liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 8/12/04 at 09:28 PM |
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k series
what is the going scrappys rate for a knackered k series engine?
would the head gasket problems associated with k series be eliminated by using a copper gasket such as those available from
ferriday engineering
cheers liam
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britishtrident
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| posted on 8/12/04 at 10:19 PM |
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I posted a full reply to this but the forum to be playing up --- short answer is no -- only use latest official Rover head and inlet gaskets.
Rover gasket only blows as a result of coolant loss caused by external water leaks
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liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 8/12/04 at 10:25 PM |
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ahhhhh its falling into place now, i was under the impression water loss was an effect not a cause, i thought that the plastic locating dowel
weakened the gasket and allowed water to get in the coolant which warped the head when the water ran out.
don't you get a steel dowel with gasket set?
somebody said there was a seal on the water pump which was usually to blame
cheers bt
[Edited on 8/12/04 by liam.mccaffrey]
[Edited on 8/12/04 by liam.mccaffrey]
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MikeR
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| posted on 8/12/04 at 10:28 PM |
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possibly not a 100% true, there is a very interesting dicussion going on at the moment about the K on other (elise)forums by KingofK. To summaries it,
one person has posted a view that if you rebuild the engine as per rover's EXACT instructions its a good un. The problems with head gaskets are
down to two things .... 1 plastic locating dowels which where used for a few years. All official rover head gasket sets now have steel replacement
dowels. The second point is the liners - they HAVE to stand proud by 4 to 6 thou. If you use the official rover head gasket, get the above right, use
new ROVER stretch bolts to the right torque and ..... you'll be fine. If you're going to rag the danglies off the engine use the new
rover or someone else thermostat that moves it to the outlet not inlet side. DO NOT USE STEEL CRANKS - the claim is they are really unbalanced and WAY
out of rovers spec for its cast cranks.
Keep reminding me and i'll put the documents i've got somewhere - very interesting read. A cut down version of the article is in practical
performance (or possibly evo) this month.
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Stu16v
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| posted on 8/12/04 at 10:36 PM |
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quote:
Rover gasket only blows as a result of coolant loss caused by external water leaks
Shame that Rover/MG/Caeterham/Lotus/LandRover couldn't build cars that didnt have water leaks then...  
FWIW, my bro-in-law works for a local Ford dealership that has just taken on a Rover franchise. And alledgedly they are busy every day doing head
gaskets/changing engines etc. etc.
Food for thought...
Dont just build it.....make it!
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 8/12/04 at 10:40 PM |
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ask BobC on this forum about the engine - I think it was he that ran a scrappy selling K series engines.
His view IIRC is that most engines over 70k are crap.
I work with a guy that had the head gasket go - its symptoms were losing about a pint of water a week. Had it fixed.
was ok until a year or so later, hes losing water once more, but barrs leaks stopped it.
Personally, I wouldnt buy any car with a K series in it - they drive nicely, but im not paying bills for an almost guaranteed engine failure.
atb
steve
[Edited on 8/12/04 by stephen_gusterson]
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 8/12/04 at 11:10 PM |
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Come what may if rebuilt properly K series lumps NORMALLY do a head gasket EVERY 80k (approximately).
Reasons for failure:- pin, coolant, coolant loss, thermostat, overheating, loss of seal from head gasket. Pick one or any combination. Skim, head
bolts, water pump, thermostat replacement, radiator flush/replacement all done then should be good for 80K. 
Enjoy.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 9/12/04 at 12:01 AM |
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Another contributing factor were the head bolts on the earlier engines that were outside tolerance and could bottom out before full clamping force was
reached in a couple of locations.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 9/12/04 at 08:54 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
Another contributing factor were the head bolts on the earlier engines that were outside tolerance and could bottom out before full clamping force was
reached in a couple of locations.
Yes quite easy to check
The bolts should be screwed in finger tight and the height above the block checked against the figures in the WS. It is also important to clean
the threads properly (I use an accurate die nut for this) and not to over oil them just a very light spray of WD40 or similar and allow excess to
drip off before fitting. The importance of the above is that with Rover head bolts the initial torque settings before angular tightening are very low
and they must be 100% accurate or the angular tightening procedure just won't work. To get the torque settings right I strongly advise using
the correct torque range wrench for the fairy low torquesettings involved ---
Funny thing but I have stripped more than a few K series because of sticking or tangled or dropped valves but only one head gasket (caused by an
inlet manifold gasket leak) although blown in a big way it was very easy to fix.
Incidentally Rover K are a usually swine to start after overhaul --- they always run rough for 30 minutes or so .
[Edited on 9/12/04 by britishtrident]
[Edited on 9/12/04 by britishtrident]
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 9/12/04 at 04:31 PM |
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my several - times - mentioned - in - the past mazda 323f was rougth from new.
The engine was so faltering, I nearly took it back after a few miles from new. It sorted itself after 20 or so miles. The dealer told me on more than
one occasion that the engine doesnt really make full power until its done 6,000 plus. This isnt a K series engine of course, but its illustrative that
its not just a rover problem 
atb
steve
[Edited on 9/12/04 by stephen_gusterson]
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andyps
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| posted on 9/12/04 at 08:36 PM |
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I think lots of cars run rough for the first 20 miles or so due to the ecu having to learn the best way to work. Apparently it can happen if the
battery has been disconnected for about half an hour or more.
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Simon
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| posted on 10/12/04 at 12:04 AM |
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Said it before, so I'll say it again.
We had a Rover 200 BRM, and the h/g started to leak (there was a telltale stain on block). It went back for it's first service (at about 1000
miles) and the h/g done under warranty.
We sold car about 2.5 years ago with 17,000 on clock and it was a great car, that never let us down.
Roll on Jan/Feb and the French shite residing on driveway is to be replaced with MG ZS180 (for her), then in about Mar/Apr a ZT260 (for me) will be
appearing there too.
As for engine failures, have you heard B*W are recalling all M3 or 5 cos of main bearing failure and Porsche who aren't doing anything about 996
engine breakages (repair bills of £15,000) due I believe to faulty cylinder liners. Oh yeah, failure tend to occur at 15 - 16k miles. Quality!
ATB
Simon
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DEAN C.
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| posted on 11/12/04 at 02:19 PM |
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Hi the person with the Rover scrappers was me three years ago,Bob is a friend and may have mentioned about my experiances.
I love M and T series but I dont have much faith in the K series.
Any of the Hondas are excellent as well.
Dean C.......
Once I've finished a project why do I start another?
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