Diagnosing one of the most unreliable engines of all time | Rover 25 restoration 

It was a shame we never got to see the Rover K series engine fully developed because it had a lot of potential. It's only been in the modding scene where the engine has reached new hights making big power figures.

I just got a rover 45 automatic. Its 21 years old but drives like new. Inside it's nice and everything works. I love it.

The K-series was very ahead of it's time, nice to see the Pro's mention this.

I worked as a mechanic for rover when these engines came out. It was nearly unheard of for a 1.4 production engine to produce over 100bhp at that time unlike today .I have worked on hundreds of these over the years and they are brilliant. bar the head gasket and cracked liners on the 1.8 they are bomb proof and I have virtually never seen one blow it's bottom end without oil contamination..

K-series is a great engine. So light perfect for a caterham. I have a 1.8 VHPD variant with 220bhp. Awesome revvy engine.

This guy’s knowledge and experience is irreplaceable and (years from now) when he passes away it’s gone. There is a lot of that happening everywhere. Cheers from California !

They are tough, reliable and ridiculously efficient engines with one fundamental, but now easily fixed weakness.

My first project as a manufacturing engineer for Rover Group Powertrain in 1995, was to install & commission a K Series engine assembly line in East Works, Longbridge. Sadly there is now a housing estate where East Works used to be.

Interesting video, thank you. I believe, heard directly from one of the k-series design engineers, that the head gasket issue was specifically caused by a "cost down" resourcing of the HG when BMW took control. The new supplier did not match the spec requirement for the raised rubber water jacket sealing. This changed the load paths as the cyl hd was compressed on to the block and liners. Reduced pressure on the fire ring resulted in combustion pressure leaking into the coolant passages. Early Ks did not suffer the extent of HGF the engine is noted for and neither did later ones after problem identified and fixed

The 'growth' on the water pump is just degraded glycol. Shows why you should change the coolant every 2 years or so.

My first car? A brand new Oldsmobile Cutlass S two door. I put 121,000 miles (just shy of 195,000 kilometers) and sold it to a friend’s father who used it as a fishing car and he put another 95,000 miles (about 153,000 kilometers) on it before it went to the crusher. I changed the normal things out myself, light bulbs, windshield wipers, 2 water pumps, several transmission services, brakes, the normal things. I loved that car. It did me well and never left me walking. The engine was a 350 cubic inch (5.7 liter) V8 with a Holley 4 barrel and a turbo-hydromatic 350 transmission 3 speed with a final lock up. To say it would haul the mail would be an understatement. I bought it in 1971. Detroit heavy iron that could cruise all day.

Its is incredibly calming to watch a Scot and Brummie dismantle an old Rover engine.

I could watch this type of videos all day long everyday. Please make more of these diagnosing engines videos :) My first car being a suzuki baleno wagon 1,6 gasoline awd, still running daily with a little touchè of smoke coming from the exhaust these days.

Really enjoying this rebuild, it's fascinating just watching the engine being pulled apart and the little bit of body work at the end. It would be great to see the full whole process from end to end.

This past Saturday for the first time in 4.5 years the 1.8 VVC engine in my ZR 160 fired up. I started the project of rebuilding the engine 4.5 years ago but got overwhelmed after stripping the engine apart and let it sit. I owe so much to my mate that helped me at various intervals this year to rebuild the engine, including the VVC mechanism and cant wait to add the final touches to make her road worthy once again.

Wonderfully ingenious engine ruined by accountants. One of the simplest problems (and cheapest to fix with a steel replacement) was that many of them had plastic dowels locating the head to the block. These allowed the head to "squirm" on the block which did no favours at all to the head gasket. All to save 2p. It used to make me smile that the bearings were graded to a couple of tenths to match the block and the crank perfectly - the only problem with this was that I once measured the main housings on a brand new block (yes the entire sandwich including the head had been assembled and torqued) and they were .003" out of round. Oh, I almost forgot. We were forever having to machine either the block face to get enough liner protrusion, or the liners in order to get the protrusion the same for all four. All of this could have been dealt with if a little more care had been taken. In my experience, it generally costs around ten times more to fix a problem than to make things correct in the first place.

