K Series engine - head gasket

zxcv784 · 31 December 2009 at 10:03AM

My head gasket went on my rover 414 1997 the RAC guy said it would cost around £500 to fix, I only paid £450 for the car! when the recovery truck came before even seeing the car I told him my head gasket and his reply was 'let me guess it's a rover...we call them the steam engines' need I say more....Got £50 scrap for it...

arc · 31 December 2009 at 10:35AM

Agreed the k series is very good engine, light and powerful and used in many cars from freelanders to lotus. THe early set ups did suffer from a poor hg design and the location of the thermostat did it no favours!

The use of water, particularly coming out the exhaust is a sign of hg failure. The hg keeps the oil ways, water ways and combustion chambers separate from each other. The k seal bodge fixed the leak from the waterway into the combustion chamber. I hope you've been topping it up with coolant not just plain water.

It should not cost £500 to fix. Any garage can do it, £200 tops.

Another engine that was known for hg failure was the 8v fiat FIRE unit. I used to buy puntos with popped gaskets and repair the gasket and do a full service for around £85 in parts.

flang · 31 December 2009 at 10:44AM

bungle4x4 wrote: »

k-series is an excellent engine. in 1.4 its at its best. or is it just anything with a british badge on that you hate?

How can it be an excellent engine when the head gasket constantly blows!
For your information im British proud and love many British vehicles however its a fact that the best modern cars are manafactured by the germans or japs.

Inactive · 31 December 2009 at 2:37PM

bungle4x4 wrote: »

k-series is an excellent engine. in 1.4 its at its best. or is it just anything with a british badge on that you hate?

Your having a laugh, the K Series engine is notorious for head gasket failure, how can it be described as " excellent ".???

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! · 31 December 2009 at 3:27PM

flang wrote: »

How can it be an excellent engine when the head gasket constantly blows!
For your information im British proud and love many British vehicles however its a fact that the best modern cars are manafactured by the germans or japs.

The K-series engine is used in a wide range of kit cars. One flaw doesn't make it bad.

james_joyce · 31 December 2009 at 3:44PM

arc wrote: »

I hope you've been topping it up with coolant not just plain water.

Yes coolant, and thanks for the other info.

pendulum · 31 December 2009 at 4:12PM

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

The K-series engine is used in a wide range of kit cars. One flaw doesn't make it bad.

Kit car owners like it because it's a lightweight yet powerful engine. They don't care that it's unreliable, as they are generally knowledgeable owners who can change the headgasket themselves without relying on the expensive services of a garage. For a kit car, a K series engines could make sense.

But, if you care about "reliability" and "low cost" more than you care about "power output" and "weight", then the K series is a poor engine to have, as it's well known to be very unreliable - prone to needing major repairs.

Rallydriver · 31 December 2009 at 7:25PM

waynedance wrote: »

put it this way my garage does loads of rovers and we tell customers there is no warranty with head gasket changes.

Your garage doesn't repair them properly then.

Rallydriver · 31 December 2009 at 7:51PM

goldspanners wrote: »

£400. for this you should expect, recon radiator, new water pump, gaskets and head bolts,timing belt and any associated idlers or pulleys changed. and also the head skimmed and tested. with the obvious oil and coolant changed.

Indeed, you have to make sure that the garage identify the cause of the failure and rectify it. A head gasket won't just go on its own and this applies to any car.

Usually with first time HGF on a K-series the cause is one of a few things.
1. Overheating. This means the head gets warped and needs skimmed to make it flat again. The cause of the overheating needs addressed, check water pump, radiator condition, blockages in the cooling system, failed thermostat etc.
2. Inlet manifold gasket failure. This allows coolant to trickle down the back of the head, eventually forcing its way into the head gasket and causing failure of the gasket.
3. Liner problems. Where the liners move and sit proud of the block. This effectively means the engine is scrap but it only happens where the engine sees very hard use e.g. motorsports.

When repairing, make sure the garages use new long bolts sourced from X-part only and steel dowels for locating the head.
Aftermarket bolts can't be guaranteed to have the correct expanding properties and cheaper nylon dowels can allow head shuffle - either may lead to repeat failure.

The problem is most garages will happily take your money then shortcut the repairs knowing they can blame the engines reputation when it goes again, adding to the reputation in the process.

pitkin2020 · 31 December 2009 at 7:53PM

head gasket failure in the K series is caused by people not doing proper maintainence and checking the coolant level, then when the collant drops continuing to drive it. Whilst some have had HGF there are a lot more that havent and you shouldn't just write it off, any car is prone to HGF, the problem with the K series is that it never had enough coolant it should ideally of had another litre atleast thats why its extremely important to ensure coolant on a K series is always at its max