not so quiet - blown head gasket

on my way home this evening coolant light came on, and as I had a sticky float a few months ago I thought it was the same again, but just in case I stopped after 1 or 2 minutes when it didn't go out again. Clouds of steam and emulsion in the header tank. 😡😡 Home via the RAC. Don't feel like crawling under it tonight to find out. So I guess it'll be ' off with its head' next. Could really do without this at the moment - I for one wouldn't have minded it staying quiet on here😏

Oh dear!:bang:
At least there's no problem with diagnosis. That's me desperately looking for a positive...

Oh nooooo!
John

Thanks for the commiseration. Now I've slept on it had a bit more time to think about it.

First thoughts ( before i crawl underneath) is that if there is emulsion in the expansion tank the head gasket went first, as if it had just dumped coolant first, then emulsion wouldn't have had time to form? ( not that it really matters!)

Next thought - it's an opportunity to fit a re-manufactured engine, and give the car a longer life, rather than replacing the head gasket on an 90,000 mile engine which has previously had the head skimmed. Bodywork is very good, no significant rust and i've added Dinitrol to all the places Rover didn't.

All views welcome.

Well it all depends on the quality of the remanufactured engine I suppose. Also it's a bad time of year for spending large amounts of money. What about a new head rather than the whole lump?

John.

Yes that's an option. i suppose I'm thinking that an engine with 90k on it will have limited life left in it, so a good quality remanufactured engine with new shells, liners, etc. should be like new, and give me another 100k? How long do people reckon the bottom end on a well maintained k series is good for?

Gavin207 wrote: Yes that's an option. i suppose I'm thinking that an engine with 90k on it will have limited life left in it, so a good quality remanufactured engine with new shells, liners, etc. should be like new, and give me another 100k? How long do people reckon the bottom end on a well maintained k series is good for?

I have seen a few with up to 150K miles on the clock, but whether those still had original engines in - probably.
Also I keep a check on the ZT's for sale regularly, and I have seen many with mileage between 170K and 220K miles.

So if you look after your K series it may have a lot more miles in it yet!

Maybe if you do a lot of driving in your motor, get the head gasket replaced - if there is no too much damage to the pistons, liners and bottom end and then source a decent low mileage or refurbed powerplant for sometime in the future. Gives you time to wait and pick up a good bargain as and when one comes available.

Sundance

My engine has 152,000 on it. Original engine including the head. It still has good oil pressure and sounds good, no extraneous noises! Obviously not original head gasket! Also the head has never needed skimming. Skimming should not be done as a matter of routine when changing the head gasket on these engines.

If you have changed the oil and filter at recommended intervals there's no reason that engine won't potentially have loads of life in it.

Most engine damage that I know of has been caused by either timing belt failure or hydraulic locking from coolant in the cylinders.:shrug:

In this instance, what is a REMANUFACTURED engine exactly? I have personal experience of a Nissan engine, supposedly rebuilt by specialists, that failed spectacularly within 10 miles of leaving the garage!:rant:

Thanks David. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet - I've got a hard top on and had to move my other car out of the garage to make space for the TF.

Based on the feed back I've had, assuming the head is OK and flat, I'll aim to replace the head gasket. Challenge as I understand it amongst other things is removing the head without disturbing the liners? Also which head gasket to go for, MLS or Elastomer? I've read differing views on the gasket choice, and would appreciate the thoughts of the learned contributors to the T-Bar.

I'm also aware the choice of gasket is also determined by the liner protrusion?

Hi Gavin .
Well I know it depends on your view on the elastomer type gasket . Having changed several of these gaskets , if I came across the designer / engineer who thought it would be a good idea to use what is nothing more than silicone sealer on a cheap and nasty piece of aluminium gasket , I would like him to justify his reason for using it. :rant: Many would say it was a cost saving exercise but whatever the reason all it ended up doing was causing the demise of many engines and ruining the reputation of both MG/Rover ( as they continued to deny that there was a problem ) plus loosing the confidence of their long suffering customer base .
MLS would appear to be the only way to go in my opinion, although some people may have a different view .

John