Rover K engine

Rover K engine

The K-Series engine is a series of engines built by Powertrain Ltd, a sister company of MG Rover. The engine was built in two forms: a straight-4 cylinder, available with SOHC and DOHC, ranging from 1.1 L to 1.8 L; and the KV6 V6 variation.

Design History

The K-Series was introduced in 1988 by Rover Group as a powerplant for the Rover 200 car. It was revolutionary in that it was the first volume production implementation of the low pressure sand casting technique. This works by injecting liquid aluminium into an upturned sand mould from below. In this way any oxide film always remains on the surface of the casting and is not stirred into the casting structure. This production technology overcame many of the inherent problems of casting aluminium components and consequently permitted lower casting wall thickness's and higher strength to weight ratios. The aluminium engine blocks are fitted with steel cylinder liners that were manufactured by GKN's Sheepbridge Stokes of Chesterfield.

The engine was introduced initially in 1.1 L single overhead cam and 1.4 L dual overhead cam versions. The engines were unique in being held together as a sandwich of components by long through-bolts which held the engine under compression. As a result of the loss of Honda engines on the BMW takeover of Rover, an enlargement of the K Series design to 1.6 and 1.8 litres was carried out. This was done by using larger diameter cylinder liners and also increasing the stroke. The change required a block redesign with the removal of the cylinder block's top deck and a change from "wet" liners to "damp" liners. This change reduced the block stiffness and made the head gasket interface unstable.

The two types of head that were bolted to the common 4-cylinder block were designated K8 (8 valves) and K16 (16 valves). A later head design also incorporated a Rover-designed Variable Valve Control (VVC) unit (derived from an expired AP patent). This allowed more power to be developed without compromising low-speed torque and flexibility. The VVC system constantly alters the inlet cam period, resulting in a remarkably flexible drive - the torque curve of a VVC K-series engine is virtually flat throughout the rev range and power climbs steadily with no fall-off whatsoever until the rev limiter kicks in at 7,200 rpm.

By comparison, the V6 engines are more conventional engines that do not make use of the through bolts to hold the head to the block.

The 1.8 litre versions are often used in kit cars and are starting to be used in hot rods, especially as a popular swap into the MG Midget, Morris Minor and the Caterham versions of the Lotus 7.Fact|date=September 2007

K-Series problems

The engine's head-gasket was made from a steel core plate with silicon rubber beads to seal water and oil ways rather than the more traditional materials. However, the redesign of the cylinder block to enable the capacity to stretch to 1600 and 1800 cc resulted in a lack of stiffness. This allowed movement across the gasket face and subsequent gasket failure. The design of the cooling circuit was also less than optimum, allowing a hot engine to be suddenly flushed with cold water when the thermostat opened. This "thermal shock" put more stress across the gasket face. These factors were particularly severe in larger vehicles such as the Land Rover Freelander.

Due to the wish to make the engine as efficient as possible, the coolant capacity was smaller than would be expected in engines of this size. This enabled the engine to reach its optimum operating temperature quickly. However, the smaller coolant capacity did make the engine vulnerable in the event of coolant leaks. This became more of a problem with the larger capacity engines, as the extra swept volume was achieved by eating into the water jacket, further reducing coolant capacity.

The Freelander problem was relieved to a certain extent by a special pressure release thermostat which, with the aid of a spring loaded valve, allowed a small amount of coolant to bypass the thermostat at high engine speeds regardless of engine temperature.

A modification made in an attempt to reduce the rate of gasket failure was to replace the plastic dowels with steel dowels in the cylinder block top face. This helps reduce the head movement relative to the cylinder block. The rubber sealing beads were also modified to give improved attachment to the gasket core plate.

More recently, Land Rover have released a reinforced MLS (Multi-Layer Steel) head gasket for the K-Series engines, which until mid-2005 were fitted to the 1800 cc petrol variants of their Freelander model. A modified oil rail was also developed to be used in conjunction with the gasket to improve block stiffness. Time will tell as to whether the improved design will cure this fault of the K-Series engine, but many professionals and enthusiasts now recommend this new design over the standard gasket as fitted by MG-Rover. To date, the results appear to be good.

In the motor trade, most unmodified K-Series engines are expected to suffer head-gasket failure at around 90,000 miles. Water and oil mixing, resulting in the dip-stick being coated in a brown slush is the most common symptom, requiring significant effort to clean out before replacement.

Model Range

1100

All 1100 engines displace 1.1 L (1120 cc/68 in³). Three variations were created:
*SOHC K8 8-valve, Carburettor, 60 hp (44 kw)
*SOHC K8 8-valve, SPI, 60 hp (44 kw)
*SOHC K8 8-valve, MPI, 60 hp (44 kw)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, 75 hp (55 kW)

Cars that came with the 1100:
*Rover Metro
*Rover 100
*Rover 200
*Rover 25

1400

Engine Codes: 14K2F (8V), 14K4F (16V), ???

All 1400 engines displace 1.4 L (1396 cc/85 in³). Five variations were created:
*SOHC K8 8-valve, Carburettor, 75 hp (55 kW)
*SOHC K8 8-valve, SPI, 75 hp (55 kW)
*SOHC K8 8-valve, MPI, 75 hp (55 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, SPI, 90 hp (66 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, 82 hp (61 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, 103 hp (76 kW)

The K16 82hp variant is exactly the same as the 103hp version apart from a restrictive throttle body designed to lower the cars insurance group, the 90 hp Spi features single-point fuel injection rather than the multi-point of the later engine.

Cars that came with the 1400:

*Rover Metro
*Rover 100
*Rover 200
*Rover 25
*Rover 400
*Rover 45
*Rover Streetwise
*MG ZR
*MG ZS - Ireland only.
*Caterham Seven
*GTM Libra
*FSO Polonez Caro/Atu

1600

Engine Code: 16K4F

All 1600 engines displace 1.6 L (1588 cc/96 in³). Two variations were created:
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, 109 hp (80 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, 111 hp (82 kW)

Cars that came with the 1600:

*Rover 200
*Rover 25
*Rover Streetwise
*Rover 400
*Rover 45
*MG ZS
*MG F
*MG TF
*Caterham Seven

1800

Engine Codes: 18K4F, 18K4K (VVC variants)

All 1800 engines displace 1.8 L (1795 cc/109 in³). Six variations were created:
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, 117 to 120 hp (86 to 88 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, 136 hp (100 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, VVC, 145 hp (107 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, VVC, 160 hp (118 kW)
*DOHC K16 16-valve, MPI, turbocharged, 150 to 190 hp (110 to 118 kW)
*DOHC K16 VHPD - Very High Performance Derivative 16-valve, MPI, 177 hp (130 kW) or 192 hp (142 kW) (Lotus version) (Uses VVC unique cylinder head casting (similar to VVC casting), has big valves, but with fixed cam timing - No development input was requested from Rover)

Cars that came with the 1800:

*Rover 200
*Rover 25 (145HP VVC)
*Rover 45
*Rover Streetwise
*Rover 75
*MG ZR (160HP VVC)
*MG ZS (115HP)
*MG ZT (160HP Turbo)
*MG F (160HP VVC)
*MG TF (160HP VVC)
*Lotus Elise
*Land Rover Freelander
*Caterham Seven
*Ariel Atom
*GTM Libra

References

External links

* [http://www.rover200.org.uk/ Rover 200 and 400 Owners Club - Club for Owners of the Mk2 Rover 200 and Mk1 Rover 400]


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