Time is flying by faster than I expected and Im at the point where I need to make some tough decisions and some cuts to my budget... planned on getting the head gaskets done and the heads machines. Parts alone including machined heads will be around $700. If I cannot perform the job myself then add another $1,300 in labor to have the job done by a mechanic I know.

The debate over these engines differs greatly between the forum world and the non-forum enthusiasts. Most people on these forums maintain that the late model Rover v8's are a ticking time bomb, likely to detonate at any time regardless of how well you maintain it. Yet many other enthusiasts who themselves avoid forums swear that the majority of problems associated with these engines is nothing more than poor or improper maintenance by the owners. Everybody on the forums talks about blowing headgaskets for virtually no reason, while many folks elsewhere strongly disagree. On the forums most people associate the engine ticking to a slipped sleeve or something of that sort, elsewhere folks tell me that its much more likely to be your oil pump. They go on to tell me that these vehicles go through oil pumps more than they do engines or head gaskets. I spoke to one older gentlemen for advice on my upcoming overland trip and he told me that all i need to worry about is changing my oil and coolant on time every time and my truck will be just fine. He said hes taking his D2 across the US and back on several occasions with minor issues. He also suggested I do away with Rotella as the detergents not only help clean the engine but the formula of the detergents eats away at all the gaskets throughout the engine causing leaks and can encourage engine ticking. He suggested I follow the factory recommended oil "Castrol". With high miles he said use Castrol GTX High Mileage.

So I may have to cut out the headgasket job from the budget this time around and just take a chance and hope for the best. But Im thinking about changing out the oil pump and switching over to Cast high mileage to see if the ticking goes away and see if that helps my chances of a successful trip across the US and Canada. My truck just hit 148,000! and aside from the ticking shes still running strong, still no major coolant leaks (have a small occasional leak under throttle body heater) and no overheating. What do you guys think? Shouldnt my engine do just fine if I replace the oil pump, radiator, cooling hoses and coolant expansion tank? Already have the 180 thermostat and the water pump was replaced by previous owner. So with all that work done I cant imagine why or how anything else could go wrong..... knock on wood.

1: Headgasket job or
2: Oil pump

 

There are many different types of ticking these engines do. I can't say do one or the other without hearing it for myself.

When I had mine I ran 15w40 oil to keep it down as it's an old school push rod motor that makes a bunch of racket no matter what you do.

That doesn't mean you don't have a slipped sleeve or a failing oil pump but just know these motors are just sloppy.

Now. On top of that this motor isn't really a ticking time bomb more than any other v8 I've tinkered with but they are very susceptible to poor maintenance. A chevy or toyota thrives much better with poor maintenance.

But if I had to say one or the other, I'd say head gaskets. Over heating will warp your block and ruin the motor without you realizing it.

 

Change the oil pump first. Cheap and easy. See what happens after that.

I just tore down 2 motors this weekend

1) 2001 P38 Bosch 4.6- Broken crankshaft and outer ring of oil pump in 7 pieces

2) 99 P38 GEMS 4.6- Outer ring of oil pump in 2 pieces

I have also had 2 other motors with broken oil pump ring, seems to be common.

Your noise might be sloppy rocker arms, but a new oil pump never hurt anyone.

Be carful to check the front cover. I took a front cover to my machinist which I thought was good and he said if you can feel any grooves, the cover is no good and your oil pressure will be low. I ended up throwing away 4 front covers that I thought I was going to sell!

 

Mine was maintained.
At 47k the oil pump went without any prior notice, ticking etc.

 

So looking at the parts catolog on rovers north it looks as though the oil pump is built into a plate? So I won't even have to worry about checking my old one since I'm gonna replace. I have not looked into the details yet for replacing the pump but seeing how I recently replaced the power steering pump, I get the feeling I will be tearing apart many of the same components in order to access the oil pump. Is this true? Is it a hard job?

 

Not hard at all. Annoying yes. But not hard.

 

The oil pump is comprised of gears inside the front cover. On occasion those gears break and can score the plate. In that case, it's possible that replacing just the gears will not solve any issues.

 

and the oil pump you quoted me is a complete unit correct? Gears and the front cover? If so that should suffice. I think im gonna take this route. I know I should get the heads done but if my budget does fall short by April then im just going to take a leap of faith and drive up with my original head gaskets in place..... is there anything else I will need to buy while replacing the oil pump/front cover? Im not going to tear everything else apart but if there as any gaskets that sit between the front cover and the engine then I will want to get those.

 

Front cover gasket, oil pan gasket, crankshaft seal (unless the front cover comes with it already installed which it might), oil filter adapter O-rings, pickup tube o-ring, water pump gasket, oil, coolant.. probably forgetting a few things but that is most of it. Timing chain and gears possibly. Pretty much the usual Rover can of worms while you're in there situation..

 

Change the timing gears/chain while you're in there, especially with 148k. You'll also have the oil pan off, so inspect your main and rod bearings for wear. Pretty easy to change these while your in there; I'm betting they're well past the OE spec for minimum. If you find a fractured outer gerotor on your oil pump, you've experienced low oil pressure and you should put new bearings in for sure.