Caused by worn camshafts and timing chain stretch.
Situation Overview
Localised engine overheating can be the result of just one or a number of cylinders that will run very hot due to individual camshaft lobe wear. Mostly this will go undetected for a long period of time due the nature of the Rover V8 Engine. Indeed, worn cam lobes on a Rover V8 may seem to falsely improve idle and even give some small initial torque gains. However, at higher RPM and engine load they will cause individual cylinders to run extremely weak.
So as well as the obvious power loss resulting in damaging high cylinder temperatures, and damage to the rest of the engine caused by low level fragments or shards of worn cam lobe that will cause protracted wear in your engine.
Symptoms
Engine overheating linked to a weak fuel mix caused by cam lobe wear or stretched timing chain will be noticed in rising engine coolant temperatures when accelerating hard and for prolonged or continual periods. This is also true with with protracted hard driving, say climbing long uphill roads or steeper inclines and such situations are further exaggerated if you are towing a caravan, trailer or anything else that will cause additional engine load. Indeed the symptoms are very much the same as a weak fuel map or inefficient Carburettor.
Reliable Assumptions
It can be assumed that any Rover V8 engine can have a worn camshaft, worn tappets and stretched timing chain beginning as low as 40,000 miles if it has a life as a town car or as late as 100,000 miles or more if it has accumulated its miles on long motorway journeys. One of the best indicators is to take a look inside where you can see what its likely that you have.
Appropriate Correction
Replacing the camshaft and associated components is normally quite straight forward and can be done in almost all cases with the engine in situe. This also then represents a good opportunity to upgrade your camshaft specification too. Thus we offer both standard camshaft kit replacements as well as our highly acclaimed Piper Cams and J&P Timing gear.
