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1

General Car Chat / End of an era

« on: 18 June 2021, 21:17:20 »

I no longer own an Omega as I have recently part exchanged my much loved 2004 2.2 automatic CDX estate which I have owned since 2007 for a 1993 Mercedes S124 E220 automatic estate.

The Omega has been ultra reliable all the time I have owned it hence I have rarely had to post on this excellent forum and it had just reached 140,000 miles with all original suspension, apart from new front wishbones a few years ago.  The new owner is really pleased with it and has just had it waxoyled to preserve  the excellent bodywork.  I have told him about this forum and hopefully he will start posting soon.

I bought the Mercedes as it was a Japanese import some years ago and then prepared to concours standard by the enthusiastic owner so it really is in mint condition and too good to miss for the price.  In fact it is a very similar car to the Omega in many ways with the same size 16 valve engine and 4 speed auto box etc.  I will miss the Omega very much but I cannot justify 2 cars any more and I still have my wife's Focus estate as a stand in if needed.  The indestructible Merc will hopefully see me out and I will still keep an eye on this forum.  I must clear out my shed soon and sell the spares I have accumulated over the years.

2

Omega General Help / Steering drop link

« on: 07 June 2019, 21:41:47 »

My CDX estate has now covered 137,00 trouble free miles miles with only the tyres, brakes, battery, exhaust and lower suspension arms being replaced, apart from the usual servicing items of course.  However I recently discovered a small amount of play on the steering drop link.  I rang my local Main Dealer in Chichester and they eventually found me one old stock item for half price which I thought was helpful.  However when I collected it I found that it has  AutoMega Q18-05 printed on it so it is obviously not an original Vauxhall item.  Will this be any good or should I just get a cheapo from ebay?  I have always tried to use original Vauxhall items because they seem to last well.  I have not posted for a long time because the car has been ultra reliable, perhaps I should not say that out loud.

3

General Car Chat / Ford Focus power steering fluid

« on: 14 August 2017, 21:22:58 »

I have just replaced my wife's old Vectra estate for a 2005 Ford Focus Mk2 2.0 petrol estate.  This has electrically assisted power steering which is supposed to be a non service item but after removing the n/s headlight I found the reservoir which is half empty.  A dip with a cable tie showed a clear sweet smelling oil (reminiscent of Castrol XL 20/50 if anyone here is old enough to remember that).  A quick trip to the local Ford dealer provided me with a litre of power steering fluid to Ford specification WSS-M2C204-A2 which is green and smells slightly bitter, nothing like the oil I found.  I rang another dealer to double check with registration number and they insisted the green stuff is correct and a check with my son's 2007 Mondeo, which has a conventional mechanical power steering showed that oil in his car is green so I can at least use it in his car.  My question is does anyone here have experience with the oil spec. for the Focus because I am reluctant to use the green stuff in case it cases damage to the electric pump.

4

Omega General Help / Sooty exhaust

« on: 21 December 2016, 16:42:42 »

I recently fitted a new Eternal exhaust system to my 2.2 petrol estate, which fitted perfectly thank goodness.  After travelling just over 1,000 miles I have noticed that the inside of the exhaust rear pipe is quite sooty despite the fact that the fuel consumption is reasonable (35 mpg on a run and approximately 25 mpg around town) and the car appears to run as sweet as it always has done.  The mileage is 126,000 and it has regular oil changes at 5,000 miles.

The exhaust on my wife's 1.8 petrol Vectra is clean as is the one on my son's 2.0 petrol Mondeo and my daughter's petrol Golf all of which have well exceeded 100,000 miles.

My previous 2.0 Omega petrol estate also tended to have a sooty exhaust at 95,000 miles until I unfortunately wrote it off.  Has anyone else noticed a sooty exhaust on their Omega or is it just me?

5

Omega General Help / Onanistic skeleton finally quiet

« on: 03 August 2016, 22:57:36 »

At last after fitting a new exhaust manifold, catalytic converter and full eternal exhaust system my car no longer emits the terrible rattle on start up, the sound track which could only have been described as a skeleton having a w*nk in a galvanised dustbin.  Now the car is as silent as an angel's f*rt and I am a happy bunny once again.  I love my Omega, long may it live!

6

Omega General Help / Catalytic convertor

« on: 24 June 2016, 22:26:20 »

My exhaust from Eternal arrived in good condition thankfully, just one slightly damaged pipe end which bashed out easily.
Unfortunately my catalytic convertor is rattling very badly when the car is first started from cold and I really need to replace it.  I have seen many cheap pattern ones on ebay but there is an IMASAF one for sale and looking at their website it appears that they take a pride in producing high quality items.  Does anyone have any experience of them or can anyone offer me a good original replacement for a 2.2 petrol estate?  Any help would once again be much appreciated.

