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Topics - Scatmancraig

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General Car Chat / Vauxhall Signum buying advice required....

« on: 13 December 2016, 08:09:24 »

Morning All,

My tired Omega is coming to the end of its current MOT, and I'm thinking of getting a possible replacement. For reasons unknown, I seem to be drawn towards the Vauxhall Signum, particularly in 3.0 V6 CDTi flavour.

Does anyone have any experience of these cars? Not sure whether to go for manual or auto. There seems to be plenty about with varying prices. I'm also not sure whether to go for the 3.0 diesel, or the 1.9 or 2.2 diesels? The 3.0 seems to be a massive engine for what is effectively a Vectra hatchback, so I'm guessing it ought to go pretty well, but does that particulary engine have any vices that I should be aware of?

My other option is to try and find a really tidy 2.5TD Omega, as late a model as possible and this time manual not auto. Whilst I love the comfort and smoothness of the auto, the difference in economy between round town and the open road is ridiculous. I can get nearly 45mpg on a run, half that around town. I've never known a car with such a big difference, I used to get more out of a 3.0 Senator!!

Omega General Help / 2.5 TD Auto stalling problem

« on: 12 October 2016, 07:41:06 »

It's been a few weeks of relatively trouble free motoring for me, but a new fault is starting to rear its ugly head.

The car is a PFL 2.5 TD auto. Just lately, it is starting to stall when selecting either drive or reverse. It is worse when cold, but it does it when fully warmed up too. Usually much worse when selecting gear with my foot on the brake pedal and a touch of steering lock on at the same time. Once it's in gear, it is usually fine, although when braking to a complete standstill, you can feel the engine surge slightly when almost stationary, as if the engine knows its about to stall and compensates.

Not sure if this is connected or is the cause of the problem, but I've noticed that when I start the car from cold, the engine fast idles until I press the brake pedal. Then there is a noticeable reduction in engine revs. It's almost the same when running with the engine warmed up, if you press the brake pedal whilst ticking over, you can hear the engine falter slightly.

I usually get around the problem by making sure I'm parked somewhere that doesn't involve a three-point turn, and where I can select a gear without using the brake pedal at the same time. The village Co-op is favourite as its very tight for parking.

Any ideas what might be causing this? The continued help of this forum is always much appreciated!

Omega General Help / Wanted - AR25 / AR35 large sump

« on: 30 August 2016, 19:11:15 »

I have recently changed the fluid, filter and sump gaskets on the AR25 fitted to my Omega. The little sump was fine, but for some unknown reason, a previous owner had bodged some chemical metal over the top of a very well rounded off filler plug on the large sump. It was also apparent that the mating surface of the sump wasn't completely straight as someone had clearly used force. Consequently, I now have a slight dribble from there, not good when I've fixed the engine oil leak only fit the transmission to start!

Ideally, I'd like to replace my sump with one that it is straight and that has a decent drain plug. I can also flush the fluid out again to get as much of the old out as possible.

Does anyone have one spare?

(Admin, I can't post in the correct section of the forum, but feel free to move this post as required)

Omega General Help / 2.5 TD Belt Tensioner Issue

« on: 26 August 2016, 14:04:02 »

Yet another problem has surfaced on my 2.5 TD....

Just lately, the auxiliary belt tensioner has a habit of un-tensioning itself, usually when the engine is switched off. A firm tug on it brings it back into place, and it's fine when running normally. My car has a habit of stalling when cold, and the engine suddenly stopping under load usually triggers the fault. When the engine stops, there is also a horrible screech that seems to come from the tensioner assembly.

This was never a problem until I changed the water pump a couple of weeks ago. During this procedure, I used a big bar to release the tension against the spring so I could get the belt off.

Have I broken the tensioner or have I missed something? There is a recess on the front of the tensioner pulley which I have a correct sized tool for, I've tried doing this up tight or leaving it slack, and it seems to make no difference to the fault. When driving normally, it is fine and the tensioner stays against the spring.

Any ideas on what might be wrong?

General Discussion Area / Block Paving Oil Stain Remover - Any Recommendations?

« on: 17 August 2016, 09:53:57 »

My Omega has been a little incontinent lately. Since the recent oil change, it has decided to start leaking from the bottom of the dipstick tube. It appears that the o-ring that is meant to prevent this from happening had disappeared somewhere. It's even worse if you park at the side of the road half on the footpath. Probably hasn't helped that I ever so slightly overfilled it with oil....

