Rover 75 Con SE 2.0L V6 - Petrol Smell Issue [Archive]

MacRy

12th February 2007, 15:14

Hi there. New to this site so hello to all existing members.

I've been thinking about buying a used Rover 75 Connoisseur SE for a while now and I finally took the plunge with a 2001 high mileage model (104k) on Saturday. It's the 2.0L V6 jobbie and i'm loving it, very refined and great to waft around in. Unfortunately I have noticed that the engine seems a bit lumpy at around 70 to 80mph and after a long run on the motorway (30 mile commute each way to and from work) there is a fairly strong smell of petrol in the cabin. It goes away after a while whilst continuing to drive at lower speeds. Anyone have any ideas what this might be? I'm not mechanically minded in the slightest so any explanation would need to be pitched at the level of a four year old :)

lildevil

12th February 2007, 15:27

Hi

Welcome to the club MacRy :).

I have a 2.0 V6 R75 and I have a smell that I guess I could say is a petrol smell.....it comes from around the exhaust area and its the Catalytic Converter in the exhaust due to the misfire that my car has developed it causes unburnt fuel to go straight through and burns the cat to nothing....the smell is of sulpher.

This could also be your problem as you said about it being lumpy. The reason I haven't had a new Catalytic Converter fitted is because the garage cannot seem to find the cause of the misfire.

Regards
Tom

MacRy

12th February 2007, 16:15

Hi Tom

It is definitely a petrol smell rather than sulpher and only lasts a couple of minutes before disappearing. Although I guess it could be a similar problem to yours.

lildevil

12th February 2007, 18:15

Hi Tom

It is definitely a petrol smell rather than sulpher and only lasts a couple of minutes before disappearing. Although I guess it could be a similar problem to yours.

Hi

I would love to be able to say oh ok thats good then it rules out the CAT. However.....hate to be the bearer of bad news and everything but mine started off as a petrol smell that would only last for a couple minutes it suddenly just come and go, whilst my mum was taking a drive in my car as she likes driving it she noticed the smell and worried it was the engine burning.

I hope that for your sake that it isn't the CAT because as I have read they aren't cheap....£££s.

I don't know if I have bin of much help to you.

Off topic however it would be great to see some pics of your car.

Regards
Tom

Keith

12th February 2007, 18:30

Hi MacRy

From what you say about yourself I would suggest you take it up to our tamed in house mechanic called Lates who is not far from you.

He charges very reasonable rates and does not bite, he will give you an honest evaluation of what if anything is wrong.

You say it has 104K on the clock, do you have a service history were the Cam belts done if not they need to be done asap.

Bernard LPG

12th February 2007, 18:48

There are a lot of "O" rings in the injector assembly. I did have one weeping a bit when I bought the car. As you can only see 4 out of the 6 injectors, I was lucky for once and could see which one. A quick twist of the injector back and forth and the "O" ring settled - no more smell of petrol. The "O" rings on the pipework would be a lot harder to fix.

MacRy

12th February 2007, 19:00

Hi

I would love to be able to say oh ok thats good then it rules out the CAT. However.....hate to be the bearer of bad news and everything but mine started off as a petrol smell that would only last for a couple minutes it suddenly just come and go, whilst my mum was taking a drive in my car as she likes driving it she noticed the smell and worried it was the engine burning.

I hope that for your sake that it isn't the CAT because as I have read they aren't cheap....£££s.

I don't know if I have bin of much help to you.

Off topic however it would be great to see some pics of your car.

Regards
Tom

You've been very helpful Tom, thanks. I hope that it isn't the CAT either as i'll be a bit upset at having to pay out loads after only having it for three days.

Pics to follow.....

Hi MacRy

From what you say about yourself I would suggest you take it up to our tamed in house mechanic called Lates who is not far from you.

He charges very reasonable rates and does not bite, he will give you an honest evaluation of what if anything is wrong.

You say it has 104K on the clock, do you have a service history were the Cam belts done if not they need to be done asap.

Funnily enough I have emailed Lates after hearing so many good things about them on these forums so i'll wait and see what he says.

It has a full service history but the book doesn't indicate that the cambelts have been done which should be at 90k miles I understand. I'm going to see if Lates can check that out and do it if necessary.

MacRy

12th February 2007, 19:01

MacRy

12th February 2007, 19:14

Piccies:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/388309677_5291f8c5e6_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/388309681_f1f04486d6_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/174/388309683_648273be26_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/136/388309689_0488e59759_o.jpg

Lates

12th February 2007, 19:18

Evening All,
Working my way through my emails so apologies if I have not got to yours as of yet. I am thinking that your 75 is in need of a diagnostic session tbh. The fumes added to uneven running definately indicates a problem. I would suggest sooner rather than later incase you do have a fuel leak which nobody wants or unburnt fuel is going down the exhaust causing potential cat meltdown meaning lots of pennies.

