Rover KV6 death rattle???

[mrdoofa]

Thank you very much for all your advice.

I do remember that the temp needle was acting quite erratically, it would be at 3/4 then jump up to the end stop then jump back down again. This would all take place in a few seconds. When I set off to take the car back to the dealer the needle went back to 1/2 within about 100yards. Could it maybe be a sender issue in combination with the fan??

I am actually starting to think you guys could be right and am best leaving this one, it's a real shame though because the rest of the car is immaculate.

[stocktake]

Originally Posted by mrdoofa

Thank you very much for all your advice.

I do remember that the temp needle was acting quite erratically, it would be at 3/4 then jump up to the end stop then jump back down again. This would all take place in a few seconds. When I set off to take the car back to the dealer the needle went back to 1/2 within about 100yards. Could it maybe be a sender issue in combination with the fan??

I am actually starting to think you guys could be right and am best leaving this one, it's a real shame though because the rest of the car is immaculate.

The temp gauge is a known issue by design to give the driver the appearance of all is well. It remains in the mid position at anything from 75 to 115 if I remember correctly. It is not a good indicator of a steady temperature, merely one that is within tolerances.

If you want to know accurate water temp there is an on board diagnostics system that all 75's zt's have built in and it will display exact temp. .

See here

[chipsceola]

Originally Posted by mrdoofa

Thank you very much for all your advice.

I do remember that the temp needle was acting quite erratically, it would be at 3/4 then jump up to the end stop then jump back down again. This would all take place in a few seconds. When I set off to take the car back to the dealer the needle went back to 1/2 within about 100yards. Could it maybe be a sender issue in combination with the fan??

I am actually starting to think you guys could be right and am best leaving this one, it's a real shame though because the rest of the car is immaculate.

Temperature is normal, however erratic gauge is not there is a recent thread on erratic temp gauge that may help some, it's here

[dave lincs]

in my opinion having had these in both 2.0 and 2.5 the 2.5 is more powerful and more economical in auto form the 2.5 will give you 5 mpg more
a friend of mine has a 2.0 auto and says he is lucky if he gets 25 mpg on a run
the 2.0 is also very underpowered which is the main reason it was replaced with the 1.8 turbo

[MrDoodles]

To fix this car properly, it sounds like it needs a new inlet manifold, cooling fan and thermostat (all common problems on the V6) and if you use new parts, you will end up with bills for nearly £2,000!

(Trust me, I know, as I have those bills in Ed's service history!)

The likelihood of the seller doing this, is zero, so as has already been posted, keep looking and if you are looking for V6, find one that's had this work done and the 2.5 will have more poke, and often use less fuel, as you don't have to drive them as hard!

[Anon3]

Originally Posted by dave lincs

in my opinion having had these in both 2.0 and 2.5 the 2.5 is more powerful and more economical in auto form the 2.5 will give you 5 mpg more
a friend of mine has a 2.0 auto and says he is lucky if he gets 25 mpg on a run
the 2.0 is also very underpowered which is the main reason it was replaced with the 1.8 turbo

And I own one!

[mrdoofa]

Thanks again for all your help and input, I have let my nephew read all the information and he is being put off the idea of buying one of these cars with all the common problems. He has to be very careful as he only has so much money to spend and doesn't want to buy a money pit. He knows of the ongoing issues I had with my diesel 75 which I have now sold and rather hoped that the petrol ones might fare better.
Is there no owners who have had good experiences with these cars to encourage him a little bit as he still really loves the 75 but has been made very reluctant to get one.

What I would like to ask is with the inlet rattling, can the car still be driven without causing further damage and roughly for how long. (ie: put up and shut up until we can get it repaired). The dealer has been in touch today and says he has sorted the cooling fan problem with some a new switch and relay I think he said, we are going to give it another viewing on Sunday afternoon.

[johnnyb44]

I think you would be wise to walk away from this car. How long this car has been suffering these issues is anybody's guess. There's lots of fine examples out there for silly money at the moment as its a buyers market with our cars.. Keep your eye on here too as some very nice cars come up for sale from time to time.
Johnny

[chipsceola]

Originally Posted by mrdoofa

Thanks again for all your help and input, I have let my nephew read all the information and he is being put off the idea of buying one of these cars with all the common problems. He has to be very careful as he only has so much money to spend and doesn't want to buy a money pit. He knows of the ongoing issues I had with my diesel 75 which I have now sold and rather hoped that the petrol ones might fare better.
Is there no owners who have had good experiences with these cars to encourage him a little bit as he still really loves the 75 but has been made very reluctant to get one.

What I would like to ask is with the inlet rattling, can the car still be driven without causing further damage and roughly for how long. (ie: put up and shut up until we can get it repaired). The dealer has been in touch today and says he has sorted the cooling fan problem with some a new switch and relay I think he said, we are going to give it another viewing on Sunday afternoon.

Reliability, value for money, wisdom of buying a 10/15 year old car, like all things has many aspects:

1. buy cheap as possible often from on-line auction.
Beware, being sold for a reason, most often without proof of history, you'll get what you pay for, and often regret it

2. buy off forum member,
ensure good service history with receipts and look back through member posts to reveal previous faults and repairs carried out etc. Cost will be a bit higher, but a good car can be economic and a good buy.

3. Buy from a dealer, pay highest price of all,
again seek history with receipts and make sure you have a warranty to cover unexpected repairs for at least 6-months.

4. Be aware of scope and range of common problems together with cost of fixing them across the model ranges 1.8 K4, 2.0 V6 and 2.0/2.5 diesel - don't fall into trap of automatically disregarding the 1.8/1.8T due to HGF - it doesn't happen every day and is a relatively easy fix at lowish cost.

[MrDoodles]

Originally Posted by mrdoofa

Thanks again for all your help and input, I have let my nephew read all the information and he is being put off the idea of buying one of these cars with all the common problems. He has to be very careful as he only has so much money to spend and doesn't want to buy a money pit. He knows of the ongoing issues I had with my diesel 75 which I have now sold and rather hoped that the petrol ones might fare better.
Is there no owners who have had good experiences with these cars to encourage him a little bit as he still really loves the 75 but has been made very reluctant to get one.

What I would like to ask is with the inlet rattling, can the car still be driven without causing further damage and roughly for how long. (ie: put up and shut up until we can get it repaired). The dealer has been in touch today and says he has sorted the cooling fan problem with some a new switch and relay I think he said, we are going to give it another viewing on Sunday afternoon.

To be fair, the car can be driven for as long as you want with a failing inlet manifold, however, the cars performance will be compromised and it will absolutely drink fuel.

You state that he doesn't want to buy a "money pit" well if you are looking at 10-15 year old cars, there WILL be expenditure on them, unless you are extremely lucky (as I was) and find a car with a full dealer history (including invoices) and that the previous owner has replaced all the common failure parts (as mine had) and apart from routine maintenance, Ed's not cost me a penny in nearly 4 years!

You also have to bear in mind that if you are buying a car of this age from a dealer, that approx 50% of the purchase price, will be profit for the Dealer, so would suggest that if he does want to go with one of our cars, then a nice car bought privately (with the proper checks done) will be better value.

Personally, if budget is an issue, I would have thought that something like a new Hyundai i10 (which you can buy for £69 a month on a PCP) would be better for him, or if he doesn't want to have finance, then something like a Ford Ka, can be run for pennies, providing you again buy a good one in the 1st place!