Good question.

 

I'll comment to this as I have also rebuilt many motors. Do not use internal cleaners. That is unless you prefer to break up that sludge and allow it to travel to places it hasn't been yet. Heat causes sludge. Keep your engine temperature under control and change the fluid right before the viscosity begins to breakdown. The best way to clean an engine is to remove it and solvent wash it or pressure hose it. Leaving the engine in the vehicle is a half-!@# job. NEVER drive a vehicle with cleaner in the oil. It will destroy your engine. I say no to all engine additives.

 

Let me re-state the question:

If you have a Rover that was previously owned by someone who did not take good care of it, and there is sludge in the engine, how much sludge can you remove by dropping the pan and cleaning it out? Does most of the sludge settle there, or in the valve cover area, etc? These are the large open areas, the rest of the engine is small passageways, except the area surrounding the camshaft. So would you estimate that you could get 50% of the sludge by physical cleaning of the pan, and perhaps the valve cover areas?

 

It you're not going to pull an engine, do a complete teardown and rebuild trying to clean an engine, especially from the top down is only asking for trouble. The damage as been done. Beside removing the pan and pickup tube and scouring them clean there is little else I would advise to do.

This goes back to my original contention. These are old engines that have, in many cases, been treated badly as they have gone through various owners. That is why I find all this dickering about gaskets, cleaners, additives, ect to be a waste of time. The only thing you can do is provide regular oil changes with quality motor oils. In cases where there is bad build up changes may need to be preformed earlier that 3000-3500 miles.

How many people are actually going to spend the kind of money it takes to remove and rebuild an engine when the vehicle itself isn't worth the cost of labor?

Another issue we all know as a fact is cam wear with these engines. It is not uncommon for them to need a new cam as early as 100K. So, let me ask you how many Rover engines actually have that job performed? If this is a known why don't more people do the job? It's simple. People who buy vehicles for a couple of grand are resistant to spending another grand or more on much needed regular maintenance.

Don't even get me started on the ABS system. When was the last time the brake fluid was flushed out and replaced on your DI. According to Rover it is to be done every two years. I'm not going to take the position that the DI ABS system is the best, it was built to a price point, but if the fluid hasn't been changed in ten years how well can we expect it to perform?

Again, this gets back to my point. How, after ten or fifteen years and countless owners, can we really expect to solve this abuse with gaskets, cleaners and additives. As the third, fourth, fifth or whatever owner you may be of your Rover, it is not the same vehicle it was when it was new(or at least younger) and there is very little besides fluid changes that is remotely cost effective that will remedy this. I try to be as practical as I can with these vehicles otherwise they can drive you to the poor house and make you crazy.

 

Well put, with concise explanation. Thank you very much. I bought mine for low dollars, with the intent my high schooler drive it for her first car. Can get herself out of the ditch, and sturdy enough in a collision. And you are right, I would not spend $1K on repairs, unless I did it over a series of months (a starter this month, etc.). And while all those additives sound good and in some cases do work on a very narrow range of exact circumstances, none of them has been shown to re-grow metal.

 

One thing you have to fear when trying to clear away sludge, particularly from the top is dislodging it only to have it block a more significant area like an oil passage way. This goes back to the problem of cams and the lack of oil that causes the early demise of the rear lobes/lifters, ect. Sludge can cause a reduction in oil pressure, increased heat and make matters worse when it comes to wear on metal. Take a look at some of the photos on RPI's website ("RPi Engineering - Specialised Rover Engines") and you'll see why I stress proper maintenance over a lot of the stuff that gets recommended on these sites.

 

So if one wanted to, they could remove the valve covers, oil pan and oil pump pickup screen when they purchase a used LR, scrub them clean, and reinstall them as part of the maintenance checklist to see what problems they may have in the future....then, if there was a sludge buildup, they hopefully can not worry about the sludge blocking passages and also have a glimpse into the future of their valve train based on what they find.(no saying it will fix any wear issues, but it could prolong the life span of an engine and cost less than a bunch of additives that could potentially cause more harm than good.