Mg zr

[vauxboi]

What does every one think about the mg zr because I know they have head gasket problems/ overheating all that but ive heard you can put a land rover head gasket on them which should solve it, probably not completly but alot better than the original, but how does that work:wtf:

[16v Nova Kev]

pish would not touch one with a barge pole

[comptoncj]

you use a head saver plate, i havnt had one back after doing the head gasket using the new type with that saver in it, personally the k series engine is a good engine for developing power and theyre not bad on fuel, i was thinking of getting one before i had my corsa, the 1.4 has 105 bhp which i thought was impressive. yeah if you have one with that saver plate they dont give much trouble,

[Andy]

Good quick cars when theyre working

[Mattig Nic]

What does every one think about the mg zr because I know they have head gasket problems/ overheating all that but ive heard you can put a land rover head gasket on them which should solve it, probably not completly but alot better than the original, but how does that work:wtf:
1800cc. its the same engine. totally gutless. most pointless thing in a freelander. lots of weight with not enough power!! head gaskets are the same as far as i know. .....altho i'm talking from experience of owning a freelander with that engine. all i know was that it was rubbish in a freeby...

[Jon_nova1]

when you put a new hg on it, it will be fine, its designed differently

[auzzy-b]

there okay.. but slow! i was up against my mates mate at silverstone and pasted it in a saxo vts:roll:

[Nobby]

tbf alot of my mates love the k series engines 2 have 120bhp 1800's and 1 has the 143bhp 1800 all in Metros quick little cars!

[kc_08]

not suprised if there in metro's, but idsay in the rover 25 nope lol. dont like then probably never will especially the hatch ones, wantto see how they go once ive gotmy X14XE in it with about 110-115bhp, think it will edge it if i take all the scrap out the back so thenovas nice and light, shouldnt have a problem either way ;)

[therealnovaboy]

if you skim the block you will never have problems ever again. its somthing to do with when they made them they were going to put a seal on the bottom of the liner. they did away with this then the liner sits lower than the block face. they thot theyed got round this with the gasket but as the milage clocks up they fail.

my brothers elise is pretty gutless. the timing is retarded like mad up the revs and feels flat top end. if you put the vvti head on them you can get really good power out them. but in standard form they are pretty dim. my corsa 1600 16v would pull away from it on the straights (tuned to 109hp 145lbft).round the corners he would catch right up again. lotus never wanted the k seiries engine but at the time there was a lot of politics involved and ended up with a k seiries. shame really as i think the engine lets the car down.

[Ferrit]

Just buy one with knackered engine and put in a t series turbo.
I have coupe turbo sat in garage until funds allow me to do it

[paddy138]

once the headgasket is replaced with modified one and the ball bearing is taken out of the water way in the inlet manifold there ok, there a nice wee comfy car in my opinion

[Lauren]

I really like the MG ZR's, they are pretty cheap, pretty nippy for the engine size as well, but I've asked a number of people who are experienced with cars and they all said stay well away. I would buy one if you have money set aside for an expensive repair further down the line. lol

[dannyb]

Didn't Rover use plastic/nylon dowels on the block when they should have used metal? Also, they don't cool very well and need bled properly once the coolant's changed, then you need to change the head bolts to a different type if the HG goes. Think there's a more in depth guide in PPC.

[comptoncj]

Didn't Rover use plastic/nylon dowels on the block when they should have used metal? Also, they don't cool very well and need bled properly once the coolant's changed, then you need to change the head bolts to a different type if the HG goes. Think there's a more in depth guide in PPC.

yeah they used plastic dowels on them but i think the later ones had metal ones,

[ade]

my wife had the 1300zr - was a really nice car - nippy as f00k - held the road like glue...

but then she lost it on a straight road after hitting water -
























http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/crash002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/crash012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/crash003.jpg

car died - the wife didnt...

[mowgli]

the k series has some o rings on the inlet manifold that go brittle, causing the (amazingly low amount of) coolant to leak out, causing the hg to blow..... change them & original hg won't blow

[vauxboi]

so whats this head saver plate all about is that its proper name how is it better then the original one also mowgli with the o rings on the inlet manifold change them for what mg originals or better material one's

[Lauren]

Fcuk me ade, that's bad! :eek:

[therealnovaboy]

there just rubbish in my opinion, badly desined. there is loads of reasons why they fail. the main reasons are bad maintenance on the coolant system and thrashing from cold. you have to bleed the coolant system as it they gather air pockets allowing the engine to create hot spots. another reason is because they have steel liners and an ally block, the block/liner expand at differant rates. if they are not allowed to heat up and cool down correctly the head gasket is the first place to leak. theres also somthing about a thermostat that opens too quick letting the cold water rush into the block and cools down too fast, again allowing the liners/block contract and cause the gasket to fail.

i sujest you go on a mg/rover/lotus forumn theres loads of rover buffs out there and loads of info on the engine. even tho they arnt great engines they are in loads of cars with them and millions of them in the scrappys. so loads of part doners;).

[Thed0n]

MG ZR's are bloody awful. U may aswell buy a rover 25 tbh they probly go about the same anyway only the 25 will cost less and at least u wudnt have to say its ur missus car either. I owned a metro turbo as my 1st car and my oh my how MG have fallen from the stars.