The rover is to replace my currentlyeased car, because I don't do much driving these days. So happy to invest a little to solidify it.

I'm currently using ARP studs on mine, one of my long term goals with this is to get the block redone with flanged liners, so I think I might reassemble for now (after fitting the new valley gasket) and then take it to a specialist soon...

+1 on both sides of the gasket. A continous bead with no gaps.

Thanks both. I'll have a go when the gasket arrives. I've got the red sealant stuff too so looks like the right stuff. Still concerned about the discovery of gunk on my oil cap - debating whether or not I should take the heads off and inspect...

Possibly, I've order a new gasket anyway. I got the Reinz one over the OEM one, hopefully that was the best choice. How thick should you apply the sealant around the ports?

Intake manifold is off. Aside from some messy work with the sealant, does this look like the culprit of a leak?

Update: Stripped down a bunch so far, seems to be a nice pool accumulating on the valley gasket: After work I'll pressurise the system again and pinpoint the leak hopefully. But... While I was tearing down, I took off the oil filler cap+neck...

BTW, for the coolant pressure test, I have two of those no-name kits, and found the documentation on what car each is for to be wrong. As said above try several caps until you find one that seals properly.

Not a huge amount of work, but it would take me a few days as I'll be at work during the day, so only have an hour or two each evening (weather dependant). Can I reuse the valley/intake gasket if I scrape off the existing sealant?

I used some red RTV sealant around those ports, perhaps I made a bad job of it. Only one way to find out how suppose! 🔧 Can the intake manifold + fuel rail be removed without taking off the alternator/ps pump? That would save me a lot of time

Update: Found the right cap and pressurised to about 14 psi. Leak quickly started dripping from around the rear of the engine. Stuck the endoscope down and saw this: That looks like the culprit. Looks like coolant is leaking out of the bolt...

I'll have a look now. I did get this picture of the rear valley gasket seal, it does look a bit wet there although is hard to tell with this tiny endoscope. It seems that signs are pointing to it being the source though. If it is - is there a...

Pressure tester arrived today. Not sure if I'm doing this properly - I've sxrewed the test cap on and tried pumping some pressure in, but the air escapes straight away before any pressure is built. It looks like a simple device - screw on...

I’ve ordered one of those boroscope cameras that connects to my phone. Was looking underneath again today - any idea what this is/was? Looks like it’s melted.

I suppose the only way I’ll find out is to start stripping again - just when I thought it was all going smoothly! Might start with the upper manifold and see if I can feel behind the engine to get an idea.

Just had another look, drip seems to stop when the engine is off, but starts again when engine is running and getting up to temp/pressure. Coolant level looks good in overflow. Didn't have this problem before today - possible that refitting the...

Update: I checked the coolant level and topped it up today, but noticed quite a considerable drip coming from the back side of the engine, near the gearbox: Any idea where that could be coming from? The hoses on the cabin inlet/outlet are dry...

Coming from one of the wheel arches so think it might be brakes/suspension, but I'll save that for another thread :)

Took it for a quick spin to Tesco. Never had so much anxiety in my life! Eyes spent more time on the temp gauge then they did on the road. Temp looked to be sitting nicely in the middle when I arrived home: First run in a few months and...

Week later update... Fitted a new rad and very slowly refilled the coolant (well just plain water at the moment), and let it run. 15 minutes later, engine still running, and temp looks like it's sitting in the middle: I didn't let it run any...

In my case i only got the noise in the vid when it was proper hot.. 90c plus

Once the new rad arrives, I'll start it up and record a video for your judgement

I do have a noise when the engine is running, but it sounds like it's coming towards the top side, and it's not quite as loud as that. Hoping it was just noisy tappets

Thanks all for your input. Sounds like a new rad might be the best way forward then. I'm a little bit apprehensive - I'm still not sure if the liners have slipped so spending £100 on a rad seems like it might be foolish before I've ruled out if...

That's with the tap open just a small amount. Fully open and I get soaked from the splashback out of the top :D

Thanks both. I've just left some concentrated Holts in it for the last half an hour. Plenty of little copper flakes coming out. Here's a video of the flow - you can see that the water overflows from the top before it starts draining out of the...

Afternoon, Lovely weather. Finally got the rad out today - been blasting each entry/exit with a hose until the water runs clear. I did notice that the flow of water in to the top hose is quite restricted - any mid-high pressure from the hose and...

Thanks for that - good to know I won't need to remove the fan. I managed to persuade the first bolt out with a propane torch, and I found the other behind that piece of unknown plastic trim. Just like the first one, it's also spinning freely so...

I dont think you will need to remove the fan. -Remove both coolant pipes from the radiator and try to position the thermostat in an out of the way spot. -Remove the top portion of the fan cowling. -Remove the two metal clips at the top of the...

Drained from the plug on the bottom Didn't get anywhere today unfortunately, couldn't get the bolt on the rad to loosen without the nut going with it. There's always something small in the way! Try again tomorrow