Hi,
Can someone please help me??? Being a woman....and not knowing too much about cars (more than the average though :-) )
I need some answers please!! I am about to buy a very cheap Rover Metro 1.4 GTA -M Reg -46,000 miles (£50) ....the car has oil leaks though. Would that be the head gasket going? As far as I know, these cars are notorious for this problem?
Could anyone please tell me how much this might more or less cost me to fix if that\'s the problem? Or any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Thanks Jo...
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to tell if its the head gasket look at the oil, if its mayonesey thast possible head gasket, head gasket isnt likley to be a leak as such. having just a leak is more likley to be an oil seal.
1st thing i would do try a can of oil stop leak, most people like wynns and comma do these and they are sometimes a nice cheap fix.
However I had 2 rover metro\'s both leaked from gearbox seal, never a problem just kept topping up, was quoted 150 quid for that
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it must be at that price for a reason.another problem they get is radiator blockage which isnt always picked up on when looking at one.try having the engine running whilst looking if the electric fan comes in twice without it boiling it should be ok if not it could be radiator and head.I would be carefull at that price.but then you may be lucky and get a bargain.good luck
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Hello,
What\'s visibility like under the bonnet? Can you see enough around the engine to see where the leak\'s coming from? Look for the highest-up bit with oil on it - cos of course the oil runs downwards so everything below the leak will be oily.
Cheers,
Mark
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The usual oil leak is from the various bolted flanges on the gearbox: if you look underneath the car leaks are near where the 2 driveshafts (which run from the wheels to the gearbox) run into the gearbox.
Easy test.
Get a large newspaper or a tabloid oopened out. Spread it under the engine. Start up engine and leave it to idle for 10 minutes. If you see more than 2 drops of oil on the paper after this, the leak is serious , messy and must be fixed..
Personally I would not touch an old neglected Metro: (it must be neglected if it has an oil leak. Rust rust and engines can be very fragile.
My advice is walk away: buy a cheap Fiesta: much stronger and easier to fix (and cheaper)
madf
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For common faults and problems with the Rover Metro see:
www.rover100.co.uk/
Common Faults and Problems
Rover have made a fine job, high engineering standards lead to very few problems. Everyone will experience minor issues and possible failures, but I can't go into the detail of every problem you could encounter. I just wanted to cover the four main issues to help make people aware so they can diagnose and if possible avoid them.
Low and sagging suspension :
The Rover Metro/100 has Hydragas® suspension units which are interlinked front to rear on each side of the car. The result is the car sits on fluid under high pressure which gives it a unique ride quality over the traditional McPherson strut coil spring setup. These units need to maintained at a specific pressure, referred to as the 'ride height'. Any deviation of more than 10mm and the car will not drive correctly. The steering, comfort, acceleration and braking will all be adversely effected. This leads to increased fuel consumption, reduced safety and poor performance. Because the pressure in the system will go down very slowly over time the daily user of the vehicle will not notice much difference. The units should be checked annually. Many garages do not have a Hydrolastic Pump needed to pump up the suspension and some don't even know what it is, so beware! A quick check you can do yourself is to measure from the centre of the front wheel (middle of the wheel cap) to the underside of the wheel arch. This should be 341mm with a 10mm tolerance. The picture (bottom right) shows a car low on fluid (about 50mm low). This car needs pumping up so it sits level like the car in the top picture.
Handbrake cables:
The second most commonly encountered problem. The mechanism, the same used on many earlier vehicles like the Maestro, was good, however when Rover re-engineered the Metro and made a few minor adjustments to the rear subframe and lever position to make the vehicle better overall, the handbrake mechanism suffered a loss in performance. The rear wheel setup is prone to ceasing and rusting, and the lever really could do to be longer to give more torque. So it all works although not as well as more modern designs. The lever is designed to pull on four notches, binding the rear wheels on two notches and locking on four. Any deviation from this and adjustment is needed. Adjustment can be fiddly, and don't expect a new cable to solve the problem either! Some cars are better than others. Later models the Handbrake was adjusted to pull up two notches only, to give better control, but this really only leads to the need for more accurate setting. Details on how to adjust the cable yourself will be published soon.
Bearings:
The updated suspension is great and the rear arms and front joints all pivot on bearings packed with grease. However not so many people are aware of this and the annual re-greasing tends to get overlooked and hey Presto - they soon seize up! The rear arms are more prone to seizing because of all the muck thrown on them by the rear wheels. Replacing is not really a DIY job and can be costly, it can also cause an MOT fail. Bounce each corner of the car, stiff or squeaking suspension, or out of line wheels can be indication of failure.
Head Gasket Failure:
The fine K-Series engines made their debut in the Rover Metro in 1990. Available in 1.1 and 1.4 sizes, they were a revolution in engine design. Winning several awards they were and are the most refined engine to be found in such a small car. We do however have one little problem of head gasket failure, the main reason for this is because of the engines superb lightweight design the cylinder great is made from Aluminium. If the engine were to get to hot (overheat) the metal would expand to much and distort the seal. At number four this problem is not that common but effects about one in six Metros within 100,000 miles. The cars that usually suffer are those that are abused or no properly serviced. The points below will help you to identify the common symptoms:
Poor Performance
Oil has small water drops visible on dipstick
Mayonnaise like deposits in oil filler cap
Dirty coolant in expansion tank.
A compression test will reveal the problems. Repairs are usually around £200-300
Although all vehicles came with a six year anti-corrosion warranty, all Metros and 100s will inevitably sufferer from RUST! - get it sorted.
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A compression test wont always reveal any problems.anti corrosion warranty was only something that was down to garage to check.in some cases if it was reported by customer to have a chip in paintwork it was not covered by warranty.what was covered was rust that occured during normal use ie rust came through paint.I could be wrong but I think most manufacturers have similar.please correct me if wrong?
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