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Hi ARonline experts!
I’m the proud and satisfied owner of a couple of LHD MG ZTs in France. One 260 with 35.000 kms on the clock and one 190 with 65.000 kms.
The 190 needs a new cam belt because of its age and I was wondering if it was also a smart idea to change the head gasket of its 2.5 KV6 motor at the same time. I’ve never noticed any kind of failure clues from this crucial part so is it really worth the huge amount of cash my garage will ask for it? I’ve read head gasket failures for the 2.5 KV6 doesn’t happen as often as for the 1.8 KV6, the service has always been made seriously, so maybe will it be useless. My father bought this car just afer the collapse of MG Rover in 2005 and it was supposed to be the one for the boss of MG Rover France (Thierry Depond?), he was told by the official dealer who bought nearly all the LHD car parked in France and in Longbridge in June 2005. Maybe the fitted head gasket was a new version, more reliable, or is it impossible?
Thanks a lot in advance for your answers and advices,
Best regards,
Yann
Personally speaking I would change the headgasket while you’re there doing the belts, but only if make sure it’s the highest spec MLS-spec kit. And of course that you trust your mechanic.
I’d leave it as is. Genuine HGF is very rare on the non 825 KV6. However I would change the thermostat as that is prone to cracking and then leaking, resulting in HGF if you ignore it.
I am not a fan of all these head gasket changes just for the sake of it on the 4-cylinder cars, it is unlike the belt were you should not risk a failure. On the V6 it is a rather large effort and the risk of breaking something that was not broken in the first place is not to be ignored. I would leave it on and only do it when needed – which will probably never be on the V6…
Thanks you all for your points of view about my head gasket question. Regarding the budget needed and the around problems a change could create, I’m cancelling this expensive project and will concentrate only on the cam belt, of course, and alson on the thermostat. Are there better thermostat parts than others or are they all the same quality?
I think they are all much teh same it’s sold with a kit of parts which include soem of the pipework, its a plastic unit and it seems over time the plastic degrades, or the bonding does and then it starts to leak. Its not cheap (in relative terms!) but then not a lot is with the V6!
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