Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Hallo everybody, I've recently purchased this book:
Rover: K-series Engine by Des Hammill
https://www.amazon.it/Rover-K-Engine-Co ... r+k-series

I was expecting to read an in-deep review of the said engine, but I've found a book focused on the head gasked of K engines.

The author writes about a supposed 100% failure rate of head gaskets of these engines, with damages spanning from simple head gasket failure for 8V engines up to 1995, to head being softened by heat and being permanently damaged beyond repair due to aluminum softening on 16V engines after 1996. The expected mileage before this 100% failure rate spans from 150,000 km on 8V, to as low as 50-80,000 km on the 1.8 16V.

I am quite alarmed of course by what I've read.

- On the one hand, I can confirm that my 414i 1.4 16V purchased new in 1996 has never had a reliable cooling system. My specific example had a fan which never properly worked: sometimes it simply wouldn't start, and leave the engine overheat. This resulted in blowing the injection gasket, which has been replaced by a thicker type. The fault has never been consistent, because it would happen at random, typically only while in the middle of a traffic jam, and never ever when the car was driven at the local dealer for checking.
I did also experience some sort of fault in the very last week in which the car has been in my ownership at around 68,000 km: the car developed a very strange loss of power while coasting, and resulted in extremely poor fuel efficiency. Since I traded-in the car few days later, I've never investigated the issue any further, and attributed it to some loose pipe. With hindsight, it could also been the sign of coolant flooding the engine.
Moreover, the car I've recently purchased (same engine type, same model year) has had a full headgasket job at 140,000 km , including new pump, so this would be consistent with mr. Hammill's theory. The car also seems to run without a thermostat, so maybe the component has been removed or drilled open to improve cooling and avoid further accidents.

- On the other hand, I'm perplexed by some assertions. For example it seems that this head gasket failure would result in immediate break-down, due to engine being flooded by coolant. From my experience, an engine can run with a blown head gasket, many times without the owner even noticing it, because when the engine reaches its operating temperature, the sealing is improved thanks to the thermic expansion of metals.

I have tried a search on this forum, but found nothing about this book/author, so I ask you: where lies the truth?
My purchase has been driven by pure passion, so it is not a big deal for me to have the headgasket replaced every once in a while: the car will cover a very limited mileage anyway, so the long term cost will be negligible. I am mainly interest in the ability to keep the road on the road in the future, and possibly not to break down without notice.
I.e. I plan to drive the car to Le Mans in 2018. Being stuck with a coolant flood in the middle of France and wasting my 200-€ grandstand ticket is a less than desirable option...

Keep on top of your servicing and the k will never fail you.

As with all engines, but it's more important with the K series, let the engine warm up (which doesn't take long with a K) before you rev it hard. I always keep it below 3,000rpm until it is at normal operating temperature.
It is well known that hgf is more common in Freelanders and 75s because they are worked harder from cold because they are heavier cars.

The K series was (is) a very advanced engine. They made it thin-walled and used pressure fed bottom-up casting to eliminate flaws and maximise yield. They used standard engine-grade purity aluminium. The resultant weight of the engine and the very respectable power it develops in all its forms means it has a very high specific output (power divided by weight).

The problem, as far a I know, is that the cars with K series fitted were either mistreated or purchased as retirement cars and were used for several short journeys each day. The constant heating cycle of the engine plus its low mass meant the block and head went through lots of expansion and contraction phases. There was a finite probability the engine in the car had impurities at the block/head interface that, when subjected to constant rubbing against the head gasket, would eventually give way and allow coolant to mix with oil. This does result in a very rapid overheating of the engine and given the low mass, potential warping. The block is usually okay - the head needs to be skimmed and normally the engine can then be put back together. Other types of head gasket failure, such as a failure to the open side of the engine causing an oil leak, can be tolerated and an engine will run for years potentially with such an oil leak if the oil level is kept topped up.

There are many fixes for the HGF problem. When SAIC released the MG6 with N series engine, the block was re-designed to have extra webbing which meant it flexed less than the old K design. They also designed a multi-layer head gasket that means its top and bottom surfaces can slide against each other and the outer faces remain solid against the head and block. They also gave the "long bolts" that hold the whole engine together an extra quarter-turn (rumour has it).

SAIC released their multi-layer head gasket in about 2009 I think and it's still available for purchase from the likes of Rimmer Brothers. However, many other companies also make MLS head gaskets such as FAI. They all purport to fix the problem on K series. Another company has designed a system where they mill-out a sort of fire-ring arrangement in the block and fit a new fire-ring made from very high purity aluminium. Combined with an MLS gasket, there would be absolutely no probability of failure. I think the MLS head gasket is key - not sure the fire ring is necessary on low-stressed cars but on Freelanders and 75s it's probably a good idea.

Montego man's advice to let the engine warm up first is good and to be honest is what you should do for all cars if you want the engine to last for as long as it can. They only tell you to "start and drive immediately" because letting the engine warm up wastes fuel - there's no other reason, so ignore it and give the engine a couple of minutes if you can. Then neither labour nor over-rev the engine for about 10-15 minutes of driving - until all the oil has circulated and the engine is nice and warm and up to temperature all over. Mine's a Honda D16 engine and I do this every single time with mine - from the day I bought it 22 years ago. I can even find you a service bulletin for the Honda Civic Shuttle which has the same D16 engine, stating that head gasket failures occur on the car and showing the uprated Honda head gasket to fit. Even Honda had problems on the heavier cars where the engine was more stressed...

