Rover 45

[sierraman]

Were I to buy a Rover 45, is HGF a certainty on the 1.4 model?

[saucedoctor]

Any 45 is gonna be at least 10 years old now, so chances are it's been done anyway, if required.

 

It's often the inlet manifold gasket that lets go between cylinders 3 & 4, and then gubs the HG.

 

Edited to add: if the car's a good un, and you're concerned, you could get the HG changed before it goes pop, thus avoiding a head skin, cleaning out cappuccino etc.

[Junkman]

If not mended yet, the inevitability is high.

The original gaskets had indeed an inherent design flaw. The replacements are much improved, and after a gasket swappage, they usually hold up.

At least according to my tame mechanic, who has done hundreds of them during his career.

 

Which advantage do you expect from a 1.4 over an appropriately engined one?

[sierraman]

Don't know really the 2.0 petrol jobs went alarmingly quick but being the T series pissed oil everywhere. The latter type I'm told are some 2.0kv6 aberration.

 

I was pondering why they were so cheap when I was looking for a car for Mrs Sierra. My burning urge to find out if the Focus was as good as what people harped on about got the better of me and a purchase of a 2001 1.6 at £500 was too much to resist so I guess I'll never know given the rate at which they are disappearing.

[Ghosty]

Why not just buy a 97-00 five door Civic hatch? Basically the same car with lower chances of HGF...

[sierraman]

Hadn't thought of that. Focus it is though for meantime. I'll post pictures accordingly, needs a few odd jobs doing but that's half the fun.

[HH-R]

They're pretty hardy old things, seats are shit in the 45 though - they gave me backache/deep vein thrombosis feeling. Combined with losing legroom in an already cramped car and being too heavy for the metal they're mounted on = FAIL. Because they're backwards and forwards constantly to accommodate passengers the SRS light will be on because it pulls the connector apart under the seat. They just push back together though, and if you can be bothered, our old friend the cable tie apparently fixes it. They're simple and not much else seems to go on them, have heard of rear suspension bushes on the Honda version but I think they use a different suspension setup.

 

HGF a very likely outcome on 1.4/1.6/1.8 if it hasn't already been done. The 2.0 V6 will be nice but I've read on MacD that the auto box is a bit pants, never knowing what it's meant to be doing. The L-Series diseasel is GR9 but they're mostly high milers for sale now, they can generally take it though.

 

The 1.4 is adequate enough, I had one for nearly 2 years and it did 37 to the gallon with mixed town and dual carriageway driving. On a run it would do about 40 but non of the K-Series are particularly amazing on fuel (still, not bad either). Not a great steer to be honest, pretty roly poly, though mine was a 1.4 and it had the rear anti roll bar deleted. They seem more rot resistant than an early Focus. My brother has a 1999 Honda equivalent, 1.6. Never really goes wrong other than consumables like brakes and exhaust parts. Quite heavy on the juice though.

[Cavcraft]

Why not just buy a 97-00 five door Civic hatch? Basically the same car with lower chances of HGF...

 

And it's not a Rover, so is better by default.

[wuvvum]

If you're going to buy a 45, it really needs to be a diesel.  The L-series is basically an updated Perkins Prima and goes on for ever.  Averages well over 50mpg, too.

[Junkman]

The one to get is the 2.0 V6 with that naff gearbox nobody knows what it really is.

Everything else is just yaaaaaaawwwwwwn.

 

You won autoshite, if you find a beige one.

 

Don't buy a 1.4, it's just stupid and pointless.

[Barry Cade]

Sigh.

[Rusty_Rocket]

The 1.4 always felt perfectly adequate to me.  It's in the cheaper road tax bracket, too.

 

Also- when it goes pop, you can fit a 16/1800 and no-one will be able to tell the difference