Diesels

Have driven the L series diesel on both the 200 and 25 variants (currently drive a Y reg version). Reliable with decent poke but not as pokey as more modern design plants. Weak spots include bulkhead mounted MAF sensor which when going wrong will give a driving in glue sensation, MAP sensor inline with air intake can be a funny but usually the MAF goes first. On a good run in engine, have managed 50mph, and managed to squeeze that to 70mpg during the Labour party instigated fuel crisis. With the L series it gets a bit thirsty if you start to get a lead boot, can drop to 35mpg combined under these circumstances but still respectable. As with most diesels you have to play the box to get the best performance but in a lightweight like a

200/25 the performance is quite good. Best I mananged with a lead boot was just over 500 miles on an 11 gallon full tank (not counting the 1 gallon reserve in the tank when the gauge is at the redline). Parts were reasonable in price, don't know now but XPart do the range of spares and bits.

PDH

Thanks

You just sold me a diesel!!

Make sure that when you take it for a test run, as I assume that you alread have your eye on one, that it performs well through the range of gears. If buying from an OAP, or previous OAP owner, you will find that the car will get better after several good thrashes along the motorway as OAPs tend to potter around and the engine will be somewhat glazed right down to the exhaust pipe. Just need to blow the scunge out, that's all, and let the ECU adapt to your driving technique (takes about half an hour). With all diesels, when taking to an MOT, give it a good half hour thrash to ensure the engine is nice and toasty. The basic Haynes 200 series manual also covers 80% of the 25, electrics included, just the exterior/interior trim is left out of the book as different on the 25.

Things to watch out for. The timing belt needs to be done at 48k, Rover initially brought the car out a an 84k cam belt change, then dropped it to

60k, now 48k (the belt can be done with the engine in place as lots of space). Also get the injector pump belt changed along with the alternator belt at the same time, best for piece of mind. Symptoms of an injector pump belt failure is that the engine will struggle to idle and then stall as soon as you blip the throttle. New belt cures all. The rest of the engine bay is pretty bomb proof, the engine bay fuse box on the 25 is different to the 200 model and the bolts holding the big fuses in have been known to have been left loose by mechanics during a service (usually the 150amp fuse, immobiliser light on dash works but car is generally dead).

Other things to watch and check. On the rear silencer box, where the pipe enters on the front side there is a tendancy for it to rot around the weld and then up the pipe weld towards the rear box / mid section joint. This is because it intercepts the spray from the offside rear wheel when raining, it's just one of those things. A replacement, the last I done, was £100 for a gen Rover box (and they do last, I got 80k out of the original on the 25,

95k on the 200), you need a rear / mid section jointing gasket kit, new washers and nuts, and three new exhaust rubber hangers. Once the rear / mid section pipe has been seperated it's just a case of cutting through the rubbers holding the exhaust, the pipe sits over the rear axle so wiggle it out. Clean off the remainder of the rubber hangers, then reverse fit the new box. The front and mid sectons usually last over 100k, very good vfm. Don't bother trying to save the old rubber hangers, they go hard with age, loose their suppleness and cant be bent around much when fitting the new box.

Make sure the radio comes with the code, also get the code release for keying in via the drivers door lock (detailed in the manual with the car). If you want to replace the radio with something better, I fitted an Alpine unit with seperate steering flipper interface to control the radio. On a four door the rear doors tend not to get used much so grease all the hinges and support struts. Final area that can cause an issue is that the rear washer pipe tends to wear and split/part where it passes through the tailgate hinge gasket, found by running the washer and watching water pool on the floor by the inside rear wheel. Easy fix with a piece of plastic fish tank air hose and two connectors.

Other than those basic pointers, they really are a good drive, reasonably bomb proof, and easy to maintain. I picked up a generic ODB reader on Ebay for £30 from a US dealer, it fits the Rovers and any later model vehicles (the reader port is by the clutch pedal in the footwell). Worth the investment considering how ECUs are fitted to everything these days.

PDH

Got a 98 "S" 400 2l turbo, I love it, agree with all the above, recently

had a short break in south wales from Nottingham speeds from 90+ on motorways 20- around welsh country lanes, with aircon on avg 55 MPG over

4 days,

feels and sounds great when turbo shows itself,

Whatever you do don't ask about asda straight veg' oil at 45p a ltr ;-)

A bit heavier than the 200/25 but still nippy with the 2 litre L series.

Nice. Good mpg. With I could get that with my other diesel(s), a 15 ton English Electric 600hp engine fitted to a locomotive. :o)))

Yes, nice and throaty. The trick, as with all diesels, is to keep the turbo spinning and that does involve some change of driving technique when playing the box. Me personally, on a local small roundabout leadng onto the A27, I come round the curve in 2nd then hit the steep up ramp with the engine revving well, then up to 3rd at around 45 -50mph and then slip into the traffic stream and goes direct to 5th.

Usually goes with a v.big smile on the face.

No way do I ever want to step back to a petrol, I love the low level torque too much for that.

Eeeek.

PDH

Yes, it took me a couple of weeks to work out a new driving style, barely ticking over at 30 in 4th and doing 90 at 3500 rpm in 5th took some getting used to after my 214 sli 1.4 petrol. ;)