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45 Bits of Rover


phil_lihp

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It's Saturday morning, the car's loaded with tools, a can of petrol, several litres of water and a co-driver, day insurance has been booked and I've pre-booked an MOT.  It's time to go and get another knackered Rover.  I think I've outdone myself here, it might be a bit grim even for Cavcraft's forecourt.

 

Only 9 miles to go for this one, could be interesting nonetheless.

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45 Reasons not to take the bus:

 

 

 1. You have a car.

 2. You have a car.

 3. You have a car.

 4. You have a car.

 5. You have a car.

 6. You have a car.

 7. You have a car.

 8. You have a car.

 9. You have a car.

10. You have a car.

11. You have a car.

12. You have a car.

13. You have a car.

14. You have a car.

15. You have a car.

16. You have a car.

17. You have a car.

18. You have a car.

19. You have a car.

20. You have a car.

21. You have a car.

22. You have a car.

23. You have a car.

24. You have a car.

25. You have a car.

26. You have a car.

27. You have a car.

28. You have a car.

29. You have a car.

30. You have a car.

31. You have a car.

32. You have a car.

33. You have a car.

34. You have a car.

35. You have a car.

36. You have a car.

37. You have a car.

38. You have a car.

39. You have a car.

40. You have a car.

41. You have a car.

42. You have a car.

43. You have a car.

44. You have a car.

45. The Climate needs to be improved©.

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I'm calling that a success.  It'd been sat outside a local garage for 18 months following a head gasket replacement, the garage started it up and immediately noticed a rattling noise from the engine.  The owner, a friend of mine, had only had it a week and wasn't impressed with it's behaviour so he told them to leave it and bought a rather nasty Clio off his brother instead.  So it's done 0 miles on the new head gasket allegedly but has been sat outside for a fair amount of time, partly on grass and with the lid off the header tank, which was empty.  A good sign, I'm sure you'll agree.

 

The owner offered it to me for free as it needed to go away and naturally I agreed to rehome it so this morning at 10AM, the rescue commenced.

 

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I'm not used to having a co-pilot but as the car was only 9 miles away it was ideal as he could then drive my car back and act as support vehicle should anything go wrong.

 

Ten minutes later, the car was waiting with anticipation for the freedom it had been longing for.

 

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The old battery out of RobT's Astra, although left on charge overnight, when combined with my knackered jump leads did not produce great results so the Octavia was brought in to assist.  The header tank proved to be empty but only took a litre or so, which was a reasonably promising sign.

 

My assistant inserted a can of fresh petrol to dilute the 1/4 tank of stale muck that was in the car already...

 

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and a few reluctant coughs eventually produced noise and a huge amount of blue smoke, a superb start.  The smoke died away, it idled reasonably well once the cleaner petrol started coming through and most of the electrics worked, although the car's own battery was completely dead, not surprising really.  

 

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The engine noise is a distinct top-end rattling which may be hydraulic lifter noise, something these engines are known for.  It quietened down a bit once it had warmed up and didn't sound too terrible so I've decided to see if a bit of use and an oil change will sort it, assuming it earns a fresh MOT first of course.

 

Once it had warmed up a little, the handbrake eventually let go on the 4th attempt and she was free.

 

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Anyone who knows these engines knows what a pain they are to bleed and this one was no different.  It took an hour of faffing about before the worst of the airlocks cleared and the header tank settled down, alas having used all the water I brought with me.  

 

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Whilst we waited for it to warm up, we had a chance to admire the slightly minging interior.

 

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Seen and smelt worse, mind.  Brakes look rough...

 

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But at least all the tyres had around 30psi and plenty of tread.  A quick wipe with some waterless wash removed the most obvious green muck and the scuttle panel was excavated.

 

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Tidy enough for free!

 

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It was keeping superb company in the yard.

 

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Coolant now a bit low but pretty clear of air, a short run up and down the industrial estate to confirm the car drove quote well and the brakes worked, time to hit the road and get it 9 miles to my local tame mechanic for a chance at an MOT.

 

Success!  It got a little warm in traffic near the end, the fan cut in though and the temperature gauge reads very low, I'll be over to it during the week with a spare battery (my spare is too large), some new wiper blades and enough water to top up and properly bleed the coolant system but overall, not bad.  It is a little low on power and not 100% smooth but it's still running on mostly ancient petrol so it did well enough and you can't hear the top-end rattle on the move.  

 

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A pre-MOT assessment is happening later this week if he gets time, nothing obvious is wrong so we'll see what happens.

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I re-visited it yesterday with a spare wiper blade to replace the passenger one that disintegrated, one more MOT issue off the list!  I also finished bleeding the coolant (or at least, 99%, I'll give it one more session to burp out the last few bubbles) so it's much more settled now and the heater is ferociously hot.  The temperature gauge still sits at 1/4 so it needs a new thermostat but as it happens, I do have a spare one knocking about which I never got around to fitting to the ex-RobT 214.

 

Engine noise is the same as ever, very noisy when cold but quietens down, it's definitely the top end, it happily revs to 5-6k though and on the move it's not overly noticeable.  Not sure what it is - is this Wynns treatment worth a go (it's only £7 after all) or is it snake oil?  https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Automotive/Wynns-76864-350ml-Hydraulic-Valve-Lifter-Treatment/B0064M6ENK   I used their Super Charge gunk in the Volvo which worked a treat to lower the crankcase pressure but I've never used this stuff before.

