Complex sentence: Throughout the engine's service it was seen as a dependable and reliable, if slightly staid and tractor-like, engine and these liners never gave the trouble experienced by other engines such as the much later Rover K-series.
Split into simpler sentences: Throughout the engine's service it was seen as a dependable and reliable engine, if slightly staid and tractor-like. The liners never gave the trouble experienced by other engines such as the much later Rover K-series.