Just bought a Rover 25 with issues ~

[Ferg]

Built by the company who mid-mounted the 'K' first.
730kgs at SVA with a VVC and full size spare wheel.

[MGJohn]

Ferg said:

Built by the company who mid-mounted the 'K' first.
730kgs at SVA with a VVC and full size spare wheel.

Must be well nippy then with that spec...
..

[varsas]

Hmm..quite interesting.

That cylinder block looks very odd to me, or is that just what modern lumps look like? Very different to my Land Rover engine, or my mates E30 anyway (16 valves..in but 4 cylinders? How is such a thing possible? For sooth I say 'tis witchcraft! Next you'll be telling me it's not made from cast iron!)

[DannyVTS]

Great thread Quite a rover fanboy myself since my parents had a 620si and a 200vi.

[Getragdogleg]

MGJohn said:

Thanks for the reminder..

Yes, I'm aware of that

No worries, it's not a bad motor to work on once you have done a few, I was able to do them in less than a morning when I did them all the time, the belts can be "fun" especially if someone has damaged the pulley tensioner, or it has never been touched ever and is made of rust.

[MGJohn]

varsas said:

Hmm..quite interesting.

That cylinder block looks very odd to me, or is that just what modern lumps look like? Very different to my Land Rover engine, or my mates E30 anyway (16 valves..in but 4 cylinders? How is such a thing possible? For sooth I say 'tis witchcraft! Next you'll be telling me it's not made from cast iron!)

Not witchcraft .... Tis verily cast alloy foorsoooth...

It is considerably different to the majority of engines. Although some other manufacturers have used something similar. When it appeared over twenty years ago, I do not think there were any others quite like it. The 'odd' looks are mainly due to the use of wet liner cylinders ~ which are seperate from the rest of the cylinder block. They are removable. Most cast iron cylinder blocks have the bores within the same casting ~ not seperate items as is the case with these Rover K-Series engines.
..

[MGJohn]

Getragdogleg said:

MGJohn said:

Thanks for the reminder..

Yes, I'm aware of that

No worries, it's not a bad motor to work on once you have done a few, I was able to do them in less than a morning when I did them all the time, the belts can be "fun" especially if someone has damaged the pulley tensioner, or it has never been touched ever and is made of rust.

Yes and that large belt tensioner for the Power Steering Pump drive belt is very strong. I struggled with it at first when changing all three belts on my MG ZS earlier this year ~ you really need a third hand ~ I used this length of wood as a third hand... it worked a treat :~



You need to drop it down to access the small 8mm bolts which hold the Timing Belt cover :~



Like so many things in life, it's easy when you've worked out how....

Do one in a morning can you ... yes, could be but, I'm being ultra thorough as this car is for my son. Weather permitting, it should be ready to fire up sometime tomorrow.
..

Edited by MGJohn on Monday 1st November 21:49

[Ben Magoo]

Great thread, I'm not ashamed to admit I love old British metal - the current fleet is a Discovery Tdi, two classic Mini's and an Allegro estate

I love the K Series motor - a fantastic piece of British engineering and hopefully a future source of power for the Allegro lol

Pure coincidence but I'm half way through my Dad's Rover 416 head gasket with the freshly skimmed head sat in the porch ready to fit Thursday night (Wifie's doing a couple of night shifts tomorrow and Wednesday )

Bookmarked!

[MGJohn]

Ben Magoo said:

Great thread, I'm not ashamed to admit I love old British metal - the current fleet is a Discovery Tdi, two classic Mini's and an Allegro estate

I love the K Series motor - a fantastic piece of British engineering and hopefully a future source of power for the Allegro lol

Pure coincidence but I'm half way through my Dad's Rover 416 head gasket with the freshly skimmed head sat in the porch ready to fit Thursday night (Wifie's doing a couple of night shifts tomorrow and Wednesday )

Bookmarked!

Allegro Estate ~ Class particularly if equipped with the E-Series Engine.

Had one as a company car way back when ~ with the 1750 E-Series ... by the standards of the 1970s and early 1980s, it flew and surprised many other car owners by its "turn of foot" ... to use a word from the equestrian nomenclature...

My favourite Rover engines are the O and T series Turbos ... here's a T-series engine in my 620ti :~



Probably the most underrated engine ....

Top Gear Tallness said:

In the world ...

Well ... helps to pass the time...
..

[Ben Magoo]

MGJohn said:

Ben Magoo said:

some stuff

Allegro Estate ~ Class particularly if equipped with the E-Series Engine.

Had one as a company car way back when ~ with the 1750 E-Series ... by the standards of the 1970s and early 1980s, it flew and surprised many other car owners by its "turn of foot" ... to use a word from the equestrian nomenclature...

My favourite Rover engines are the O and T series Turbos ... here's a T-series engine in my 620ti :~



Probably the most underrated engine ....

Top Gear Tallness said:

In the world ...

Well ... helps to pass the time...
..

LOL I love my little Allegro from a not so recent trip with some scrap metal in the boot I know she weighs around 900kg's and I fancy a nice non vvc 1.8 K for her (not that impressed with the vvc set up after doing head gasket on my mates MGF split cams etc? don't know about that? I think I prefere the basic tunability of a N/A of Turbo'd 1.8)

[ASR1]

My dad had a 416GSi from new to 90k miles which ran wiith not a single problem. 600 series were pretty cars.

