I am going to look at a rover tomorrow. The guy said it had been overheated after a coolant tank leak. The motor has had recent HG replacement.

What should I be on the lookout for that might have been caused by overheating?

 

Be prepared (at the very least) to replace the head gaskets up to and including the entire engine. Realize there may be internal damage due to oil overheating as well. If making repairs is your goal, fine. But if you are hoping to walk away with a good deal on an overheated Rover that you can just get in and drive on the cheap you will probably be making a very big mistake.

 

i know about possible cracked block and blown hg, I guess my real question is...Does one overheating equal a death sentence?

 

Depends on how badly it over-heated along with how long it over-heated. Without a scan gauge II or ultra gauge the owner is pissing into the wind with whatever temp he/she thinks it got up to. If the red light came on the dash it's in the 230 range for sure.

Check the oil for mochachino, and
the usual gas smell in the reservoir (DO NOT go by what the owner says). It's not yours so let it run for at least a few minutes at idle. If it's ticking or starts to knock right off the bat expect serious engine issues.

 

Seems like a foregone conclusion to me. I mean, it overheated and now it's for sale. Might be a bargain if you are a gambler or like I said earlier, if you plan on wrenching right out of the gate.

 

It really depends what 'overheat' means in actual temperature. 230F = 110C which in truth for alu cylinder heads on any car is nearing it's max limit and the vendor will always 'embellish' the truth. So the price needs to be right, plan for a minimum of HG's and a max of new cylinder heads. If you are really out of luck the block/liners could also be shot but unlikely.

 

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The worst possible thing that may have resulted from the overheating, would have to be a crack, even a minute hairline crack that usually happens between the block water jacket and the cylinder liner, usually at the very base of one of the head bolts too. Thus, coolant gets upward into the combustion chamber, and/or downward into the oil pan, eventually usually loosening the cylinder liner, causing it to slip up and down in rhythm with the piston in that liner. THE ONLY WAY TO BE CERTAIN THAT THIS CRACKING OF BLOCK, HAS OR HAS NOT HAPPENED, IS TO HAVE IT PRESSURE TESTED, TO SEE IF COOLANT, INDEED, IS ABLE TO ESCAPE FROM WATER JACKET, OR IF COMBUSTION GASSES ARE ABLE TO ESCAPE FROM COMBUSTION CHAMBER INTO THE WATER JACKET. ANYTHING SHORT OF THIS, IS ONLY TAKING A RISK, WITH HIGH PROBABILITY OF HIGH RISK.

 

That is not actually the only way to tell.

You can put a boroscope into a suspect cylinder through the spark plug hole while it is still relatively hot. You can then see any coolant coming in between the HG and block seam on say #6 where there is no in head coolant passage.

 

X1 ......... good thinking, boroscope the bores and see what gives internally. Boroscopes are cheap these days and certainly much cheaper than HG's.

 

2003 or 2004 MY - the cylinder liners come loose after an over heat.

2000 - 2001 model year - maybe not as bad.

YEP for sure head gasket.

Pay $1000 for this tops.