Page 13 - Buyers Guide

Rover P5 Club

Home	Events	Area Meets & Reps	Cars for Sale	Buyers Guide	Parts	List of Services
Club Information	Membership	Magazine	Regalia	Rover Sites	Committee	FORUM

Buyers Guide - Mechanicals

Click below for specific information	A more in depth article can be found in the Bi-monthly Club Magazine - available when you join the Club.
	Engine The 3 litre & 3.5 litre engine will last for well over 150,000 miles. Change oil every 3,000 miles and check the level of antifreeze and/or inhibitor in the radiator. Ideally the car should have service records or receipts of work done. Check for a clean and tidy engine bay.
A, B, C & D Posts
Body & Chrome
Inner Wings
Leather & Interiors
Mechanicals	Engine oil should be clean. The engine is prone to slight leakage around the join to the gearbox. No leakage should be apparent around the heads. Check the water in the radiator to ensure it’s both clean (no white ‘scum’ on the surface) and sufficient antifreeze has been added both during the summer and winter. When started, the engine may be slightly noisy until warmed, then it should settle to a quiet ‘burble’.
Sills
Window Scuttles
Wood Facias

Back to Main Buyers Guide
	Automatic choke (if fitted) switch the engine off before it gets too warm and trying to restart it after about a minute - a faulty choke would result in the engine either failing or reluctant to start. Note, depending upon the date of production, some cars are fitted with a manual choke. The automatic gearbox should be smooth both changing up and down. Check the Kickdown on a CLEAR ROAD - it change down smoothly and accelerated quickly! Check the fluid is clean and red. It should not be brown and smell of rotten eggs, which could mean an expensive rebuild.
	Manual gearboxes on the 3 litre only should be extremely smooth - carefully check the overdrive unit. Power steering especially on the P5B is extremely light and does leak. The P5 3 litres came with the optional power steering.
This is intended as a guide to potential purchasers of the P5 marque and as such neither the Rover P5 Owners Club nor their Representatives can be held responsible for any decision the reader makes in the purchase of his or her car.
If you have a question on a specific topic, please see which member of the committee can help and send an e-mail by clicking on the relevant name in blue after the committee member's name.