A bit late...

[ger2oo5]

...but hello. Im currently driving a corsa, but this is due to me buying it for cheap after my rover 400 died last year (engine seized). In the future i would like to buy a sporty little hatchback (rover obviously), but people keep saying the engines are problematic, particularly the head gasket from what i understand. If anyone has any suggestions on which model is most reliable and why id be very appreciative. Thanks for reading bye for now

[richard moss]

2 litre 4 cylinder models are much more reliable than the smaller engined cars. The 1.1, 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 engines are the Rover K series and are very prone to headgasket failures.

The 220, 420, 620 turbo and 820 are all powered by the 2 litre Rover T series engine and this is pretty much bombproof. The other 600 models are powered by Honda engines. Stay well away from the 825 V6 (built from 1996 onward) as the engine is almost guaranteed to blow its gaskets at some point.

If you want a later car, the 25 and 45 diesels are fitted with the Rover L series and this is another tough engine which, with a little, low cost tuning can easily produce 130 bhp and huge amounts of torque - the same engine is fitted tot he 620 diesel. The 75 diesel is a BMW unit and is pretty robust, too, but parts aren't cheap (when are any BMW parts cheap?).

The 825 diesel is a 4 cylinder VM unit - pretty solid but uninspiring (to put it mildly) and parts can be expensive.

[ger2oo5]

2 litre 4 cylinder models are much more reliable than the smaller engined cars. The 1.1, 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 engines are the Rover K series and are very prone to headgasket failures.

The 220, 420, 620 turbo and 820 are all powered by the 2 litre Rover T series engine and this is pretty much bombproof. The other 600 models are powered by Honda engines. Stay well away from the 825 V6 (built from 1996 onward) as the engine is almost guaranteed to blow its gaskets at some point.

If you want a later car, the 25 and 45 diesels are fitted with the Rover L series and this is another tough engine which, with a little, low cost tuning can easily produce 130 bhp and huge amounts of torque - the same engine is fitted tot he 620 diesel. The 75 diesel is a BMW unit and is pretty robust, too, but parts aren't cheap (when are any BMW parts cheap?).

The 825 diesel is a 4 cylinder VM unit - pretty solid but uninspiring (to put it mildly) and parts can be expensive.

Thnak you for the insight. Ill check them out

[Paul Gregory]

Hi,
As has been mentioned the K series engine does have a bit of a poor reputation...thay are actually a very advanced engine and they have found their way into a few performance cars (non Rover) over time. There are many which have died from head gasket failure - the first sign of trouble is likely to consumption of excessive water.

A fix to the problem has been developed, which I understand involves replacing an oil gallery in the bottom of the engine which the head bolts go down into. The original gallery can flex due to thermal effects which can then cause the head gasket failure. Whilst this is no doubt a fair bit of work to do it is said to solve the problem.

I haven't had a K series engined car myself, but would not have any real concerns about buying one. As with all vehicles it is worth checking any service history...that way you may find out whether or not it has had HGF in the past.

I've only driven a 1.4 litre 25, but was quite suprised how well that went, so I would think the larger engined ones would be quite swift. In terms of the 'hotter ones, there was a 200vi and a limited edition 200 BRM both of which were quite swift. After the face lift they produced a 25 GTi. The MG ZR is of course also the 25 with MG spec if you want more go kart type handling.

Let us know how you get on with your hunt.

Regards

Paul

[Richard Clements]

My wife had a 416 on a P plate and the headgasket went only a few weeks into Ownership, I bought a gasket set from ebay for £35 and got a local mechanic to sort it it came to around £480 all in, when this was fixed it was a rather nice engine and very nippy unfortunately 12 months later it went again and so did our apatite to get it fixed. The point im making is that should the worst happen it's not silly money to get fixed especially so if you are handy with the spanners. I think the newer engines were a lot better in this respect.