Cost to replace a head gasket on a rover

Moya

right well we think the head gasket has gone on our car - see my other post about the car breaking down 25 miles from the garage we bought it at grrr - but what i am wondering is what is the cost likely to be on this - the garage is doing it FOC but i am wondering if it is a big job or what the situation is? the car has stopped working and won't drive anywhere - totally died on my husband last night so i am guessing its not a simple replacement for £350ish which is what i found costed on another thread on here.

any thoughts?

i am hoping that it will have knackered the engine and that it will be too expensive for the garage to repair (not worth it economically) so we can get our money back but i don;t know if thats a false hope or not?

steveo3002

friends of the family had a similar thing ...bought the car and the gasket went , trader said he'd fix it up

i had a look over the car once fixed and it had been bodged up ..the buyer didnt want to hear what i had to say and it failed again 6 months later

Moya

yeah thats one of the things i am worried about - we would be putting the car in for a full service at a garage we trust after the works so we could get them to check the works and provide a report if necessary.

i just wish they would refund the money instead but i don't think they will be doing this

Sucker_for_sweeties

I bought a Rover a few years ago, my mechanic told me the gasket had just been repaired (that's why he, therefore me got it so cheap). He warned me that my model of Rover was notorious for it, and it WOULD go again sometime in the future, and the next time it would be fatal as they can only be repaired once effectively.

For the two years I drove it I had a niggling fear of it just going 'kaboom'. Glad to see the back of it when I could afford it. Have to admit though it was no hassle at all, and other than tyres (and bl**dy handles) it never needed any work at all, still never trusted it though.

Coveredinbees!!!!

If they get funny contact trading standards

Mankysteve

Sucker_for_sweeties wrote: »

and the next time it would be fatal as they can only be repaired once effectively.

Rubbish, you can replace a head gasket many time as long as you don't let it over heat and moniter your fluid levels so it doesnt hydro-lock the engine. The k series is a reasonable engine but compromised in the cooling department and need a bit more regular maintenance of the cooling system that other cars. Unfortunately they often dont get this and hence why you get so many failures.

The Op description is not typical head gasket failure symptoms. Something caused the engine to burn oil, proberly something failing in the head.
Could be hydro lock but if it's got that bad you'd have got white smoke first. I would just refuse the car.

steveo3002

theres stuff like k seal available ...its some liquid you pour into the coolant tank , it can sometimes work for a while to repair the car

you need to wonder if they'l slap something like that in it to try and fool you

Sucker_for_sweeties

Mankysteve wrote: »

Rubbish, you can replace a head gasket many time as long as you don't let it over heat and moniter your fluid levels so it doesnt hydro-lock the engine. The k series is a reasonable engine but compromised in the cooling department and need a bit more regular maintenance of the cooling system that other cars. Unfortunately they often dont get this and hence why you get so many failures.

I'm a girl.....so I know NOTHING about cars.....maybe he was making sure I didn't take it back to him if it happened......skelped lug for him next time I see him:rotfl:

catflea

£350 is around about the right price to get a professional to do it. I did the HG on my rover last year and the parts, getting the head skimmed etc came to somewhere around about £150 if memory serves and a weekends work.

Its not a paticuarly hard job, but it is fiddly and time consuming.

Incidentally, if the HG is repaired PROPERLY using the MLS gasket, new stretch bolts etc there really is no reason that it should go again. Half the problem with the cars is that Rover used an el-cheapo head gasket when building the cars and it fails easily.

BTW, the bit about more than 1 replacement being impossible is complete codswallop, if the heads been skimmed more than once and is therefore undersize its possible to use a "saver shim" to bring it all back up to size - I'm pretty dubious of the principle but its worked fine on my car for the last ~10,000 miles

If you dont feel that you can trust the garage to do it properly, with good quality parts press for a refund or you may well find yourself having to fork out in the not too distance.

Gloomendoom

I like Rovers, but my advice would be to push for a refund.

Like all modern engines, the K series engine will not respond well to bodged repairs. A lot of parts need to be replaced with new ones if the job is to be done properly. For example, the stretch bolts that hold the cylinder head on are intended to be used only once and will need to be replaced. They are not cheap.

It is usual, when replacing a head gasket, to check that the top of the cylinder block and the face of the cylinder head are completely flat. Overheating, either before the gasket blew, or as a result of the gasket blowing, can cause either to warp. It is pointless to replace a gasket in these circumstances as it will only blow again.

Furthermore, if the engine has been overheated, the cylinder head gasket on the currently unaffected bank is likely to blow soon too.

Which cylinder head is it, front or rear?


These people have a very good reputation for repairing Rovers properly (I've not used them myself)... Lates600.com (07958 111600). Give them a call and ask how much they would charge to do the job properly.

catflea

Umm, unless you have a KV6 then theres only one cylinder head...... As far as I know the KV6 was only fitted in MG variants (ZR & ZT not ZS)