Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

New power steering reservoir has arrived.



Not sure how long I've been under the illusion that there was fluid in the old one as the dark shadow is there even when it's empty!

Tried to clean the inside unsuccessfully so opted for a new one.
Not as nice as the original as there's no script embossed on the top

Well all back together after the cam-belt change. Pleased I’ve done it , but quite a saga

Definitely would do that job again and it wouldn’t take anywhere as near as long as a lot of the stuff I removed and cleaned up wouldn’t need doing.

Some people could have rebuilt a whole car in the time it’s taken me to do this job

Just got to get to the bottom of why it now stalls on idle when up to temperature.
I’ll clean up the dizzy contacts, put some fresh petrol in and check the battery voltage this week and see if that makes a differences. Seems to run alright but then starts to stall on idle once it’s up to temperature.
Possible I may have disturbed a connection or a sensor didn’t like be idle for 6 months
Sadly I’m not sure I have the confidence, even if I get it running right , to take it to POL this year.

Looks like I’ve got the cam belt out of position on the inlet camshaft. Tried to reset it without taking the crankshaft pulley off but it’s not tensioning back up so have to open it all up again.

Small update
Sorted the idling issue out now that the timing is right rather than being one tooth out


I've done some longer local runs with no problems.
Going to a show at the Dart Farm near Exeter in 4 weeks which is a 60 mile round trip, which should give me the confidence that it's really ok for a longer run.

I'll worry about the bent power steering pipe at a later date when I've made up some tooling to straighten it,
I'll also modify my crankshaft locking tool which turned out to be a bit cumbersome to use in the restricted space and will make it easier to do the job.

I was amazed how quickly I was able to readjust the belt.
Apart from not removing the engine mount I pretty much disassembled all the bits that I did for the actual belt change .
It has given me the confidence that the next time it won't be such an ordeal.

I've done an oil, oil filter and air filter change at the same time and will probably change the plugs. The new set I had in got a bit carboned up with the incorrect timing and I swapped them for an old set just to get me going.


Going to try and sort the rear electric window next ,which hasn't worked for a few years, at least I can use the car while I work on that problem.

Plodder wrote: ↑Mon May 19, 2025 4:42 pm


Going to try and sort the rear electric window next ,which hasn't worked for a few years, at least I can use the car while I work on that problem.

Knowing that the rear windows on manual winding cars have a tendency to seize though lack of use over the years, I wonder if the same thing has happened with yours? If so, hopefully it will not have caused any damage to the electric motor.

I can’t remember when it stopped working. They’re all a bit sluggish after 34 years but I tend to operate them all , and the sunroof and door mirrors , as a matter of course whenever I get in the car . I have the feeling they may have stopped working when I had a load of work done on the bodywork. Not sure yet where the wires run down inside the door pillar. Wondering if the wires got damaged during the welding of the new sills.
I’ll get the door card off and see if I’ve got any voltage at the switch and work backwards or forwards from there, I know the fuse was ok when I checked when they first stopped working.

Whilst I was doing the cambelt I changed the brushes on the alternator.
They were almost worn out after 140K miles
Old ones on the left , new ones on the right

Finally refitted the last two power steering pipe brackets to the rear front subframe , which I removed during the power steering pipe fiasco.
Refitted the repainted steering box cover.



Jury still undecided as to whether I should have stayed with the original black rather than silver, and that's just me

Another MOT passed with no advisories despite the guts of the rear door hanging out.
Just in the process of purchasing a new motor and window mechanism from another member so hopefully have 4 functioning electric windows soon

New electric window mechanism replaced and now fully functional after being broken for 5+ years.



Have removed the old motor from the old mechanism ,
Trying to work out how to open up the motor to see if it is repairable.
Just need to bend the metal tags up on the motor casing without damaging the plastic moulding that the metal tags locate into.



I had hoped to fit a new external door handle to the same door but struggling to disconnect any of the various rods in the door to allow the old one to be removed.


Next job to replace tie rod ends, drop links and front roll bar bushes over the winter so I can get the tracking done before next years show season