head gasket problem on a rover 214 sei

scooper

we have just been told that we need a new cylinder head gasket.
we are looking into buying the head gasket abd getting someone to fit it.
where would be the best place to buy this from?
how much on avarage would it cost to fix in the garage?
is it a difficult job to do?
thanks
hope i have posted in the correct place!

Lady_S

Its a difficult job to do, and to be honest on a rover you need to be careful as the head is aluminium and can warp very very easily.

Best toget it done in a garage, unless you know a very competent mechanic. It will cost you a few hundred quid though.

paulcaley

We had the head gasket go in our 214 a number of years ago. My father in law is a mechanic and it still cost £300. This is because it uses stretch bolts and when they come out they have to be chucked away.

I wouldnt expect much change out of £500!

Cheers,

Paul

Norma_Desmond

Ours 'went' a couple of months ago and we were only charged £280 by our local garage. It was the first thing that went wrong with our Rover (it's an ancient J reg.) in the time we've had it, so it was worth doing. Rover is absolutely fine now - they're good cars!

blacksta

A fair Advice

What age is your vehicle, if it old

Get rid of the vehicle you bound to have a similiar in the future.
Everytime your engine heats up especially in the summer and in traffic the head gasket receives some bashing and will eventually give way again. Or just make sure that the water level is checked all time and coolant used rather than water to extend the life a bit.

hope this helps

My h reg rover would have cost £800.00 due to fact that head gasket could not be fixed therefore i needed a new head. had to scrap the vehicle.

Savvy_Sue

Honest John - search in The Back Room or register and ask your question if you can't find it there already.

Skint_Catt

My boyf's head gasket went in his 416SLi a few months ago and I posted on here.

Basially it was the 2nd time it had gone in three years and the car was only 7 years old. We ended up scrapping a perfectly good (from bodywork point of view) car for £200 because it just wasn't worth repairing again. We have been told that the K series Rover engine has an inherant fault with Head Gaskets and although Land Rover recalled them and fixed the problem Rover didn't (and can't now).

It would have gone again and again at £400 + a time. If you're lucky you'll get someone to do it cheaper.

S_C

AlanCollier

They go again and again because the root cause of the failure (often the water pump) isn't solved at the same time. In addition, it's possible to use substandard gaskets (the new ones have metal dowels) and if the whole job isn't done with absolute attention to cleanliness the fault will re-occur.

It is the bane of the k-series engine but a reliable lasting fix is possible.

--Alan

Vic_980

My friend had a Rover 214i with exactly the same problem. He got quotes from several garages, all around the £280-£300 mark. Every single one advised him to get the work done, then sell the car ASAP.

Apparently this is a very common problem on this particular car and they all advised him that he could expect to keep replacing the gasket over and over again.

He did get it fixed, then immediately used it for trade in against a Ford Focus.