1997 Rover - Austin 200 vi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Head gasket needs looking at soon as oil is starting to weep into the water

new battery at 52k.

Driving position is poor

a quick car off the lights beats golf vr6 to 60

top end power is not great as it seems to run out of steam at 120mph.

Make sure you check the cylinder head is not warped and that you use new cylinder head bolts, otherwise it will blow again...

This is a very common failure mode on K series engines.

Ifc.

The K-series engine is crap, basically. Clever design, light weight and high specific output do not excuse the fact that far too many fail with blown head gaskets or shifted liners before 100,000 miles.

It's an inherent design fault which was never fixed. The coolant thermostat is in the wrong place, the build tolerances of the engine are far too large, and the cooling system has virtually no reserve capacity.

Also remember, this engine was designed as a 1.1 and 1.4 litre unit for the Metro and "shopping" versions of the 200 / 400. By definition, the 1800cc version of the engine is a bodge job, which never featured in the original design brief.

People argue that the K-series many problems can be solved with a few mods, and quote all manner of statistics to say why the K was so great, but it's also fundamentally flawed, and a major gamble when out of warranty. The fact is you don't get the same inherent problems on a Ford, Vauxhall, VAG or PSA engine of the same era, despite their supposed "inferiority".

Rover K series

Many k-series engines do suffer from head gasket problems and other minor faults. Having owned many varaents of this engine I can say that generally this a very reliable engine which was designed to very high specs. castings are made of aluminum, one step down from what nasa use in space rockets.

The stretch bolt idea is being implemented by many car companys now.

Most of the problems with these engines are by poorly trained mechanics trying to rebuild these engines.

Cylinder liners ONLY move when engines are turned over during a rebuild which rover state MUST NOT be done. some poorly built recons have plastic cylinder head locating dowls which lets the head move slightly, these need to be replaced with steel on a rebuild.

Late engines suffer from thermal shock due to thermostat position, which can be rectified by a retro fit thermostat kit.

Generaly mechanics don't like this engine because it is SLIGHTLY harder to put back together after a head job than other engines (time is money) (and people like to cut corners)

The k series is one of the lightest engines you can lay your hands on and powerfull, Nearly ALL other engines will weigh more and deliver less power to engine weight ratio.

The k series was used by lotus and caterham for a reason!!

Early 1.4 blocks are stronger than later 1.6/1.8

These engines are best worked on by professionals or done to a high standard at home.

Parts are cheap (ebay) and easy to install, as with vvc engines.

MOST people who say its crap don't work on engines daily!!or haven't the patients to do it!!

To personly replace the head gaskets should cost as follows:

head gasket set £38

stretch bolts set £20

cam carrier sealant £7

new patchlock bolts £5

head skimmed £20

peanuts

I have worked on many k series engines that have covered 140000 miles plus and are generally strong and long lasting.

My own engine has covered 500000 miles before it needed a new gasket/poorly built engines will last a thew thousand miles before head gasket failure.

Also there many engines for sale on ebay for next to nothing with buying and fitting not costing more than 250. (except vvc)

generaly, many engines suffer from all manor of different faults.

Conclusion

cheap and cheerfull, underated and powerfull.

Liked to see what was said in previous comment.

Anyway... Let people think their way, so we can continue to buy and use Cheap Rovers...

Mine is from 96, a 414 si and I did buy it for 500euros!!! It have 60000km in clock and yes, I had to spend some with him, but now it worth's many more in its work...