96, Rover 214s head gasket

He's talking out of his arse.

The only non K-Series engines in that shape IIRC, were the 1.6 Automatic which is a revision of the Honda D16 as seen in the earlier shape R8 200 series, and the diesel L-Series engines.

Everything else, be it 1.4, 1.6 or 1.8, is a K-Series.

It should be fine so long as the bottom end isn't knocking as of yet, and she stops using it now.

Make sure you get the improved head gasket now sold by Land Rover for 1.8 Freelanders afflicted with the same issues.

Oh ok. Maybe he (we were) was confused between the 8 valve and other (16V are they) K's?

Ok and noted. (not that it matters as such, as long as it's worth working on etc). ;-)

Ok, I'll check for the knocking and it's not going anywhere till it's sorted (or going to the scrappy).

Yes, I'd heard about that (another mate is a Landy fan) but thanks.

So, assuming it is the head gasket gone between a bore and a waterway, I assume the head would *have* to be skimmed [1]... ie, you can't just get away with one of the improved gaskets (not that we wouldn't do it properly but if we didn't actually need the skim etc it's all money saved).

Cheers, T i m

[1] This is just a local runabout, no intercontinental holiday trips towing a caravan etc. ;-)

The 1.4 K-Series came in both 8 and 16 valve versions.

Always best to at least get the head checked when the head gasket has failed, especially if the car has overheated... and one of the reasons head gasket failure can be so catastrophic for the K-Series is due to the relatively low capacity of the cooling system meaning it doesn't take long for them t.

Be a shame to put it all back together and have to pull it apart again for the sake of trying to saving a few quid on getting the head properly checked and / or sorted.

Aside from anything else, you're supposed to use new stretch bolts when you refit the head, which would really need to be replaced again if the head needed to be off briefly again.

Ok and thanks again.

So checked to see if it needs skimming (possible warping) or to see if it is cracked elsewhere (or both).

.. overheat ..? ;-)

Understood.

Oh indeed. I was just checking to see if it was one of those "It's going to go again soon no matter what you do now" jobs ... ie, Should she just get it running again and move it on to someone with more time / money or may have a spare lump etc.

Yep, I knew of such bolts and that they were especially to do with K series engine but not that this was a K and therefore would definitely have them etc (till you informed me otherwise that is). ;-)

Thanks again,

T i m

Aye... they very rarely crack on these though to be honest.

LOL, yes.

Nah, the new Land Rover head gasket coupled with the fact that the new gasket kits all come with metal head locator dowels rather than the plastic ones originally used by Rover means it's something which should at that age, outlast the rest of the car once changed. :-)

No worries... I'm actually ashamed to know so much about these. ;-)

Also sold by most motorfactors :

Phew, some good news then.

Sweet. We know it's only an 'old Rover' (as is mine) and the half tidy one she happened to have before this was recently written off by a drunk driver (poor little cow doesn't have much luck) so we are sorta stuck now following this one through for her as at least we know the head should be ok for a while (as you say).

Don't be, without the likes of you (and others here of course) where would us noobs be! Things were so much easier when I ran my Moggy Minor vans, MKII Escort and 2L Sierra (

On Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:34:23 -0000, "Fred"

I've had to fix three of these, mine and 2 of my mates. The price sounds right for the gaskets, make sure they have the steel dowels and not plastic ones as that is the gasket set that fails.

If the bolts are not stretched beyond the limit (tells you how to check in Haynes) you can reuse them but if one fails the check then replace them all. I reused all mine on 2 of the engines and they both did another 100k - one is still being rallied today with that gasket set and bolt sets. I love the engines - the deisgn is strong and they just get a bad press as if you overheat them badly, and that is easy to do after CHG failure then they warp the heads and need skimming.

Ok ..

Noted. I've just spoken to mate and he's got the head off and they were steel already. However, not only were some of the timing bet cover screws missing when he changed the water pump it seems quite a few of the manifold and other bolts were missing as well. :-(

Oh. I think mate quoted the service limit from his Autodata. I had thought these bolts we always single use.

Well that's proof in the pudding eh!

Shame isn't it, when something 'little' (poor head gasket design?) can spoil a range of engines as it seems to? Mind you, the K does seem to turn up in quite a few Rover / LR models and quite a few sports kitcars and specials eh!

Daughters Ka threw a bit of it's water yesterday, just as we came to a halt outside my mates (and the first time we have seen the red temp light come on in earnest[1]). We left it to cool down and put about 3L back in. I think it's losing water from the water pump (we have a new one ready) but only when you turn the engine off? I generally check it before every journey (she learning to drive in it so we aren't going far or fast) and generally just have to top-up the expansion tank by .5l. Luckily I think that 1300 Kent > Endura engine is pretty tough (I've had the 1300 Kent in the kitcar boil over a few times over the

20 years we've had it, typically when the electric fan has seized etc).

Cheers, T i m

[1] Is there are real temp gauge kit for the Ka, or do any of the models come with one? If not I was thinking of getting one of those little pod types like we used to fit. ;-)

[...]

No disrespect, but for the average small car owner, a warning light is more likely to invoke a response than a changing gauge reading.

In point of fact, modern cars don't really have a gauge; they are effectively just a tri-state indicator. Because they run acceptably over a wide range of temperatures, the ECU decides what is "normal", and keeps the needle pointing there unless the engine is "cold", or "overheating".

There is no way of seeing any subtlety of temperature change such as when in traffic, just before the fan is due to cut in for example. If that is what you want, some sort of separate instrument would be needed.

Chris

Agreed, I was thinking of the light for the regular driver(s) and the gauge for me. ;-)

Ah, I didn't know that. When the Rover 218SD lost all it's water I was able to drive it home on the (real) temperature gauge. I just eased off up the hills and if the temp started to creep up and let it bowl on down hill or when the temp started to fall again. ;-)

That's what I was thinking ... a 'traditional' mini temp gauge in a pod mounted somewhere out the way but visible. (not that the Ka dash lends itself to that sort of thing).

Cheers, T i m

p.s. I even thought of rigging up an LED VU meter type strip (amber / green / red). That would be easy to slip somewhere out the way.

"I thought it was fine, but then it just stopped with steam coming out the radiator. I don't understand, the water guage said it was full"

Isn't that getting a bit expensive in antifreeze or are you just adding water. If it's just water you are adding the system will be corroding inside and you could be looking at blocked radiators and perished hoses before long. The antifreeze protects them as well as preventing freezing. Sorry if you know about that but if you didn't it might save you a lot of repairs later and I'm sure you wouldn't want your daughter to be in the middle of nowhere with a burst water hose when she gets driving on her own.

:-)

My step-son worked for the AA for eight years. Some of his tales are hilarious.

Chris

Wasn't that tough when my sister managed to throw a rod in hers... ;-)

Indeed and thanks for the reminder. ;-)

This car is only being used now_and_again (when time allows) and only seems to use 1/2 l of 'fluid' *sometimes*. We currently keep a 1 L of antifreeze / water mix in the car and ensure that is filled before we go out.

The delay in getting it sorted is just a matter of getting daughter, myself and my mate (with his heated and fully equipped garage) available at the same time (fitting it in-between his wages paying work).

I could probably have done it sooner but she wants to be involved and do as much of it as she can.

We may find a slot over the Xmas sometime.

Cheers, T i m

p.s. She's driven about 25 miles through fairly crappy stop / start Nth London traffic today and it's hardly lost a drop.