Overheating Car

N

NickyK

Registered User
Messages
236
Hi all,

Temperature gauge on my 00 Rover 25 keeps rising. I'm putting about 1.5 litres of water into the radiator every 3 or 4 days so I'm presuming I have a leak somewhere along the line. Is there anything I can get to put into the water that will seal the leak? Is it possible that it could be anything else? Will bring the car in for a service during the week but want to know before I get a shock when the garage tells me what needs doing.

Thanks in advance
 
sounds like the head gasket, rovers are notorious for this problem, bad news is that repalcing the head gasket is never a sucess, worse case scenarion is get rid of the car, best case is it that u just have a leak from a hose
 
Thanks Clonboy. Any idea how much replacing a head costs? Is there anything I can get to put in the water to fix the leak? If it is a leak. I was told there is. Also there's only 67000km on the car.
 
If it is a rover petrol engine then it will probably be the head gasket as they are prone to fail on these engines. Diesels are okay however.
I would recommend you get it looked at asap as when the head gasket fails, water gets into the engine causing damage. Have a look at your dipstick and oil filler cap. If the oil has a light creamy consistency and not dark in colour then water is getting into the engine.
Not sure of the cost, check out this rover forum which could give you an idea. Good luck.
http://forums.mg-rover.org/
 
Maybe just a leak from one of the pipes in the cooling system, run the engine and look for any signs of a leak. You could try putting some Novastop Radiator into it which might repair a small leak. Otherwise get it looked at, I'd guess it would cost €600 to have the head-gasket replaced and the head skimmed.
 
You might want to try this, very very carefully.

With the engine COLD, remove either the radiator cap or the cap on the plastic coolant expansion tank.

Make sure the coolant level is at the MAX mark in the neck of the radiator or on the expansion tank.

Leave cap off (unless your name is Healy-Rae )

Start engine and allow it to run up to normal operating temperature (check temperature gauge). Replace cap and allow coolant system to pressurize itself for a minute or two and thermostat to operate.

Carefully check in engine bay and on ground for evidence of leaks / steam.

I see in your post above that you have been adding water. This is not a good idea as it encourages corrosion and gives no frost protection. I'd be disinclined to use any of those leak sealers as they may cause bigger problems in time.
 
I have an MGF which also runs the K-series 1.8 engine. It overheated when I was in heavy traffic with nowhere safe to stop. By the time I was able to pull off the road, it had boiled and blown a hole in the expansion bottle. The whole repair job came to €1,450 including skimming the heads, new expansion tank, head gasket, oil-change, regrinding valves and recutting seats. Mind you, it also needed a new water pump.

This was with an authorised MG repair garage in Dublin and included VAT on labour. Yours should be less if you go to a reputable garage who isn't an authorised MG Rover repair company. Other reasons why yours should be cheaper - the water pump was €78 and the expansion tank was €33 ex VAT. You shouldn't need those. The MGF is mid-engined and thus a pig to work on so your labour charge should be less.
 
Dave Vanian - absolute bummer. Do you know was it the water pump, the thermostat or the head gasket that caused the initial problem?

Hopefully you got the newer design head gasket in your car.
 
nickym naybe its just a leak, could be water pump ,, park it on some dry concrete for a bit,, this fine weather might allow u see a stain on the ground aftera while
 
mathepac said:
Dave Vanian - absolute bummer. Do you know was it the water pump, the thermostat or the head gasket that caused the initial problem?

Hopefully you got the newer design head gasket in your car.
Click to expand...

Yes there was some gnashing of teeth when the time came to settle the bill. To be honest I haven't a clue what caused the original problem. I have the mechanical knowledge of an elderly sheep so I don't bother asking questions, for fear the mechanic might answer them. But I trust the guy who does the work, based on experience.

I have a suspicion that what caused the initial problem was the moron who drives the car not looking after it properly.
 
Had a mechanic give the car the once over today before servicing it next week. It's not the head gasket and seems to be holding water since Sun/Mon. In fact it seems to be ok now!!

This is going to sound dumb and I know nothing about cars but this is the only thing I've done differently. Ok here goes .The heater on the car is broken so basically I turn it up full in Winter and cold in Summer. I hadn't a pliers to turn the dial to low so when the weather was good last week I directed it into vents that were in the closed position. In a nutshell the car was still producing the heat but it wasn't coming out into the car. Is it possible that the heat was being directed into the engine and causing the engine to overheat and the water to evaporate? I now have the heater turned to low with no issues at all.

It seems to be ok now granted about 15 miles is the most I've done in any one go with no problems. Is it just wishful thinking or will the service show up something more?
 
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