Rover 75(1.8) Broke down on M5-no water in engine-is the car now scrap?

[COLVERT]

[SD1too]

Hello Andy,

It's good to hear back from you and that you're contemplating what to do next. I'm concerned that most of the well-intentioned posts are following the assumption that your head gasket has failed. May I refer to to what I said a few days ago?

Originally Posted by SD1too

The number one rule with car repair is not to assume that the worst has happened and start fretting about the potential cost until you actually have some evidence. There is no reason to believe at the moment that you are looking at head gasket replacement.

Regarding the warnings that water in a cylinder could cause further engine damage, I would say this:

• The amount leaking through a failed gasket would be slight. I'd expect it either to run down the cylinder walls past the piston rings (water is much thinner than oil) or be instantly blown out into the exhaust.
• Plenty of people have driven around with blown head gaskets without bending valves or cracking pistons.
• Coolant can enter cylinders by other means such as inlet manifold gasket failure or, on turbocharged engines, a faulty water cooled turbo. In these cases no additional engine damage is caused.

So I suggest to you that you are not going to destroy your engine by attempting to start it. You might have a pleasant surprise and find that the head gasket hasn't failed at all. Remember the lack of evidence: no temperature gauge at maximum or mayonnaise.

The damaged engine part which I think you described as having melted. Can you post a photograph of it please? We can then identify it for you and advise on who could repair or replace it. At the moment you're in a stalemate with no prospect of making any progress.

All the best,

Simon

[shiner]

Perhaps accessing the crank pulley (22mm socket) and turning the engine over 720 degrees (2x crank rotation), checking to feel for no obstructions (hydrolocked due to coolant), whilst checking for 4 compression strokes to give reassurance that the engine is functioning.
This method will show if its safe to attempt a start rather than the risky just go for it approach mentioned in this thread.
Kind regards Andy

Sent from my MAR-LX1B using Tapatalk

[andybilston]

I am not going to attempt to start it myself but have decided to get a mobile mechanic service to come out and look at it and start it (safely) and hopefully give me an idea of what is wrong-as I have been told on here I am assuming the worse and maybe the problem could be something less than a head gasket?
I think this is the simplest solution to start with.
Thanks for all advice given so far.
Andy

[andybilston]

I got a mobile mechanic to look at it just now-I've never used him before so can't guarantee how good he is.
It seems that the part that has been melting is actually the black plastic box that covers the cam belt(left hand side of engine) and when he took that off a tensioner/pulley had melted. He said the cover had moved and he thinks that is what the burning was because the cam belt would have been rubbing against it. He wasn't sure why/how the cover had moved but it was a lot higher than it should have been. The small pipe that had melted was an engine earth??
Towards the top of the radiator where there is a long hose-this then goes downwards into another hose held on by a jubilee clip-when I put water in a couple of days ago the water was coming out of here. The mechanic pressure tested it and the water came shooting out of this hose.
We started the engine with him holding the hose in place (didn't have anything to secure it properly) and the engine started and ran ok with no unusual knocking/banging.
So as far as he is concerned it is not a head gasket problem and seems confident that fitting a new cambelt/tensioner/water pump and repairing/replacing the leaky hose will sort it all out.
He is going to price the job up and email me the details later but doesn't think it is a major job?
Any idea of what this job should cost and how long labour is involved and does his diagnosis sound accurate?
Thanks
Andy

[SD1too]

Hello Andy,

Thanks very much for your detailed and helpful description of the mobile mechanic's findings. I am impressed with his approach which is investigative and systematic, so I'd say that you have an accurate diagnosis. In your shoes, I would book him.

Can I ask how many miles your engine has covered? I'm very interested to hear that a faulty cambelt pulley was discovered as this can happen on the V6 as well (I caught mine in time at 90,000 miles ).

I'm even more pleased to hear that, despite so much talk in this thread of blown head gaskets and worse, no evidence was found (as I'd stressed).

Well done Andy for giving this careful thought and not jumping in at the deep end straight away!

Simon

[TourerSteve]

Originally Posted by andybilston

I got a mobile mechanic to look at it just now-I've never used him before so can't guarantee how good he is.
It seems that the part that has been melting is actually the black plastic box that covers the cam belt(left hand side of engine) and when he took that off a tensioner/pulley had melted. He said the cover had moved and he thinks that is what the burning was because the cam belt would have been rubbing against it. He wasn't sure why/how the cover had moved but it was a lot higher than it should have been. The small pipe that had melted was an engine earth??
Towards the top of the radiator where there is a long hose-this then goes downwards into another hose held on by a jubilee clip-when I put water in a couple of days ago the water was coming out of here. The mechanic pressure tested it and the water came shooting out of this hose.
We started the engine with him holding the hose in place (didn't have anything to secure it properly) and the engine started and ran ok with no unusual knocking/banging.

As i commented originally , a recommended mechanic would point you in the right direction . His findings are plausible to your problems and has taken the approach to repair to get the car running by putting
So as far as he is concerned it is not a head gasket problem and seems confident that fitting a new cambelt/tensioner/water pump and repairing/replacing the leaky hose will sort it all out.
He is going to price the job up and email me the details later but doesn't think it is a major job?
Any idea of what this job should cost and how long labour is involved and does his diagnosis sound accurate?
Thanks
Andy

As I said in my original post a recommended mechanic would soon point you in the right direction . His findings are plausible to your problems and he is taking the steps to get your the car running by carrying out the necessary repairs.
My only caution is until he actually gets it running (which he has to do) and up to temperature ,any hidden damage (eg headgasket ) may not become fully evident as you have not had the engine running long enough to fully prove this.
Your mechanic is taking the correct and realistic approach and hopefully my caution will be unfounded

Also the earth wire needs investigating as it been very hot to melt the insulation

[planenut]

Good that you have got a sensible diagnosis Andy. Whatever price he quotes it will be less than you anticipated. As suggested, the mechanics initial work will put you in a better position to then test it properly.

[Tenesmus]

Originally Posted by andybilston

It seems that the part that has been melting is actually the black plastic box that covers the cam belt(left hand side of engine) and when he took that off a tensioner/pulley had melted. He said the cover had moved and he thinks that is what the burning was because the cam belt would have been rubbing against it. He wasn't sure why/how the cover had moved but it was a lot higher than it should have been. The small pipe that had melted was an engine earth??

Maybe the garage that replaced the temperature sensor didn't do it properly?