@9:50 "using a gun on a head bolt was how it was built" Yeah you are right, but you forgot to say that they used a purpose built and calibrated "gun" and not a wheel nut max-torque impact gun.

As someone with a K series in his Lotus, I can tell you the head gaskets go on those as well. The Lotus forums give this topic a lot of focus and Lotus owners invest in things like electronic water pumps, opening water ways in the heads etc, as well as other things.

My mum's early Freelander crapped itself very early but that was a 1.8 in a heavier AWD vehicle, she never had a problem with a 214 cabriolet, my grandpa never had a problem with 2 R8s, I later owned 2 MG ZSs and never had a problem, one had a leak from a thermostat so I nursed it home topping up with water, replaced the part and no further damage caused. Absolutely brilliant engine from an engineering perspective and the fixes are now plentiful and cheap if a problem occurs. My 1.6 ZS could get 50mpg cruising gently on the motorway. Very very efficient.

'Arte et Marte' at the rear - as usual! Great video.

I guess i was lucky with mine; had a 214si for 3yrs without fault and then an mg zr for 2yrs with no problems. Loved both

I had a white rover 214GSI on a G plate for my firs car, 21 years ago, followed by a red 214SI when I rolled the white one 👎🏻 Then a 620GSI with a Honda single cam, then to end my Rover ownership journey, a massively underated Rover 220 coupé Turbo. Didn't have head gasket issues with the K series, the T series did, but only after a coolant hose let go and peed it's coolant against the bulk head, no steam, just a unhealthy temperature gauge! It got rebuild, triple layer head gasket, upped the boost, never had an issue with it, think it's still on the road! 💪🏻

Still own my first car. 1998 ram 1500 single cab short bed. I've had it 8 years now. Got it at 16 with help from my grandmother and fixed it up. Put about 35,000 on it since I got it. It has 210,000+ miles now. Drove it to maine last year from NJ and it was perfect. Love my truck and never gonna get rid of it. Never payed back gram all the way so keep it running for her, since It still is hers in my head lol

I've just passed my test so I'm living with my first car now. It's a Ford Fiesta 2006 1.25 zetec. I bought it for £200 from my auntie and it's been a fantastic car. It's been my gateway into learning how to fix things. I've already done am oil change and air filter and I'm currently in the process of respraying the rear bumper. It's really simple car to work on. Although the body is looking tired the engine is sweet as a nut and loves to rev. It only has 70 odd horsepower but it still feels quick and the gear changes are nice and smooth. I've named him Filbert the fiesta and I love him dearly.

Forget that it's a Rover; this is a great video for anyone interested in engines period. Blown head gasket issues and symptoms are pretty universal. This could just as easily be a Honda, Nissan - pretty much anything.

Had plenty of these K Series engines in Rovers/MGs and only ever failed when I started interfering! Lol, great vid 👌

1936 Morris Eight Two Door . I still have the car and it runs beautifully .Mine since 1961 . 60 years . Where has the time gone ?

Delicious gloopy k series. Had 3 k series engines in two mgfs and one freelander in the past. Only one blew up. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

My first car was a 1969 El Camino, who's previous owner was accepted to the Naval Academy. Added the High School kid prerequisites: Cragar rims, glass pack mufflers and a CB radio.

The K series is a great engine. The headgaskets usually only need to be done once if repaired properly and after that it's a super solid engine. Also most MG rover specialists can do a headgasket for the price of an average Cambelt change on another car

My first car was a Peugeot 205 1.1 Junior in flat red. The driver seat back support was broken, but it still had 6 months MoT, so I put two pieces of wood in the seat back material to hold it up but it would randomly collapse and my seat back would flop backwards on to the rear seats. I paid 150 quid for the car. I sold it to a toe rag for 150 quid and made him sign a receipt. 2wks after the sale I got a bill from a recovery company for a few hundred quid. I called them up and explained I had sold it, sent them the receipt and never heard from them again. I enjoyed my time in that car, but I don't have fond memories of it. It was just a stepping stone for me.

