rover p6 v8
- Thread starter woody
- Start date
hi everyone just had a 10 mile drive oil pressure was reading around 30 at 35 to 40 mph. but back home it dropped to around 10ish on tick over.no worrying noises though.going to go down the same route as stina .your car looks nice by the way stina. 
do i undo the bolts and then just lift the rocker shafts off. and is it wise to strip the rocker shaft assembly to clean everything . :?: i took the rocker boxes off this morning and ran the engine not a lot of oil there. ive read on the forum that v8s will still run ok like that but i would like a bit more pressure just for piece of mind . thanks woody
do i undo the bolts and then just lift the rocker shafts off. and is it wise to strip the rocker shaft assembly to clean everything . :?: i took the rocker boxes off this morning and ran the engine not a lot of oil there. ive read on the forum that v8s will still run ok like that but i would like a bit more pressure just for piece of mind . thanks woodyHi Woody
Nice to finally have a run out, eh?
10psi at hot idle isn't a catastrophe on a Rover V8. Yes, we'd prefer them to be around the 30psi at hot idle mark, but they will run for years and years as yours is now. The key thing with yours from now on in is to change the oil at the correct intervals - 3,000 miles - take no notice of what it says in any manuals you see! - and to use a suitable fully mineral, ie not synthetic, low detergent, 20w50 oil. Any more modern oil or extended change intervals will kill the engine. For a set of recommendations as to what to use, you can read my upcoming technical article in the next issue of the Rover P6 Club magazine. Don't forget to change the oil filter every time you change the oil!
As far as uprating the oil pump to a high capacity one goes, that will have very little effect on your oil pressure, just that there will be more oil going round the engine.
Clearly, making sure you have good oil supply to the rockers, as Stina has done, is a good idea. But the fault that that addresses is a top end rattle - not low oil pressure. If you do have the rocker shafts and pedastals off, by all means thoroughly clean the components you have removed from the engine. Do Not clean the area of cylinder heads you have exposed from under the rocker gear and covers! If you do, you risk particles of carbon escaping and being flushed down into the sump and on into the oil pump and oil system. They are quite safe where they are now, if they finish up in a crankshaft oilway you will again risk killing your engine.
Unless there is something other than the reading on the gauge bothering you, my recommendation would be to leave well alone until such time as you feel rich enough and sufficiently motivated to have the engine out of the car and undertake a full rebuild. Out of necessity rather than choice, that sounds to me like it is a long way away at the moment. You can do all Stina's upgrades then. Right now, I would have thought they were wasted on an eldely but functional engine.
Chris
Nice to finally have a run out, eh?
10psi at hot idle isn't a catastrophe on a Rover V8. Yes, we'd prefer them to be around the 30psi at hot idle mark, but they will run for years and years as yours is now. The key thing with yours from now on in is to change the oil at the correct intervals - 3,000 miles - take no notice of what it says in any manuals you see! - and to use a suitable fully mineral, ie not synthetic, low detergent, 20w50 oil. Any more modern oil or extended change intervals will kill the engine. For a set of recommendations as to what to use, you can read my upcoming technical article in the next issue of the Rover P6 Club magazine. Don't forget to change the oil filter every time you change the oil!
As far as uprating the oil pump to a high capacity one goes, that will have very little effect on your oil pressure, just that there will be more oil going round the engine.
Clearly, making sure you have good oil supply to the rockers, as Stina has done, is a good idea. But the fault that that addresses is a top end rattle - not low oil pressure. If you do have the rocker shafts and pedastals off, by all means thoroughly clean the components you have removed from the engine. Do Not clean the area of cylinder heads you have exposed from under the rocker gear and covers! If you do, you risk particles of carbon escaping and being flushed down into the sump and on into the oil pump and oil system. They are quite safe where they are now, if they finish up in a crankshaft oilway you will again risk killing your engine.
Unless there is something other than the reading on the gauge bothering you, my recommendation would be to leave well alone until such time as you feel rich enough and sufficiently motivated to have the engine out of the car and undertake a full rebuild. Out of necessity rather than choice, that sounds to me like it is a long way away at the moment. You can do all Stina's upgrades then. Right now, I would have thought they were wasted on an eldely but functional engine.
Chris
