i may have been harsh towards the magnificent K-series motor in previous posts, but would like to make it clear that head gaskets dont just fail for no apparant reason, true enough it doesnt take much to see them boil, but like all things head gasket failure happens for a reason. just to put peoples minds at rest providing your cooling system is in good condition, your fan is cutting in and out correctly, there are no blockages, the thermostat is working, you dont drive like a boy racer, etc etc etc then theoretically theres no reason why you should experience head gasket failure. for every car that breaks down, there is another one that just keeps going.
k-series care
Nov 09, 2003
9 Replies
Yup. That was exactly my point, in my post that you replied to...
"steve" wrote in news:Cjqrb.802$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfep4-winn.server.ntli.net:
Agreed. My '93 414 has 133k miles and still going strong on original mechanicals (except clutch).
Did have a new radiator due to the fins (not waterways) corroding and losing efficiency. This is to be expected after 10 years - it was the original radiator! It will tolerate some overheating too - when the radiator was on its way out it got pretty hot at times, and it's not even a newer version with uprated head gasket.
Contrary to some peoples' experiences, it doesn't use or leak a drop of oil either. I still don't have to top up between 6k mile oil changes.
???
This was your answer to my query on the 6th, as to whether the 1.4 was worse than the 1.6 !
2001 models. Of course you could still have HGF with later models but its rare. Basically the MGs are no worse than any other cars.Which one of us is confused ? :-)
Andy Pandy To e-mail, address hopefully, self-explanatory !
incorrect, the 1.4 and the 1.6 are both notorious for head gasket failure, in fact the bore size is the same for both derivatives, the stroke is longer on the 1.6. but from experience the rover 214,s and 414's and the later 200's and 400's with 1600 engines had more than thier fare share of problems. but i have repaired more 1400 k series head gaskets than any other k-series.
pre 2001 models. Of course you could still have HGF with later models but its rare. Basically the MGs are no worse than any other cars.
No, I'm very reassured, thanks to you, and all the others that have contributed to the thread. Perhaps I was being a bit picky ! :-{
Andy Pandy To e-mail, address hopefully, self-explanatory !
no it wouldnt, it would be because when the k-series was introduced back in
89' it was only available as a 1.4 ltr option (unless your talknig about the 2.0 which doesnt suffer the same downfalls or the 1.1 ltr and eqivalent single camshaft options.) the 1.6 ltr k-series wasnt introduced till the mid 90's and the 1.8 ltr much later still. science would tell you that ioncreasing bore stroke and width on the same engine block should theoretically increase the chances of head gasket failure, but i have found that this simply isnt the case, my guess is that the increased torque on the larger engines means less "abuse" is required by the driver to achieve good performance.
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