Save a Rover

[Motown]

 

My super reliable ex met police 827 has developed a fault and i am completely baffled so i hope someone can assist me!

I am hurting a little as the car has never let me down and has been my daily for years now i fully restored the car when i bought it but since hitting 170k it has become abit of a diva quite frankly.... I recently gave it alot of attention and put some decent money into the car in the hopes of renewing its ageing parts. new suspension, new brake system, fluid and belts changes, general servicing to name a few. I just wanted to show it i cared as luckily when it did decide to be a diva it was mostly a result of wear/tear.

The car has been running perfectly fine however i jumped in it today and it idled terribly it was very lumpy hunting and surging so i applied some throttle and it cut out. I restarted the car and noticed again with the slightest application of throttle on the pedal or the lever it sounds like it wants to cut out. I tried to drive the car down my street and it cuts out in D or R but will always restart. At the time there was no blinks on the ecu or lights on the dash indicating a problem the fuel pump is priming and working fine aswell.

So i parked the car back up and decided to let it idle for awhile and it sounded alot better i guess the engine coming upto tempature helped but again as soon as the slightest bit of throttle is applied it hunts and surges like it wants to cut out and does occasionally if pushed. I decided to try and drive the car to trigger the ecu to display the fault i drove it round my block (Cutting out four times) but i now have a solid (non blinking) yellow light on the ecu under the drivers seat. I believe this relates to rpm but iam not sure as ive misplaced the literature and my head is a little foggy.

Can anyone help me? Cheers! 

 

[Rocket88]

I’d hazard a guess at temperature sender unit. Also, try disconnecting MAF and try it

[dome]

Can't offer any help but that is a honey. Good luck fixing it!

[Motown]

8 minutes ago, colc said:

I’d hazard a guess at temperature sender unit. Also, try disconnecting MAF and try it

I thought of this but a faulty temperature sensor normally sends the fan into a fit on start up and it isnt doing that

[Crackers]

I'm afraid I have nothing to add, except for the following:

 

Phwwoooaaaar.

That is an absolutely cracking looking motor vee-hickle.

[vonmon]

I had one of these, an L reg that was 4 years old. The ECU went and it was always surging and ebbing like this. Cured it with one from the breaker.

[Bren]

Throttle position sensor? Although not the same car our granadas had the same symptoms - once disconnected it would run but with reduced power.

[Motown]

2 minutes ago, Bren said:

Throttle position sensor? Although not the same car our granadas had the same symptoms - once disconnected it would run but with reduced power.

The bearing has gone in the dizzy! Thankfully i have a spare so day off tommorow and hopefully all will be well again  

[Motown]

10 minutes ago, vonmon said:

I had one of these, an L reg that was 4 years old. The ECU went and it was always surging and ebbing like this. Cured it with one from the breaker.

Thanks for the suggestion the bearing has gone in the dizzy 🤔

[Bear]

Just as an aside I've had issues like this and it's often been electrical - the most annoying being a car that overcharged, overheated the ignition relay, then behaved once cooled down...

(This is not a suggestion, as you've found it, it's a pointer for other people having similar issues).

[Motown]

Thank you for all your suggestions i have now located the issue. 👍

[garethj]

42 minutes ago, Motown said:

The bearing has gone in the dizzy! Thankfully i have a spare so day off tommorow and hopefully all will be well again  

Result!

How does that give those symptoms?

[sheffcortinacentre]

Vacuum leak. Pinch/ block hoses to stop leak. Spray any joints with we etc to momentarily seal

Idle air valve, stuck closed try turning tick over up so throttle is slightly open if it ticks over then it's stuck.

Egr valve ( if fitted) remove & blank off if it now works it's stuck open.

[Motown]

1 hour ago, garethj said:

Result!

How does that give those symptoms?

