One for Britishtrident probably.

My partner has just got a Rover 416 m 1995 it has a Honda engine , did all the 416's of the old shape have a Honda engine?

Looked at a later shape 416 last week that had a 1600cc K series engine , did any of the late shape 416's have Honda engines?

Were the newer k series anymore reliable , they seem to be wrecked when they have head gasket problems.

IIRC they did them with both engines.

New shape are all Rover K16 old shape had the Honda sohc or dohc.


Honda engine is good but isn't flawless cracked heads are not unkown and the distributer igniters tend to die once they get beyond 8 years old.
Only other fault is non engine but is sometimes mistaken for dizzie failure is the fuel/ignition relay.

The K16 on the other hand may be delicate but is a true joy if looked after -- the 1.6 don't half go.

I should add with older Hondas and Honda engined Rovers it is best to carry a spare dizzie in the boot.

They also benefit from getting the throttlebody and idle stepper motor cleaned with carb cleaner out every couple of years as this can lead to MOT problems.

Older shape 216 as well as the 416 had the honda lump,and as mentioned single and double knockers.
Excellent reliable and fast revving nice engines,its a pity for kit cars that they run backwards.
I bought quite a lot of these cars straight and damaged,well over 150 of the jap engined cars alone over a couple of years.
As mentioned the dizzies packed in occasionally but we chopped most of the engines up for scrap alloy,not enough demand for them secondhand as they rarely go wrong in a big way.
Some of you know my feelings on K series so I'll not even go there,pile of p@@!!
limited lifespan etc.

we've got a Rover 216 gti with the Honda 1600 single cam 16 valve engine. Excellent motor goes like sh*t off a shovel. When the cam belt breaks it doesn't knacker the engine, tow home, re-time, new cambelt and away you go. Ignition trouble can usually be cured by a new rotor arm. They have a resistor in that breaks down after 60-70000 miles or so. All in all very happy with it.

While we're at it does any body know how to get a 3.5 V8 efi to run decently on all 8 cylinders?

quote:

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Originally posted by DEAN C.
Some of you know my feelings on K series so I'll not even go there,pile of p@@!!
limited lifespan etc.

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Limited?
Lightweight skeleton ally block that usually mixes oil into the water at 60000 miles occasionally sooner sometimes they might just get to 90000 if someone has nursed them.

Not many people know what they are doing and just rebuild them as a standard engine, and find they dont last long after a head gasket change even if skimmed.
The lads that do know reseal the liners and set the heights properly etc,not a backstreet job,or main dealer come to that.

A big problem with Rovers is the poor quality radiators that collapse and leak,losing the water level in these engines is fatal,resulting in cracked heads and gaskets blowing not long after.
Also the temp switches for the rad fan go faulty quite often,the results are the same.
I bought nearly 400 Rovers over two years and more than half were K series,and not very often did we come across a decent engine unless it was a Honda.
Say what you like but I not keen on a Kseries Rover,I love the M and T series and all the Hondas.
I'll fetch my tin hat now as all the experts try and tell me i'm wrong again.
Those on here that know me will already know that I have been in engineering all my life, and now run vehicle workshops all across the north of England,so I know a bit about engines,even if I'm not an expert in everything.

We have found most failures are down to the poor quality of early gaskets & the plastic dowels. It is very rare for the fire ring around the liner to go & mostly it is OK just to check the liner heights & a light skim to the head if it has been overheated. We have also found it is common for the rad fan to seize on the Lotus models due to lack of use, then not work when needed. It is also common for the inlet manifold gasket to fail on early engines, allowing the engine to ingest the coolant,and if not repaired quickly leading to head gasket failure.
This is not a definitive guide to the K series HGF problem, but a short summary of our experiences having repaired many of them, I hasten to add none have returned with further problems.
Regds
Ian

Hi Ian,I agree with your advice and knowledge of these engines.
What people do need to be aware of though is that if they do have problematic K series they must find someone that knows what they are doing such as yourselves.
I have seen quite a few with liners at different heights and have seen a lot of heads with a nice circular groove where the liner has been spinning.
A bit of knowledge is needed to get the jobdone right and the coolant system,fans and sensor switches must be looked after.
The earlier engines with single point injection are the main ones that I dealt with and I think from the mid nineties there were a few mods done and they did seem to improve a bit.
I could never understand why the Metro 16valve never seemed to suffer as much as the 214/414 cars which basically had the same engine.Difference in rad perhaps?
Dean.

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Originally posted by roadboy
We have found most failures are down to the poor quality of early gaskets & the plastic dowels. It is very rare for the fire ring around the liner to go & mostly it is OK just to check the liner heights & a light skim to the head if it has been overheated. We have also found it is common for the rad fan to seize on the Lotus models due to lack of use, then not work when needed. It is also common for the inlet manifold gasket to fail on early engines, allowing the engine to ingest the coolant,and if not repaired quickly leading to head gasket failure.
This is not a definitive guide to the K series HGF problem, but a short summary of our experiences having repaired many of them, I hasten to add none have returned with further problems.
Regds
Ian

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Good stuff!!, So to summarize you cannot get a late shape 416 with a Honda engine , even though it is a dead ringer for a Honda Civic.

quote:

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Originally posted by DEAN C.
have seen a lot of heads with a nice circular groove where the liner has been spinning.

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quote:The groove is not caused by the liner spinning, it happens when the engine is badly overheated and the alloy in the head softens and deforms around the ends of the liners.

I have seen 2mm grooves and liners that can be rotated easily.
I agree that shallow indents can be caused by heat deformation,but the heat causing that kind of damage will as you say have totally wrecked the engine.

quote:

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Originally posted by Surrey Dave
Good stuff!!, So to summarize you cannot get a late shape 416 with a Honda engine , even though it is a dead ringer for a Honda Civic.

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