Rover K-series

[vdubdaz]

Hi everyone im currently doing a project at uni on the rover k-series engine. I was wondering if any of you guys could help, what are your experiences with the engine have you ever suffered from any head gasket failures.Any help would be greatflly recieved.
Thanks

[VTECMatt]

Speak to Dave at www.dvapower.com

[Sam_68]

I've had 3 K-series engined cars and so far have not suffered a head gasket failure.

There was a member survey on the MLOC (Midlands Lotus Owner's Club) a while ago, though, where about 30% of members reported head gasket failure on their K-series Elises. It's free to join that forum, and no doubt the survey results are still archived somewhere.

[Pied Piper]

I've had one Elise two engines and two HGF. I win.

[mahju]

VTECMatt said:

Speak to Dave at www.dvapower.com

He knows his stuff... read here about it: http://www.sandsmuseum.com/cars/elise/thecar/engin...

[TIPPER]

Worth putting a post on SELOC. Also worth searching the SELOC technical archives - I'm sure you'll find loads.

[Mark B]

Taps 84k miles in my 1999 Elise S1 and no HGF....

There are lots of people with better knowledge than me, but from what I understand the post 1999 cars were better than pre 1999.... But I have no data to back that up..

[andy_s]

Interesting that you should pick Lotus to research HGF - the same engine is / was in the LR Freelander which sold more units and is probably more representative of a commonly used/maintained vehicle than a niche sports car.....

[RobM77]

I've had two VVC engines now, one in a Caterham and one in an Elise, and both have been superb. Both engines returned monster mpg, very linear performance, and neither have drunk a significant amount of oil. Brilliant engines

[kambites]

andy_s said:

Interesting that you should pick Lotus to research HGF - the same engine is / was in the LR Freelander which sold more units and is probably more representative of a commonly used/maintained vehicle than a niche sports car.....

But how many Freelander enthusiast forums are there with as many members as the Elise community here?

ETA: Oh and I've had no problems with mine although the VVC mechanism is rather noisy. 160bhp from a NA 1.8 is pretty respectable, even by modern standards, and 40mpg at the same time is particularly impressive.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 29th November 10:07

[patmahe]

I've not had HGF on my K series but engine is only 27k miles old. From what I've read a lot of it is how the engine is treated, ie given time to warm up properly etc... that ultimately determines the lifespan of its HG. There seems to be hysteria and paranoia about it happening but even if it does its not catastrophic and can be fixed.

[RobM77]

patmahe said:

I've not had HGF on my K series but engine is only 27k miles old. From what I've read a lot of it is how the engine is treated, ie given time to warm up properly etc... that ultimately determines the lifespan of its HG. There seems to be hysteria and paranoia about it happening but even if it does its not catastrophic and can be fixed.

I presume the OP is aware of the report Rover carried out into the K series after a number of failures. They reported that if you allow the engine to warm up properly and don't modify it too much or insensitively, it should be fine.

[whygee02]

I've had 1 elise for about 14 months and it had HGF at 3 month and 1 week of owning it (3 month warranty had just expired).

Cost was around £500 to repair, and I've learned from advice on here to let it warm up properly etc etc. Been fine since.

[cej]

Well,my Elise already had HGF before I bought it so it's not likely to happen again with a stronger headgasket and steel dowel pins

[patmahe]

cej said:

Well,my Elise already had HGF before I bought it so it's not likely to happen again with a stronger headgasket and steel dowel pins

Does anyone know how much this would cost to get done, where it can be done?

[Capt Cave Man]

Had HGF within 300 miles of buying my S1 111s, as with others uprated pins etc. and has been fine ever since.

[Pied Piper]

patmahe said:

I've not had HGF on my K series but engine is only 27k miles old. From what I've read a lot of it is how the engine is treated, ie given time to warm up properly etc... that ultimately determines the lifespan of its HG. There seems to be hysteria and paranoia about it happening but even if it does its not catastrophic and can be fixed.

My engine(s) are always warmed up properly that means the oil temp right not just the water and have suffered two HGF (on seperate engines). Sure it's best to warm up correctly but HGF could still happen.

[TIPPER]

TIPPER said:

Worth putting a post on SELOC. Also worth searching the SELOC technical archives - I'm sure you'll find loads.

I've just realised that this doesn't sound quite as I meant it to.

You'll find lots of information in Seloc archives re HGF.
Particularly look for posts by King K for controversial content.

For the record my 99 K engined car has never had HGF, uses very little oil and is a delight in the Elise.

[TIPPER]

TIPPER said:

Worth putting a post on SELOC. Also worth searching the SELOC technical archives - I'm sure you'll find loads.

Just realised this doesn't mean quite what I meant it to.

If you have a look through the Seloc archives I'm sure you'll find plenty of HGF discussions. For controversial content search for 'King K'.

Main issues seem to be cylinder liner heights porosity (or otherwise) of the head - they got worse in Rover's later years apparantly, in addition to the items mentioned in posts above.

FWIW. My 62k car has never had HGF. The engine has been reliable, uses virtually no oil, is economical and works beautifully in the Elise.