[B'stard Child]

MGJohn said:

No surprises there ~ Oil-Coolant mixture mess:~



I also removed the sump plug to allow the Oil~Coolant mix to drain into a bucket. I've left a note to myself to replace the sump plug tomorrow as I'm allowing the stuff to drain overnight. Get as much of the muck out of the engine as possible. It was still giving the occasional drip when I packed up just before dark.

[teaching my grandmother to suck eggs]With all that muck in all the oil galleries fill with cheap oil - run engine for 5 mins no load at all just tickover - stop engine, drain oil and look for level of contamination - repeat again and again till oil shows no sign of contamination - refill with good quality oil only then consider putting engine under load - £15 of cheap oil better than a bottom end rebuild cost[/teaching my grandmother to suck eggs]

The old statements about bottom ends failing shortly after a head gasket failure are 99% down to contaminated oil still left inside and it doesn't make a happy bedfellow with bearing surfaces.

But you knew all that I'm sure

[poo at Paul's]

Great thread and good work. But one thing, John. Whenever I do a K series HG, even if it is in one session,(rather than over a couple of days) after i remove the head, before doing anything else, I always stick the head bolts back in the block with some suitable spacers to mimic the head depth. This is to prevent the ladder on the crank moving if you have to move the car, turn the motor over, or if it just get's knocked or slips.

I know someone who turned the motor over when doing one about 10 years ago and the crank pretty much liberated itself from the motor! It was never quite right even when all rebuilt!

Anyway, certainly worth a set of spacers (mine are from box tube) for future HGs, imo!

[varsas]

MGJohn said:

varsas said:

Hmm..quite interesting.

That cylinder block looks very odd to me, or is that just what modern lumps look like? Very different to my Land Rover engine, or my mates E30 anyway (16 valves..in but 4 cylinders? How is such a thing possible? For sooth I say 'tis witchcraft! Next you'll be telling me it's not made from cast iron!)

Not witchcraft .... Tis verily cast alloy foorsoooth...

It is considerably different to the majority of engines. Although some other manufacturers have used something similar. When it appeared over twenty years ago, I do not think there were any others quite like it. The 'odd' looks are mainly due to the use of wet liner cylinders ~ which are seperate from the rest of the cylinder block. They are removable. Most cast iron cylinder blocks have the bores within the same casting ~ not seperate items as is the case with these Rover K-Series engines.
..

ahh...cheers!

[MGJohn]

Thanks for the helpful feedback advice folks. One of the reasons I like to put up these threads is the advice that comes back. That way we all learn.

Never forget ~ you CAN teach an old dog new tricks ...

Never forget ~ you CAN put a wise head on young shoulders.

.... as me old Granny used to tell me back in the middle ages ~ yes, I am that old...
..

[MGJohn]

Been diverted with other stuff today and tomorrow... even so, managed to get the engine fully reassembled and so did a Compression test ~ prior to working on the car, a compression test gave the following poor psi readings across cylinders 1-4 :~

65 - 65 - 65 - Zero .... Never seen a Zero before ...

Tonight's "dry" readings were not ideal but, much improved :~

160 - 140 - 140 - 165

So, No. 4 not only has recovered, but, now shows the highest reading!

It was dark by the time I'd fitted the Battery ~ Still the original Delphi Unit now over eight years old fitted on the production line at Longbridge like that on my MG ZS now over seven. The battery was put on trickle charge and spun the engine over vigorously but, the engine did not fire up. The EML was lighted so something is up. Maybe I have not reconnected all the various connections my sons disconnected when they removed the head. Now very dark so I will investigate further when time allows...maybe tomorrow.

Based on this experience, DELPHI batteries are long lasting and the sort of quality I like to see.

In another thread elsewhere ( http://forums.mg-rover.org/showpost.php?p=4103295&... ) my post #12 ~ fourth paragraph down ~ I mentioned my son's friend's MG ZR with a damaged head gasket following collision with a Fox. Long story.... ... As I was packing up he came round with the car engine rebuilt but car not running well fifty miles after the repair by his friends. Lumpy idle and occasional misfire ......They checked the compression readings ( using my tester ~ Good old Dad ) on all four and they appeared OK. Refitting the coil packs and restarting the engine .... Engine running perfect now. Looks like one of the coil packs or plug connectors was not connected properly ... ... Another sorted MG ZR lives on ... Good eh..

..Funny old game folks and their cars..
..

[tinman0]

...and here I am looking at HGF failure Metro/25s on Ebay thinking "hell, I could do this" lol...

Great thread.

[MGJohn]

It's not a bad idea ~ find a nice example ... and of course you can do that ...

Good luck with the search.

I've been on ebay for over ten years now and have averaged one car with "issues" per year ~ sometimes two if the right ones come along. As long as you have other reliable transport, you can take your time and make a really proper job of it.
..

[Fordo]

MGJohn said:

My favourite Rover engines are the O and T series Turbos ... here's a T-series engine in my 620ti :~

Probably the most underrated engine ....

I'd agree with you there- i still miss my old 420 turbo. Should never of sold it.

The engine had a lot of character, pulled like a train, and never let me down. I think i'd nearly clocked up 140,000 miles. I did a comp test out of curiosity and all cylinders were identical, and were exactly what RAVE said they should be. Various rolling road results also showed the engine to be in fine fettle, putting out far more than it should have been.

[MGZRod]

I never thought I would become a Rover/MG 'defender'

Then I bought a ZR

Then it got HGF the weekend it was bought.

got refund

Bought another

It breaks, a lot.


But they are great cars arent they?