Well I was warned - failed head gasket.

I thought I'd seen the last of this thread, it blew my secret hgf from friends :D

My car has the new LR gasket and rail now so all precautions are taken from it happening again. As for the fault, the K series I believe has a low coolant capacity which could have been designed better but the real problem is apparently shoddy tolerances and build of the units. Head faces not being straight or quite aligned etc. causing the gasket not to work as effectively as it should. After the rebuild and skim it should be all good!
 
[TW]Fox;13147272 said:
A production flaw present in every single unit sounds like its very close to a design flaw to me :p
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Well one assume the same production processes were present were the bulk of the items. The lack tolerance explains why some engines are fine for 100k others have had 4 HG at that age. The prototypes were perfect.

The key is the liner protrusion above the block surface to bite into the HG, this is where the tolerance stacks just left a huge envelope for engines to be shipped out with a wide range of values. The LR ladder isnt really that effective as the block is more than stuff enough, even when they trialled a 3mm thicker block for engine NVH reduction there were no differents noted on the head to block interface in terms of sealing performance.
 
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[TW]Fox;13147272 said:
A production flaw present in every single unit sounds like its very close to a design flaw to me :p
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Not at all, it perfectly possible to have a technically perfect design, but for poor quality control in manufacturing to cause problems. In any case, what makes you say every single unit suffers from this?
 
Dogbreath said:
Not at all, it perfectly possible to have a technically perfect design, but for poor quality control in manufacturing to cause problems. In any case, what makes you say every single unit suffers from this?
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I don't know a single 100,000 mile K Series owner who hasn't suffered from this. Ok, not representative, but really, it's like an epidemic. The girlfriends parents have had a 400 from new (lol) and it's gone twice..
 
Were not disputing the trend you have observed, in your limited data sample. Simply the reason for this trend existing. Im aware of several 100k units through owners forums and many of the freelander mileage accumulators have double that figure problem free.
 
When I used to work in a motor factors, I reckon we sold 10x more K-series head gaskets than the combined sales figure for every other one we sold. The only other one that stood out was 8v puntos seemed to sell quite well.
 
moss said:
When I used to work in a motor factors, I reckon we sold 10x more K-series head gaskets than the combined sales figure for every other one we sold. The only other one that stood out was 8v puntos seemed to sell quite well.
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Maybe you were just the cheapest at K series and the most expensive for all others . . . . :p :D
 
If I had bought any MG/Rover car with a K series engine from new and had these problems I would be pretty gutted to be honest.
However I feel the MG TF is a good enthusiasts car - if you go in with your eyes open and are willing to do the work yourself they can be had for peanuts. I am not saying they are a better car than a MX 5 for a moment but they do seem to have character/performance and a mid-engined layout.
The K series is a good engine however it does seem to have a design flaw. If it is a poor production process and quality issues that has caused these failures that sort of explains why MG Rover bit the dust.
 
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Biohazard said:
Hardly, just crap gaskets.
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Its not just gaskets though, the engines run hot because of poor air flow around the engine. Put an uprated gasket in and a couple of years down the line you will have the same problem.

My sister had a mgf and the gasket was replaced twice in her ownership. Also she paid 600 as the access is very poor.
 
Ahh not again... should have read the whole thread... This happened last week with another epic old thread.
 
VinceB1 said:
Its not just gaskets though, the engines run hot because of poor air flow around the engine. Put an uprated gasket in and a couple of years down the line you will have the same problem.
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Believe it or not, the K series is not an air cooled engine. The flow of air around the engine does not influence gasket life, but the flow of coolant around the engine, and temperature gradients within do.
 
[TW]Fox;12938384 said:
It really does amaze me that people still buy these terrible cars.
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In what way are they terrible? Have you owned one for a length of time significant enough to build an educated opinion?

Or are you just another Clarkson? :p
 
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