Huge respect to you 👍👍👍 Everyone asks for comments - you are the first one to actually recognise the people that write in

I had no problems with mine and had mgzr for 6 and half years, one of the most reliable cars I owned.

I find watching stuff like this fascinating and relaxing. The knowledge and skill Mad Ford Man has is astonishing

So not my first car, but the first vehicle I have memories of as a child. In 1993 my grandpa bought a Nissan D21 Hardbody pickup, extended cab, 2wd, manual. I was born in 95 and I have memories of riding around in that little truck all throughout my childhood. I used to go on dump runs (I think you brits call it the tip) with him in it, go to the stonework shop to get stone for his yard, he would take me to those things at home depot where they would teach kids how to build wood projects like birdhouses and stuff. I got ownership of the truck back in 2016, and last December while I was driving it, someone ran a red light as I was coming through an intersection and I t-boned them. So the truck is now in several pieces in my garage as I am putting a new front end on it.

My first car was a hand me down from my mom, former family minivan, a Dodge Grand Caravan. And when the transition dropped on it again, we just bid it fair well, not worth fixing at all. But I am totally stoked you’re fixing your car to then donate it for auction to support your military. Such an awesome cause, they don’t get the admiration they deserve, regardless of the country they serve. So thank you for the content, and for giving back to the military.

The K-Series was a great design. More powerful, smoother, more economic and cleaner than contemporary rivals. Miles better than the gutless Ford Zetec engines. I had an early one and yes, it had the head gasket problem, but this was fixed and it was smooth sailing. Rover and Honda just pinched pennies.

It does look like a nicely engineered engine with decent hardware, so a shame they were penny pinching on the head gasket.

Not that I ever thought Mike was bad as a presenter or anything but I have been really impressed with him lately. He's absolutely fantastic to watch imo

my first car was a MG ZR 1.4 i had a lot of fun with it but it died in the snow someone crashed their car in my mg now i own a 6n2 polo gti but it died because my distrubution snapped and im now looking for a MG ZR 1.8 that car means a lot to me you are a true hero for restoring this car

Terms I never thought I'd hear in my lifetime: 1) Funky fresh piston

Are you serious? Any car I've driven with a K Series engine was absolutely brilliant.

Thanks guys, this was fascinating. I’ve read quite a bit about the K-series engine here in the USA, but had never seen one torn down. You have a new subscriber!

My first car was a k reg Austin 1100 Mk3, orange coloured with multiple rust highlighting and had a highly perforated floor that was more hole than steel. Cost me £200 in 1985. I loved that car and the freedom that came with it. Gave it away to a friend when I bought a Morris 1300 Mk2 that was a garage find by my uncle, who sealed everywhere underneath with Finnegan's Waxoil and let me have it for £250. A beautiful midnight blue and it drove like a dream. Unfortunately it got written off the week before I went to uni.

"one of most unreliable engines of all time" What a lot of spherical things! Yes they pop more HGs than average but once done properly they are fine, we have 3 MG TFs, done in total around 280K miles, 2 have had one HG done many years ago, the other one has never been touched.

Thanks that was a fascinating teardown. I imagine that the Rover engineers who designed the engine were probably hugely frustrated. On the one hand they've created something excellent with the block and head bolt design only to then see one cheap part ruin the reputation of their work.

This might be the best and most informative - superbly produced motor article I have seen in 10 odd years of watching YT videos - nice one!! I have steered away from the Rover K Seies powered Elises but maybe not now? Thanks very much!

Best part of this video is that little parts organiser for the head components. How have I not seen one of those before! :D

Had a Rover 200 Vi with the 1.8vvc - brilliant torquey, revy and fuel efficiency engine. 1x HGF which I did with steel dowels.

Something enjoyable about engines being taking apart

Genuinely, really liked watching this episode. Watching the engine getting stripped and discussing why the K series engine was revolutionary but flawed, I was just glued to it.

