Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

I went to the garage yesterday, to get a second opinion, about my problem. They confirmed that my head gasket had gone, and they quoted me £400 to fix it. The man in the garage said to fix it he would have to take the head off, and send it off to be skimmed, also the hydraulic tappets would have to be cleaned out, and new rubbers fitted., they would also have to replace all the head bolts with new ones, if I wanted the camshaft belt changing at the same time, then this would cost extra. I asked him if it was necessary to skim the head, to which he replied it was very necessary. I also mentioned that because of the age of the car, and the fact that these rovers are prone to head gasket failure, then the same thing may happen again next year, and I may be wasting good money, to which he replied that once the head gasket has been replaced with a new one then they “never” go again.

He said that they use a new type of head gasket that includes a metal shim, and that this then cured the problem for good. When I told him I was thinking about just replacing the head gasket, together with the inlet and exhaust gaskets, he said to me in no uncertain terms that I would be wasting my time. Now I know it's in his interests, to try to get the job, but he was quite adamant about my wasting my time just changing the head gasket, without skimming it. I was always under the impression that the procedure was to remove the head, and once removed to check it to see if it is warped by holding a flat edge against it, and only if it is warped or scoured, should it then be skimmed. Needless to say, he has created doubts in my mind, as to whether I would be wasting my money replacing the head or not, and I am now leaning towards scrapping the car . Any thoughts about this matter would be much appreciated.

If the head isn't warped there is no need to skim it. Most headgasket failures on K series are caused by overheating which is why it is routine to send it off to be skimmed.
At least the mechanic is recommending the use of the latest gasket which shows he knows a little about them.

What is CRITICAL but hasn't been mentioned yet is that the liner heights must be within tolerance before any headgasket is replaced. On most engines this isn't an issue but on the K series it is critical and if they aren't right the gasket won't last.

Headbolts can be reused if they are within spec (they often are), and the older single piece gasket is ok for the lower powered engines. If it were my car I'd change the headgasket myself and see how it goes. The tappets are easy to clean too.

Thanks once more for your reply, and taking everything that has been said into account, and the help that you kind people have offered me, then, I think that I may change the head gasket, as I really would like to keep the car, as mentioned it has just passed an MOT and it is in quite clean condition. Not only that I tend to keep my cars for a long time, the last car I had was a maestro which lasted me 15 years!
Since my last posting I have now acquired a Haynes repair manual, and with reference to the last posting………… What is CRITICAL but hasn't been mentioned yet is that the liner heights must be within tolerance before any headgasket is replaced………….

Then I cannot see any information regarding the liner heights within tolerance, perhaps somebody could tell me whereabouts it is in the manual please.

Reference was also made to…… the older single piece gasket is ok for the lower powered engines…… and…….At least the mechanic is recommending the use of the latest gasket…….
so I am a bit confused now as to which one I should use, should it be the latest gasket, that includes the metal shim, or the older single piece gasket?

I intend to start work changing the head gasket over the next few days and would appreciate a reply to my previous post please. Also looking at the Haynes manual the cylinder head bolts, look like they are star shaped, can anybody tell me if an ordinary metric socket will fit onto these, to undo them, or whether I need to buy a special socket.

you need a torx set for the head bolts mate.

Thanks for the info.... very good of you to take the time.

Thanks for the info.... much appreciated!

Thanks for the info...do you know what size the torx headbolts are please, I have a neighbor who has a few odd female torx sockets, & it would be nice to know if I have the right size before I start the work, or whether I would have to buy one ( or a set)