MG Rover garages such as Brown & Gammons offer a head gasket replacement as a "package" - they use new long bolts but I don't know which MLS head gasket they use. If you choose not to fit an MLS gasket, then if the head gasket does fail, companies such as MG Rover Mobile Mechanics in Derbyshire carry spare heads and you can call them upon breaking down to rebuild your engine. Minimum charge is £300 for local failures.

Thank you for your feedbacks.

The author point is that the original silicon gasket will age prematurely due to exposure to heat, failing in a very short time.

According to the author, the gasket is the same for all the engine sizes, so the more heat, the more ageing. As a result the 1.8 engines would supposedly last for very low mileages.

Moreover the heat generated by post-1995 engines would also cause the head aluminum to soften, thus being indented by the block, and anyway becoming useless due to the loss of strength and permanent indenting damage.

Another concept is that Honda engines, while being quite similar to Rover's , never had this problem, thanks to a different cooling system path, which granted better cooling to the engine.

Author's word is that the K-series engine would have survived until 2005 also in Land Rover Freelanders, with the same defect.

This point is also doubtful. I can see Rover, on the verge of bankrupcy, without resources to fix a serious design bug, trying to churn out as many engines as it could to create some cash flow, not bothering about long term reliability and customer retention. I see as much more doubtful that Land Rover has gone on installing the same engine in a premium vehicle, after 10 years it has been in production, choosing not to fix the bug, and accepting a supposed 100% failure rate...

There are some important omissions from this thread, so I will attempt to fill some of the gaps


The original design concept was for a lightweight modern engine to replace the A Series in a new range of 'mini' sector cars. This was considered a imperative for any stand a lone volume manufacturer. All the German Manufacturers now market a small European car for example.

The K Series was developed as a compact engine package to fit into a small light front wheel drive car with a small engine bay like the Metro. Not a large [comparatively] 4x4 or a mid engine configuration with long coolant pipe runs to the radiator. The cooling system was designed for very fast warm up with short journeys specifically in mind! The block has a thin cross section and a narrow crankcase to fit into a cramped engine bay.The steel cylinder liners are a press fit into the block . They are wet liners with rubber sealing rings where they pass through the water jacket. I've observed the difference between my 414 K Series and the D16 in my 216 for example. The cooling system only holds 3.5 L of coolant.

It's important to understand how the engine is designed to work in order to understand what goes wrong. A four cylinder in line engine is a poorly dynamically balanced design to begin with and will want to flex. The K Series is designed to flex, thus the stretch, through bolts. When torqued up the bolts operate within their elastic zone and stretch and contract with the block. As the bolts are being loaded/unloaded with every engine cycle they will eventually fail as they work harden. That's why new bolts are stipulated at overhaul irrespective of their extant length on disassembly.

Original Design flaws

1] The plastic dowel that locates the cylinder head to the block; in some examples it didn't, resulting in head 'shuffle' leading to H.G.F

2] Removing the coolant filler neck with the MPI design, this makes the cooling system very difficult to bleed the air out off [R8]

3] Coolant leaks into the inlet tract via the inlet manifold gasket [water heated for faster warm up]


95/96 Block Redesign

Design change to a 'damp liner' design; the whole block/liners and pistons are different.


Modifications Carried Out To Eliminate H.G.F

Rover modified the original Head Gasket, beefing up the seal around the cylinders and waterways

Landrover produced a Multi Layer Shim gasket that came in separate parts plus a strengthened bearing cap ladder, specifically aimed at the 1.8 Freelander application. They also I think advised against reusing the stretch bolts irrespective of their free length. Objective to stiffen the block and reduce block flex/head shuffle that they believed caused H.G.F.

A steel dowel replaced the failing plastic original this was probably Ford as well.

Rover designed a modified thermostat called a PSV that opened by both temp' and pressure primarily for the mid engined MGF/ TF.

Rover Manufacturing Defects

Porous Liners supplied by GKN, cured by a change in supply to a German company.
Batch of porous head castings.
Overheating of the cylinder head could lead to areas becoming anealed and turning permanatly soft, requiring a replacement head.


SAIC designated a further modified engine as a N Series with a further change to the head gasket this is a one piece MLS gasket. They also toughened up the stretch bolts by increasing the tensile strength of the material and changing the tightening sequence. The stand proud height of the liners above the block face increased by 0.002" They may well have changed the grade of Alluminium used and the casting process, howeevr I haven't read anything about that.

What else is there to say? Well a 1.4 MPI K Series is still considerably more powerful than for example the 1.6 lump fitted to various examples of small Volvos dating from the mid 2000's . A good early 1.4 K makes a SOHC D16 seem under powered and is far more frugal. Obviously the Honda is tougher and will stand more abuse.

220GSI Turbo ran a 1.4 to nearly 200,000 miles with good maintenance, so I think the answer is that they won't stand abuse, but will last well if looked after.

Got this book a while back it is a really interesting read but most things covered are well known anyway. The thing I found most interesting tho was Rovers losses in money cant believe they ever made it to 2005

I have owned 10 ROVER's, 7 were K-Series engined, 6 had head gasket failure, but the only one that didn't have
head gasket failure and one of the ones that did have head gasket failure was caused by a failed water pump.

The K Series wasn't actually first used with plastic dowels, they were fitted later to help avoid the head gasket being damaged when the engine was been put together

Did you used to work at Lonbridge John?