My first car was a triumph Toledo which I bought around 1985. It had been repainted. With a paintbrush. There were dozens of shed bristles all over the body. Fond memories.

The rover 25 and 45 with a k series engine were as reliable as any other car of the time if they were properly maintained and looked after

Superb revvy little engines, way ahead of their time. I remember outrunning a 2.0 MK3 Golf GTi in a Rover 214 SEi.

I guess you still wanna hear our stories about our first cars, so here is mine. My first car was a 1998 Volkswagen Golf MK IV, with the AEH 1.6l 8V petrol engine from VAGs EA827-family. I actually still own it, though it sits in storage, collecting dust along with various pieces of old furniture and disassembled engines. I got it about a month before I turned 18 and was to take my driving test. It was, as many of you also have said about your own first cars, the gateway to my first driving freedom, and it was the car in which I started my journey to become a passionate hobby mechanic. In my early years of driving, I was a picturesque boy racer, zipping around the county at night, and the Golf was always my trusty companion and partner in crime (quite literally on some occasions, as I was pulled over for speeding a couple of times with that car). I absolutely loved the revvy little 1.6 liter petrol engine, and I still do. It withstood my brutal driving style with ease, as I squeezed out every horsepower of it without any complaints. My only issue with it was that cylinder 4 had an appetite for spark plug wires, and me failing to replace it in time once got me in some trouble with it running on three cylinders, burning the fourth cylinder's unburnt fuel in the exhaust, which led to it melting the insides of the cat. Luckily, the engine, as always, didn't take any damage, and it lived to see another day. The old-school layout of the engine (its fundamental design dates all the way back to the 1970s) made it an unbelievably reliable engine, due to its simplicity. By just listening to it, you can hear its similarities to engines from the 1970s and 80s, and I swear by these engines to this day. My car today is a 2005 Audi A3 8P1, with one of the last versions of the EA827's, the (non-spark-plug-wire-eating) BGU 1.6. Anyway, I will never forget the times I've had in my Mk4 Golf, it will forever stay in my heart.

Getting into a workshop and picking the brains of someone that had such in depth knowledge is one of my favourite thing to do

10:31 How long do you want your Head bolts to be? Rover: Yes

Rover didn't cheap out on the head gasket, they saw into the future and tried to use water as the next fuel. 😄😋

Great video, still got my first car. Have had it for over 30 years. Doing a very slow rebuild of it at the moment.

Thanks, Mike, this was the best video posted here. Full of information, loved it.

Love how people seem to think it was only *ever* the K-series which had head gasket problems, because no other engine ever had such an issue /s Was also waiting for the Halfords "expert" to come in and recommend K seal for a repair 😂

Number one rule of the k series. Don’t turn the engine over with the head off. Liners become dislocated and damage to the crank bearings can be done because without the torque of the head bolts the crankcase bearing isn’t circular. Hope to see the liners resealed in the next episode for a proper job!

Have a extraordinary story: Owned a 1988 Mazda RX 7 FC Turbo from 1992 until 1998 as a daily. Canged one engine and one turbocharger. sold the car than and bought a Miata NA. Bought exact the same RX 7 back in 2016 . Restored it to showroom condition. Use it now as my sunday car here in Germany ...

Me, 18 years old and had a 1965 Hillman Minx Series V, loved that car, best part was the crank handle, great for those times when it had a flat battery or those times when the tappets needed adjusting (often). Nice to see the REME flag in the workshop, makes an old RAEME bloke feel proud. Great video Mike.

Reunit james with the citreon ami from Majorca!

I've had a couple of Lotus with a K Series, fantastic engine, very light and great power delivery when paired with an Elise. Had HGF on my current VVC unit, no big issue really. Once fixed propely and the engine isn't overly tuned it should be very reliable. Mine was rectified as part of a C service so not much additional cost. In the grand scheme of ownership costs it's quite insignificant, especially compared with engines that suffer bore score etc. Great little engines

I had a 1996 Rover 214 SEI in Knightfire Red. It had a rebuilt MG ZR engine, and a full stainless exhaust, sports suspension. I paid £150 for the car with a big dent in the door and short MOT. Bought a colour matched door for £30, ran it for 30k miles including a road trip across Europe as part of one of the first Crumball Rallys in 2007. Sold it for £300 with no MOT before I went to Uni.

