£600 Rover 75 Connoisseur SE, 2.5 v6
Discussion
Doing the cambelts would equal the cost of the car. I'd chance it.
Didn't you replace the cambelts on your 156? How many miles did you get out of that considering the cost? Did you recoup much of the cost of the cambelt replacement on the 156 when you sold it?
Didn't you replace the cambelts on your 156? How many miles did you get out of that considering the cost? Did you recoup much of the cost of the cambelt replacement on the 156 when you sold it?
Edited by carinaman on Tuesday 30th June 15:38
Looks a nice example, and a bargain price!
I ran a same spec 2004 CDT for 40,000 miles a few years ago, superb car, and wish I didn't sell it.
You mentioned you're in North London? I took mine to these guys in Muswell Hill: http://mg-rwservices.co.uk/
Very knowledgeable, and a always had a good selection of cars lying around to look at.
I ran a same spec 2004 CDT for 40,000 miles a few years ago, superb car, and wish I didn't sell it.
You mentioned you're in North London? I took mine to these guys in Muswell Hill: http://mg-rwservices.co.uk/
Very knowledgeable, and a always had a good selection of cars lying around to look at.
PrinceRupert said:
Something I have been thinking about over the weekend - cambelts. As it has no service history, who knows when its belt was last changed (if ever). Apparently they should be changed every 90k miles/6 years - it is on 55k miles/??? years. It seems it is a pig of a job - £450 at certain mobile specialists but can't seem to see one nearby, or probably closer to £700 at a normal mechanic who, if they haven't done them before on a kv6, would need to get the special tools and work out how to do it (though how hard can it really be ...)?
So, given the few miles I do and the value of the car, would you recommend getting it done or playing cambelt roulette?
There's plenty of mobile guys on the 75andzt forum that will quote as well, get the water pump done as well if you ( not a cheap Chinese one either!).So, given the few miles I do and the value of the car, would you recommend getting it done or playing cambelt roulette?
The original branded belts had a built in life of 10 years 150k miles ( albeit the service interval for them was as you say 6 years/ 90K). I sold my previous 2004 one a few weeks ago at 133K miles with the belts last done at 30K in 2008.Most ex dealers will tell you that they've seen very very few cases of failure, premature or otherwise, whilst some enthusiast will think you are a disgrace to the marque by not doing them ! ( I may have overegged that but you take my point).
It will depend on how much you end up loving the car and want to keep it, the three I've had have always been bought as " if it breaks it breaks" cars and in no time at all they've been cars I've wanted to spend money on and get as good as I can, that may or may not be relevant to what great service they've given me.
You either look at it as double the price of what you paid virtually, or still a great buy as a £1300 car with the belts done. Either way, I don't think you can really lose.
carinaman said:
Doing the cambelts would equal the cost of the car. I'd chance it.
Didn't you replace the cambelts on your 156? How many miles did you get out of that considering the cost? Did you recoup much of the cost of the cambelt replacement on the 156 when you sold it?
No the cambelts were done just before I bought it, but I probably paid a premium for that reason. Sold it for £850 less than I paid for it after 10 months.Didn't you replace the cambelts on your 156? How many miles did you get out of that considering the cost? Did you recoup much of the cost of the cambelt replacement on the 156 when you sold it?
Edited by carinaman on Tuesday 30th June 15:38
xcseventy said:
Looks a nice example, and a bargain price!
I ran a same spec 2004 CDT for 40,000 miles a few years ago, superb car, and wish I didn't sell it.
You mentioned you're in North London? I took mine to these guys in Muswell Hill: http://mg-rwservices.co.uk/
Very knowledgeable, and a always had a good selection of cars lying around to look at.
Thanks! I'm in SE London, but could easily go to Muswell Hill, if I decide to get it done.I ran a same spec 2004 CDT for 40,000 miles a few years ago, superb car, and wish I didn't sell it.
You mentioned you're in North London? I took mine to these guys in Muswell Hill: http://mg-rwservices.co.uk/
Very knowledgeable, and a always had a good selection of cars lying around to look at.
Deep Thought said:
I chanced it on my MG ZT V6 for that reason - cost was going to equal a big percentage of the value of the car.
I got away with it luckily. I did advise the subsequent buyer they would need done and he said it would be the first thing he'd do as he planned on keeping the car.
