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[thumper]

I have been looking around for a while for a suitable purchase and i think i may have found it. However the model i am looking at is an 02 reg 2.2 petrol. This engine  i am told is prone to head gasket failure. (it has done only 60000 miles). As i do not want to have to spend my limited resources on a large repair bill, should I walk away or have i been misinformed?.

[RobG]

HG`s usually go on the four pot due to lack of regular full coolant changes, ideally every two years

[joshwyatt]

I wouldn't say prone, at high mileage and after a neglected service routine the 2.2 HG's can go.
Check the colour of the coolant, ifi t's red...then that's a good sign. If it's blue, not so great. Blue was the older stuff, and red is the newer stuff.
In this case it would be worth checking the service history(if present)
But even if the HG did go, it's not a masive job on the 4 cylinder models, many members on here coul easily fix it for you.
But no, they're not prone to HG failiure like the Rover K series engine is.

[Darth Loo-knee]

At 60,000 miles I cant see much of a problem but you never know what previous owners have or haven't done, but to do the Head Gasket is not as huge bill as you may think.
Plenty of help on here if the worst comes to the worst...

[TheBoy]

HGs do fail on 2.2s (and 2.0s), but its not a common fault - just more common than v6 HG failure.  Its not as common as K series HG, or Pug diesel HGs

Not a hard job when it does, but they are normally good for 150k+

[thumper]

Thank you for your help. Up until 3 years ago I was the proud owner of a k reg 2.0 auto carlton. This was a lovely car but what killed it off was head gasket failure. And before that i had 2.0 16v cavalier and the same thing happened. Maybe i,m just unlucky..........

[Andy B]

...
Up until 3 years ago I was the proud owner of a k reg 2.0 auto carlton. This was a lovely car but what killed it off was head gasket failure. And  .............

Head gasket failure doesn't mean the end of a car, just fix it or get it fixed, as Daz says, it's not that difficult a job.

[tunnie]

couple of things critical on 4 pots, fresh oil (every 3k) has made my 2.2 super silent, 4 pots really do like fresh oil and i find its more noticeable when its been changed than the V's

Second is coolant, stale, old, coolant is biggest cause of HG failure, mine is on 142k never been done, father T's was done at 98k, and it had been dealer serviced all its life (ex-fleet car)

For that reason mine is changed once a year