I still haven't fullyn perused David's post.But. Yes. Part of the issue is PO's ... neat expression ... Arthur Job. LOL


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P.S.

I being a mere simple 240 owner learning as best I can. I don't understand. Did I miss an early fundamental chat about replacing e.g. the cambelt, the thermostat, the basics? Being a simple person I start with the basics.

New to me. Not history really known. So fit new hoses including heater hoses, thermostat, all belts, possiby HT leads and components, check quickly so many electrical wires to the battery seen on looking before purchase Time spent on reconnaissance is never wasted.... .... init ......




X percent sozzled .... :)
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For a B21 or B23 engine, and the Royal Barge should have a B21A, the set of 6 small (10mm IIRC) bolts need to be undone, along with the various fasteners for the belt cover.

It's easier to remove the grille and radiator for visibility of the various pulley alignment marks, though on an auto-box not advisable since the connections never seem to re-make leak-free contact.

It's the B200/230 engines that need the crankshaft locking tool.

Like many others on the forum, I'm not going to comment on which engines are/are not interference ones.

Loki.

Yes. I found it best / easier to remove grill and radiator to view timing marks. If I remember correctly David prefers a powder compact mirror.

But. What's this about auto boxes and connections not being re made leak free? I'm lost. Again ....



Removing rad is a good time to replace hoses, thermostat, coolant ....



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It doesn't need to. Once you've removed the bolts and got the pulley off then the lower cover just unbolts and slips over the end of the crankshaft. Cutting the cover is only necessary if you can't get the pulley off.

That was a suggestion, i prefer an old door mirror glass but also have a dentists type miror on a telescopic pole (like a car aerial) but it's difficult to see much with that becausse it's small.

I think what 'loki' is referring to, Stephen, are the two ATF feed and return pipes to / from the heat exchanger, integral with the radiator, on automatic cars. As he rightly says, it is difficult to re-establish a leak-free connection on re-assembly. In my limited experience, it is also very easy to wrench those pipes too, but maybe that was just my ham-fistedness!

Regards, John.

PS I had the same thing on my last 745, when the heat-exchanger failed internally allowing cross-contamination of the coolant and ATF. That obviously meant a replacement rad and also involved considerable remedial work as well. To be avoided if possible, but if yours is a manual you do not need to worry about it!

John.

If not found in time, it can also destroy the auto-box John so if you escaped that, you were lucky!
I've taken a precautionary measure on my Rover against that, when i had to replace the radiator, i bought a separate ATF cooler and a manual radiator. The ATF cooler is mounted in front of the A/C condensor and the manual rad sits in place of the original auto rad, no problem.
Also the manual rad was available and half the price of the (NLA) auto rad! Even with buying the ATF cooler, it still worked out cheaper than buying the exact replacement - even if it had been available!

Sometime in the near future, i intend doing similar with the 760 as that is going to need a new rad soon. Just a case of dinging the correct radiator!

I had an auxiliary oil-cooler on the 745 too, 'L.S.'. The PO had a caravan and had fitted it for towing. Problem was, it was in addition to, not instead of, the one integral with the rad, so when that failed I still had a problem. It involved changing the ATF (several times), flushing the entire cooling system (several times), replacing all of the hoses, and probably some other things that I have forgotten. The 'box was fine thankfully, and must have gone on to do another 50k or so after that little drama. :regular_smile:

Regards, John.

That was the original thinking back then John when it would have been dealer fitted - run it as an extra to the radiator one. Trouble is, that actually heats the ATF as well so a stand-alone auxiliry cooler is better and actually does what it's designed to do.

You were very lucky with your box, despite the extra work involved in saving it.