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[Kaycee]

just  one point tho the mechanics at vauxhall dont have much experience with the omega now as its been finished since 2002/3 its a classic answer so you walk away as they dont want the job 2 years ago  i went to perrys in doncaster for a oill leak which i thought was  cam covers a friend did them first but was still leaking they said it was head gasket " if i was you sir ide  scap it " " we could do it but would cost £2000" not likely says i My friend had another go and lo and behold found leaking oil cooler pipe he charged me £20 was ok till i got rid of it for the elite Do not trust the stealers

Robert

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Wayne, please check the oil level in your engine.

If it is between minimum and maximum then water is not cascading into the sump.  If the HG has perished on the side of a block, not only would water but also oil would be trickling / blowing out. ( But you have said nothing, as far as I can see, on losing oil as you would with a major HG failure).

If none of this applies, then it is looking more and more like the HBV or a water pipe that is causing the problem.

I know you are in an depressed mood (often been there) but all of us who can will try and help you on here!

[Welung666]

Tell you what Wayne, I'll give you £100 for it

[jemis]

Sure fire way to find out if your HG has failed is get a compression test done on each cylinder, if the the gasket has gone one or two will be lower than the rest. The water could be leaking into the cylinder there for no external leaks will be noticed and performance might not be affected however usually your car would suffer from poor idle.
The test the dealers are saying they have done is called a sniff test by most where they are checking for exhaust gases in the coolant.
Get the test done and then you will no for certain.

[TheBoy]

There is some confusion on this thread. Perhaps Wayne could confirm my understanding of the symptoms:

Its not losing coolant
Its not losing oil
No Water in Oil
No oil in coolant
Temp gauge normal
Only issue is no heat in cabin
Heat comes in cabin when vac pipe controlling hbv is disconnected


A bit of insider info - I know there was a fault on this car where there is a constant vac to hbv last year.


Is that a fair conclusion of symptoms Wayne - sorry, I think there has been some confusion over the past 3 pages of posts?

[TheBoy]

And BTW, I don't think your HG has failed going by the symptoms you have described

[Marks DTM Calib]

just got off the phone from my mate who lives in my village, the guys a bleedin Legend for fixing cars, been on the phone for ages, he definately thinks its the head gasket because of this:

1: when i drove back from Nottingham on Saturday, i had no heat.... when i checked coolant level it was fine..

2: when i got up this morning, the coolant level had dropped from Maximum to Minimum, this surely indicates that its losing water and its mixing with the oil yes? indicating Gasket Failure

3: i have no leaks anywhere, so it MUST be going somewhere, if the coolant level is constantly low every morning, then surely this is a big problem?

he also said that you dont always get symptoms like sludge in the oil straight away and any performance problems, which im not getting either of

Well hes a tosser who knows nothing then.

a) You cant diagnose a head gasket failure based on symptoms over the phone!

b) If it was head gasket the coolant system would pressurise excessivly

c) The coolant loss would be much greaer and more consistent with poor running and miss fires when starting up.

There was an issue with the vacpipes it would appear.

The whole heating and cooling system is vac operated.

May I sudgest you stop the headless chicken mode and take a deep breath, stop the diagnosis based on hear say and 'legends'.

I suspect you have 2 problems

1) A vaccum issue

2) A coolant leak

It needs proper diagnosis.....not some willy nilly stabs in the dark

[Wayne]

thanks everyone, and i apologise for shouting my mouth off

i just dont have a lot of money at the moment and im worried im going to have no vehicle

just went out in the car for 20 minutes, heat is working fine since i left that VAC Pipe off

ok,  i done a coolant check... it seems to be still at maximum from when i done a fresh coolant change earlier on today

i will get up in the morning and see if it has sunk from maximum to minimum....  i will let you all know
i had another look and still cant see ANY Leaks
my oil level is perfect, its not black black, but almost in between yellow and black, but none of that gunky crap
its not misfiring at all, she still flies!
though i did have a new RPM sensor fitted 2 weeks ago when the car failed to start at all, this cured it and she starts first time every time, even after being left for a week without using her, wouldnt do that before

Mark - are you FREE or would you look at my car for me?
i`m in Nottingham this Sunday, have to be at ROCK CITY for my gig at 4.30pm

meanwhile, i`m taking the car to be pressure tested by someone else to see if they CONFIRM what VX said, then i will know what's what, does that sound like the thing to do?

