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Topics - easytrans

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Well having owned Omega B estate (2002 DTI) for about 6 years now ... its served me well as a tow car with either a well loaded trailer full of "stuff" while moving from Suffolk to the Scottish Borders or with the transporter trailer with my Astra GTE track car loaded  .... It gets well used & abused when needed :)

So anyway, we had some really cold days over December - January and cold starting got worse and worse, I had changed 3 glow plugs 4 years ago the 4th had spun its top off but still functioned so was left alone so I couldn't imagine it would be a preheat issue, it got to the point where I would crank and crank when cold or on one very cold day I even had the space heater sat in front for an hour to warm it up a little!

Historically I'm and engineer by trade but in IT for past but have re-established a new workshop here at my new home so I'm not shy of a little oil and grease. That said I'm not a diesel person as such but anyway I digress .... having done a run with a trailer loaded with a 10' x 5' hay bale across the mountain and ready for another trailer trip I thought best to check the oil and water, interesting I found that the oil level was very high rather than a little low as you could expect so anyway ... over the next week or so the Omega almost refused to start but ran fine when it was.

Assuming the worst I changed the fuel filter as a last resort thinking it was sucking in air somewhere (maybe a buggered pump I thought??) OPT-COM gave no codes so nothing to diagnose really. Following the filter change I had to tow it to start ... I left it over night and not a hint of it agreeing to start from cold !!

So having had my monies worth I was 99% sure it would go for on gumtree as "spares or repair" or to the scrap yard.

Then I was browsing the forum and googeling and came across the document relating to leak-off seals and the "penny dropped"! increase in oil capacity = leak-off seals feeding the sump with diesel and drawing air back causing failure to cold start.

So I thought its worth blowing £100 or so to do the seals, if that didn't fix it well its off to the scrappy and I loose a few quid and a bit of time.

Using the document I ordered the parts and set about stripping, typically the Omega has a few more pipes and the engine is in different orientation to the one they use for the instructions but basically great instructions. So I did the induction clean out first then lifted the cam to clear the crossover units and removed and replaced the seals, put it all together again with a new camshaft stretch bolt. While I had the clearance I thought I'd have a go at removing that broken glow plug as I had bought an extractor kit a few years ago, well the turbo hinders the job somewhat but after an hour and some very worrying moments plus some "Heath Robinson" mods to the extractor kit, warmth from blow torch, plus-gas and a prayer ...  it came out and I fitted a new one.

So a quick tow started it up with one dip of the clutch.  But I had basically killed the starter of the battery over the winter and one of both were struggling to do the job they should so still a cold start was not possible, however the induction clean out had such an impact in performance it's like a rocket ship when running !

In for a penny in for a pound, working on a theory I had I ordered a new starter @ £80 and fitted it (on the 2 post hoist I have in my workshop, it would have been a bitch to do from the ground!) 2 nights ago and now first touch of the key and she bursts into life.

So the theory is that due to the leak-off seals causing all the cold cranking, the starter had gone bad and was 1) drawing any amps from the glow plugs when cranking, 2) not spinning the engine over well enough to get that start you need with a diesel.

Needless to say its had an oil and filter change too and I got out nearly 12 ltr of oil from the sump and its 5.5 ltr to refill :)

So again my thanks and I'm really pleased I found some inspiration from the forum which has allowed "the tank" a little reprieve and extended her life a little.

On another point I had been wondering if the 2.2 DTI will lift from the Omega and drop into a Vauxhall Frontera as up here in the winter (plus the mile up hill track to our cottage) a 4x4 makes more sense and the lump in this car has been so brilliant and could live long and prosper in the future should I find a Frontera that needs a donor engine :) ... Anyone?

Anyway Thanks again

Laurie.     
             
 

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