75 Club SE 1.8T Brown Coolant on road, Dark Brown/black oil in expansion Tank

[innertemple]

(also Posted on mg-rover.org)
Hi,
Car is a 2003(52) Rover 75 1.8T, done 47000, bought 6 months ago.
Shortly after buying, noticed small bits of mayo in header appearing every so often. Sucked out and checked levels. Oil and water level okay.
Upon starting engine, would notice gurgling sound, so regularly checked levels and went through bleeding and topping up procedure more than once. Water level dropped a little a couple of times but eventually seemed to stabilise.

So Oil and Coolant levels seemed happy, Car running great for about 5 months or so(except badly fitted fuel pump O ring which leaked until I fitted correctly). Used every day, no problems. Heater works fine although cold is not cold, but happy as long as i have hot, for the upcoming cold mornings.

I regularly check levels and keep an eye on temperatures and theses been no issues. Other than some knocking from either an engine mount or suspension component when moving slowly in low gears, the car has performed well, is very quick and comfortable.

Now this week just gone - beginning of week
Fuel indicator says 42 miles remaining when i pull out of drive. Less than 1 mile from house it counts down every second from 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and so on until I manage to pull off to a side road and it stalls. Thankfully id parked. Ran out of fuel, shouldn't have relied on gauge i guess, yet its been fine and accurate before now.
Fill up and on my way.
Check levels every morning.
Top rad hoses seem to be coated in slimy condensation every morning for last few weeks when engine cold, have been for a while now and was aiming to replace them and also looking into prt in case there were pressure related issues.

Thursday, levels fine, Friday morning header tank empty. Topped up, checked oil and dipstick, no problems, no sign of contamination. Small amount of condensation under filler cap, nothing major.
Friday afternoon, decided to look at cooling etc as engine temperature had been climbing steadily after returning home.
Cooled down, checked levels, they were okay.
Went out later in the afternoon for a couple hours. As I turned into my road heard strange hissing type noise, engine temp began to rise steadily, turned engine off.
Looked under car, dripping and fair size puddle of brownish water. Allowed car to cool a little, checked coolant cap. Header looks full of oil.
Checked oil filler cap, mayo on underside and mayo over cam cover inside.

Sorry for long post, but trying to explain everything in detail.
So, im presuming head has gone, but am wondering what else has gone and maybe water pump causing the coolant to be replaced with oil?, no other signs of leakage other than from cam belt side.

Ideas? Suggestions?

P.S. I am in need of either repairing relatively quickly or replacing as I cannot go without transport for long as I have to take kids to school, work and go to uni twice a week.

[roverbarmy]

Sounds very much like head gasket failure. If so, it needs a full change of gasket, water pump, cambelt and tensioners and inlet manifold gasket. There are MG Rover Mobile Mechanics around (Google it) if you don't have somebody local. The head and liners need to be checked whilst it is stripped.
Mike

[innertemple]

Thanks, ill check it out and see what the damage might be

[Stickman]

I don't know whereabouts in the south east you are
But andy (shiner) is a very competent mechanic
He's located Wokingham/Bracknell area
Regards
Chris

[chipsceola]

Depending where in SE you are (why secrecy?) you can also contact Mike Stafford of MJS Auto and Marine in Worthing, Mike is mobile or workshop, but would suggest you don't drive the car as may risk further damage to engine or turbo.

[Dragrad]

Thread moved to a more appropriate forum. Re-direct left in old. This may be the better forum as things get 'buried' very quickly in the General Forum.

[innertemple]

Thanks for everyones help. Turns out it was Water pump. Bearings had gone and it failed. Lucky I spotted it when I did and I was at the end of my drive at the time.
Fancied doing the HG and everything myself, maybe save some money, but I needed it ready for an MOT asap.
Thanks go to roverbarmy who gave me someones details who could do it.
Kayleigh at http://www.mg-rovermobilemechanics.com/ fitted me in an appointment for someone to come and do the job within the week.

So on wednesday Mark came down from Nottingham and did a top job.
Very nice fella, very helpful.
Very happy with the work he did and now im just going down to pick the car up as I just got a call to tell me its passed its MOT.
So yippee yai yay all round.

Also, out of interest, guides on here helped me sort my handbrake adjustment after doing my discs and pads. Found it easy once I fabricated a little spaded tool.

Thanks again