urgent, which is good.  

 

* Driver's door CL solenoid - replace (very low priority)

* Sand & paint rusty bits on bodywork - I have the bits to do this now, just need some good weather

* Service - oil, filters and plugs, it's almost certainly overdue for this now

 

And that's about it really.  Other than that, I'll just keep piling on the miles.

[phil_lihp]

Research suggests there's a sensor next to the CTS which is likely to be the cause for the unresponsive temperature gauge - the garage are being belligerent about doing anything with it as when I took it back the next morning it went "to the back of the queue" in their work list which I was quite annoyed about.  If it's not done today I'm going to start throwing toys and head over to have another look at it myself, haven't seen the car in dry weather and daylight for weeks so never had the chance to check for loose connections.  It's meant to be taking me to Portsmouth this weekend.

 

On the subject of head gaskets, the leak seems to be the very common T-Series HG leak that they all get.  Mr B, when you changed the gasket, was it a Klinger one?  This is apparently the only way to stop this leak for good.  For now, it's easy enough to live with.

[phil_lihp]

On my lunch break I went and retrieved the keys, car still sat outside untouched where I'd left it on Wednesday morning.  As it was daylight so I could actually see what I was doing, I opened the bonnet, within seconds locating the snapped-off wire to the gauge sensor which they'd obviously disturbed whilst fitting the pump.  5 minutes to fix the spade connector to the remaining wire with a pair of pliers.     They won't be getting any more business from me, been going there for 10 years and this is strike 3 for dreadful service, their work is fine but the attitude of some of the staff is rubbish.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Pretty certain I did get a Klinger gasket, I know I got it off the bay and it was quite pricey like about £38 or something

[Rusty_Rocket]

Re. the T-Series head gasket leak- is this the front corner oil leak next to the gearbox?  I always thought they all* did that and unless it's 'Niagra Falls', causes no major harm?

I've only done one of these, on a 1994 Rover 800 Auto and the bugger started to get oily again after a few months.. 

[mercedade]

My 220 certainly did - relentlessly, but never overwhelmingly.

 

The 820 is currently holding together, but god knows how long for.

[phil_lihp]

Actually it's just done a very pleasant 350 mile round trip and didn't seem to use a noticeable amount of oil, still on the maximum mark when I last looked.  Also now doesn't get through a litre of coolant every 10 miles, RESULT.  Do these engines run at a massive internal pressure or something?  There doesn't seem to be a T-Series that doesn't ooze/gush oil out of at least 2, if not 6 different places (and yes thanks to the blog I know that this car was one of them!).

 

I might get the engine steam-cleaned at some point so I can see what it's actually leaking.  Then again, ignorance is bliss and I might not.

[phil_lihp]

Small update time.

 

I had high hopes of changing the front brake pads today but woke up early and decided to join some friends for an 8 mile run round the North Devon coast in glorious sunshine instead.  As the weather continued to hold, I did decide to head up to the lockup later in the day for a couple of hours of bodywork fettling.  

 

I'd been up yesterday to get something out of the boot and was a bit alarmed when I opened the door.  It's been in there for a couple of weeks and the combination of road salt and being kept alternately on a driveway 200 yards from the sea and in a garage that leaks like a sieve is not doing it much good.  Some of the rust blobs it had when I got it had turned a bright orange and got bigger in a very short space of time.  I went round each rust blister with some wire wool and quickly daubed on some Kurust to try and stave off any further rot just before I ran out of daylight.

 

Today I rolled it out into the sunshine and frankly the smeary purple Kurust treatment didn't look too good but it had worked.  I finished off the side I couldn't get to in the garage with wire wool and sandpaper and then realised that leaving it unprotected meant the rot wouldn't stay away for long so decided to apply some of this:

 

 

I got this a few weeks ago for this very purpose.  I can now say that there is not a single visible bit of rust anywhere on the bodywork.  Frankly, however, the car's probably not looking its best at the moment (click on images for a bigger version). 

 

 

 

 

 

Concours it is not.  I was worried that it would look like it had been vandalised but it was strangely satisfying to see the scruffy, patchy bits disappear under a thick coat of nice clean grey paint.  Yes, it looks awful but in the spring I'll rub it all back and apply paint and for now it's protecting it from any further deterioration.  It's never going to look showroom fresh but it should be presentable when its done.

 

I will also be slathering plenty of this under the wheelarches, floor and anywhere else I can to protect the undersides at some point.  

 

 

On the plus side, I left it idling for a good 15-20 minutes and not a single drop of coolant has gone, plus there seems to be very minimal oil loss so mechanically it's pretty sorted now, just a service to get round to.

[phil_lihp]

 

Treated the old crate to a service today, this was a messy processing involving used engine oil and strong winds.  Digging out the wheel brace also revealed a putrid pond in the boot.  That'll be the rear light seals then.

 

 

If the thick black oil wasn't a clue, the air filter definitely was.  Service overdue.

 

 

A big 4.5 litre glug of Shell Helix semi-synthetic 10W40, a new oil filter and air filter and it's a much happier car.  Still waiting for the spark plugs to turn up but it's already a noticeable improvement.  I also have a new fuel filter to go on at some point but not entirely sure how to tackle that one yet.

 

I then moved on to the brake pads as they were an advisory on the MOT.  Bit of an odd set, on the driver's side the outside one was worn to practically nothing whereas the inside one had a few mm left, the passenger side (which seems to suffer from a sticky caliper now and again) had barely any wear on the inside and only a bit more on the outside.  Strange, all the pistons and sliders were free and gave no trouble, in fact this was a really easy and quick job.  It was then treated to a quick hoover and wash so it now looks stunning and smells amazing.  Ish.  A short test drive showed a happy car which stops well.  Win!

