1.8 K Series Cylinder head

[sundancer]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, work has been a right pain in the derriere this week.

The water pump & new belts were fitted by a mechanic friend who i have known and trusted for a very long time, he rarely makes mistakes and knows the K series like the back of his hand, he has worked on all my cars including the full rebuild of my ZR engine and i have never had any issues with him or any of his work.

We have checked the pump and there is no leaking evident. The radiator and hoses all look good with no sign of leakage. Radiator fan works fine on demist test so no worries there

PRT kit is definitely one from a 1.8T after checking the diagram on Rimmers site. Inlet thermostat internals have been removed, so just the PRT.

The only thing we have found is that the expansion tank has a bit of white powdery residue around it ( I use the purple type Si-OAT antifreeze), although that could be just me spilling the anti-freeze water mix when filling it. Just in case i have a new cap on order from Rimmers

[sundancer]

The water pump failed yesterday evening

No circulation, and overheat. This is only 10 months since install of a full cambelt and water pump kit, probably a broken impeller at a guess as the engine still runs ok. Last time i buy one of those NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD- Eurocarparts Circoli pumps. Its one of the ones with the evaporation chamber which probably explains why i couldn't see any leaks. Which bright spark at Rover came up with that idea

Fortunately as its already got the MLS head gasket and the sniff test on the water came back negative hopefully it will be OK. I will fit the new genuine Rover pump i already purchased for my ZR sometime tomorrow or tuesday and see if it overheats, if its ok i'll fit the new cambelt and tensioner that came with the Rover kit and if it does still overheat it will be getting scrapped as its only got just under a month left on the MOT.

Will report back. If it all goes pear shaped, does anybody want to buy a DK Blue 75 Club Tourer with 85k on the clock, needs a new head gasket

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by sundancer

The water pump failed yesterday evening
No circulation, and overheat.

How do you know that there's no circulation Nick?

Simon

[sundancer]

Its only the engine that got hot, the rest of the system was ice cold and theres no visible movement of water when you remove the top hose and run the engine.

The guy from the AA who recovered it apparently used to work for MG Rover in the workshop at Evans Halshaw and to be honest he seemed to know what he was talking about, he even pointed out the car had had the PRT and MLS HG fitted.

Either way there is definitely something wrong with it so as i already have a pump its the best place to start.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by sundancer

... there's no visible movement of water when you remove the top hose and run the engine.

Are you saying that the top hose is dry then? When you release the clamp and remove the hose from the radiator do you get any coolant leakage?

Simon

[sundancer]

If you top the water up in the expansion tank once the engine and cooling system have cooled down and then remove the top hose until the flow of water stops (i.e the water has reached the level of the top hose) and then start the engine there is no further water flow. If the pump is doing its job it should in theory push the water that is still inside the radiator & cooling system out of either the top hose or the radiator.

Its a method i have used on all my previous Vauxhalls and other MG Rover cars to see if the pump is working. Every time there has been no water flow i have pulled the pump out there has either been impeller damage or its dropped off the shaft, I'm guessing this one is going to be the same.

So, reading earlier posts, it was NOT you who renewed the Water Pump, but, paid for someone else to do the renewal... Is that the case?

Correct, although i did supply the parts and i was there when the job was done. I do undertake jobs myself on the car, but every now and then i just get somebody else to do it as an when i cant be bothered messing about in the cold

The pump was a brand new one straight out of the box, I have just been unlucky to get a faulty part by the looks of it .

[kaiser]

I will be very surprised if the water pump has failed in such a way as to make no circulation!
Lack of water or stuck thermostat would seem more likely .

[SD1too]

Nick,

Before you start pulling the engine to pieces again, was the official MGR refilling and bleeding procedure followed exactly? Air locks can cause all sorts of illogical symptoms which are confusing to the unwary and can lead to dramatic misdiagnoses (see the recent thread by Devyl about his KV6).

Simon

[sundancer]

I managed to get the timing belt covers off during Lunch time at work and there is definitely water leaking from around the pump. It seems dry around the thermostat housing side so i think i will drop a new pump on it tomorrow and take it from there. If it all seems OK i will then MOT her again, if not and she shows signs of HG failure it will be going, either to someone who will fix her up or to the scrap yard.

Thanks for the bleeding info, seems pretty much along the same line as my ZR was when i changed the radiator on it a few months back

Before you start pulling the engine to pieces again, was the official MGR refilling and bleeding procedure followed exactly? Air locks can cause all sorts of illogical symptoms which are confusing to the unwary and can lead to dramatic misdiagnoses

I would be surprised if it hadn't been bled properly as its been fine since the timing belt and pump had been changed, the leak only became obvious a few weeks ago. I will definitely make sure the correct procedure is followed this time.

I will be very surprised if the water pump has failed in such a way as to make no circulation!
Lack of water or stuck thermostat would seem more likely .

There was definitely coolant in the system when it overheated. It only has the PRT not the older type next to the pump, there was no heat in any of the hoses or the radiator, only the engine was hot. I have a new PRT on order just to be on the safe side, i will just bypass it for now, by fitting a standard bottom hose until the new one arrives. It should be fine for a few days without a thermostat in place unit i get to the bottom of the issue.

[SD1too]

It's nice to see that you have a reasonable plan of action there Nick (except the scrapyard bit of course).

Please keep us updated on progress and results.

Simon