 

It does struggle a bit to start when cold off a jump start although some of that might be bad fuel and dirty plugs, plus the current, mostly dead battery is probably not helping - I'll pull the plugs later this week when I go back with a decent battery and change them for some spares I have if the ones in it look manky.  When it's warmed up it idles fairly well, there's a slight unevenness/misfire, again most likely down to the fuel and plugs, amplified by a slightly noisy back box but I buzzed it around the car park where it's being stored a few times and it behaved well.  I hammered the brakes to make sure they work - they do, it pulls up straight from 30mph, locks up hard enough to activate the ABS and the handbrake works very well.  After getting the brakes hot it did start to drag slightly on one caliper so that might need attention but it's no big surprise given how long it was sat.  The front disks have cleaned up nicely with use, anyway.

 

It has functioning parking sensors (modern!) and air con (not working!) so it's quite impressively specced really.  Would I be right though in saying this is a Project Drive car?  I reckon it must be, it feels a bit cheaper inside than the 1999 416Si my Dad had as a company car (which I learnt to drive in) with nasty plastic panels on the backs of the front seats.  Comfy though, despite being quite minging inside.

 

Once it has a battery which actually holds a charge, it'll get an MOT pre-inspection later this week.  If it passes, it'll be up for sale very shortly following a good clean inside and out.  If it fails or the engine turns out to be toast, there's a car breakers just over the road from where it currently sits, which would be a shame really.

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Try taking the cam belt cover off and see if the noise changes at all, if its not sitting quite right after the HG job it can touch the cam pulleys and make an array of weird noises. Also inspect the covers inside and out to see if anything is trying to machine a hole through them.

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 Would I be right though in saying this is a Project Drive car?  I reckon it must be, it feels a bit cheaper inside than the 1999 416Si my Dad had as a company car (which I learnt to drive in) with nasty plastic panels on the backs of the front seats. 

 

PD existed from pretty much the outset of MG Rover - as time went on the cars got decidedly cheaper, and at the very end, uglier. Costcutting was a lot more obvious on the later cars, going from a 400 to a late 45 will show something of a decline in quality I think. I think the full on Project Drive car in terms of the 25/45 is the facelift from 2005, that yours doesn't have: 

 

Rover~45~(2).jpg

 

The earlier 45 was actually a really nice looking car when it was well specced and coloured right.

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Guest Lord Sward

Is the tapping noise from number 4 cylinder?  If so its just piston slap.  The only cure is a new cylinder liner and a piston.  But there is nothing to be concerned about, just the irritation of the noise.

 

I love these cars.

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Piston slap on start-up is a K-series standard, but the advice about the cam cover is a good one - something I need to do on my little Streetwise cos it has a lovely little whining noise at present which mirrors the revs.

 

Early 2004 is right at the end of the Mk 1 45, I believe, so yes chances are there will be a few Project Drive shortcuts somewhere in yours.

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I have a Rover 820 92 with the T16 engine, owned 15 years, and I have tried everything to quieten the valve noise when cold. Once its warm its not too bad but still noticeable. I have tried different engine oils, more frequent oil changes, a little ATF in with the oil, Wynns Valve Treatment, etc and nothing has worked. Its just a characteristic of Rover engines with hydraulic lifters and you learn to live with it. One tip I thought was useful is to check the engine oil sump has not been pushed in due to a bump. This will restrict the amount of oil that the pump can pick up and push around the engine, reducing the oil pressure

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If you're interested Austin Rover online have a good article about all the Project Drive cutbacks, and bulletins up to 2003 which make for depressing reading:

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/facts-and-figures/history/history-project-drive/

 

I knew about project drive and how it was extreme cost cutting but I didnt realise quite how bad until i read those articles, I know all manufacturers do it, and I know some remove features, others remove nice touches like ambient lights and so on, but MGR really took the biscuit by visibly cheapening prominent things customers would notice, changing plastic reflectors for adhesive stick on ones, removing the glovebox flock lining, changing metal centre caps to plastic, removing the b pillar black trims, the thick seal around the rear window for widened glass etc. 

 

I can actually just imagine how cheap a later car must feel compared to a later one, my uncle had in August '99 a P reg 420SLI saloon in Kensington Green, written off and replaced in Feb 2000 with an October 97 R reg 414S hatch in Nightfire red, and both those felt classy, a lot better quality than 306, Escort, Astra etc.they were competing against, I imagine the later ones feeling as cheap as early Hyundais, Kias and so on before they became mainstream big sellers and improved massively. 

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She looks like a proper winner mate, I sincerely hope the MOT doesn't throw you a curveball.

 

A 45 is on my list one day, although, so is a 400. Might have to chose between the two. Love the late 90s 400s, the very subtle refresh they did was brilliant.

 

If this one gets an MOT in the next week or so it'll get a wash and be up for sale/raffle so you can achieve that dream sooner than you dared hope.

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This is how the rattle sounds when cold, it tones down a bit once it's warmed up and was actually silent for the first few seconds when started from cold.  It does actually drive fine but that noise doesn't bode terribly well for the engine's future.

 

[media]

https://vimeo.com/221004343

'>[/media]I've given it a dose of the Wynns hydraulic valve stuff (it's bright yellow and absolutely stinks) but I doubt it'll do much good, the noise is definitely coming from cylinder 4.  I used the old screwdriver test to pinpoint the sound and it's much more noticeable on the right hand side of the block.  I did take the top cambelt cover off but it made no difference, all looks well there.  
 
This is how the rattle sounds when cold, it tones down a bit once it's warmed up and was actually silent for the first few seconds when started from cold.  It does actually drive fine but that noise doesn't bode terribly well for the engine's future.

 

[media]

https://vimeo.com/221004343

 

I need to change one of the rear tyres and the brakes need a little fiddling which I'll try to get done tomorrow, then it's MOT time.  I'll put some more fresh petrol in as it still runs a bit rough and annoyingly my replacement scrapyard battery was DOA so I'll get that exchanged tomorrow morning,

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