Yellow light indicates fuel/air mixture out of spec solid is rich but it could have chucked that up because of the constant cut out at low idle.  i let the car run and noticed an intermitted squeak/squeal under the bonnet similar sound to a loose belt. It didn't do this prior to the issue and ive check the engine bay for mice and guinea pigs 🤣

I had to stand around for awhile but traced the sound to the dizzy. I then placed my hand on the dizzy also stuck my ear to it and something is catching/grinding inside. My guess would be the bearing is failing or has failed and the rotor isnt spinning true causing hunting and surging etc at idle 👍 

[Ghosty]

Interesting that it could be a distributor issue - I had a Concerto for a bit that did the same thing, it threw up a cam sensor fault code (DOHC) and stalled in D. Wonder if it had the same problem. 
Head and block had gone porous from overheat damage though so the engine was toast anyway. 

[sierraman]

Can’t help with the problem but I’d like to know more about its history with the Met?

[Motown]

9 hours ago, Ghosty said:

Interesting that it could be a distributor issue - I had a Concerto for a bit that did the same thing, it threw up a cam sensor fault code (DOHC) and stalled in D. Wonder if it had the same problem. 
Head and block had gone porous from overheat damage though so the engine was toast anyway. 

Just about to update the thread/post its definitely the dizzy. Its original so id say its done pretty well to last past 170K+ 

I had a 216GSI (R8) the dizzy expired on that around 180k so it must be a Honda thing  

[Motown]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Can’t help with the problem but I’d like to know more about its history with the Met?

Ex Met Police/Force protection used for escorting and transporting VIPs etc a few references in the history to its service in London. The colour is/was factory special order and was mostly used by the police and government. Recently a SD1 force protection car in the same colour and trim sold for 16k at auction i believe it was at the same place mine was a few years before as that served in London too.

What's frustrating is theres a video on youtube somewhere of princess Diana (or another royal cant remember which) arriving at a location closely followed by two black 827s fastbacks although sadly i couldn't see the registrations. (They cant have been that many)

It was purchased by an officer of the met when it came out of service and he had it long into his retirement. It was then sold to another chap who only drove it a few times before passing away. It was then owned by a council official who sold it to me when he couldn't drive it anymore.

Its had work done by previous owners in the past but when i first bought the car i had to do a few modifications to the interior trim as it still had various holes and brackets from things which had been mounted to it in the past.

Ive owned and driven a few 827s and this certainly feels a damn sight more nippy than others but whether or not they did anything to them i dont know. In all honestly its probs just my head thinking its quicker knowing the history

[Motown]

***Update***

So today i took the existing dizzy apart and was greeted by this 😮

 

 

Red dust is a strong indication the bearing in the dizzy is KAPUT!!! Thankfully its only two bolts holding the whole dizzy on so i removed it and fitted a spare complete dizzy i had from a breaker complete with a new cap and a rotor arm. 

The car is now running fine but i also noticed i had a slight coolant seepage coming from the main coolant pipe. Ive never noticed this before (no coolant under car) as the coolant is slowly collecting on top of the gearbox so that next on the list to be changed.

Cheers for all your help and suggestions guys!  

[sutty2006]

Can we have more photos of this epic vehicle ? 

[sierraman]

It’s a fair likelihood that Diana used it to nip to meet James Hewitt in it or Thatcher popped to Harrods for some Lladro. 

[Motown]

1 hour ago, sutty2006 said:

Can we have more photos of this epic vehicle ? 

Certainly 

[Motown]

Its running beautifully again now  

 

 

[sutty2006]

Simply lovely 

[sierraman]

When I was a kid my mates dad had a 2.7 Vitesse, it sounded fantastic. 

[Motown]

3 hours ago, sierraman said:

When I was a kid my mates dad had a 2.7 Vitesse, it sounded fantastic. 

Ive got a Vitesse as well but its in Hibernation at the moment can only drive one at a time ;) 

[timolloyd]

That is class.

I reckon that must have wafted a fair few sleazy Tories away from Major’s government, on their final trip along Downing St.