[Marks DTM Calib]

I strongly suspect you have a buggered bypass valve.

This will leak under either a heat or cool setting so not when you cna really see it and will only happen occasionaly.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Sadly Sunday is not good as I am not around (being easter sunday).

Pressure test will tell very little so not worth the effort unless they can spot the leak (it wont prove anything head gasket related)

[TheBoy]

thanks everyone, and i apologise for shouting my mouth off

i just dont have a lot of money at the moment and im worried im going to have no vehicle

just went out in the car for 20 minutes, heat is working fine since i left that VAC Pipe off

ok,  i done a coolant check... it seems to be still at maximum from when i done a fresh coolant change earlier on today

i will get up in the morning and see if it has sunk from maximum to minimum....  i will let you all know
i had another look and still cant see ANY Leaks
my oil level is perfect, its not black black, but almost in between yellow and black, but none of that gunky crap
its not misfiring at all, she still flies!
though i did have a new RPM sensor fitted 2 weeks ago when the car failed to start at all, this cured it and she starts first time every time, even after being left for a week without using her, wouldnt do that before

Mark - are you FREE or would you look at my car for me?
i`m in Nottingham this Sunday, have to be at ROCK CITY for my gig at 4.30pm

meanwhile, i`m taking the car to be pressure tested by someone else to see if they CONFIRM what VX said, then i will know what's what, does that sound like the thing to do?

don't bother, nothing suggests HG problem.

Ignore your vx dealer, and ignore your local mechanic - I suspect they are morons, sorry.

[Wayne]

Okay then

so in English for a Retard like me

WHY do i have heat when i disconnect this 1 Particular Vac Pipe and what do i need to replace to fix this problem and where should i take it?

and how do i definately make sure the head gasket hasnt gone, so that i can drive the car without worrying about driving it,  i have noticed that when the car is just sat there, the revs do idle a little bit, but i would say only very slightly, is that normal? or should it stay at a certain RPM and not move whatsoever?

and PLEASE PLEASE dont ask me to do any of this by myself, im a Musician, not any good with cars, never have been..
i would rather pay someone to do a good job so i dont have to worry, obviously this wont be bloody VX

[TheBoy]

Okay then

so in English for a Retard like me

WHY do i have heat when i disconnect this 1 Particular Vac Pipe and what do i need to replace to fix this problem and where should i take it?

and how do i definately make sure the head gasket hasnt gone, so that i can drive the car without worrying about driving it,  i have noticed that when the car is just sat there, the revs do idle a little bit, but i would say only very slightly, is that normal? or should it stay at a certain RPM and not move whatsoever?

The purpose of that valve is not allow hot coolant into heater matrix, so cold air can be cold, rather than warmed, then cooled.  Hence its name - Heater Bypass Valve (HBV).  This is vac operated electronically from climate panel via a solenoid behind glovebox.

In your case, last year, we diagnosed a perment vacuum to the HBV, thus no hot coolant was going through heater matrix, thus no hot air in cabin.  Most likely cause is either some dodgy vac wiring dehind dash, or a faulty vac solenoid behind glovebox.

As previously said, ignore the idiot in the village, he should stick to his BMW Minis (I know of him)

[Wayne]

okay, so the heating thing is no big deal

but PLEASE in Lamens terms, how do i find out about my head gasket and if it has definately gone, thats all i would like to know so that i can keep driving my car, VX have scared the shit out of me, just dont wanna drive it to Nottingham this sunday and then back again, a round trip of 250 miles and break down on the way

where can i take the car to get this solenoid changed, or to sort this VAC Problem out? wanna make sure its getting done properly

[Wayne]

[/quote]As previously said, ignore the idiot in the village, he should stick to his BMW Minis (I know of him)[/quote]

im not gonna argue on here, the guy does ALL Makes of cars, he is a Genuine mechanic, unlike others i have come across, he doesnt rip you off and charges a good price for the work he does..
he NEVER has cars go back with problems he hasnt sorted after he has done them