Edit: why is my username in bold now :dunno:

MacRy

12th February 2007, 19:26

Blimey you don't hang about do you :)

I only emailed you a couple of hours ago anyway. I did ask in the email if I would benefit from a diagnostic session and you have just confirmed that. I guess I would have to book an appointment for that then? How long does it generally take as I would like to hang around for it rather than go and "enjoy" beautiful Coventry ;)

lildevil

12th February 2007, 19:34

[QUOTE=MacRy;30986]Piccies:

Thats my car, you've pinched it and put a 2.5 V6 in it!. Lol its identical and nearly the same mileage.

Regards
Tom

MacRy

12th February 2007, 19:36

No it's the 2.0L V6 the same as yours. They're obviously twins :)

Lates

12th February 2007, 19:43

I need to be allocating at least an hour MacRy, when I have chased all the emails I will offer you a selection of appointments to see which suits you best.

MacRy

12th February 2007, 19:46

Nice one. Thanks for that mate and cheers for responding so promptly to this post. My email starts with ryantfisher by the way ;)

Whereabouts are you in Coventry by the way?

Lates

12th February 2007, 19:55

Your email was sent at 6:28 ;) you are 4th in the queue mate. Most of our work is in Rugby ( CV23 8DT ) btw.

MacRy

12th February 2007, 19:59

Your email was sent at 6:28 ;) you are 4th in the queue mate. Most of our work is in Rugby ( CV23 8DT ) btw.

Cool. Look forward to hearing from you. I presume I could book you for an hour and have the diagnostic work done and also a quick once over the rest of the car for any obvious issues? I'll wait and see what you say in the email. You're not too far away from where I work in Northampton so i'm pretty pleased with that.

driverjgp

12th February 2007, 20:00

Hello Mr L,

How are we? been through much washing powder recently? somehow I don't think so as I reckon Pete has been doing lots of work :D

Lates

12th February 2007, 20:21

Hello Mr L,

How are we? been through much washing powder recently? somehow I don't think so as I reckon Pete has been doing lots of work :D

Evening Mr JGP.Ouch, you know how to hurt a man eh ;) Anways we went modern and invested in jelly ball type washing liquid :pillow:

driverjgp

12th February 2007, 21:48

Evening Mr JGP.Ouch, you know how to hurt a man eh ;) Anways we went modern and invested in jelly ball type washing liquid :pillow:

Ha Ha :rofl:

lildevil

13th February 2007, 08:35

No it's the 2.0L V6 the same as yours. They're obviously twins :)

LOL! How dare you nick my car off me!! Its exactly the same interior the neptue blue which was a special line it cost something like £300 ive been told by somebody on here.....I just can't remember who.

You must have seen my one and was jealous and then went looking for its identical twin!! :) LOL. See we are all a happy lot here.

Regards
Tom

MacRy

13th February 2007, 09:24

LOL! How dare you nick my car off me!! Its exactly the same interior the neptue blue which was a special line it cost something like £300 ive been told by somebody on here.....I just can't remember who.

You must have seen my one and was jealous and then went looking for its identical twin!! :) LOL. See we are all a happy lot here.

Regards
Tom

I actually use yours when you're not around! ;)

lildevil

13th February 2007, 09:42

I actually use yours when you're not around! ;)

Lol. Thats why it always vanishes then.....you just wait im reporting you for theft. Lol

Thats why sometimes my misfire is worst than other days because you swap the cars around.....i finally see whats happening :)

Regards
Tom

MacRy

13th February 2007, 09:46

Lol. Thats why it always vanishes then.....you just wait im reporting you for theft. Lol

Thats why sometimes my misfire is worst than other days because you swap the cars around.....i finally see whats happening :)

Regards
Tom

Yeah and sorry about the stain on the back seat mate ;)

lildevil

13th February 2007, 09:51

Yeah and sorry about the stain on the back seat mate ;)

Lol no prob....come to think about it there actually is a slight mark on the back seat!!

Regards
Tom

MacRy

13th February 2007, 12:32

Lates have emailed me a load of useful info and i'm awaiting some dates and times from the man so I can take the old girl to see him for a diagnostic session. Seems like a nice bloke.

lildevil

13th February 2007, 13:13

Lates have emailed me a load of useful info and i'm awaiting some dates and times from the man so I can take the old girl to see him for a diagnostic session. Seems like a nice bloke.

I haven't personally been to Lates but i've only ever read good comments about him how professional they all are. I hope that it all goes well and turns out to be something simple.

Regards
Tom

driverjgp

13th February 2007, 13:42

Lates have emailed me a load of useful info and i'm awaiting some dates and times from the man so I can take the old girl to see him for a diagnostic session. Seems like a nice bloke.

Have you got her booked in yet?

MacRy

13th February 2007, 13:57

Have you got her booked in yet?

No not yet. Waiting for Lates to respond to my email so I guess that will probably be tonight.

