Beech-Hill-Garage-K-series-Head-Gasket-Fact-Sheet, Rover

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//-->Beech Hill Garage K series Head Gasket Fact Sheet•Is there a way of preventing my head gasket from blowing?There is, sadly, no 100% way of preventing this but there are things you cando to minimise the possibility. First and foremost, you just have to keep aclose watch on your coolant level and investigate any loss no matter howminor it may seem. Minor coolant losses have a tendency to become majorcoolant losses over time. On an MGF or TF, this is easy as you can check it inseconds every time you put something in the boot.You should also regularly check the oil level, oil not only lubricates yourengine it also helps to keep it cool.Have the car serviced to the manufacturer’s service schedule at a garage thatknows that type of car. At Beech Hill, we are only too aware of howimportant cooling system integrity is on a K series engine and always have alook around the cooling system when we service a car.If the gasket should need replacing, get the job done by a garage that hasexperience of the K series engine.•So, why did my head gasket blow in the first place?There are several common causes for this but they invariably come back tolack of attention to the cooling system.You should understand that the water jacket (that’s the bit that holds thecoolant as it travels around the engine) on a K series engine has a relativelysmall capacity when compared to other engines. This means that even asmall coolant loss will run the risk of your engine overheating.The answer is:Check coolant level regularly.Do something about any regular coolant loss immediately.Common causes of coolant loss include:Radiator.Water Pump.Cooling system pipes and hoses.Inlet manifold gasket (often appears to be leaking from head gasket).The original K series engines had a single layer gasket and plastic dowelslocating the head on the cylinder block. The gasket was not very tolerant ofeither heat or of “head shuffle” (the head would move slightly as the plasticdowels got hot). The current gaskets are of a multi-layer design and muchless susceptible to breaking down when hot, the plastic dowels have beenreplaced with steel ones which are a very tight fit and prevent “head shuffle”.•I think my engine overheated and I’m worried that the head gasketmay have gone, how do I tell?This depends on what the cause of failure is and how the gasket is leaking.Amongst the most common symptoms are:The oil on the dipstick has a grey appearance, similar to mushroomsoup.A quantity of what looks like mayonnaise is present under the oil fillercap.The heater has started to blow only cold air.Steam from either the engine bay or the exhaust tailpipe(s).Performance loss.However, you may have some, all or none of these symptoms. It’s worthsaying that relying on the temperature gauge to warn you of an overheatcondition is not a good idea. If you suffer substantial coolant loss, the gaugemay warn you too late or may even not register anything is amiss. This isbecause the gauge monitors the temperature of the coolant, if there’s nocoolant then it thinks everything is OK.•Is there a way that I can be sure my Head Gasket has actually failed?The K series engine has a bad reputation for HGF and it is very easy to jump to theconclusion that it has failed. Some of our professional acquaintances will attributeeverything from a flat tyre to a flat battery to HGF! Below are some clues to help youdecide if indeed you do have this problem.If the head gasket has failed, you will have one, or more, of the following symptoms:Coolant in the oil – The gasket has failed between one of the waterways andone of the oil drain ways. A sure sign of this is coolant loss together withmurky dark coloured oil, with flecks of cream, very reminiscent of mushroomsoup. You will also be losing coolant. Don’t confuse this with the whitedeposit (mayonnaise) that you often see on the dipstick above the oil levelwhich may just be caused by condensation, likewise the similar deposits youmay notice on the underside of the filler cap, But you do need to watchclosely to see if this develops into something more serious.Oil in the coolant – The gasket has failed between the high pressure oil wayfeeding the camshafts and a water way. The oil is at a higher pressure thanthe water so escapes into the cooling system and finds its way into thecoolant reservoir. Coolant should normally be sparkly clean. Again don’tconfuse this with dirt in a poorly maintained cooling system (the coolantshould be replaced every four years) or residue from a previous HGF. Flushthe coolant system and keep an eye on things to see if they re-occur.Steam from expansion tank cap whilst there is still coolant in it. This couldsimply be a cap that needs replacing as it is letting pressure off too soon. Itcould also be that the gasket has failed between a cylinder and a waterway. Ifit is the gasket then combustion gasses are escaping into the coolant systemand displacing water. The system will pressurise and the relief valve in thecap will blow. This could also be caused by poor coolant circulation, partiallyblocked radiator, stuck thermostat, an air lock or blown radiator fan fuse.Check that your radiator fan is working and that there is no air in the radiatoror heater circuits. Bleed the system, start the engine and rev it. After oneminute, stop the engine and open the coolant cap. If there is an unexpectedpressure, then that’s confirmation.Loss of coolant with no other symptoms – This is the $64,000 question. Itcould be that the head gasket has failed between a waterway andatmosphere. This is most common along the front of the engine above theexhaust manifold. It should be possible to see some witness or staining fromthe leak above the heat shield. The more likely cause of water loss is a badhose joint, leaking hose, under pan coolant pipes, water pump gland or acorroded radiator. It should be possible to see some water drippingsomewhere but be aware that some leaks only show when the engine iswarming up or cooling down. Put the car onto a dry surface or somenewspaper to see where it might be dropping. Exhaust all other possiblecauses before concluding it’s the head gasket.Following the above tests, you may think that it is possible for combustiongasses to escape to the atmosphere or for oil to escape to the atmosphere,however there is no interface between gasses and atmosphere or oil andatmosphere. If you have an oil leak in this area, it’s not the HG, it’s morelikely to be the cambox.Garages will be able to assist you in your diagnosis. They will be able topressure test the cooling system which may help in identifying where thecoolant leak is, they will also be able to test your expansion tank cap forcorrect break-off pressure. It’s not unknown for even “new” caps to blow at amuch lower pressure than they ought to. They also have test kits to analyzethe coolant to detect the presence of exhaust gasses. Well worth investing inthese two tests if you are not sure.•Can I keep driving the car if I top the coolant up regularly?The short answer is yes, you can. However, if coolant is getting mixed withengine oil and emulsifying it then the oil is not going to be doing its main jobof lubricating the engine, that may well be causing even more damage.You may also be causing unseen damage to the cylinder head.You may end up damaging the cylinder liners as well.All in all, it’s best to get the car recovered to a garage that can do the jobASAP, rather than carrying on driving it.•What are my options for getting this repaired? I’ve heard that I canget it done on my drive by a mobile mechanic. I’ve also heard that itshouldn’t cost me more than £450 – 500.You have a variety of options but the one single thing that you should alwaysbe aware of is that this is a job for someone who knows what they are doing.It’s not complicated but it is specialised. Ask the simple question – “Howmany K series head gaskets have you replaced?” If the answer is 20, 50, 100or more then see if you can get a testimonial from one of these previouscustomers. If the answer is - “It’s a head gasket, we’ve done loads of them onloads of different engines” - then it’s time to walk away and enquireelsewhere.A mobile mechanic doing the job on your drive is quite feasible – untilsomething goes wrong. Does he carry all the parts hemayneed and not justthose he knows hewillneed. If he’s not from the local area, does he have theright contacts to obtain these unforeseen spare parts at short notice? Whatdoes he do about checking your cylinder head for surface flatness andcoolant/gas integrity? You can’t just take the head off, slap on another gasketand do all the bolts up tight! Finally, if he has problems and manages toovercome them, what does he do when it gets dark and he hasn’t finished?Don’t get me wrong, there are, undoubtedly, some highly qualified, highlyskilled and extremely competent mobile mechanics around. Some of themwere originally employed by MG-Rover and their dealers before they wentinto administration and know this engine inside out. It is a lottery though andyou can’t pop in to see a mobile mechanic and watch him at work like youcan pop in to your local garage.£500? Well, yes it is possible to do the job for this amount but ask yourselfwhat has been cut from the bill to keep the price down. A low labour chargedoesn’t necessarily mean an unskilled worker but there will also have to beother savings made to get the job done this cheaply. If you read the attachedpages and see what we do when we replace a K series head gasket, askyourself which parts we fit that you may wish to do without.•I’m thinking of having my head gasket replaced “just in case” is thisa good idea?Not really, in our opinion. Obviously we’d be happy to carry out this work foryou but why fix it if it ain’t broken? It’s just possible that you will never haveto have the gasket replaced so our advice would always be wait until youneed to do so.Just keep checking the coolant level and get any regular coolant lossinvestigated sooner rather than later.Have the car serviced regularly and to the manufacturer’s service schedule.•What do Beech Hill Garage offer in the way of head gasket repair?First and foremost, we will always start by trying to find out what caused thegasket to blow. Often we will do this as part of an initial assessment when thecar arrives with a suspected head gasket failure. This way we can give you arealistic estimate of the repair toyourcar and not a general idea of typicalcost. At the same time we will advise you of any other work, such as cambeltreplacement, that would be advantageous for you to have done. (Cambelt(s)replaced whilst replacing the head gasket will only cost you the parts – noextra labour).•What sort of guarantee will Beech Hill offer on this work?Our standard guarantee for this job, and any associated remedial work to thecooling system, is 12 months or 12,000 miles. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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