Anyway, does anyone have any recommendations on the best product to use for removing oil stains from block paving driveways? I've seen a few products that might do the trick, just wondered if anyone has used a particular product themselves?

Omega General Help / AR25 Sump Gasket Change

« on: 17 August 2016, 09:45:31 »

I am on the verge of doing the sump gaskets, filter and fluid change on the AR25 in my car. Got the gaskets and filter, plus 6 litres of Dexron III ATF ready.

Is 6 litres of ATF going to be enough? I'm going to be replacing the radiator at the same time, so that will take car of any ATF remaining in there. I realise that there will be some old ATF remaining in the torque convertor, so wasn't sure if I needed any more at this stage.

When changing the sump gaskets, do I use any additional sealant with them or just the gaskets on their own? I've never had the sumps off an AR25 before. I had read somewhere that a smear of vaseline on the gaskets does the trick, anyone used that before?

Omega General Help / 2.5 TD Slight Cooling Issue

« on: 06 August 2016, 18:26:14 »

My 2.5 TD Omega has a slight cooling issue.

Up till now, it has been fine in normal driving. Temp gauge goes up to about 95, at which point the thermostat appears to kick in and it settles back down to approx 92, and stays there. The viscous fan kicks in at just over 90, which seems to low to me, but this is a separate issue.....

The problem is, when you drive the car a little more "enthusiastically", the temp gauge rises quite quickly to around 100. It may even go higher than that, but I didn't risk pushing the car any further. It comes back down fairly quickly afterwards, which is reassuring.

Last weekend I had a look under the bonnet. The radiator seemed to be fairly caked up externally with black gunge from a previous oil leak. So I removed it from the car and took it for a blast through a high pressure jet wash. I also ran a hose through it and made sure that there was no dirty water blocking things up internally.

The car still gets hot quickly when pushed. It's still perfectly fine under 'normal' driving. Both electric fans work as they should. It doesn't loose any coolant anywhere, so there clearly isn't a leak. I ran a hose through the rest of the system today to give it a decent flush out, so it's currently running on straight water. The water pump is pumping as I disconnected various hoses and left the engine running, and it was coming out at a fair rate. Got some anti-freeze waiting for me to collect tomorrow, so that'll be going in asap.

Any ideas why it might get so hot so quickly when pushed, but runs perfectly fine the rest of the time? The last TD I owned also seemed to get hot when pushed, is it a characteristic of these engines? I've no idea what normal running temp is on a TD, so I may not have an issue at all, but i'd be interested to hear others thoughts!

Omega General Help / 2.5 TD Dipstick Issues

« on: 28 July 2016, 08:24:52 »

The dipstick on my 2.5 TD leaks. When I say leaks, normal running it is fine, but if I jack the car up from the drivers side, oil escapes from the joint between the dipstick tube and the sump.

Is there meant to be some sort of seal or o-ring in the hole that the dipstick tube slots into? Because if there is, mine is worn out or missing. If there is one, does anyone have a part number? I'm surprised it doesn't leak when the engine is running, as surely the oil pressure would force it out?

Omega General Help / 2.5 TD EGR Valve Questions

« on: 27 July 2016, 14:39:24 »

The EGR valve on my 2.5 TD has been disconnected. It was like this when I bought it. Why would someone do this? I've no idea what disconnecting it actually does, but I'd be interested to learn.

On the same subject, I saw a 2.5 TD Estate in a field at Billing the other week, the EGR valve on that had been removed and replaced with a shiny piece of straight pipe. So obviously there's a reason for doing this, why?

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / PFL Dash Display Removal - Help please!!

« on: 05 July 2016, 07:53:36 »

I need to get to the back of my dashboard radio / Trip computer display. Some kind soul has cut the wiring for the radio loom. Now I'm left with 4 brown/white wires coming from behind the dash, and 4 brown/white wires on the connector, but I've no idea which one needs to be joined to which. I could just fit an aftermarket head unit that doesn't need the dash display, but that would be too easy....!

As I would like to get the dash display fully functioning, my plan is to pull the display out of the dash and work out which wire is which from the source, i.e. the display unit. To do this, I guess I need to remove the speedo binnacle, as the radio display seems to be part of it.

