it goes as long as it goes, no time limit etc etc, your mechanic is talking turd!

 

I suspected so!

Just trying to find out how much turd he was talking

 

how long is a piece of string?...

Mine lasted 99000 miles.

 

I'm guessing it's the Freelander version that tends to have a bit of a timescale to it as, I believe, the gasket can fail due to what amounts to wear and tear.

In the rover application they nearly allways fail, as I understand it, as a consequence of some other issue causing water loss. In my case I think mine was a failed waterpump. If the water loss is caught early before overheating can occur then they should last quite a long time. Essentially comes down to maintenance more than mileage.

 

In the rover application they nearly allways fail

Completely and utterly WRONG ! I have posted similar replies on threads like this before. Have a search on how many "K" series engines were made, i think you will find the percentage of failures is less than 1-2% !

While i admit the gaskets were "fragile", saying they "nearly always fail" is rubbish !

 

There have been several posts on here with over 150,000 miles.

 

its the luck of the draw sometimes with the HG... my first one on my 216 went about 66,000 and my one on my Vi went at 73,000... can also depend on how well its looked after and maintained.

 

No scale. I have seen them go with less then 1K on the clock and over 200K.

One thing to stress though is most tend to go between 30K and 50K. But there is no simple reason why they go.

One thing I will stress though, 99% of HGF I have seen have failed due to some other conponent letting the side down. If you want to fine out how many head gaskets have just failed on there own, well that would be a very small percentage.

 

I think mine must be one of that small percentage then.

I check the coolant level regularly, and it never used to drop at all. A few weeks ago it started to slowly lose coolant, but I never let it go below the MIN level.

Took it to be investigated, and HGF faliure diagnosed (by then I had oil in the coolant and white smoke from the exhaust, so it wasn't exactly a surprise).

Feeling a little dissapointed as I have looked after the car well, but it seems to have made no difference.

Dave

 

I had a failure at 39k with no other contributory factor, its a "K" series thing !

The problems with head gaskets have been solved by SAIC adopting the MLS head gasket, so this issue will be a thing of the past !

 

still the same head gasket and i'm on the fourth year of owning my 214i.

(touch wood) :yikes:

 

My old 214Si I had for over 8 years and had well over 90K on the original head gasket.

My 202 ZR did 54K with no problems before I opted for the PTP 140 conversion and that was some 30K ago.

 

Never had a head gasket replaced in my Rovers.

400 - 110k kms
214 SEi - 150k kms

Still with the original headgaskets, yet (touch wood)

 

i am kinda sitting on the fence here but in my own experience and learning i would suggest anyone with a 1.8 fwd zr160s without hgf would be in the minority. regardless of design flaws (lets also note that the 1.8 fwd has the thirdd worst hgf scenario behing mgf/elise and freelander), powertrain couldnt machine or assemble a simple mechano set. for ***** sake, they couldnt even machine the ******* heads straight. you think they fitted gaskets properley and use the correct torque settings, you gotta be joking. even had to bin my exhaust cam because that had been machined almost out of the blank.

forget early rovers, vi's, brms, we are talking the later zr160, different feel of car altogether. the statement about a secondary cause is quite true though however that doesnt mean the whole design isnt flawed though, vacuum filling kit??????????? what the **** happened to gravity and bleed nipples?!!!!????????

the excuses dont wash with me one bit

sorry, the fence bit, i can understand though that many people drive rovers forever without a problem, not the zr160 though...............

 

powertrain couldnt machine or assemble a simple mechano set. for ***** sake, they couldnt even machine the ******* heads straight. you think they fitted gaskets properley and use the correct torque settings, you gotta be joking.

I see you possess a vast knowledge of the intricacies of the subject.

 

I believe there was one case of a 414 with 350k on the original gasket, though it was meticulously looked after

 

My dads 1998 Rover 416 had HGF at 42,000 miles. It diddnt fail in a big way or anything, and the car was perfectly driveable - just needed to keep an eye on the coolant level.

