has 116650ks on it. Are these any good.Or are the trouble.
intrade,
Nov 27, 4:08pm
troubles would be parts as main issue rover went bankrupt the chinese stuff is colled rovee now i think
saxman99,
Nov 27, 4:11pm
Jeez hang on, you gotta warn us before starting a thread like this. We need to organize the popcorn.
tgray,
Nov 27, 4:22pm
Every person I know that has owned one, has had the head gasket fail around those K's. I wouldn't want one for free. Really. The best part about these cars are their looks. (and apparently they handle nicely). Unless your mechanically minded and/or a fan of these cars, my advice would be to "avoid like the plague". ps/ there is a garage in New Lynn that specialises in fixing these cars and nothing else. Every time I go past there, I see about 10 parked about the place. There business seems to be very successful.
But they're cheap/reliable, you don't need a mackintosh and wellington boots to drive them in the rain, nor be a dwarf to fit in the cockpit. Life isn't fun without challenges.
casper35,
Nov 27, 4:39pm
Thanks for that guys will give it a miss.
mm12345,
Nov 27, 4:40pm
Wait for it.
socram,
Nov 27, 4:48pm
Funny that. I see loads of Toyotas outside the Toyota agents.
Walbrans fix all MG's, not just MGF's. Unlike earlier MG's which didn't rely on electronics and computers, where the DiY mechanics could do everything, like just about all modern cars, some things are best left to those who know what they are doing.
I have an F, 1998. The water pipes from front to rear were replaced with stainless steel by the previous owner's (MG trained) mechanic. Water loss that has not been noticed, leading to overheating is the main reason they give problems. Mine still has the original head gasket, but most replace the original with the later type. I won't be doing that anytime soon unless I notice anything untoward.
The trained mechanic who used to look after mine was apparently very critical of the general mechanics who tend to slag off the K series engine, without having had any training on it.
All I would say is that 1996 would be one of the very early ones and like any totally new car, teething problems were ironed out later.
panicky,
Nov 27, 4:57pm
I have seen a variable valve timing one at 30k, have the rear pulley on the camshaft fall off(yes I said rear) due to it being cross threaded in the factory and then bend half the valves. Not warranty as it was an import. Also, interesting idea the head bolts going all the way to the sump.
jmma,
Nov 27, 5:15pm
Oh they are there just to get a Valet (o:
saxman99,
Nov 27, 6:52pm
Hi tintop. Was having a laugh in anticipation of the forthcoming posts. Have owned a 97 VVC MGF and loved it. Have used that garage, great service.
esprit,
Nov 27, 7:50pm
My MGF engine makes 215bhp at 8000RPM, gets thrashed on the regular and hasn't had a head gasket issue yet.
richardmayes,
Nov 28, 10:03am
I saw a huge fleet of MGFs that were NOT broken down, having a club run in Greytown a couple of weekends ago.
I don't think I would, but I can see why their owners do!
gumboot999,
Nov 28, 6:41pm
we owned one for 8 years. paid $30k with 7ks on the clock x japan. at around 15ks the head gasket blew ( $3k to fix) which , after buying, I was informed was manufacturing fault plus the hydrolastic suspension needed inflating or whatever every so often. On a sunny day, roof down stereo blasting it was a fun car. On a cold wet day with water dripping into your crotch was no fun.Every service reduced our net wealth position significantly. If you need a sports convertible buy a MX5, the only reason my wife didn't was " because everyone's got a MX5". The MGF as described in the motoring manual The Dog and Lemon Guide 'probably the worst designed car ever to come out of the British motoring industry- avoid like the plague". If you were offered a free one politely decline.
trogedon,
Nov 28, 6:45pm
An old girlfriend of mine bought one in the late '90s. She's still got it (a fun car only) and the only complaint she has is that it used to leak. They're not all bad.
richardmayes,
Nov 28, 7:27pm
What are the like to drive? Any better handling than a fwd hatch with the same engine and tyres would have been?
kazbanz,
Nov 28, 7:31pm
The best part of owning an MGF is the same as owning an alfa. When they are running on a hot summer day they are just awesome fun to drive. Incidently the "head gasket issue is NOT the gasket.-Its the cylinder sleeves drop.
mm12345,
Nov 28, 7:40pm
Only by about 1000%, give or take a few %.
wayned,
Nov 29, 6:33am
Couple of issues Sleeves drop Locating dowels were a brittle plastic that broke and allowed some fretting The original 'fancy' gasket that was a single steel sheet with just areas of silicon doing all the sealing, didn't cope with movement. The long head bolts couldn't of helped these other issues.
wayned,
Nov 29, 6:39am
Wasn't the only 90's rover with headgasket problems. The rover tomcat, with T series motors (and other models with same motor) were very hard to do a headgasket on without oil weeping out the corner. Resurface, torque to specs, leak. People ended up making oil restrictors to go in the block & protrude into head to stop the issue. Not sure if there was ever a factory mod available, but this is what we did ourselves.
tamarillo,
Nov 29, 7:18am
You do know it's rwd eh?
mgmad,
Nov 29, 8:19am
Who would habe thouht one of the only MGF specialists would have a bunch of MGFs parked outside. About 70% of those cars are there for routine servicing.
The K head gasket issues have been gone over a lot on here, mostly by those with only a cursory understanding of the engines. What we mainly see in cars brought in for head gasket jobs is overheating caused by, generally, minor isssues. We've had cars come in needing nothing more than a proper bleed or a change of expansion cap, thermostat or a blown hose. We see very few cases where the gasket has gone by itself.
Liners only drop if the engine has got very hot. Plastic dowels were a problem but have since been replaced.
In our fleet we have a rover 200 with 350000km, 2x MGFs with 200000 and 170000km and my competition car (~210bhp) with about 100000km. All rover k powered and none have done head gaskets.
Incidentally it is possible to buy a mecahnically overhauled and warrantied MGF but I can't tell you where from without getting in trouble for self promotion.
franc123,
Nov 29, 8:24am
They're more like knitting needles with threads on them instead of bolts. Having seen an upgraded head set from Rover it also included the threaded plate in the sump that the head bolts fit into, there HAD to have been issues with expansion and contraction of the whole setup.
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