Would appreciate likely diagnosis of the following please.
Last weekend in the heat, two hours from home on the motorway, noticed soaring temp guage followed by odd rattly noises from engine under load. 15 miles out from services, slowed to truck speed, put heater on hot/full blast. Heater very hot for a few minutes then no heat at all. 2 miles from services, dark smoke starts to appear from exhaust. Oil pressure light starts flickering just as we get to exit slip road. Bad news indeed thinks I, engine cuts out at top of slip road. Highways Agency towed us into service area. No coolant in system, radiator appears to have spontaneously disintegrated. Engine turns over but won't fire. RAC recovered vehicle to home address. I have not had a chance to look at it since, but I suspect the dreaded HGF. How likely is it that this engine is a write off? I know cylinder heads can crack or warp under these conditions.
With hindsight perhaps I should have stopped straight away, and I probably would have done had I been travelling by myself, but number one priority was to get 8 month pregnant wife to the services.
Thanks,
Ed.
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Very very very likely that the engine is well and truly cooked. The K series engine has a relatively small coolant calacity, any leak can quickly lead to overheating and the dreaded HGF.
On a ten year old car and a Rover (given the collapse of the company) I would think the car is a write off.
Sorry to be negative!
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Actually, reading the thread again, yours might be the Honda engine. 1996 'N' reg was the change over year.
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Sadly it's a k-series :-(
We're counting our blessings that this happened when it did because the car is due for MOT/Tax/service within the next couple of weeks. Mentally I have written off the car already but if there is a slim chance of reviving it then we want to investigate. I'm going to have my mechanic friend take a look at the weekend, and will post back any more details.
Ed.
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As a matter of interest. when was the coolant last changed.you mentioned rad had gone.This usualy only occurs when coolant not changed at correct time?
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Steve
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Unfortunately these are rather prone to overheating as the cooling capacity is very small. This means that the engine warms up efficiently, but there's no slack in the system at all and any overheating can result in engine damage very quickly.
The thermostat is a the back of the engine, and if it fails overheating will occur, as will a corroded radiator or faulty pressure cap. These should be inspected regularly, and it's good practice to renew the thermostat every couple of years, or if the engine ever overheats. Anti-freeze is also essential all year round to prevent the build up of internal corrosion.
Yours seems to have gone beyond the point of no return I'm afraid. If an overheating engine cuts out then it's very likely that the head gasket has blown at least.
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Follow up: it's not looking good...
I finally got the dipstick out which had welded itself into the tube. Plastic end piece nicely melted and covered in foul smelling burnt oil. Coolant top tank empty, full of crud and smelling of oil. Steve.o - cooling system flush/fill done approx three years/20k ago, but I must admit I haven't checked it much recently. Lesson learned.
So it needs at least a head gasket job, possibly new engine, and other bits and pieces as well, so time to lay the poor thing to rest I think.
Ed.
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The engine is scrap, simple as that. They won't tolerate severe overheating such as in this case.
Replacement engine time.
Wanna sell her?
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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