I am minded to chance it, as I'm unlikely to keep it more than a year, it cost me 600 quid, and I am only likely to do 2-3k miles a year. I'm a little hesitant as will probably do a reasonable amount of short journeys, and apparently short journeys are more likely to stress the belt. They do look in okay condition from the little bit of the belt I can see, but I am no expert and I know its tricky to tell the condition of the belts from a visual inspection anyway/ I got away with it luckily. I did advise the subsequent buyer they would need done and he said it would be the first thing he'd do as he planned on keeping the car.
sjc said:
There's plenty of mobile guys on the 75andzt forum that will quote as well, get the water pump done as well if you ( not a cheap Chinese one either!).
The original branded belts had a built in life of 10 years 150k miles ( albeit the service interval for them was as you say 6 years/ 90K). I sold my previous 2004 one a few weeks ago at 133K miles with the belts last done at 30K in 2008.Most ex dealers will tell you that they've seen very very few cases of failure, premature or otherwise, whilst some enthusiast will think you are a disgrace to the marque by not doing them ! ( I may have overegged that but you take my point).
It will depend on how much you end up loving the car and want to keep it, the three I've had have always been bought as " if it breaks it breaks" cars and in no time at all they've been cars I've wanted to spend money on and get as good as I can, that may or may not be relevant to what great service they've given me.
You either look at it as double the price of what you paid virtually, or still a great buy as a £1300 car with the belts done. Either way, I don't think you can really lose.
Thanks - yes, would get all the ancillaries replaced at the same time if I did. I think it isn't something I'll do immediately, but maybe will reconsider in a few months. £500 or so isn't that much money in the grand scheme of things and as you say, that even adding that to purchase price makes it still a cheap car. The original branded belts had a built in life of 10 years 150k miles ( albeit the service interval for them was as you say 6 years/ 90K). I sold my previous 2004 one a few weeks ago at 133K miles with the belts last done at 30K in 2008.Most ex dealers will tell you that they've seen very very few cases of failure, premature or otherwise, whilst some enthusiast will think you are a disgrace to the marque by not doing them ! ( I may have overegged that but you take my point).
It will depend on how much you end up loving the car and want to keep it, the three I've had have always been bought as " if it breaks it breaks" cars and in no time at all they've been cars I've wanted to spend money on and get as good as I can, that may or may not be relevant to what great service they've given me.
You either look at it as double the price of what you paid virtually, or still a great buy as a £1300 car with the belts done. Either way, I don't think you can really lose.
PrinceRupert said:
sjc said:
There's plenty of mobile guys on the 75andzt forum that will quote as well, get the water pump done as well if you ( not a cheap Chinese one either!).
The original branded belts had a built in life of 10 years 150k miles ( albeit the service interval for them was as you say 6 years/ 90K). I sold my previous 2004 one a few weeks ago at 133K miles with the belts last done at 30K in 2008.Most ex dealers will tell you that they've seen very very few cases of failure, premature or otherwise, whilst some enthusiast will think you are a disgrace to the marque by not doing them ! ( I may have overegged that but you take my point).
It will depend on how much you end up loving the car and want to keep it, the three I've had have always been bought as " if it breaks it breaks" cars and in no time at all they've been cars I've wanted to spend money on and get as good as I can, that may or may not be relevant to what great service they've given me.
You either look at it as double the price of what you paid virtually, or still a great buy as a £1300 car with the belts done. Either way, I don't think you can really lose.
Thanks - yes, would get all the ancillaries replaced at the same time if I did. I think it isn't something I'll do immediately, but maybe will reconsider in a few months. £500 or so isn't that much money in the grand scheme of things and as you say, that even adding that to purchase price makes it still a cheap car. The original branded belts had a built in life of 10 years 150k miles ( albeit the service interval for them was as you say 6 years/ 90K). I sold my previous 2004 one a few weeks ago at 133K miles with the belts last done at 30K in 2008.Most ex dealers will tell you that they've seen very very few cases of failure, premature or otherwise, whilst some enthusiast will think you are a disgrace to the marque by not doing them ! ( I may have overegged that but you take my point).
It will depend on how much you end up loving the car and want to keep it, the three I've had have always been bought as " if it breaks it breaks" cars and in no time at all they've been cars I've wanted to spend money on and get as good as I can, that may or may not be relevant to what great service they've given me.
You either look at it as double the price of what you paid virtually, or still a great buy as a £1300 car with the belts done. Either way, I don't think you can really lose.
JeremyH5 said:
Yes yes yes! Mission creep and “better the devil you know” and “How much would a replacement cost and what faults would it have in turn?” thoughts all spring to mind.
Indeed. I think I just need to give it some time to make sure it is otherwise a decent motor! Hopefully it doesn't pop before I find that out 
If I did the cambelt, I might as well put four decent tyres on it too, and maybe get a smart repair on the damaged bumper, and before you know it, it is due me 2k. ...
