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[purpledippy]

Hello all,

I have owned a 2002 '52' Omega 2.2 Petrol Z22XE CDX Saloon now for 4 years, from 63,000 miles to its current 105,000 and for the most part it has served me very well. I service it regularly myself and for the bigger jobs (bushes, wishbones, timing belts (because the latter scares me), full new exhaust and cat) I put to a reliable local garage.

Before that, I owned 4 Carltons (H - L reg) and knew them like the back of my hand, including the famous gauze under the rocker cover clogging up issue and also the idle valves. But I digress.

I have read great help articles from OOF previously (thank you everyone!) which has helped me out with my Omega in the past, especially with the oil in spark plug wells and water dripping through the bottom windscreen rubber, through the scuttle and into the oil wells. Great design Vauxhall! Winner!

Anyway, joking aside and getting to the issue, over the past 2 or 3 months, my Omega has been getting grumpy, then even more grumpy in that it runs reasonably well for the first mile or so from cold, then really starts to run rough from there on, until I let the engine go cold again.

So in my mind, it is temperature (air / fuel mixture - or clogging up - or faulty sensor that should kick in at a point in temperature?) related. Maybe.

If I rev the engine at a steady pace up to lets say 2-3000 revs whilst the car is at a standstill, it seems relatively happy, but running under load (driving) it runs a bit rough. If I let it idle (it should idle around 700) it bobbles around 200 to 600 rpm and chugs and splutters.

I have had a good rummage around the forums and on the net in general and it seems to be a common (but perhaps many causes of) issue / symptoms.

Here is what I have done already:
Cleared oil and water out of spark plug wells.
Sealed windscreen.
Replaced rocker cover gasket and gasket sealant sealed it 2 months ago. Checked wells this morning, still bone dry (yay!). Scuttle foam still bone dry. (Yay!)
Replaced spark plugs with new plugs.
Replaced throttle body (together with new gasket) with one bought "working" from ebay - yesterday - hoping it would resolve the issue. But sadly no.
Bought MAF sensor on ebay at same time as buying a throttle body but it is now going back as it has 5 pins, not 4 pins, so MAF sensor still as suspect (I suppose as is throttle body I got - but I've gotta be very unlucky here right?).
Cleared oily gunk out of the throttle body fat pipe and thin pipe (thin pipe was especially very blocked with hardened oil gunk).

I think the small pipe is the "vaccuum pipe" - question - are you able to blow into the pipe in the throttle body that this small hose connects into - is it naturally resistant or is it "blocked" inside the throttle body? (As both my throttle bodies I cannot blow through the pipe.
When connecting my computer to the ECU, the accelerator pedal readings respond as I would (assumedly) expect in the numbers change when I press the accelerator pedal.
I do not know where the coolant temp sensor is on my engine so unable to check this at the moment. Does anyone know where it is on a Z22XE?

I have connected my computer to the ECU and (after resetting any old fault codes 2 months ago, these fault codes have been seen since then ...

2 MONTHS AGO RESET CODES ... SINCE THEN ...


P1555 - Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) Load Signal not Plausible with Engine Load
 (00) - Not present

P0170 - Lean Exhaust
 (02) - Not present


CLEARED FAULT CODES 2 DAYS AGO - THE NEXT CODES ARE FROM 2 DAYS RUNNING

P0303 - Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
 (01) - Not present

P0302 - Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected
 (01) - Not present

P0420 - <Unknown DTC>
 (00) - Present

P1525 - Limp Home Position Error
 (00) - Not present

P1550 - Electronic Throttle Control Engine Stop
 (08) - Not present

P1526 - Throttle Position Adaption Error
 (04) - Not present

CLEARED FAULT CODES, THEN FIRED ENGINE UP AGAIN TODAY TO RUN ON IDLE FOR 2 MINUTES:

P0303 - Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
 (02) - Not present


So, there you have it, I think I've given some healthy detail there and have tried many things, but the car still runs rough. I am determined to get to the bottom of it, especially after spending £1000 in the past year on it including bushes, springs, timing belt and full new exhaust and a promise to the missus that all it needs is a little poke to get it going again. I just need to know where to poke it as this has me stumped.