All replaced now and serviced by myself - shes now running absolutely great.

 

All the examples posted so far of long lasting HG's have been 1.4 or 1.6.

I had heard before that the 1.8 is weaker (something to do with the liners?)

Any 1.8 k series out there with 60k plus on the original part?

Dave

 

My friends 1996 Rover 414i was owned by his uncle from new. He put 80,000 miles on it without changing the gasket. My friend got the car in 2003, serviced it every 5,000 - 7,000 miles and changing the coolant every 15,000 miles. To date there is 156,600 miles on the car, the body is showing severe signs of its age, however, the engine is in 100% condition and has never had a head gasket fail from new. I might add that his driving style is pretty much foot flat to the floor and well known to thrash it when the engine is cold.

 

44k on my 1.6 16v 25, BUT Im Very Throttle Friendly,

 

Headgaskets don't just 'go'! They will fail due to overheating caused by failure of another component. I have found that the expansion tank cap valve quite often fails and so the system can't get upto pressure and the water boils. I have had to replace 2 caps on my metro in a year (Its a 1.8). I never let it overheat as its the heat that warps the head and lets the coolant mix with the oil.

Just keep the cooling system in tip-top condition and never let the temp get into the red and you should be ok.

Edd

 

My uncle greg had a rover 200 vi from new. In the first 67000 miles it managed to munch its way threw 3 gaskets. He gave up in the end and sold it for scrap the numpty. It was really down to him not checking water levels ect on a regualer basis. The last hgf warped his head.

cheers

 

The last hgf warped his head.

His actual head?? :yikes:

that's quite a severe case of HGF there...

 

hgf

just bought 25 on 51 plate about 45,000 on clock was advised to add "k seal"its used to suposedly fix a bust hg ,but was told it would limit the damage hg could cause if it failed ,seems ok at mo,had a 414 years ago with hgf ,cost a fortune to try to fix then was told it needed new engine , so i am a bit warry now ,

 

Sealants have their uses, but stopping a potential head gasket failure is not one of them. Just keep an eye on the oil and coolant condition and you'll be fine.

 

Just to add some info about my new project Rover 214i. I bought it with a leaking water pump. I noticed some oily sludge in the coolant expansion tank, so I decided to replace the head gasket whilst Im at it.

Just got the cylinder head off, noticed mayonaise on the head bolts as I was removing them. Anyway the head gasket is a bit of a state! Failed completely in at least 2 places - oil and coolant mixing together. And nearly all of the orange beeding is disintergrating.

...its a 1996 214i 8v with 69k miles on the clock.

 

Plenty of people saying head gaskets don't just go, it's always related to another component failing.

I started this thread because I took all of the advice on maintainence and checking coolant levels and my car has NEVER had the temperature in the red, or run low on water, and yet the HG still went with only 49k on the clock.

Sorry to make the same point twice, but there are still no examples of long lived gaskets from 1.8 k series drivers in this thread (I don't think the Metro engine is a k series, please forgive me if I am wrong)

Cheers

Dave

 

49k, eh? That's what my ZR just hit, and i'm getting bad vibes about the integrity of my head gasket too. And likewise, my car's been well looked after, always topped up, etc.

Think it is possibly 'just one of those things'...

 

There have been several 150,000 mile examples mentioned in the MGF section during the past weeks.

I take the point you are making - it is well known that the K Series and its installation have several design weaknesses. This not only leads to a system that is sensitive to problems, but one which will also be prone to spontaneous failure.

 

how far b4 hgf

Hiya i got the 416 sli (i know this is the wrong section for it) but my rover did 126372 exactly before my original head gasket went, i think alot depends on how well you look after your car , ive always used a little garage where i live they only have 2 mechanics there but the blokes a good bloke and knows all his customers, and hes always done a good job with my car my biggest mistake was when i let friends that work on cars start doing little bits on my car, but all in all i think my car did good on milege before she decided to blow a gasket ... i love my Rover and i wouldnt swap her for the world