Vehicle
MG ZR
The hot-hatch version of the Rover 25, and that is where its information lives — same body, same K-series engines, same electrics. The K-series is the point: a lightweight aluminium engine held together by long through-bolts, and its head gasket failure is the defining fault of the whole family, driven by the plastic dowels and the composite gasket used originally, and presenting as coolant loss, pressurisation and eventually overheating with no external leak. An uprated gasket, steel dowels and a revised thermostat housing are the known remedy. The 2.0 diesel is a Rover L-series and shares none of it. MEMS engine management needs marque-specific tooling for anything beyond generic codes.
Generations
-
First generation 2001–2005
A Rover 25 underneath; the K-series head gasket is the defining fault and has a known uprated remedy.
- Body styles
- Hatchback
- Platform
- Rover R3
- Engines
-
- 1.4 K-series — 14K4F · petrol · 76 kW (102 hp) · 123 Nm (91 lb-ft)
- 1.8 K-series — 18K4F · petrol · 86–118 kW (115–158 hp) · 160–174 Nm (118–128 lb-ft)
- 2.0 L-series — diesel · 74–83 kW (99–111 hp)
- Transmissions
- 5-speed manual
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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