Any help greatly appreciated. I live in Wigan, Lancashire by the way

Oh, and as an aside, as I cant seem to find any anywhere. Does anyone know where I may buy spark plug silicon covers from? Part code 1 220 703 018 ( 1220703018 ) as mine are pretty shot and perhaps this could be the issue arching to the body? Not sure, but there are burn marks on at least one of them where it has been happening in the past.

[biggriffin]

Cam sensor, or battery is on its way out.

[purpledippy]

Thank you for the reply. I think the battery is OK as there is a fair amount of poke when starting.

I will order a cam sensor and fit then report back in a few days once it is delivered, but will check in between on here if there are other quick checks people can raise for me to check too.

Looking at it, the post link below had similar symptoms to me but no report back after mentioning he replaced cam sensor (and he also mentions liquorice goo in the breather hose - same as me) - so assuming that was the source of the issue for him.

http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/index.php?threads/cranks-sensor-location-2-2.85282/

I will use this excellent guide ... http://oldsite.omegaowners.com//forum/YaBB.pl?num=1269023974 ... to help me in my quest.

OK, cam sensor here I come...

[Doctor Gollum]

Cam sensor rather than Crank sensor, as it usually puts out any code but the correct one... as ever, genuine from a genuine dealer that you genuinely walk into

That said, first two items to address are, in no particular order:
1. the throttle body... both pipes should blow through clearly. Small one is still blocked.
2. Coil pack boots. Should be available from VX. Any hint of corrosion on the coil pack and it won't be helping, genuine Bosch only, and it will come with new boots.

Address these two points before condeming the cam sensor

[purpledippy]

Cam sensor rather than Crank sensor, as it usually puts out any code but the correct one... as ever, genuine from a genuine dealer that you genuinely walk into

That said, first two items to address are, in no particular order:
1. the throttle body... both pipes should blow through clearly. Small one is still blocked.
2. Coil pack boots. Should be available from VX. Any hint of corrosion on the coil pack and it won't be helping, genuine Bosch only, and it will come with new boots.

Address these two points before condemning the cam sensor

Genuine Cam. Cool, cheers, will do.

For (1), yes, both rubber hoses clean through but will replaced the thinner one as its really shot. For 'blowing through' I was referring to having trouble blowing through the metal connecting pipe on the Throttle Body that the small pipe connects into. Is this naturally hard to blow through or is it blocked inside the Throttle Body (i.e. can you easily blow through the metal pipe?



For (2) OK, yes, I will pop to Vauxhall on Tuesday to buy some boots and replace then retry before buying cam sensor.

However, in the mean time, I've got the cam sensor beastie off. If I may suggest an improvement to the already excellent cam sensor removal guide by 'vic' (link above), (if anyone reads this before referring to the article) it is the fact that I would leave the cam sensor cable connected until after you take off cam cover and remove the securing bolt. You can them lift cam sensor out by cable, then disconnect



90 520 850
90520850

Thanks again all for your input so far. Cannot wait for smooth running again. Also recently fitted 4 new tyres.
Here's hoping! ...

[Andy B]

.... I live in Wigan, Lancashire by the way ...

I work at the factory with the big 57 on the side of it 

[Doctor Gollum]

No blow through equals blocked. No magic involved

[purpledippy]

No blow through equals blocked. No magic involved

My initial thought also, but just checking to ensure the Throttle Body does not have an internal valve to it that is closed until it opens (by electric / mechanical / temp or other means). (Is this the vacuum pipe bit?)

Which means both my throttle bodies (original in the photo which I reasonably cleaned ...  and the ebay bought one - currently in car) are blocked inside this metal pipe. Will get scraping and digging out with small screwdriver and cleaner.