My first car was a 1987 Volvo 240 GL. Buy it from my brother..had it for 3/4years then sold it to my father..miss it.. but now i got my parens 1991 240 GL...love these cars.

Had one of these as my first car. I still have the engine(1.8) - now rebuilt with forged pistons and rods......and a turbo. Will be dynoed soon and going in a mid engined hillman imp. These engines are actually very advanced and once you have put a decent head gasket in it and moved the thermostat to a sensible location they are solid engines.

Liner heights have to be perfect for a triple layer head gasket so it's not always best To fit

My first car was a 1994 Citroen AX 1.1i forest green with a spoiler! Loved that car!

Love that you're keeping the original body

They absolutely are a problem on Lotus variants. I owned an S1 Elise for 10 years and was a member of various lotus forums. Very common problem and there was lots of advice about modifications and upgrades to avoid it in future.

I thought cranking a K series over with the head off is a big no no as the liners can move?

Best mechanic I have seen work on a car

Brings back memories changing a head gasket on a rover 75 1.8. Oh the fun trying to undo the crank bolt.

I mean, this engine may be unreliable, but have y'all ever seen a Cadillac "Northstar" V8? They put the starter under the intake, which would be fine if we where talkinga bout Toyota, who also did this on some of their V8's, but Toyota reliability this ain't. The Northstar engines had huge problems with blown head gaskets, often mechanically totallying the cars they came in.

The k series is a weapon of an engine when you sort it. I've got a 160vvc, head gasket upgraded, kmaps ECU, performance filter, decat and stainless cat back. 180bhp at the wheels from a 20year old 1.8

That’s brilliant, looking forward to the next stage.

I’ve recently passed my test and have a mk7 fiesta zetec s. Absolutely brilliant car to drive it’s so fun. Appreciating every time i drive it as it won’t last forever

25:09 That metro still exists on the DVLA so it hasn't had a certificate of destruction issued. Last logbook issued 19th september 1990, Tax due 1st may 1995, No MOT details held by DVLA

Unreliable???? I bought my rover 1.4 off my dad for £300, drove it for years, then drove it to Kazakhstan and left it there after doing 8500 miles in one month, total mileage, (185000) great little car.

My first car was a 91 Honda Accord LX, 272k miles when I bought it from a charity car lot for $900(basically people donate cars to this place and they sell them). The whole bumper wasnt bolted down on one side and the entire front end was slightly bent, I bought new headlights, turn signals, tail lights, and with a piece of 2x4 and some hardware I bent the core support back and attached the bumper and got it straight. It needed a steering rack ($350), Windshield ($300) and exhaust (I went and got ebay stainless header and 2.5" stainless catback, $250). The paint wasnt great and it had some rust through to the trunk on the rear quarters, but it ran amazingly. The brakes were terrible, had a rear wheel cylinder go and had to learn to replace those and the line going to it, did pads on the front but never got to do rotors because they're captive behind the hubs and I didnt have the tools to remove them. Sold it to a guy for $650 after I put around about 50k on it, i told him to keep an eye on the oil if driving long distances (burned a quart every 3000 or so). and he didnt and totalled it within a month. Sad end, but it was a great car.

Man you gotta love the whole assembly neatly shown at 23:02 Beautiful Work! 👍

I'm torn, I understand that swapping the shell means it's not the same car but the amount of rot and work required to remedy it and in the end the shell although perfectly fine, it's just a cut up shell, seems silly when there was a perfect shell right next to it, especially as you are not going to keep it, the sentimentality in the original car would mean something if you were keeping it. I'm all confused.

I still drive mine MG ZS 1.8L TBH I bought it with a head gasket issue. After it was fixed 100k km and it is still no problem. Just changed antifreeze and water pump in recommended intervals.

