First and foremost, I have to tell you that I know little to nothing about vehicles. So, if you know what the problem is and care to explain, please do so knowing that it's all Greek to me.

Problem: After using my car and returning to reuse it after leaving it off for a short period of time, it refuses to start. It sounds as if it's out of gas, but it's not. It's happen quite a few times, so I'm beginning to worry it's something serious. I've noticed that the fan that usually blows to keep the engine and whatnot cool hasn't been blowing (previously it would run after the car was shut off if I had driven it a lot), so that's a possibility. You should also know that it does have an oil leak and power steering fluid leak. I'm not sure if those could be related, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

1. From your description, we can tell it is a genuine Rover (oil and fluid leak, overheating).

2. Your electric fan should come on right away if AC is switch on, if it does not start looking at bad fuses, etc.

3. The won't restart when hot is very typical of the crank position sensor failing. It is on the side of the engine on driver side (North America). If you want to be sure, when it happens, take off a plug wire, attach to spare plug, lay on exhaust manifold, and crank. If the CKP sensor is bad, no sparks. Can be cooled off with a bottle of cold water also. See attached, about $70 part. Print aout and take to mechanic. Also, the part needs to be put back on exactly with every spacer in place, it is very sensitive to spacing.

There is also a fuel temp sensor that might be considered if CKP is good.

 

Thank you so much! I'll definitely check this out!

 

You can buy a single spark plug to do this test for $1.
Keep it in the glove box, next time this happens, just like Buzz said, remove spark plug wire, does not matter which one, hook it to the spare spark plug, crank the engine over and look for a nice big blue spark.
You may need to get a helper, have them crank the engine over while you watch for spark.
DO NOT hold the spark plug, 50,000 volts does not feel good.

As for the electric fan, it should not be on after you shut the engine off, I am betting your clutch fan is bad, no big deal, buy a new one and have a shop install it.
Keep in mind that if you overheat the engine you will turn it into a boat anchor.

Various leaks have nothing to do with the no start.
Remember that the power steering system uses ATF, I use Valvoline Maxlife ATF, it helps to stop the leaks.
Also, the next time you get the oil changed make sure they use 10w-40.

 

It almost sounds like you've been driving my truck. I had the identical issues with my '96. I would drive it and come back and it wouldn't start. I began have overheating issues to. When I first got my truck, the two a/c fans sounded like hurricanes. Then one trip north through desert temps and it's done. Eventually, it turned out to be my fuel pump and my mechanic and I think the low fuel pressure may have cause the ecm to change the air/fuel settings and ran the engine lean, which caused the overheating. After changing my fuel pump, replacing my a/c fans, and changing my viscous fan clutch, most of the symptoms went away. Now I only overheat on really steep hills. I think my problem is with my radiator now, though. FWIW, that was my problem and you might want to look into that just to cover your bases.

 

This is news to me. When I got my truck (used w/97k on the odo), the a/c fans would stay on after I shut my truck down and stop after about 15 minutes. I guess my bad fan clutch was responsible. Interesting.

 

From page 755 of the RAVE manual

Fan timer unit
The thermostatically controlled timer will continue to
operate the cooling fans after the air conditioning or
ignition is switched off. When the system temperature
is excessive, the fans will operate for 10 minutes to
reduce condenser and underbonnet temperature

 

I was just thinking about it after I posted my last and my new fans stay on after my ignition is shut off, then shut off after the truck cools.

 

I had hot restarting problems cause of a hole in a vacuum hose, at least that is my belief. Replaced the hose and the problem has vanished, anyone heard of this before?

 

Thats because your truck is on the verge of oveheating.
Replace your fan clutch, tech section, DI.
I had the same problem, fans would stay on after driving in the summer with the a/c on, temp gauge read normal, electric fans stayed on.
Replaced fan clutch, no more electric fans running after shut down.
You would need to hook up a live data OBDII scanner to read the engine temps.

I am assuming you have replaced the thermostat and checked the condition of the radiator and have enough coolant in it.