As a quick update, I think I've now spent more on tools than I did the car (most of which I probably will never use...). It's all getting a little out of hand. Oil, filters, spark plugs on the way, drop links to fit on Friday. Here's hoping I manage! Rear spark plugs can apparently be a little tricky, and lets hope I manage to not damage the cylinder head, but going to give it a bash ...
As a guide for spark plugs, if it feels wrong it is.
When you're tightening the new ones in, do it by hand without a ratchet, seat them nice and gently, then twist anti-clockwise until you feel the threads drop, then switch to clockwise.
Oh, and the appropriate spark plug socket can help immensely because they're often very close to the inner diameter of the spark plug hole on twin-cam heads, so it's much trickier to cross-thread them.
I'd offer to give you a hand with the belts, but you're a bit far from me!
When you're tightening the new ones in, do it by hand without a ratchet, seat them nice and gently, then twist anti-clockwise until you feel the threads drop, then switch to clockwise.
Oh, and the appropriate spark plug socket can help immensely because they're often very close to the inner diameter of the spark plug hole on twin-cam heads, so it's much trickier to cross-thread them.
I'd offer to give you a hand with the belts, but you're a bit far from me!
Edited by Krikkit on Wednesday 1st July 14:33
Thanks! I ordered an appropriately-sized spark plug socket, to try and make my life easier. Apparently the rear spark plug bank is tricky to access, so let's see. Presumably once I have the spark plugs seated, I should use my torque wrench to tighten them to the correct level of torque?
On the belts, it is apparently a rather tricky DIY job! Still wondering whether I should bite the bullet and get it done.
I also want to replace the brake fluid and bleed the brakes, but the process seems a bit painful so might just pay someone to do it for me ...
andburg said:
old trick for hard to access plugs was slip the connection into some vac/fuel tube to get them into place and get them seated, you wont be able to cross thread them with the leverage available, once in and seated you can finish the job properly
Cheers - that's the tip in Haynes! Now to find some plastic tubing ...PrinceRupert said:
Thanks! I ordered an appropriately-sized spark plug socket, to try and make my life easier. Apparently the rear spark plug bank is tricky to access, so let's see. Presumably once I have the spark plugs seated, I should use my torque wrench to tighten them to the correct level of torque?
Yep, once you've snugged them by hand you can set the torque with the wrench, what I mean is the least likely way to make an arse of what could be a lightly furred up spark plug thread (at the top anyway) is to do them by hand for maximum feel.PrinceRupert said:
On the belts, it is apparently a rather tricky DIY job! Still wondering whether I should bite the bullet and get it done.
It doesn't look too bad to me - but I've done plenty of belts in the past, the worst being a Clio 172 with air conditioning which was an absolute bugger of a job.PrinceRupert said:
I also want to replace the brake fluid and bleed the brakes, but the process seems a bit painful so might just pay someone to do it for me ...
Easiest way to do brake fluid (imho) is with a pressure bleeder. My current favourite tool is a Gunson Eezibleed. It comes with a selection of caps that fit most reservoirs, but if you don't have the right size my suggestion is buy a spare cap and drill a hole - that way it's a perfect fit. They make a "universal" cap, but it's crap.After that it's just a case of getting the car on stands, wheels off, go round each caliper in turn and job jobbed.
PrinceRupert said:
andburg said:
old trick for hard to access plugs was slip the connection into some vac/fuel tube to get them into place and get them seated, you wont be able to cross thread them with the leverage available, once in and seated you can finish the job properly
Cheers - that's the tip in Haynes! Now to find some plastic tubing ...Looking at how much of a faff they are I'd leave the plugs until you decide on cambelt - if you're doing the belts then have the plugs done at the same time.
Edited by Krikkit on Wednesday 1st July 14:54
h then it will be easier on your back.Thank you! Perhaps I will have a poke around and see how access is and if it is painful, leave it until I get the belt done ...
Possibly stupid question - would it be a bad idea to replace the easy to replace front plugs and not replace the rear plugs if I find it too utterly painful...?
Possibly stupid question - would it be a bad idea to replace the easy to replace front plugs and not replace the rear plugs if I find it too utterly painful...?
If you're gonna' do the plugs, do the coils as well, they're are generally more troublesome than the plugs anyway and it'stops you having the pfaff of trying to access the back ones again.There is an access panel to get to the back ones apparently, which stops you having to take the manifold. Friend just had it done on my old V6, 6 plugs/coil packs £180 fitted. Another MGRover mech' reckons it's about an hour if you know what you're doing., much more if you don't!
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