buying a 7

[Neil Campbell]

I went for a test drive of a 'standard' K series 1.8 -140 BHP - the oil pressure went to max on start up and stayed there, water temp climbed and stopped just short of red. Water header tank almost empty, recent service with new water hoses. Is it just dodgy gauges or signs of something a bit more worrying ? She went round corners as if on rails and sounded great !

Any comments or pointers would be much appreciated, as this will be my first 7.

 

Neil

[nickh7]

Was it from a club member ? I would suggest taking a local member who knows their way round a k series .

 

Never happy about an empty expansion tank

[CageyH]

I would be tempted to look for a different one.

The water temp could be an airlock, but an empty header tank is never a good sign.

This could lead to or be a sign of HGF. Check for signs of oil in the water, and water in the oil.

The oil pressure could just be a dodgy sender, which is common.

 

Edited by - CageyH on 7 Apr 2013 13:32:29

[DJ.]

I would walk away.

 

If the owner has been happy to drive a car with low water level, and an oil pressure gauge that isn't telling them anything useful, I wouldn't want to buy a car from them.

 

The only encouraging thing about it is that if they were trying to cover up head gasket failiure, surely they would have bothered to top it up.

 

Duncan

[Garth]

See the car posted in the for sale section today?

[JohnForbes-Crisp]

or the 5 in Lowflying April 2013.

John.

[combine]

Can't have been 'serviced' very well in that case ! May have boiled and cracked the cylinder head due to a seized fan bearing !

[MartinWoodham]

oil pressure high on start is normal since the oil is cold and therefore thicker. If the OP didn't drop much, the oil wasn't getting hot, which in normal road useage is probably reasonable, assuming the guy wasn't wringing its neck. Wrong spec oil would cause the same. Did the OP vary with revs once the car was warm?

 

Water temp going up and staying there contradicts the OP reading - either something adrift with the temp sender (not unkown) or low water level meaning the reduced amount of water gets hotter.

 

So I'd suspect too little water (as per your observation), faulty senosr, or possibly wrong oil - in that order.

 

Although HGF is a known issue on the k-series, it's a relatively old phenomenon since only the earliest engines had the plastic dowels and crappy gaskets. It's relatively rare when owners have an interest in their cars - no dobubt more common amongst the metro/ maestro owners not realising that with such a small water jacket, when the temp light comes on you've got to get the engine off sharpish. "it's getting serviced next week, it'll wait until then Dear"....

 

I'd ask to see the car running with the proper amount of water in, and see what happens.

 

HGF is much maligned - look on it as an upgrade opportunity 😬 😬

 

Edited by - mwoodham on 8 Apr 2013 10:03:30

[myothercarsa2cv]

Do you know if it is running the standard thermostat or the PRRT? I found when refilling my PRRT, having thought I'd put enough coolant in, returning to the car the next day it had 'self-bled' and it needed some more. Could just be that.

 

OP gauge going straight to max is likely a dodgy sender if it is still the electrical sort. Probably nothing to worry about but combined with the above, I'd like reassurances that the engine is OK from someone reputable...

 

Who was it serviced by?

[Neil Campbell]

Thanks for all your help, I will keep on looking for one with gauges that work and one that 'runs cool' !!!!