Don't like to add fuel to the fire but...

M0T

M0T

M0T

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Well there has been a bit of a debate on the forum over the reliability of Rovers and I have to say that unfortunatly the head gasket on my 1997 VVC Coupe has decided to go on holiday, dumping all my coolant into the sump.

Coincidentally the VVC Mechanism is fubared and it needs new piston rings so I am really looking at having to get a whole new engine if I decide to keep the car.

Its a tough choice because I absolutely love it but I think I have to be sensible on this one because it isn't really economic to repair it.
 
Well if I were purely to get the head gasket changed it would be around £500 inc parts +labour.

The problem being that because of the other engine problems I am really looking at at least £1000 to get it put right either with a 'new' engine or repairing the existing one.

The car itself is probably only worth £1200, and its done a fair few miles so its probable that its just going to turn into a money pit.
 
You could try getting it fixed at a cheaper garage or work at home mechanic. Sometimes people remove the vvc mechanism anyway. Fix and sell ?

I gave my volvo away because the piston rings went on it or that was my guess anyway since it couldnt maintain compression under load (lots of bunnyhopping) but the guys who took it away ran it for another year on the rest of the MOT I had done, couldnt have been too hard to fix i guess.
 
I skimmed the first post and thought oh **** and then read the part about the piston rings and was like :eek:

How did the VVC mech screw up the rings?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to having HGF in the near future... especially as how I'm killing the car at all these Manc Meets. Yesterday, the note of the engine was different... it didn't sound healthy at all, although I am thinking oil starvation.

Weird how it dumped the coolant into the sump. A mate with a 1.8 VVC engine in his 200Vi was telling me how they like they spray coolant out the front of the block.
 
Well the piston rings have been like that since around august. The vvc got noisy around september and the idle has gone weird, apparently its a common problem as the bearings tend to go.

All seperate problems but expensive never the less.

The annoying thing is the car had the exhaust camshaft replaced however it was done just before Rover changed to using the steel dowels. If it had been done 3 months later I probably wouldn't be having this problem.
 
Like what? Burning oil?

The VVC unit is known to get noisy isn't it? What sort of mileage has it done?

I'm guessing this is the cause of your weird idling problem?
 
agw_01 said:
Anyway, I'm looking forward to having HGF in the near future... especially as how I'm killing the car at all these Manc Meets. Yesterday, the note of the engine was different... it didn't sound healthy at all, although I am thinking oil starvation.
Click to expand...

Don't say that MM3 will result in a OcUK changing of your Head Gasket by the road, another landmark suffice to say ;)

thedazman
 
Its done 106k

The vvc unit is very noisy and the car idles erratically because of the problem with it.

It is also burning oil, well, now it will be burning sludge.
 
thedazman67 said:
Don't say that MM3 will result in a OcUK changing of your Head Gasket by the road, another landmark suffice to say ;)

thedazman
Click to expand...

Well, by the time MM3 comes, I'll have my suspension fitted. So I'll be pushing harder than yesterday. I'm tempted to bring a spare HG and tools... yet I have neither :D

M0T, my car burns oil if I rev it from cold. Have you done a compression test, or can you can see blue smoke out of the exhaust when driving?
 
Blue smoke on startup and it last for about 5 minutes. I have been told this is normal when the rings go as the heat causes them to seal and close the crack....apparently
 
Well I have decided to fix it, and by that I mean I spent £150 in Halfords aquiring all the necessary tools, then off to Land Rover for a gasket.

They hadn't heard of the new one that has just been released but never fear, the old style one was £10 cheaper than at Rover so I saved some money there.
 
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