Internet sensationalism for car faults
Discussion
jbi said:
Rover head gasket failure is not a myth.
My mates dad. Rover 45 head gasket failed leaving them stranded on the M25. (they live in Northumberland)
Engine was ruined... so hunted for a new car.
Told him to get a honda... he bought another second hand rover.
Head gasket has failed on that one as well... literally within a month of buying. Engine was not damaged, so was fixed and put back on the road.
Another mate, likes to tinker on with comp safari and suchlike bought himself a freelander as a cheap tow car. Head gasket had already been repaired on it so he thought it would be okay for a while.
Went pop a few weeks ago, water pissing out all over so he's just weighed it in for scrap.
Fingers well and truly burnt.
Everyone I know who has had a car with the rover k-series has ended up being a horror story.
No-one will say it is a myth My mates dad. Rover 45 head gasket failed leaving them stranded on the M25. (they live in Northumberland)
Engine was ruined... so hunted for a new car.
Told him to get a honda... he bought another second hand rover.
Head gasket has failed on that one as well... literally within a month of buying. Engine was not damaged, so was fixed and put back on the road.
Another mate, likes to tinker on with comp safari and suchlike bought himself a freelander as a cheap tow car. Head gasket had already been repaired on it so he thought it would be okay for a while.
Went pop a few weeks ago, water pissing out all over so he's just weighed it in for scrap.
Fingers well and truly burnt.
Everyone I know who has had a car with the rover k-series has ended up being a horror story.
. But many K-series engines have never had HGF - certainly the 'early' ones didn't, but changes were made after several years of building them along the lines of lower production specs (mentioned by another poster) as well as the use of PLASTIC dowels to initially correctly locate the head on the block as oposed to METAL ones used in the earlier engines 
. Add a wider bore than the original design was meant for plus dubious placement of the thermostat in some cases that allowed 'thermal shocking' of the almost-up-to-temperature engine with cold water, or perhaps asking the engine to work hard in its installation and voila a cheapened engine with a weak spot 
.Back to the OP's point - does the internet "blow up" car problems like no other media?
There was the case of the Peugeot XUD head gaskets, in Diesel Car mag in the mid-'90s. In all, there were something like 8 million XUDs built, so there will have been a few problems! But there were tens of letters every month for quite some time, regarding HGF on these engines... There had probably been around 5 million built by this time, and there were quite a few of these in the UK
. Research and analysis of these complaints at that time shows that these engines occasionally had a "mid life crisis" at around 50,000 mies, then with a new head gasket were fit to go to the moon. The number of XUDs with head gasket problems was a tiny proportion of the whole, but you wouldn't believe it from reading this particular magazine when the non-scandal first broke. There wasn't any internet then.Then there was the first KV6 engine in 1998/9. When it soon starting showing signs of HGF, it was assuming that it was continuing "the reputation" but it became apparent that this engine was also dropping or crackng a liner. Rover recalled them 'unofficially' and not via the usual channels, and fitted new engines under the phrase "installing factory improvements" with no mention of the work actually being done. I think this only came out afterwards, and in just one mag that I am aware of... There wasn't any significant internet then.
And it was a TV News item on the Rover 100's NCAP crash test that killed that car off. Not the internet.
People could always get the "inside line" when they read "buyers' guides" in car mags
. Just that nowadays, on the internet the unhappy people post (in real life the unhappy people shout to a much smaller audience) while the happy people generally keep schtumm (and this is NOT aimed at the post I have quoted). aw51 121565 said:
No-one will say it is a myth . But many K-series engines have never had HGF - certainly the 'early' ones didn't, but changes were made after several years of building them along the lines of lower production specs (mentioned by another poster) as well as the use of PLASTIC dowels to initially correctly locate the head on the block as oposed to METAL ones used in the earlier engines . Add a wider bore than the original design was meant for plus dubious placement of the thermostat in some cases that allowed 'thermal shocking' of the almost-up-to-temperature engine with cold water, or perhaps asking the engine to work hard in its installation and voila a cheapened engine with a weak spot .