So, how does the speedo binnacle unit come out of the dashboard? I can't seem to see any screws etc. Or is there another way to work out the wiring? Any help would be much appreciated!

Omega General Help / Fuel filter on the 2.5 TD - Where is it?

« on: 02 July 2016, 18:04:06 »

In the next few weeks I'm hoping to give my 2.5 TD a decent service. Try as I might, I haven't caught sight of where the fuel filter is located. I ought to know, as I changed it on my old TD, but I'm buggered if I can remember! Can someone remind me please?

Omega Gallery / "The Shed" - My Omega 2.5 TD CDX Auto Estate

« on: 29 June 2016, 22:16:00 »

For the last few weeks, I've been the owner of this fine machine (sniggers)....

It's a 1997 pre-Facelift 2.5 TD CDX Auto Estate in metallic black. It's a bit battered and scratched, rust patches on the doors, but surprisingly solid around the rear arches and sills. Nice clean interior too, just a few plastic bits that have become detached and held on with tape! I picked it up off a local Facebook group for £250 with MOT till January. It was advertised as having warped rear discs and a missing back box. There's a few other faults too, but nothing that stops the car being used. It's on 163k at the moment, I have paperwork and receipts up to 140k, so it has been looked after until the last few years.

So far, I've replaced the rear discs with a cheap set bought new off Ebay. The old ones were VERY warped! Now the braking is vibration free. I've also managed to get the remote central locking fob working again, just needed a new battery and re-syncing to the car.

I've only done a couple of hundred miles in the car so far, but nothing dramatic has happened so far. Faults found so far as follows:

Cruise control not working
Air-con not working (or at the very least needs regassing).
Radio doesn't communicate with the dash display (wiring behind it is a mess!)
Engine oil dipstick isn't properly attached.
Engine and gearbox oil & filters need replacing.
Engine undertray missing.

I'll be ordering the necessary parts to replace the missing back box and doing the engine and gearbox fluids in the next few weeks. I'm not to worried anout the cosmetic body issues as it's a daily hack, not a show car. If the car behaves itself, I may try and get the cruise and air-con working, as I don't like to have switches that I can't use.

Omega General Help / Low Coolant Warning Sensor - Where is it?

« on: 29 June 2016, 09:07:10 »

I occasionally get the "Low Coolant" warning message on my dashboard display. I've checked the header tank and there's plenty in there (although it could do with changing). On previous Senators and Carltons I've owned, the level sensor was in the cap itself. This doesn't appear to be the case with Omegas, so where is the level sensor please? And are they known to be troublesome?

Omega General Help / 2.5 TD AR25 Gearbox - Should I change the oil and filters or replace the box?

« on: 25 June 2016, 20:31:45 »

I have an Omega 2.5TD with the AR25 autobox. Now I know that this gearbox can be something of a weak point in the vehicle. I'm not 100% convinced that the one in mine is in perfect health....

It might be my imagination, as I haven't owned an automatic car for a few years now, but I think the gearbox is just a little too slippy at times. It's also slow to engage reverse, probably 1-2 seconds instead of instantly when you put it in Drive. Other than that, it goes through the gears ok, and the torque converter locks at just under 50. It kicks down like it should too. It's just the engine revs sometimes hardly change when it changes gear, especially on light throttle.

The car is on 163k, so not in the first flush of youth by any means. It was originally a HSBC company car up to 100k, and I have their service history print out confirming that the box was replaced at 70k. So the one in it may well have over 90k on it now. The engine is standard, and I have no immediate plans to start messing with the ECU as it seems to pull like a train as it is.

Do you think it is worth me changing the gearbox oil and filters, or leaving it as it is and putting the cash towards upgrading it to an AR35 box (if I can find one)?

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Omega Electrical and Audio Help / 97 2.5 TD CDX Estate - Which Head Unit?

« on: 25 June 2016, 08:04:31 »

What head unit should be fitted to a 1997 CDX Estate? Mine has a GM CD player head unit that doesn't seem to want to communicate with the dashboard display. I'm sure it's not the original as in the boot there's a CD changer mounting bracket on the right hand side. So I'm guessing the head unit would have been a tape player?

I'd like to replace the head unit with something that will talk to the dashboard display properly, preferably an original type if there's any out there at a reasonable cost. I also need to replace all 4 speakers as they're all completely fubared, butI guess I can probably get those new locally.