Rover Head Gasket

It sounds like you have a head and gasket problem.

Likely cost to do the job properly is about 400 pounds.

MrCheerful

If you've no other symptoms, you might get away with re-torquing the head bolts. The theory is that the stretch bolts should never need re-torquing. The practice is that they can ease off a little over time, and if you're lucky you might just stop the problem before the gasket goes. Worth trying as you won't make anything worse, and might save (or postpone) a pricey job - £400 sounds reasonable.

Bloody hell, where do you live? Going rate around here is =A3100-=A3150.

--=20 Conor

"The vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world.=20 And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."

- George Bush

If you've no other symptoms, you might get away with re-torquing the head bolts. The theory is that the stretch bolts should never need re-torquing. The practice is that they can ease off a little over time, and if you're lucky you might just stop the problem before the gasket goes. Worth trying as you won't make anything worse, and might save (or postpone) a pricey job - £400 sounds reasonable.

Bloody hell, where do you live? Going rate around here is £100-£150.

You can probably just change the gasket for that price, but to do the job properly with new stretch bolts (£80 a set) and a resurfaced face on the head £400 is nearer the mark. Of course, you might be lucky and just need a gasket, but I would assume the worst until I know better.

re-torquing.

AFAIK the 214 is a K-series, and they're pretty well known for head gasket failure. Probably best off to get it sorted now than motor around and risk warping the head IMO.

Only suggested it as it worked for me (touching wood furiously here) and it could fix the problem without a large bill. Some mechanics recommend retorquing the head every few years on these engines, I was doubtful until it fixed my problem. The 1.4 K isn't nearly as bad as the larger engines as regards catastrophic failures, but many seem to develop small oil leaks over time.

Didn't realise you knew it was the K series when you posted. Does the 214 have a temp guage BTW?

BLOODY HELL!!!!!!! A full set of stretch bolts for a Zetec engine is=20 only =A310 from Ford!! A head skim is around =A330-=A350.

Methinks you're either paying through the nose or you're being fed=20 lies.

--=20 Conor

"The vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world.=20 And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."

- George Bush

Am I imagining things, or did I read somewhere that the K-series engine design uses "through bolts" which literally run right from top to bottom of the engine rather than separate bolts for head, crankcase etc?? Also I seem to remember something about a special jig being needed in order to prevent deformation of the block when these bolts are disturbed.

Or am I talking cobblers?

Dan

Yes it does. The real issue with the K series is that there is little excess coolant in the system, so a small leak can easily cause a big problem. If there was any sign of a coolant leak, I would suggest a new gasket without hesitation, but this just sounds like a bit of oil seepage so maybe not worth expending a huge amount on - the car is probably only worth around a grand now anyway, so £400 is a lot to spend.

BLOODY HELL!!!!!!! A full set of stretch bolts for a Zetec engine is only £10 from Ford!! A head skim is around £30-£50.

Methinks you're either paying through the nose or you're being fed lies.

Rover has through-bolts remember, which go from the head all the way to the main bearing caps. They are not cheap. The gaskets are pretty expensive too.

Yes you're right they are through bolts - given the loads they are subjected to, it's surprising how good they are at the job - pricey if you need to change them though. I don't think there is a problem when removing the head, as there are some shorter bolts which hold the main bearings and oilway in position when the head is removed. You just have to make sure the engine isn't rotated when the head is off, as this will cause the wet liners to be displaced.

If the engine is running at the correct temperature and you have no coolant loss don't worry about it. The engine will go for ages. Probably just needs the coolant changing. See how you go on after that.

I think the head was weeping a little on my proton but that didn't stop it doing another 40k miles. Drive em into the ground is my motto.

I have had two coolant leaks in the past but had them fixed (leak from the inlet manifold gasket and water pump - pump was replaced). Like you say, car only probably worth £1,000 so if it was to come to £400 for sorting it wouldn't be worth it. And I haven't exactly got 400 big ones in my back pocket.

Cheers Paul, West Yorks

The inlet manifold gaskets always go on these (MPi engine with plastic manifold) as the originals were rubber, which is attacked by the petrol vapour and splits. Hopefully you had the new polymer (green) gasket fitted, as this is a permanent cure. A new water pump is never a bad thing either on a K series, as a siezed one will snap the timing belt and wreck the engine. Doesn't sound like your problem is terminal - good luck Bob

Rover 214 SEi 1994?? Unfortunately, try nearer £500 unless yours is sub 40k miles with FSH. Just another indicator of a poor sellers market at the moment for anything older than 5 years. Don't believe me? Take a peek at

In that light, try everything else before submitting it for the full K series head gasket job. If your temp ain't dodgy, try changing the coolant, which may have become contaminated from the inlet manifold and pump jobs??

Best of luck.

-- Ken Davidson

snipped-for-privacy@removehotmail.com remove remove to email

In news:HR8Tb.568$ snipped-for-privacy@wards.force.net, Paul decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Rover K series motors are notorious for head gasket failure, most of the garages where I live won't touch one with a bargepole, to the extent there's no Rover main agent in Liverpool. I tried to price getting one done the other week on a 416 K series and most of the garages just looked and laughed.

one of them threw in the comment "Pah K series? No chance of us doing that mate, it'll cost a fortune then blow again in a few months, they always do"

which was refreshingly honest. Unlike Rover who say "there isn't a problem with K series head gaskets".. when Land Rover (owned by Ford) reckon the 1.8 K series Freelander "Has a problem" and does them on warranty, no quibble.

On the other hand, the smaller K series (1.4 and below) has been around for nearly 15 years, and the vast majority of them have had no problems at all. Most of the reported failures of these engines seem to be with the 1.8 as fitted to the Freelander and MG models, and there are a number of factors which seem to contribute to the failures. Paul's engine seems to have developed a minor oil leak after ten years, which may well be just the long bolts stretching slightly. I wouldn't assume HGF just because it's a K series engine. There were also reports of the heads on early K series becoming porous, which can cause oil or coolant leaks - again, not economical to fix if this is the case.