MacRy

15th February 2007, 15:12

Well I spoke to Mr Lates last night and he has put me on to Mr Clive for a diagnostic session and I will be taking her over on Tuesday to see what the damage is. Fingers crossed it's something relatively inexpensive and benign.

MacRy

20th February 2007, 18:01

Met Mr Clive today and he diagnosed the petrol smell as a broken main breather pipe. I bought one for £6.21, fitted it myself in about two minutes flat and presto - no more petrol smell :) Well happy with that. Can't believe the previous owner had just wrapped some tape around the broken pipe insted of spending under a tenner and two minutes to fix it. Some people are lazy sods!

Clive also thinks that my throttle potentiometer is NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD- so i've got a new one and will have a go at fitting that myself tomorrow to see if the old girl runs a bit smoother. Fingers crossed.

A big thanks to Mr Lates for putting me on to Clive and having him allay my fears that I hadn't bought a pup. Top blokes the pair of you!

Lates

20th February 2007, 19:01

MacRy

20th February 2007, 19:27

How did you manage to buy a pipe for that price :shock:

Clive is our "overspill" and is good old school techy.We swap work between us when the need arises such as your urgent fuel smells and is part of Lates600 future plans ;)

Anyways I have spoken to Clive while your car was there and I think we have concluded the pot is up the swanny. If the pot replacement doesnt cure the vehicle ( dependent on how deep clive went ) you will then be into wiring / ecu checks. Let me know how you get on either way :)

If you think that's good wait till you hear how much I got the pot for........£42 ;) Helps having a brother who is the parts manager at Allen Ford.

I'm going back to Clive even if the pot does work as i've got some very noisy clonking springs at the front and Clive reckons a bit of grease might help sort that out.

Lates

20th February 2007, 21:39

Top spring bushes are presently on back order.

memo to self: kick clives butt for pinching my clients ;)

MacRy

21st February 2007, 07:47

Top spring bushes are presently on back order.

Do you reckon the top spring bushes are the problem then? Would it be worth waiting for them to come in stock and swapping them out rather than going through the pain of lubing them and then having to pay to have them replaced at a later date?

Edit:

Wasn't the potentiator as I replaced that this evening and it is still running lumpy under acceleration and at 70mph ish. Bit annoying as I could have done with not spending the £42 buying one :( I reckon it's Clive's laptop with the problem as it lost the connection completely a couple of times, not just on the throttle.

On the plus side - i'm totally chuffed with myself for successfully installing a part without having an outcome of me running screaming whilst on fire :)

Lates

21st February 2007, 20:22

I would be inclined to hang back for the replacement shock tops but the decision is yours really. If they get regreased and cleaned up its one invoice but a potential second if the noise re occurs.

I will hook up with Clive tomorrow to see if he can run some diags on another 75 this week to make some general comparissons.

MacRy

21st February 2007, 20:25

I take it shock tops are fairly expensive then? Clive said that they looked ok and the springs were just catching when the wheels turn. They make a god awful noise though which i'm sure is getting worse. I'm hopefully going to see clive again on Saturday to get them sorted and i'm sure he knows best.

Lates

21st February 2007, 20:28

We could both be thinking in different directions here mate. If Clive thought it was the springs in the lower cups making the noise then there would be no need to replace the shock tops. When I catch him up tomorrow I will find out whether its the top or bottom causing concerns. I assumed it was the tops,sorry

MacRy

21st February 2007, 20:33

No worries. I assume nothing as I don't have a barking clue :)

Lates

3rd March 2007, 19:38

Macry any update after todays visit ?

MacRy

6th March 2007, 11:25

Update is that the bearings do need doing and I will be getting in touch with you later on in the year to book it in for that along with the cambelts. Need to save up a few pennies first though.

Clive and I went out for a run in the old girl with the diagnostic doodah plugged in to see if he could find out why I was experiencing a feeling of it missfiring at 70mph. Unfortunately (or maybe that should be fortunately) everything was on the money with no missfires and nothing showing up out of the ordinary. Clive had a thought that it might be a dodgy tyre so he swapped back to front and it does seem to be marginally better although that may be psychological on my part. I'm going to replace all of the tyres to see if it eliminates the problem.

Clive was very good about the whole thing and once again, thanks for putting me on to him. You get the business next time for the springs and belts I promise :)

Lates

6th March 2007, 21:26

I am pleased that the misfire has kinda moved if that makes sense.I did pop in to borrow T4 for another 75 over in Rugby while your car was there and noticed the tyre conditions ( although not knackered I hasten to add ) and the wear patterns.We both "clicked" at the same time and suggested the front to back trick to see what differences would be had.

Keep us upto date when your put some different tyres on mate so we can put the symptoms to bed so to speak. I do also add for other viewers of this thread the symptoms described by yourself and clive do not normally indicate tyre noises.

Shock top bearings the last I heard were on back order with no release dates so watch this space as they say. Take care,