Help my other car has a serious problem(I think)

Post by **MarksMinor** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:49 am

This is a problem with my other car (98 rover 211i 8v) Not my 61 minor.
I had pulled over by the side of the road, and just started to reverse, when I noticed a small trickle of oil from underneath the car.
I lifted the bonnet to see where the oil was coming from, it was leaking from the coolant bottle resivoir.
I loosened the cap and oil started gushing out.
Needless to say we had to be towed home.
The car had previously been overheating because of an airlock in the system, thought this had been fixed, could this have contributed to the problem.

1, does anyone know what would have caused this to happen?

2, how serious is it?

3, how can it be fixed?

4, will it be expensive to fix(is the car worth fixing)?

Please help, "Aunty Mable" is missing her sidekick.
Many thanks in advance
Mark and Aunty Mable"(1961 2 door)

Post by **chickenjohn** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:38 am

Oil in water suggests either head gasket (bad news!) or cracked alloy head or block (even worse news!!) possibly caused by overheating.

Post by **bigginger** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:44 am

Agreed - oil in the water sounds like it's very bad newa. I do hope it turns out to be head gasket, it's then at least only bad news, and DIYable, I guess...

Post by **Packedup** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 2:00 pm

The K series isn't known for coping with any amount of overheating. So if it had an airlock that caused it to cook, the head will have stopped seating properly, leading to gasket failure.

The good news is a new headset (with superior locating bits) and a head skim will most likely sort it, the bad news is it's not a quick/ cheap job. At least it gives you an opportunity to do the cam belt

I thought by now everyone would be aware of the K series fragility when it comes to temps!

Post by **doobry** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 2:08 pm

According to a guy I know who was a design engineer at Rover you have to be careful before you start skimming things as a lot of the castings were porous - therefore they were impregnated. If you skim the head you may get leaks caused by the porosity as you have machined of the surface which had been sealed up

The basic rule of thumb when getting serious problems on a K series is to replace parts rather than re-re-machine them

Post by **Packedup** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 3:20 pm

If you don't skim the chances are the head gasket'll go again in a very short time

So I suppose given the above, it's best to check it, and if it's not perfect, either chance a skim or find a good head. Either way given the reputation, it sounds like the head's going to have to come off and be treated as suspect for now.

Post by **MarksMinor** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:11 pm

Thanks for your replies, thats all I needed to know.
Gonna call the mechanic tomorrow, I will be sitting down when I do.
By all accounts its gonna be expensive.

Mark and "Aunty Mable" (1961 2 Door)

Post by **lowedb** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:50 am

The 'airlock' might actually have been caused by the head gasket leaking. Had exactly the same symptoms of an airlock on an engine once: it would only let wtare into the heater if you got it above 4000 RPM. Not good in the depths of winter, with an engine that you are supposed to be running in (because its a brand new car).

Morris Minor Owners Club