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Bought a rover 214 at the end of July took it straight back and had the head gasket fixed in only 4 months it has gone again any ideas. Garage has blamed me
Edited by Webmaster on 18/11/2007 at 12:43
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Try a forum search both here and in Tech. May net some results.
Other members,
This thread isn't going the way f other recent Rover threads, any "ing" or "ist" (add your own prefix.) behaviour the knife will be wielded.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 17/11/2007 at 20:11
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It's an alloy head and they should have had it refaced when they changed the gasket. If they didn't chances are it'll fail again.
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It's an alloy head and they should have had it refaced when they changed the gasket. If they didn't chances are it'll fail again.
Incorrect. The head on a K shouldn't be skimmed unless in extremis. They rarely warp to warranty this.
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I'll have to disagree you on that one. Usual failure has been because of overheating, false economy not to get it skimmed.
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I'll have to disagree you on that one. Usual failure has been because of overheating false economy not to get it skimmed.
Sam,
K Series heads do not require skimming as (a) they're actually pretty tough and don't warp and (b) there is very little tolerance in the head for this. In the past skimming a head was routine but this engine is an exception. In the case of the K it's a mistake to apply general mechanic's rules like this one.
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>>Garage has blamed me
The garage is perhaps being a little bold.
Was the cylinder head skimmed when the gasket was replaced? Did the garage use new cylinder head bolts? Have the plastic dowels been replaced with steel? Did the garage use the correct anti-freeze? Did the garage replace the inlet manifold gasket, and ensure there were no other coolant leaks, however small?
Having said that, the head gaskets on K series engines aren't the most robust, for a number of reasons - the most obvious being the insufficient design of the firing ring area of the gasket.
Number_Cruncher
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I'd just like to add that in my experience the headgasket has gone (again) for one of two reasons: Either they bodged the job in the first place and did a quick cheap fix or you have allowed the car to run low on coolant and hence it has blown the head gasket again.
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Did they say why they blame you,the only way you could be to blame is if you have not kept a close eye on coolant level and let it overheat.
IMO they didnt do the job properly as a job done properly should last 2/3 years without any problems,i think I would push them to do it again,but beware most garages now do not like doing them and do their best to avoid them where possible
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nickyh
the only way they can blame you is if they gave you specific advice and you did not follow it. The problem is is that the 214's shortcomings are so well known and documented within the industry is they 'they' expect everyone to be aware of the issues too. If they didn't tell you anything then after 4 months it's still their problem IMHO.
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Something's amiss here, HG's don't just break for no reason so soon after been changed.
Is it possible that there's a leak in the coolant system somewhere and it has run low again without you noticing? This may explain why it went the first time round and as garages are so used to getting blown Rover HGs through the door they may not have even bothered to look for any potential faults that led to it's demise in the first place.
Also check out www.mg-rover.org for technical advice from owners and former Rover guys, very knowledgeable and there WILL be someone on there who's had the same situation as you I reckon.
Blue
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In fear of stating the obvious - if you own a Rover with a K-series engine it is vital that you keep an eye on the coolant level and check it weekly at the very least.
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after 4 months there are too many iffs and buts in MY opinion
nickyh to me you have a choice
take the garage to the smail claims court and get them to pay for all repairs citing job not done properly (obviously the garage will bring forward many case scenarios where these things are proved to be a weakness in design and the arbitrator will probably throw the case out)
or dump the car and buy one that doesnt have an inherent weakness built in that helped make the rover company go bust
footnote to moderaters its a well known fact that the 1400 rover engine has many weakness issuses and in fact the shangia china company (i think thats the name?) that took over the rights to this design accepted this and apparently have gone on to redesign the whole lump,hopefully then ........as has been posted many many times on many many forums this efficient light engine will then one day be allowed to get its full potential at street level without tears
global moaning permitting
does this past the rover test of acceptable level headed truthfullness
discuss
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No problem bb - its the insulting, childish and argumentative postings recently we're trying tp avoid.
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Its the whole K-series range that suffers isn't it, not just the 1400cc. Other than the poor design of the coolant system and the inherent head gasket failure I think the K-series engine is a pretty good engine.
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Its failed again because the repair wasnt done correctly. How many miles have you done in the last 4 months? What symptons did you have before you took it back to the garage to diagnose it again?
Normally, once the headgasket has been replaced, it will not go again - providing the source of the original failure has been rectified. The headgasket 'normally' fails because of something else and acting as a safety valve! Could be waterpump, pressure cap on coolant bottle, inlet manifold, radiator etc.
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I do not know anything about HGF but anything repaired should not fail with the same part after only 4 months including one of these Rover engines. If the garage didn't think it would last perhaps they should have been honest.
I'm with the others in this thread in thinking they replaced the gasket and did not do all of the work necessary. They also probably didn't find the original cause of the failure and just replaced the head gasket.
Looks like you will have to fight your corner with them, get it fixed elsewhere and try to get your money back from them if possible or get something more reliable.
I do not know how much it costs to do this job properly, but how much does this repair cost when done properly compare to the value of the vehicle?
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The K series probably gets more comments than any other engine, some valid, some way wide of the mark. This sounds to me like the old head gasket design has been used when the revised version should have been put on instead, which cures the fault.
It's not correct that the Chinese have redesigned the K by the way; the work undertaken in the UK for them was on a new gearbox. Break the unit down and you'll actually see a very competent piece of work which still remains on a par with other motors, weight for example being but one point. However no-one can deny that the HGF issue was a bad mistake on their part, and a great shame at that.
The revised version will be required to be compliant with emissions legislation but that's an electronics issue and was already dealt with previous to them purchasing the rights.
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