K Series engine - head gasket

Mankysteve

blue_haddock wrote: »

Ignore what flang has said as the K Series can be a very good engine albeit one with some flaws.

This post is indeed correct engine was the engine design is not British its Japanese rover brought it from Honda the design them same as the older civic and such, But unfortunately it'd does has rep for head gaskets but a head gasket should be a too expensive job as long you haven't allowed it over heat and warp the head. but it is an good engine but as with all things it has a weak point which is the headgasket.

Inactive

Mankysteve wrote: »

This post is indeed correct engine was the engine design is not British its Japanese rover brought it from Honda the design them same as the older civic and such, But unfortunately it'd does has rep for head gaskets but a head gasket should be a too expensive job as long you haven't allowed it over heat and warp the head. but it is an good engine but as with all things it has a weak point which is the headgasket.

I think that you are wrong on that point, I am fairly certain that Honda had nothing to do with the K Series engine.;)

Mankysteve

Actually after a bit of research I think your correct. opps, I believe my mistake came from the fact that rover did make some cars that used honda part and engines such as the rover 200. I Still stand by it being a good engine Caterham used them in the super seven up to recently for the

pitkin2020

the K series engine was all rover and it was sold to honda who also used it

Inactive

pitkin2020 wrote: »

the K series engine was all rover and it was sold to honda who also used it

Really?...in which models did Honda use it?

pitkin2020

i know the model to look at but recall name it may have been the civic 1990's there about

james_joyce

pitkin2020 wrote: »

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

If my car already has a HG problem, but is still working reasonably OK after I added the 'gunge', what should I do next? Presumably I could top-up the gunge again and hope for the best, but I imagine there will come a time where I get serious HGF and need either a new engine or a new car. Is it worth spending a few hundred pounds now, pro-actively getting the HG replaced? Or if not now, when should I do this?

dieselhead

I'm suprised that no-one has mentioned the MLS gasket, which is a modified gasket and was used by lotus and landrover when they used the K series. It is a much better gasket and shouldn't fail again.

Try https://www.mg-rover.org for many knowledgeable people

Inactive

pitkin2020 wrote: »

i know the model to look at but recall name it may have been the civic 1990's there about

Strange that I have never come across any Honda that uses a crappy Rover engine, there are many Rovers that used Honda engines of course, that was before the final demise of Rover, and after it decided to use the inherently troublesome K Series engine.

Inactive

james_joyce wrote: »

If my car already has a HG problem, but is still working reasonably OK after I added the 'gunge', what should I do next? Presumably I could top-up the gunge again and hope for the best, but I imagine there will come a time where I get serious HGF and need either a new engine or a new car. Is it worth spending a few hundred pounds now, pro-actively getting the HG replaced? Or if not now, when should I do this?

I gave you the best advice at post#9, get shot of it, the K Series engine, despite what some people will tell you on here, was a design disaster.

Don't believe me, Type; K series or Head Gasket in to the search forums on here.