As I have said during the 'K' series arguments before:- . But many K-series engines have never had HGF - certainly the 'early' ones didn't, but changes were made after several years of building them along the lines of lower production specs (mentioned by another poster) as well as the use of PLASTIC dowels to initially correctly locate the head on the block as oposed to METAL ones used in the earlier engines . Add a wider bore than the original design was meant for plus dubious placement of the thermostat in some cases that allowed 'thermal shocking' of the almost-up-to-temperature engine with cold water, or perhaps asking the engine to work hard in its installation and voila a cheapened engine with a weak spot .1) Just because many engines have had multiple HGF it Doesn't mean they will all do it!
2) Just because there are a large number of engines out there with over 100K miles on the the clock and still on the original head gasket it doesn't mean that there isn't a generic problem!
My personal thought?? The design is flawed but will be trouble-free if the engine was originall built with care and subject to good QA practice!
And that is an extremely big IF!.
BeirutTaxi said:
MGJohn! (Soon to be in another K Series HG failure-denial shocker! 
) 
Has he ever denied that the head gaskets can fail? I don't think so. He has, on numerous occasions, tried to inform the ignorant that these failures are commonly precipitated by other faults but sadly it seems a futile task. The ignorant are convinced they know best, so why would they listen to someone who does actually know more than they do?Matt_N said:
jbi said:
Apparently the reason he didn't buy the honda is because he wants to "buy British" and he "disagree's with Japan's whaling policies", so refuses to buy anything made there
Which is a bit silly considering that Honda make a lot of cars in Swindon!He is of the bird watching bobble hat brigade though, and quite simply would not budge on the matter.
Mr2Mike said:
BeirutTaxi said:
MGJohn! (Soon to be in another K Series HG failure-denial shocker! ) Has he ever denied that the head gaskets can fail? I don't think so. He has, on numerous occasions, tried to inform the ignorant that these failures are commonly precipitated by other faults but sadly it seems a futile task. The ignorant are convinced they know best, so why would they listen to someone who does actually know more than they do?But that's PH
had ham said:
350Z.
Amen to that......Taps 350z sitting pretty on the driveway
Had a Lotus, then had an E46. Never again.
I do find though that there are lot of sensationalist scare-mongerers out there but if you talk to the specialist mechanics they tend to bring you back down to earth and tell you like it is.
Edited by Si_man306 on Monday 2nd July 13:34
Si_man306 said:
had ham said:
350Z.
Amen to that......Taps 350z sitting pretty on the driveway
Notes for people who don't like model codes:
* Nissan Silvia Turbo
** Nissan 200SX
*** Nissan Skyline
Alucidnation said:
WojaWabbit said:
Just thought of another one... RS Audis and DRC suspension problems. Every one advertised has either had its suspension overhauled, or is running Bilstein coilovers! They can't all have broken, surely?
It was the same for the RS6 and was odd that they used a similar system in the RS4.I expect some werent a problem, and many owners got them replaced.....but having said that, Audi did extend the warranty to 5 years for DRC.
y2blade said:
S3_Graham said:
y2blade said:
S3_Graham said:
Fireblade69 said:
NadiR said:
S2000, or any performance Honda.
Except for my '04 Fireblade that destroyed several big end bearings and crank at 12,000 miles! Still got it though, rebuilt it and added another 20K 
ked it off!!!!!No wonder I've spent a fortune on so decided m keeping it!!
or was that just to stop them harping on about the "VTEC YO" !If you look hard enough, you will find these for any car.
The cracking boot / subframe on early E46 BMWs for example. I have one of the first E46s, as does a mate on here, as does another mate who occasionally visits and they dont have any problems at all.
Then there is the inlet manifold swirl flaps on early mk3 petrol Mondeos - I had an affected car for a year and it was fine. Still see it going about occasionally.
Then there was the head gasket problem on mk1 and mk2 V6 Mondeos. Well mine was totally fine, and I know the current owner and guess what, it is still fine an on well over 130k now!
My Astra however, a supposedly reliable car according to the Internet, was horrendous. Couldn't have been more unreliable if I drove it around in first everywhere.
