Rover 400 K Series Engine

Davy644

Davy644

Davy644

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Joined
8 Jan 2008
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439
Location
Eastham/Wirral
There was someone on here`Cant remember who it was,But he was a bit of a wizard with these Engines,I would like to pick his brains if i could,Its my mates car,The problem is it started cutting out the other week intermittently after a while it started spluttering and now wont even start,so far the ECU has been replaced however he is not sure if its an electrical or fuel problem anyone had one of these Rovers its the one with the Honda engine i think,I do know its a 1.4ltr twin Cam 16valve its only done 30 thousand miles full history S(reg)2000
 
If its the honda engine then its not a k-series.

If it is the k-series then the most common issue is the small earth strap that goes from the battery to the top of the chassis over the radiator, high resistance there can play havoc with the fuel cut-off switch causing all sorts of issues.

If it is a honda lump the weakest part in my opinion is the distributer unit.

any error codes?
 
Would have to be an extreme case for those symptoms, but head gasket failure is a distinct possibility, and the mileage isn't far off that typical magic 36k. If it turns out to be that, ensure liner heights are checked and the updated headgasket/oil ladder kit is used to prevent it reoccurring.

The only Honda lumps used in Rovers were the 1.6 D series (SOHC) and the 2.3 (H, I believe?). This will be a K, which isn't Honda.

I'd be inclined to read off the error codes.
 
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Davy644 said:
so far the ECU has been replaced
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Unless it's suffered from water ingress, the chances of the ECU being the cause of the problem are minuscule, did he have a good reason for suspecting it?

Since the ECU and immobiliser are coded together, just replacing the ECU is a sure fire way of never being able to start the car again. Unless you are certain it's faulty then putting the original ECU back in would be a good first move.

Start with the very basics, is there a spark, and is fuel being injected?
 
The ECU in the 400 is very tough, especially the one for the K series engined models. Don't think I've ever heard of one fail.

With regards to your issue, I would suspect in tank fuel pump. Mine started whining to hell before I sold the car, and I have seen a fair few pass on.

Also, an ignition issue is easily possible. I would remove a HT lead and see if you get a spark when you turn the engine over by holding the end of the lead near a metal part of the engine. Careful you don't zap yourself - hold the lead with insulated pliers!

I don't check on here too much, but I am on http://forums.mg-rover.org/ quite a lot, it's free to sign up and ask for advice.

Mat
 
Thanks a lot guys,Am going round tomorrow and will update him, I think the first thing will be to put the old ECU back on,He did say that it used to start and run fine for sometimes a whole day then it would just cut out,I will keep you updated thanks again .. Davy:);)
 
MikeHiow said:
Would have to be an extreme case for those symptoms, but head gasket failure is a distinct possibility, and the mileage isn't far off that typical magic 36k. If it turns out to be that, ensure liner heights are checked and the updated headgasket/oil ladder kit is used to prevent it reoccurring.

The only Honda lumps used in Rovers were the 1.6 D series (SOHC) and the 2.3 (H, I believe?). This will be a K, which isn't Honda.

I'd be inclined to read off the error codes.
Click to expand...

they also used the 1.6 twincam crx engine in the 216GTi
but any way, if its a 1.4 its a rover engine
 
Thought I would update Its the K series Rover,first off .. Swapped the ECU back with the original one and it started up first turn of the key,Checked the earth cable and tbh it looked new do i need to put an other along side it maybe? Thank you for the pointers guys,I noticed the coil packs were getting a bit hot to the touch bought an other and so far so good however they also were hot to the touch` maybe they all get hot or there's a short or something,But after one hundred miles its been fine so far cheers for now Davy:cool:
 
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