1.8 coolant problem

[Roverman]

Hi all, my father has just bought a 2001 rover 1.8 off his friend who had the engine fail due to head gasket failure on the motorway. The car has been fitted with a remanufactured engine with a new water pump and thermostat. The new engine runs great, but the temperature rises from cold to halfway very quickly. On closer inspection it seems the coolant is circulating through the heater circuit, but not through the radiator, as it is stone cold along with the bottom hose. I have took the top hose off and coolant backflows through the radiator from the header tank tee'd into the bottom hose. This confirmed to me the radiator isn't blocked, and the problem must be a faulty thermostat or an airlock. I keep hearing of thermostat, manifold and head gasket upgrades that are available for this engine, which noone seems to know are exactly. Can anyone shed some light on this problem? Thanks

[Phil]

My 1.8 turbo rises from cold to halfway in about half a mile.

[T-Cut]

For this time of year, it all sounds normal to me. The 1.8 engine warms up very quickly because the coolant volume is small. Providing the temperature gauge stays plumb in the middle of the dial and the heater is functional, there's nothing to fret about. Check that the slow speed fan operates when the air conditioning is switched to 'Auto'. It should run continuously under this setting. If you allow the engine to tick over with the car stationary and 'Auto' OFF, the radiator will eventually begin to heat up (as the thermostat opens) and the higher speed cooling fan should soon trip in. This should trip out as the radiator cools. If all that happens OK, you can stop worrying.

TC

[tony g]

Yes it's normal for the 1.8 engine to warm up quickly, mines at normal temp within a mile even in this cold weather.

[kaiser]

You have to be careful with the temperature gauge. It will show normal well before the drive-train has warmed up, as it only senses the temperature in a small area around the sensor. This area quickly warms up, and the temperature gauge shows normal at about 75 degrees, well before the thermostat has even started to open. The same is true in reverse, unfortunately, where the temperature gauge will also only warn you well after the engine has become too hot.
Especially on the Rover engines, give them time to warm up properly, irrespective of the gauge, and make sure they stay cool too.:)

[SHEDMAN22]

My MG 1.8 had similar problems which were cured by fully draining the cooling system, putting a flush through and then refilling with fresh quality coolant and distilled water.It is important that the cooling system is 'degunged' as the water ways round the block are fairly small.

[Westfield or 75]

You have to be careful with the temperature gauge. It will show normal well before the drive-train has warmed up,

It shows normal/middle of the gauge at 54°C. It will go to 3/4 hot at 112°C top hose temp and maximum at 116°C top hose temp.

[kaiser]

Further on the temperature gauge (or guage, as some seem to prefer :confused:) is the fact, that there is no warning at all. It goes straight from medium to overheat in a matter of seconds, that, at least, is what I have experienced and others too. It is truly a nothing or too much affair. It happens so fast that you believe you have an instrument problem rather than an engine problem.
In other words, you cannot rely on this instrument at all, and in order to ensure that you know what is going on, you need another temperature gauge, or a water level sensor or even an indicator to show you if the fan is running. Or maybe all three.
I think the engines reputation for blowing head gaskets, should rather be one for loosing water un-noticed, leading to cooking the engine, which results in HGF. And in a strange way, there is comfort in this way of thinking, for it means we are not sitting on a time bomb we can't control, rather we are sitting with a cooling system/monitoring weakness that is fairly easily controlled/monitored by the addition of a bit of hardware/(software??).

[Tom Collins]

Kaiser, I agree with you 100%. I've read your posts on the gauge in many threads. It does seem strange that it only lets you know there's a problem when it's too late.
Also, yes HGF is mainly down to the poor cooling system, not the engine or gasket itself, and why they never put a sensor cap on the header tank I'll never know.

[kaiser]

Thanks Collit. I am harping on about this, I know, but I think it is so important that I risk repeating myself.:o
At least no-body can come and claim they were not warned!!
I think it is something that any new Rover owner should be aware of before he even buys the car.
Also the cars are so nice, it is a crying shame to let them self destroy, if we can prevent it with a bit of effort.
It seems as if these problems are cropping up more frequently with age, and I think we are well on the way to arrest the trend with the suggested intervention. I am eagerly anticipating the outcome of the chap here on the forum, who wanted to track the temperatures in his Rover. That should give us a range of acceptable temperatures we can expect to experience, I will be very surprised if it is not well below 105 degrees.
I must just get my own mods made in time.!!:lol:

[Jules]

Any K series owner pre 2003 should get the head gasket changed BEFORE they blow IMO. The originals are like cardboard!!! OK the pics below are from a T series on a 600 Ti we once owned but the upgraded gaskets are vastly improved and to date I have not heard of a subsequent failure.

The best gaskets are of 5 or 6 layers of proper metal!!

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/imagehosting/8114785f2598a0d9.jpg
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/imagehosting/8114785f25ae7dfd.jpg

[Roverman]

What is it with cooling system problems on british cars? my dad has a triumph stag, this had serious problems when new with overheating, due to poor quality control and lack of pre launch testing. Casting sand was found clogging many radiators and cylinder heads! The mini was another stupid design with the flimsy bypass hose and weak water pump bearings. It's disheartening to realise nothing was learnt in 30 years, no wonder we have no major car industry.

[kaiser]

You are right there!. But, I'm afraid, it stretches far further than cooling systems and car production. It is about belief. Once you stop believing you can, you can't. !!
But, to get back on track, I believe that owners of the Stag later did, what the factory should have done. Fixed the problems!.
Why should we not be able to do the same for the 75?
I believe we can!