Coolant problem - Rover 45

cyclonebri1

Lum wrote: »

No-one stated that Renaults aren't crap.


Same applies to Renaults too, to be fair, I suspect there's a lot more of them on the road than similar age Rovers as for some reason Renaults are trendy and popular.

Well so as not to disapoint you I'll say that, for 25 years we had nothing but VX, 1 head gasket failure in all that time, over the last 10 years our now larger family has had at least 10 different Renaults all equally reliable. It really makes me laugh when I hear the above comments, much more car for the money and if anyone thinks I would stick with an unreliable brand of car, then they don't understand what a money saving type I am, :money: or , ;), of course

Lum

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Well so as not to disapoint you I'll say that, for 25 years we had nothing but VX, 1 head gasket failure in all that time, over the last 10 years our now larger family has had at least 10 different Renaults all equally reliable. It really makes me laugh when I hear the above comments, much more car for the money and if anyone thinks I would stick with an unreliable brand of car, then they don't understand what a money saving type I am, :money: or , ;), of course

To be honest, I'm not aware of Renauts being particularly prone to HGF in the way that K series Rovers are. My comment was tongue in cheek and more about why he brought up Renaults in this thread when there are are lot more of them on the road than Rovers.

Though to be fair, if your reference point for reliability and quality is Vauxhall, it's not surprising that Renaults seem pretty good to you. :rotfl:

The things that go wrong on Renaults are often more niggly stuff like electric windows which the more moneysaving type will be happy to ignore or fix themselves.

Davey2009

MeeNorr wrote: »

Thanks, to be honest a Ford Ka wouldn't do as both my partner and I are 6ft tall and would be a little snug! I drove one once as a courtesy car and never again!

Im 6ft 2 & have enough room myself partner & small dog an in law who visits & hires cars always used to go for the Ka as it was cheap & would cruise the motorway @ 70 or 80 he is taller than me but some people have a certain attitude to small cars in general he always said back home in his Merc no one pulled out or cut him up yet get in a small car happened all the time.:p

Davey2009

Only time I had this was my 1st car a Datsun yes it was a long time ago & the price of routine spares put me off buying Japanese every car since has been a ford as I find them so easy to drive but I would look for my next motor from any of the far eastern countries ...........does anyone know which cars nowadays have an all iron block & timing chain ??????

atrixblue.-MFR-.

Davey2009 wrote: »

Only time I had this was my 1st car a Datsun yes it was a long time ago & the price of routine spares put me off buying Japanese every car since has been a ford as I find them so easy to drive but I would look for my next motor from any of the far eastern countries ...........does anyone know which cars nowadays have an all iron block & timing chain ??????

as all most if not all modern car nowadays have alu heads coupled with alu sumps for lightweight and cost finding a car that has a all cast block is like finding a needle in haystack.

timing chain cars are easy to find if you want to compramise having a alu head.

jase1

The old stories about expensive parts on Jap cars has long since passed into myth. The difference in parts prices is typically no more than 10-20%, and this is often offset by the frankly silly designs that particularly the French (but others as well) put in their cars that make labour costs much more than they should be.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the brand matters less than the age of the car. All cars age, all cars last a similar length of time if looked after to the same level. Therefore, taking advantage of the fickle nature of the British consumer and buying the car with the heavy depreciation is usually the way to get a bargain. Your thoughts about Korean cars are not wide of the mark. The Lacetti is no worse in terms of quality than the majority of other cars, and at the daft prices they go for (£1500 for a 5-year-old on occasion) they're always worth a punt. The key is, don't pay too much for one.

5 year old Lacetti or 12 year old Golf? Hmmm, tough one. Not.

Lum

Can someone explain to me why timing chains are so popular around here?

Sure a belt needs changing and it's a bit of a PITA to do, but it's not that expensive.

But a chain is susceptible to getting damaged just because someone missed a couple of oil changes, and to actually replace a timing chain usually works out cheaper to scrap the car and buy a new one.

With a belt you can just look at it to determine it's state and/or change it as a precaution. With a chain you're dependent on the car having been looked after properly.

vax2002

The head gasket problem is due to putting a 16v head on an 8v block, they use brackets in the block for the head bolts, these warm up and lift the gasket, it is a design fault and no super gasket fixes it for long.
As an 8v engine it was one of the most reliable 8v engines ever built, bit the 16v bodge was a disaster.

Davey2009

Lum wrote: »

Can someone explain to me why timing chains are so popular around here?

Sure a belt needs changing and it's a bit of a PITA to do, but it's not that expensive.

But a chain is susceptible to getting damaged just because someone missed a couple of oil changes, and to actually replace a timing chain usually works out cheaper to scrap the car and buy a new one.

With a belt you can just look at it to determine it's state and/or change it as a precaution. With a chain you're dependent on the car having been looked after properly.

The problem is as you could imagine a rubber belt is not as tough as a metal chain & should they break it could mean the engine is a write off or theres an expensive rebuild to pay for, personally Id only buy a car with the chain drive I believe most if not all Toyotas use them the Yaris & the same engine used in Diahatsu's Sirion both cars score high in reliability surveys.
Oh & yes I accept there may be less difference in foriegn car parts now my Datsun was a 1979 model

atrixblue.-MFR-.

vax2002 wrote: »

The head gasket problem is due to putting a 16v head on an 8v block, they use brackets in the block for the head bolts, these warm up and lift the gasket, it is a design fault and no super gasket fixes it for long.
As an 8v engine it was one of the most reliable 8v engines ever built, bit the 16v bodge was a disaster.

not quite.

the main problem was the head to block mating face, in early K16 series rover there were steal dowels used as guides in assembly, they were loose fit and allowed the head to move causing damage to gasket and head surface, they also changed the liners from wet liners (k8 engine)to damp liners( for the k16), coupled with having an all alu block with spun cast liners, the engine suffered at high heat due to the standard thermostat setup opening up and thermal shocking the engine.

the dowels in later model were plastic and tight fit, and rover made some mods to the cooling system, introducing a new thermostat design to reduce thermal shock, but still had head movement due to the plastic dowels when hot softened. so the steel ones were put back in at a tigher fit from first introduction back in the early 90's.

the headbolts did suffer, but not because of the bracket system they intorduced, but because they were long and because of the liner desing being a damp liner, heat allowed them to strech over time to allow movement again on the mating surface of block to head, coupled with the poor design of the rubber type HG allowed the rubber to peel away and brake the seal allowing water to enter the oil and vice versa.

new headbolt desing, new cooling system desing, dowel design,new oil rail, HG design,and better water flow of the head, rover was nearly there to having this problem gone. just a shame that their new engine with all these didnt come earlier. rover went by by before they had a chance. now the chinese have it. the N series engine.