 

After a longer drive I think however I've had a mechanicking failure here.  The brakes work really well, no trouble there and no nasty noise or vibration when applying the brakes at all but after a couple of minutes at 60mph a really nasty thrumming noise from the front wheels and vibration through the steering wheel saw me down to 30mph and diving for the nearest layby.  I found that pressing the brake pedal, however, stopped the noise and vibration until I got back up to 40mph when it crept back in.  Each press of the brake pedal (or a large bump in the road) seemed to stop the issue briefly before it crept back in.  Rapid acceleration out of the layby to rejoin the traffic had the nose lift with a noticeable 'clunk' noise from the front end.  I am pretty sure I've done the pads correctly as there wasn't really any way to put them in wrong, they have copper slip on the backs, the discs were cleaned up and all seemed fine but I did notice a significant lip on the edge of the brake disc when I fitted the pads.  I didn't change them at the time as I didn't have any replacements but would this cause it?  If not I wonder if one of the new pads has seperated.  For now it's languising back in the garage in shame until I have time to have a closer look.

 

Result at 90 minutes: Me 1, Rover 1.  This service is going to extra time.

[HMC]

I gave up on some similar jobs today after I chickened out with the weather! Head scratching here but can't offer any brake problem advice. Nice to see the ex boll 220 getting TLC though.

[scruff]

Check your wheel nuts

[saucedoctor]

Fuel Filter switcheroo

wmxw940e.pdf

[phil_lihp]

Check your wheel nuts

 

Are you going to Shitefest?  I owe you a pint. 

 

What a complete and utter muppet I am, the moment I read this I realised I remembered tightening the driver's side nuts but had no recollection of doing the passenger side.  Sure enough, rolled it out of the garage this afternoon and low and behold, finger tight.  Sorted that, took it on a nice evening drive as the sun was setting, all is right with the world.  But I'm still a muppet.

 

Thanks for the guide Saucedoctor, that's perfect.  With luck, I'll even manage to swap it without forgetting some critical part like reattaching the fuel lines.

[Rusty_Rocket]

It's amazing how easy it is to forget to do up wheel nuts..  I know I've forgotten in the past.  Glad it's sorted now 

[KruJoe]

I once experienced similar symptoms, on a courtesy car!

The loose wheel-nuts didn't inspire confidence in the work they were doing for me at the time. I forgave them though, the courtesy car was a pov-spec 405, in JRG with Caramac interior. Cool as.

[phil_lihp]

Ah, Joe, meant to ask you, if you're back from your travels, I don't suppose you have any Rover hubcaps knocking around in your collection that you'd consider selling?  As you can see I'm short of one, came off at about 60mph somewhere on an unlit road and hasn't been seen since.

[Tayne]

 I realised I remembered tightening the driver's side nuts but had no recollection of doing the passenger side.  

 

You had a lucky escape.

 

The Offending Wheel by Tayne, on Flickr

[trigger]

I've made the same mistake with the wheel nuts, when i had my 306 XLD years ago I'd been to my dad's to fit new wishbones, on the way home the car started shaking and wondering all over the road on the A12 at 70 mph, I pulled over and called my dad in a flap, he drove 20 miles to meet me, we went to slacken the nuts so that we could take the wheel off to check the wishbones only to find they were already slack... 

[saucedoctor]

A guy who I thought was a mate offered me his 1982 Samba at a good price. He kept saying "Take it for a run, you'll love it". So I did, and got the shaky wheel. At the time (1990) I thought he'd just made a mistake, but years later, like about 15 years later, I was told he'd done it on purpose so that I'd crash and have to pay him for it (one of his mates told me). And no, I didn't crash. My finely-honed sense of self preservation meant I drove the first mile or so at about 10MPH listening for noises.

 

Anyway, fuck him. He killed himself on a motorbike about 3 years ago. The pastie-faced cunt.

[xtriple]

I'm a newbie, but just read this entire thread -good read. Good on ya for keeping the old girl going. I must admit to doing the wheel bolt thing myself, a lot more than once! Had a wheel come off a kit car I'd spent months building and wrecked the rear bodywork (I'd pit the wheels on months before just to get it off stands - forgot to do the bolts up tight!).

[KruJoe]

... Joe ... Rover hubcaps ...

 

Yes, each of my three R8's came with a full set.

 

The daily:

 

 

The 214 breaker:

 

 

The 'best' ones are the posh ones (like yours) which came on the red breaker from Chompy_Snake.

 

 

Sadly for you I sent them off to Rover414 because he lost one, as you did. PM him, he may part with one or two - he now has seven!

 

Or I could send you one of the less posh sets, but they're not in perfect condition. My daily is still on the povvo ones to confuse the Rover nerds...

 

 

...while I work out how to attach the centre caps on my GTI rimzorz.

 

 

I just thought this page needed some R8 pics

[phil_lihp]

It does, and I notice we have matching primered rear N/S arches

 

I'll PM rover414 and see what he's willing to part with, otherwise I'll come back to you, thanks!  They're not the nicest looking trims IMHO but they are original so might as well stay with the right ones I guess.  I actually think the povo ones look the best, strangely.  Quite fancy a set of those mudflaps now too...hmm.  Will keep an eye out for some of those on ebay when £££ are spare.

 

Not incidentally, this proves beyond a doubt that the original front end is considerably better looking than the later chrome snout mine is wearing.  Much cleaner and simpler.