Rover 214Si K-Series coming to end of its life...

[Nick]

Hello all.

My shiny new* Rover 214Si, N-Reg K-Series engine has been gulping
coolant for a year now without any obvious problems.

I put it in for it's 72,000 mile service today (12k since the last
one) and asked them to check into the 'coolant leak' which has
resulted in my putting in 1 litre of coolant and one litre of water
over the past year and hoped they would find anything other than the
obvious as the cause. They said they could find no real reason for it
losing coolant and suspected the head gasket was failing, which is
what I thought it was originally.

It is chugging along well and appears to be working perfectly at
present apart from me topping up the coolant a bit every week.

How long do you think it'll be before it just decides to conk out and
never start again? Is that what will happen or will it just go down
gradually (or quickly?) - what are the more immediate signs of it
giving up on life?

I've not seen any of this "mayo" in the coolant reservoir or on the
oil filler cap yet.

Thanks for any pointers!

If it dies then I wont be annoyed, just saddened as it's been a really
good and reliable car otherwise! I think I'll just get a motorcycle
licence instead as they're cheaper to run and insure!

--Nick.

*Eight years old when I bought it for £1k at auction + 1 year in my
possession, 72,000 on clock now.
--
http://www.sendit.com/scp/id/what - Want DVDs/Games?
icq: 9235201 -- Hayn on dal.net - Mmmm... chocolate!

[Pete M]

In news:a7ovm0pi7ftjk6gk06c5ss1t9fngt07oi0@4ax.com,
Nick <nickmooney@spamcop.net> decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with
a rant as follows
> Hello all.
>
> My shiny new* Rover 214Si, N-Reg K-Series engine has been gulping
> coolant for a year now without any obvious problems.
>
> I put it in for it's 72,000 mile service today (12k since the last
> one) and asked them to check into the 'coolant leak' which has
> resulted in my putting in 1 litre of coolant and one litre of water
> over the past year and hoped they would find anything other than the
> obvious as the cause. They said they could find no real reason for it
> losing coolant and suspected the head gasket was failing, which is
> what I thought it was originally.
>
> It is chugging along well and appears to be working perfectly at
> present apart from me topping up the coolant a bit every week.
>
> How long do you think it'll be before it just decides to conk out and
> never start again? Is that what will happen or will it just go down
> gradually (or quickly?) - what are the more immediate signs of it
> giving up on life?
>
> I've not seen any of this "mayo" in the coolant reservoir or on the
> oil filler cap yet.
>
> Thanks for any pointers!
>
> If it dies then I wont be annoyed, just saddened as it's been a really
> good and reliable car otherwise! I think I'll just get a motorcycle
> licence instead as they're cheaper to run and insure!

It's a K series. HG failure is a way of life with them. If you're happy
putting coolant in it, then keep running it. Anyone who comes to look at a K
powered rover will check for signs of HG failure anyway. Run it til it dies,
then throw it away / put it through auctions.


--
Pete M

Ford Capri (ressurection starts soon)
Sierra V6 2.9 4x4 Twin Turbo Estate
COSOC #5
Scouse Git extraordinaire. Liverpool, Great Britain

[AstraVanMan]

> My shiny new* Rover 214Si, N-Reg K-Series engine has been gulping
> coolant for a year now without any obvious problems.
>
> *Eight years old when I bought it for £1k at auction + 1 year in my
> possession, 72,000 on clock now.

You paid HOW MUCH for an 8-year-old Rover 214????????

Peter
--
"The truth is working in television is not very glamorous at all. I just go
home on my own at night and sit alone and eat crisps."

[Guy King]

The message <anTbd.182$TE4.56@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net>
from "AstraVanMan" <****Off@WithThanks.com> contains these words:

> You paid HOW MUCH for an 8-year-old Rover 214????????

Bit startling, innit!

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

[Nick]

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 17:00:54 GMT, "AstraVanMan"
<****Off@WithThanks.com> wrote:

>> My shiny new* Rover 214Si, N-Reg K-Series engine has been gulping
>> coolant for a year now without any obvious problems.
>>
>> *Eight years old when I bought it for £1k at auction + 1 year in my
>> possession, 72,000 on clock now.
>
>You paid HOW MUCH for an 8-year-old Rover 214????????

:) Oh well!

--Nick.
--
http://www.sendit.com/scp/id/what - Want DVDs/Games?
icq: 9235201 -- Hayn on dal.net - Mmmm... chocolate!

[Chris Street]

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 15:48:21 +0100, Nick wrote:

> Hello all.
>
> My shiny new* Rover 214Si, N-Reg K-Series engine has been gulping
> coolant for a year now without any obvious problems.

Water pump posswibly. Mine failed at about 70k and it only leaked a little
drip when the engine was running, and since it fell on the camblet it just
got flung around and atomised so you never saw it happening. It eventually
dripped when stationary after about three months.

Swapped the pump and never had any problems since.

>
> I put it in for it's 72,000 mile service today (12k since the last
> one) and asked them to check into the 'coolant leak' which has
> resulted in my putting in 1 litre of coolant and one litre of water
> over the past year and hoped they would find anything other than the
> obvious as the cause. They said they could find no real reason for it
> losing coolant and suspected the head gasket was failing, which is
> what I thought it was originally.

Ah no. I've had my head gasket fail as well and that is very obvious when
it does go. First you get a scum floating on the expansion bottle and then
you get total loss of oil pressure and a very hot engine very fast. I
didn't warp my head fortunatly but only cos I could coast it home downhill!
>
> It is chugging along well and appears to be working perfectly at
> present apart from me topping up the coolant a bit every week.
>
> How long do you think it'll be before it just decides to conk out and
> never start again? Is that what will happen or will it just go down
> gradually (or quickly?) - what are the more immediate signs of it
> giving up on life?
>
> I've not seen any of this "mayo" in the coolant reservoir or on the
> oil filler cap yet.
>
> Thanks for any pointers!
>
> If it dies then I wont be annoyed, just saddened as it's been a really
> good and reliable car otherwise!

Mmmm. I got a third of a million miles from mine before it was pinched.

> I think I'll just get a motorcycle
> licence instead as they're cheaper to run and insure!
>
> --Nick.
>
> *Eight years old when I bought it for £1k at auction + 1 year in my
> possession, 72,000 on clock now.

[Guy King]

The message <9unub8adjgv9.1h3rtyuxbu57y.dlg@40tude.net>
from Chris Street <venus.ngfb@chris-street.demon.co.uk> contains these words:

> First you get a scum floating on the expansion bottle and then
> you get total loss of oil pressure and a very hot engine very fast.

That depends on whether the gasket has failed between a waterway and an
oilway. Yours may have gone between a waterway and a bore. Just as
common, but without the oil in the water.

--
Skipweasel.
Being superstitious brings bad luck

[Chris Street]

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 22:02:23 +0100, Guy King wrote:

> The message <9unub8adjgv9.1h3rtyuxbu57y.dlg@40tude.net>
> from Chris Street <venus.ngfb@chris-street.demon.co.uk> contains these words:
>
>> First you get a scum floating on the expansion bottle and then
>> you get total loss of oil pressure and a very hot engine very fast.
>
> That depends on whether the gasket has failed between a waterway and an
> oilway. Yours may have gone between a waterway and a bore. Just as
> common, but without the oil in the water.

I think it actually went first between bore and waterway, eventually
pressurising the coolant so much that it blew from there into the oilways.
I was surprised that the coolant hoses took it until I saw how dismally
sealed the head gaskets were. I was fortunate it never went again after
that - I've heard of some people in Sheffield climbing hills and getting
hot engines who blew CHG's every year or so!