I think it is all luck of the draw combined with a lot of exaggeration in some cases. I am sure these issues do exist, but I highly doubt a lot of them are really as bad as they are made out to be. Most people go on the Internet to complain about their cars (general public, not necessarily PHers) and not as many go on to praise them.
Just my 2p
The cracking boot / subframe on early E46 BMWs for example. I have one of the first E46s, as does a mate on here, as does another mate who occasionally visits and they dont have any problems at all.
Then there is the inlet manifold swirl flaps on early mk3 petrol Mondeos - I had an affected car for a year and it was fine. Still see it going about occasionally.
Then there was the head gasket problem on mk1 and mk2 V6 Mondeos. Well mine was totally fine, and I know the current owner and guess what, it is still fine an on well over 130k now!
My Astra however, a supposedly reliable car according to the Internet, was horrendous. Couldn't have been more unreliable if I drove it around in first everywhere.
I think it is all luck of the draw combined with a lot of exaggeration in some cases. I am sure these issues do exist, but I highly doubt a lot of them are really as bad as they are made out to be. Most people go on the Internet to complain about their cars (general public, not necessarily PHers) and not as many go on to praise them.
Just my 2p
morgrp said:
I liked the rumour that Volvo t5 engines have a tendency to bend conrods - symptoms are knocking when cold but clears once warmed up - yeah because a bent conrod goes away once the engines warms up - utter mugs...
I had a Volvo T5 that bent a conrod... The knocking is LOUD and does NOT clear up with warmth LOL! Just to comfirm that...It is not a major problem though, just seems I was unlucky... Mine isn't running the standard 250bhp either...
Mister3man said:
Lol at ''knocking when cold'
A mate of mine started his T5 outside his house and moved it onto his driveway once. An hour later it wouldn't start. Anyway, long story short, it had a bent con rod.
Edit: although the Internet is useful, it's also a very easy way to make you panic about your car and it's inevitable failure you've just read all about.
Sounds like you mate was had - its a common problem on T5's where they lose compression due to the hydraulic tappets filling with oil and get stuck open when started for very short space of time - common as muck and easily cured if they are run on the correct oil viscosity.A mate of mine started his T5 outside his house and moved it onto his driveway once. An hour later it wouldn't start. Anyway, long story short, it had a bent con rod.
Edit: although the Internet is useful, it's also a very easy way to make you panic about your car and it's inevitable failure you've just read all about.
I have worked on literally hundreds of T5's and I have NEVER come across a bent conrod, knackered piston rings causing slap? yes, bent valves? yes, even a broken crank. but NEVER a bent conrod. Whoever repaired it sound like they were spouting b
ks. It takes a huge amount of abuse to bend a conrod.They also have a common fault where an o-ring in the sump fails causing temporary oil starvation on start up which also mis-diagnosed as either a bent rod or failed lifter.
morgrp said:
Sounds like you mate was had - its a common problem on T5's where they lose compression due to the hydraulic tappets filling with oil and get stuck open when started for very short space of time - common as muck and easily cured if they are run on the correct oil viscosity.
I have worked on literally hundreds of T5's and I have NEVER come across a bent conrod, knackered piston rings causing slap? yes, bent valves? yes, even a broken crank. but NEVER a bent conrod. Whoever repaired it sound like they were spouting bks. It takes a huge amount of abuse to bend a conrod.
They also have a common fault where an o-ring in the sump fails causing temporary oil starvation on start up which also mis-diagnosed as either a bent rod or failed lifter.
Well here's your first.I have worked on literally hundreds of T5's and I have NEVER come across a bent conrod, knackered piston rings causing slap? yes, bent valves? yes, even a broken crank. but NEVER a bent conrod. Whoever repaired it sound like they were spouting b
ks. It takes a huge amount of abuse to bend a conrod.They also have a common fault where an o-ring in the sump fails causing temporary oil starvation on start up which also mis-diagnosed as either a bent rod or failed lifter.
I watched him strip it down and rebuild it... I will get a picture and email it to you tomorrow if you still find this 'b*ll**ks'
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