1.8 K Series Cylinder head
 

I suspect that the head gasket is failing on my 1.8 75 Tourer as its slowly starting to use more water about a pint a day and the oil appears to be using more oil than normal. I cant see any sign of oil mix or blue smoke but i cannot find where the water is going as there is no visible sign of leakage.

With this i have concluded the head gasket is on its way out.

What i need to know is if the head is interchangable with a 1.4 K series as i have a spare 1.4 head that has only done 43k which i was going to fit on my ZR. If anything its just to keep the 75 on the road longer as i can have the spare head skimmed before taking the car off the road for the repair.

Any advise would be greatly received :D

Re HG failure - as you already have serious coolant loss , and MG John's sound advice re the w/pump aside, - I would try the T-Cut test (as i call it;)) - after a good journey - say 10 miles at speed - next morning unscrew the coolant tank cap - if there is an audible hiss you have pressure in a cold system - a classic sign of HG failure with exhaust gases in your coolant system. If not then your HG integrity may be ok.

Best of luck

Apart from HG fire ring failure, the 1.8 is prone to leakage between an oil channel and the coolant jacket. This isn't HGF in the classic sense, but is just as terminal. A pint a day coolant loss will be raising the sump oil level without necessarily causing emulsification/mayo. At this time of year, it's also less likely to be seen under the oil filler cap. The oil may well look typically dark brown, but will turn black and viscous as the glycol 'reacts' with the oil.

TC

Be careful with the assumption that all non vvc 16v heads are all the same - early ones had smaller ports, later ones had larger ports, and later ones still had different timing belt arrangements (and no distributor). Someone will have the dates, but from memory, up to '92, up to '00, and post '00. I think they're labelled according to mems type?

i seem to remember when i looked at heads.
as said some of the early heads had smaller ports. 31mm i think these were the 1400cc heads. also there will be a difference with timing belt (manual and auto) tensioners
here is a list of casing numbers taken from dvapower which could be usefull identifying the heads.


LDF 10091 31mm 1.4 K low port
LDF 10233 34mm 1.6/1.8K high port
LDF 10239 34mm 1.6/1.8K high port
LDF 106350 34mm 1.6/1.8K high port
LDF 105460 36mm VVC
LDF 106970 36mm VVC
LDF 10290 36mm VHPD

Thanks for the replies.

I know its not the water pump as this was changed when i purchased the car along with a cambelt kit and a full service, which is something i always have done as normally second hand cars don't usually come with any info regarding the last belt change and its better to be safe than sorry.

I changed the oil for fully synthetic on Friday evening as one of the lifters kept ticking and there was definitely no water in it so it becomes even more confusing. The oil change sorted out the lifter issue.

The car did have a leak from the inlet manifold seal when i purchased it which i have already changed for an uprated one from the local Land Rover dealer. The only suspect thing i can find is that the car has an external thermostat fitted on it by the last owner, the T piece has a take off which probably should be a return to the expansion tank which has a pipe with a bolt stuck in. Typical bodgery at its best.

The spare cylinder head is from a 2000 1.4 Rover 25, I haven't had chance to check the casting as i've been busy spraying my 25 today :D

I have seen a Combustion leak test kit for sale, has anybody had any experience with then as that may be the next port of call.

why spend days doing runs checks this that and the other, its us capute, get the head off renew everything you can water pump belt tensioners, skim the head I used a metal shim mainly to stop the liners battering the head or give it a bit protection, worked ok so far, 1400 head will fit, shows how much thought went into these engines

That sounds like they've fitted the Tee from a turbo.

That's a dangerous assumption. Unless you did it yourself (and your post implies that it was a garage) you have no guarantee of a high standard of work.
Do you mean a PRT?
I agree with impvan. The take-off is the return from the turbo. The wrong part has been fitted. The non-turbo T piece doesn't have the take-off.

Nick, have you done the demist test to check that your radiator fan is working properly? If it isn't you will lose coolant and be completely unaware from the driving seat. ;)

Simon

You mean he fitted a PRT with the relevant hoses? This isn't particularly unusual, but the original thermostat near the head must be removed and replaced by the standard 'dummy' ring. You ought to check if that's so. If not, nasty things happen temperature-wise.

Which T-piece do you mean? There's a small (8mm) bleed hose from the inlet manifold that has a T-piece . One end goes to the radiator top (LHS as viewed) and the other to the expansion tank neck. If it's that T-piece, then you can't bleed air fom the head. Another nasty.

EDIT: Ah, yes the turbocharger coolant feed. Most PRT kits seen on the market recently were designed for the turbo engine, so perhaps this was 'adapted' for the NA using a bung (bolt). That little pig's tail hose he bunged up is the most expensive part at £50 a go! Rimmer: https://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-PEH000510

TC