Rover 214si 1998 Loss of Coolant / Overheat

Jul 06, 2006 2 Replies

The other day I began to loose power suddenly at about 75- 80 mph on the motor way. Lots of steam from exhaust and what felt like a mis fire.



I have been told by various people that the engine is probably a write off but then they have all been fairly keen to make a few quid.



Anyway I am now trying to decide whether it is worth getting the problem investigated or scrapping it on the basis that I have knackered the engine.



The AA man did not detect exhaust gases in the cooling system with his gadget full of fluid.



Although the engine was running rough it did not stall and will still turn over on the starter. It only stopped when I turned it off and now will not start.



No sign of water in the oil or water in the radiator bottle. However the bottle is dry.



The temp guage needle was not massively above normal when I stopped.



If anyone has any thoughts on a diagnosis / what I should look at first, let me know.



Cheers



Rich



Given the vehicle, the damage is likely to be expensive. The K-series engines are notorius for overheating/cylinder head gasket failure, which can lead to even more expensive damage (cylinder heads are known to sink when overheated)

It may be worth getting some basic checks done (compression test and cooling system pressure test), which will give some indication of whats wrong. But given the age, if it points towards something major, then it would probably be more economical to scrap it.

It could be something simple like the inlet manifold gasket, but given the white smoke and misfiring, and the fact it's now not starting, does sound like something major has gone wrong.

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