Cheers.

[RobG]

"spark plug silicon covers"     # 9195820  4 "boots" + springs

[purpledippy]

Many thanks and happy new year all.

A stomach bug floored me from New Years eve night. I should have bought shares in Andrex. (Well, Asda Shades).
All patched up now human wise but not Omega wise.
HOWEVER, we are progressing!!!

Thanks for the part code RobG. I have now bought the new boots and fitted...



 However I've not fired up the car yet to try it as I was fitting the boots this afternoon, and with my cam sensor and cam front cover still off, I noticed some slackness (or at least I think it is) on the cam belt on the right hand side.

I have made a quick 1 minute video taking you on a tour of this at ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKtLmIYqur0

... can anyone with a 2.2 confirm if this is a slack cam belt - and - could be causing a sensor issue which then could be causing misfires etc?

In my bleary illness I also spotted a Siemens cam sensor on ebay for £20 new which I am waiting for delivery of for the heck of it, so not fired my Omega up yet to test as is, due to what I have spotted in the cam belt area.

Can anyone confirm this is OK for it to be slack on the right hand side (as you look at it from the front of the engine), so much so that it seems to be easy-ish to come of the roller if moved too far?

When the new cam sensor arrives, (hopefully tomorrow as it was dispatched yesterday), I will fit it, button it all up and report back.

Many thanks for your help so far.

[Steve B]

I wouldn't be running that car again until that belt is Tensioned up......When was the last belt change... ?

[Doctor Gollum]

I wouldn't be running that car again until that belt is Tensioned up......When was the last belt change... ?

Seconded.

Re your ebay sensor, if it lasts until February,  I shall drink a glass of Pernod.

[purpledippy]

I wouldn't be running that car again until that belt is Tensioned up......When was the last belt change... ?

Thanks all.

I got the cambelt changed on 4th December 2016 (so exactly a month ago).

Since then I've driven from Wigan to Somerset in mid-December, then up to Barrow, and usual Christmas shopping runs etc, so probably done about 1000 miles with it so far.

I will give the garage a ring tomorrow and speak to them about it to try and get someone to come out to tension it up (again?) as I don't want to drive it there ... too risky judging by your comments.

Could it be something has slipped tensioner or pulley-wise over the 1000 miles?).

I won't fire the engine until I get them to check it for correct tension and alignment.

Re your ebay sensor, if it lasts until February,  I shall drink a glass of Pernod.

Yes, I take your point for Feb. Sometimes I am lucky. But sadly it appears, not in Jan 2017. Will keep you all posted.

[Steve B]

I wouldn't be running that car again until that belt is Tensioned up......When was the last belt change... ?

Thanks all.

I got the cambelt changed on 4th December 2016 (so exactly a month ago).

Since then I've driven from Wigan to Somerset in mid-December, then up to Barrow, and usual Christmas shopping runs etc, so probably done about 1000 miles with it so far.

I will give the garage a ring tomorrow and speak to them about it to try and get someone to come out to tension it up (again?) as I don't want to drive it there ... too risky judging by your comments.

Could it be something has slipped tensioner or pulley-wise over the 1000 miles?).

I won't fire the engine until I get them to check it for correct tension and alignment.

Re your ebay sensor, if it lasts until February,  I shall drink a glass of Pernod.

Yes, I take your point for Feb. Sometimes I am lucky. But sadly it appears, not in Jan 2017. Will keep you all posted.

Did it have just a cambelt change.?  Did they change tensioner/Idler pulley/water pump.. regardless Dont go back there cos they are Crap.

[purpledippy]

Did it have just a cambelt change.?  Did they change tensioner/Idler pulley/water pump.. regardless Dont go back there cos they are Crap.

Cam belt (Gates) and water pump. I get belt and pump changed every 32000, and belt, pump with tensioners etc every 64,000.