My first car was a 1984 Ford Tempo GL sedan, pitched in period Ford commercials by none other than Jackie Stewart, himself. My grandmother bought it years before, and I scraped it against the house many times backing it down the driveway for her before I was of age to legally drive. I’d park my bicycle in the garage next to it and sometimes scratch the front fenders. It was originally silver, but I picked seafoam green for the eventual respray. As she aged, she’d sometimes turn the wrong way down a one-way street or into the wrong end of a fast food drive-thru on our way to the movies. She stopped driving at the same time I started, so she gave me the 15 year-old car for free because it would have cost more to scrap. I had it for a summer before the rear brakes disintegrated, the water pump failed, the interior door handle spring broke, and the fuel filler neck developed cracks that caused it to leak like crazy. The headliner fell from the ceiling and actually lined my head as I drove. The 2-speaker AM-only radio (no cassette) crackled and popped as much as it played music. The 3-speed automatic shifted awkwardly enough to give you whiplash. It left me stranded many times, but it took my friends and me to concerts. I used it to move out of my mother’s house to live with my grandmother, as well, and I’d use it to take her on scenic Sunday drives in the Columbia River Gorge. Homophobes razor-bladed my windows and keyed the sides in the high school parking lot, too. I loved my next car (an orange 1976 AMC Gremlin) much more than this one, but this was the car I first filled the tank with my own money. This was my first taste of 84 horsepower, 1-barrel carburetor, front-wheel-drive freedom. It was still so special to me.

Fantastic video. I really like the man working on the engine. Sometimes RU-vid videos has a guy almost too corporate doing it but the guy helping here had knowledge, easy to talk to, interesting and had a warmer feeling of a video. Like you're involved in a car project with the 2 of them. Wonderful video peeps I can't wait to watch the others

The K-series is not an unreliable engine. Like all engines, they need to be looked after properly My family has owned loads of them without a problem

"One of the most unreliable engines of all time" utter bollocks. The k is a great engine other than the hgf, there are plenty of engines that suffer from it. They were revolutionary at the time, easy to work on, lightweight, rev well, warm up quick and can take thrashing when built well

The sound quality in this videos is just amazing.

i was on the K engine design team for 5 years. Way ahead of its time. Easy to fault now but then, coming out of Rover it was a real triumph over travesty. Nice to see the bits i did in the video.

Would hardly call the K series notoriously unreliable parents had 2 rover 214’s with K series in and never had a problem with them

It's a common misconception that it's the head gaskets that fail on these engines. What tends to fail is the cylinder head location dowels are made of plastic and these over time of hot and cold break up and cause the heads to move around. Lotus solved this by making the dowels from steel and these are what were fitted to the Elise and later Freelanders.

A master at work, I could watch it all day.

I had a 1.4 k series 1993 rover 214 and it was great I did 40k with no engine problems. It was my first car after having motorcycles most of my life. when I sold it, it lasted just a few months before the new owner wreaked it.

Tbf the later k series were unreliable because of budget cuts, early ones are reliable

This engine is still used in the Chinese MGs. Though it has been modified

My first car: 1980 Ford Thunderbird "Herritage" edition. It wasn't small, it wasn't sporty in any measurable sense of the word, but my goodness, it was comfortable! The car had really impressive tech for it's day; keyless entry, automatic headlights, a digital stereo with a built-in amp, power-everything, 8-way adjustable power drivers seat with lumbar support, cruise control, etc. Engine was a Ford 302 (5.0L) with a 2bbl carburetor, paired with a 4 speed automatic with overdrive. I bought it used in 1998. The seat was like a lazy-boy chair; ultra comfortable to the point of being dangerous because on any long trip, that seat coupled with the fact it just floated down the road meant it was a little _too_ comfortable. When I finally got a decent job, I had planned to fully restore it when it was destroyed by a car-fire next to it in the apartment lot of the apartment we had at the time. So... sadly, this car is long gone, but never forgotten.

Had a 214 sei, brilliant car rev to the moon and 100 percent reliable. Only 1400 that ever made me grin👌