As I said, the bonnet is up on a regular basis, and a close eye kept on levels, particularly coolant, after many previous years of experience with the 3.5 V8 in various saloons and a 1988 Classic, in fact the bonnet release lever broke in two recently! I've now driven Rover V8s continually since 1974 (starting with a 1969 P6 3500) which may be a record......
My interpretation of all the trouble with the P38 was firstly, the lack of a low coolant light (invaluable on the Classic), secondly, the extension from six to twelve thousand miles for servicing (could anyone have expected this to prolong the life of the old Buick engine??), and thirdly the fact that those who could afford a new RR were hardly likely to be the sort of people who would carry out regular underbonnet checks!
Our old P38 was serviced for the first four years of it's life by Rocar Moores at Huddersfield and at six thousand mile intervals, contrary to LR's stated twelve thousand miles.
Before buying the vehicle (from a non franchised dealer in Leeds) I phoned Rocar Moores and was assured that if it had a servicing stamp, then the oil would have been changed, and that was the deciding factor in buying it.
Regarding the comment above about failed head gaskets, that may well have been the initial diagnosis, but what had caused this? Surely the gradual loss of coolant leading to overheating, gradual or sudden, must have been the cause?
Peter.
