Gasket erosion.

[DMGRS]

Read this, it'll give you some guidance on what to check:
https://www.dmgrs.co.uk/pages/choosi...ead-gasket-kit

We have a fantastic Elastomer gasket for £17.99 that has all the latest design features.

[bl52krz]

Yes. They all do that! No they don’t. My friend who has a 75 diesel Connie, his son had a 1.8 Rover for about 6 years and his never blew a gasket. So they don’t ‘all do that’. It is the likes of the ‘knowledgeable’ few, like Clarkson et.al. That give credence to the fairy story. When Lotus used the engine in their vehicles, they redesigned the gasket, and as far as I know, never had any trouble. A lot of the time it is down to the actual knowledge of what it entails to fit a head gasket. Various parameters have to be met before an attempt is made to fit one. If those parameters are not met, then you are wasting your time in fitting it.

[ceedy]

our K Series is on 125k miles at the mo , almost 65k of them after the usual 60k HGF


Elastomer in at the moment, not even the latest type


C

[T-Cut]

So was mine failure or damage? The steel part is perfect, but the rubber adhesion has failed. Was the bond damaged by OAT, causing the seal to fail - - ?







TC

[Lovel]

The elastomer bond fails due to multiple heat cycles and pressure differentials between the oil and coolant sides and the bead starts to shimmy out. The bond is simply lost between the elastomer and the steel.

Try bonding viton to steel and see how long it lasts after hundreds of temperature and pressure cycles. Pre-OAT coolant resulted in the same type of failure on the gasket which was suspected as being the nylon locating dowels which were then changed to the steel dowels, but the failures continued due to the cycling and also owner neglect of the peripheral components.

The average owner never looked under the bonnet and with no coolant level sensor fitted and a bust elastomer seal Or a simple leak from somewhere else in the system it was only a matter of time before the oil level in the sump increased due to coolant ingress eventually coolant sucked up into the oil pump and you had a mini mayonnaise generator if the engine hadn’t run dry and overheated by then.

[WillyHeckaslike]

The damage to the gasket shown in the thread starter looks suspiciously like that which can result from cavitation or electrolysis. See this example here. Click


Air in the system or weak coolant mix maybe?

[Fred Byrne]

This has been a most fascinating and informative discussion. I bought a 1960 Rover 100 from an American in west London 40 years ago when I was younger and still devil may care. The American very kindly guuided me to the M4 and just as I was about to depart I said to him' this car is mine now I've paid the money now tell me if there is anything you think I should attend to before i leave for N.Ireland. No he said you have a temperature gauge. As I got on the M40 I heard a strange screeching sound which stopped after a minute or so. I proceeded on. When I got to Stranraer and waiting for the ferry an AA man came over and said that car smells very hot. I replied don't worry I've been pushing it very hard to get to the ferry on time. When I got home it took a bucket full of water to top up the radiator. The screeching sound I had heard was the water streaming out of the water pump seal when the thermostat opened. I had drive the car with hardly any water from London to Stranraer. The head gasket was replaced 50,000 miles later for a normal decoke and valve regrinding. I still use the car today and averaged 66 miles an hour from Cherbourg to the Swiss border last summer. Don't tell me Rovers are bad cars but they are often badly serviced. and I can't help feeling that commentators frequently say they are rubbish simply because they were British made.
Thought you might be interested in that saga. The car has an aluminium cylinder head and cast iron block. The gasket is a steel sheet.

Fred

[chris75]

The old cars had enough room under the bonnet to provide a fair degree of air-cooling as well , not packed in like modern stuff . If I am at a car show and see a Morris Minor with the bonnet up , I always go over and worship the accessibility And my triumph herald , happy times sitting on the wheel to work on the engine …………...

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by Fred Byrne

This has been a most fascinating and informative discussion. I bought a 1960 Rover 100 from an American in west London 40 years ago when I was younger and still devil may care. The American very kindly guuided me to the M4 and just as I was about to depart I said to him' this car is mine now I've paid the money now tell me if there is anything you think I should attend to before i leave for N.Ireland. No he said you have a temperature gauge. As I got on the M40 I heard a strange screeching sound which stopped after a minute or so. I proceeded on. When I got to Stranraer and waiting for the ferry an AA man came over and said that car smells very hot. I replied don't worry I've been pushing it very hard to get to the ferry on time. When I got home it took a bucket full of water to top up the radiator. The screeching sound I had heard was the water streaming out of the water pump seal when the thermostat opened. I had drive the car with hardly any water from London to Stranraer. The head gasket was replaced 50,000 miles later for a normal decoke and valve regrinding. I still use the car today and averaged 66 miles an hour from Cherbourg to the Swiss border last summer. Don't tell me Rovers are bad cars but they are often badly serviced. and I can't help feeling that commentators frequently say they are rubbish simply because they were British made.
Thought you might be interested in that saga. The car has an aluminium cylinder head and cast iron block. The gasket is a steel sheet.

Fred

Tough old beasts! I have a couple of those. I prefer them to the newer rovers in any case. You can keep one of these going with a hammer and some blue wire! I would happily take this on a trip around the world.
No new/modern cars would make me try that.