7

Omega General Help / 2.2 petrol exhaust problems

« on: 03 June 2016, 23:51:03 »

The exhaust on my faithful hard working 2004 2.2 petrol estate has just started making the most awful rattle on start up. the noise starts to reduce after a minute then stops completely once the engine is up to temperature.
I think it is coming from the cat but the rear box blew its baffle and left a trail of fibreglass up Bury Hill last year.  I stuffed a piece of perforated tube into the tail pipe and it has been fine up now even passing an MOT recently with no problems and perfect emission figures.
Two questions really, are the eternal exhaust systems for sale on ebay any good and is the only option to replace the cat with a second hand part if it is fubared?
Any help or suggestions much appreciated.

8

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Central locking problem

« on: 30 March 2016, 21:46:30 »

My off side (driver) door lock recently stopped working so I replaced it with a reconditioned spare that had new micro switches fitted but still it is not working.  All the other locks work perfectly and this is the second time I have replaced the lock in the nine years I have owned the car.  I can still lock/unlock the car with the key.

Is it possible that the central locking control unit in the footwell is not working properly?  I suspect this as all the micro switches do is stop and start the motor but the actual control unit reverses the motors etc.  Does anyone know the correct part number for the control unit?  I have seen one available part number 90512786 (GM 90 464 713) but am not sure if this is right for my car which is a 2004 2.2 CDX petrol estate.  Also would a replacement unit need re coding?

Any help would be much appreciated as the car is still mint apart from this small but annoying problem.

9

Omega General Help / Water pump question

« on: 27 September 2014, 22:16:48 »

I have just found a new water pump that I bought for my old 2.0 Omega estate nearly 10 years ago.  Will it fit my 2.2 estate or do I have to buy another one?  The cam belt will soon be due for renewal and I always fit a new pump at the same time.

10

General Car Chat / Premature Cam sensor failure

« on: 27 May 2014, 21:23:14 »

I replaced the cam sensor on my wife's 1998 1.8 Vectra estate just after I bought it 6 years ago and it has been fine since until 2 months ago when it failed, not a bad run for a cam sensor.  I replaced it with a genuine Siemens part  (awkward job on the fwd Veccy) and all seemed fine until the wretched thing failed again last week.  When I removed the offending item there was a deep radial scuff mark on the plastic sensor body where the camshaft pulley had been rubbing against it.  When checking it against the original it was obvious that the metal blade was slightly bent causing the plastic body to rub against the pulley when bolted in position.  I had not checked this when fitting so be warned that even Siemens units can be badly formed and check the shape before fitting as once in position it is hard to check the clearance.

I hope the sensor I fitted this time lasts another six years.

11

Omega General Help / H.P. aircon valve fitting

« on: 20 May 2014, 21:55:02 »

I have finally decided to replace the H.P. aircon valve on my car but I cannot find a spanner to fit the thing.  A 17mm spanner fits the hex fitting underneath it but nothing fits the valve itself either mm or AF.  All my spanners and sockets are too small or too large so before I resort to mole grips and brute force does anyone here know what to use?  Any advice would be most welcome.

12

Omega General Help / Passenger door locked

« on: 03 September 2013, 12:49:53 »

I'm not sure if this is in the correct section but my front passenger door has just locked solid.  It has been playing up for a while and I have been putting of repairing it now it suddenly refuses to open no matter what I try.  After looking at previous posts it appears that you have virtually wreck the door card to get access to the lock mechanism in order to open it.
Is it possible to open it from outside using a "Slim Jim" type tool?  I have access to a workshop so I cam make up various hook type tools from stainless wire or hardened steel strip.  Just wondered if this would work or would I just be wasting my time?  Any help would be much appreciated, if the tool does work I could put a guide on.

13

Omega General Help / Aircon leak

« on: 19 August 2013, 22:41:41 »

The aircon stopped working on my car 2 weeks ago (never been topped up to my knowledge since new).  The gas was replaced and a dye added to check for leaks because the system was totally empty.  It has just stopped working again and the only leak I can see is around the top connection, which I presume is the low pressure one, which is soaked in the green dye.   Is it possible to replace this valve as it appears to be the same type of valve as fitted to the tyres?  The specialist I used seems to think the whole pipe assembly has to be changed which could prove expensive,

14

General Car Chat / Car Mechanics on GM Automatic Gearboxes

« on: 26 March 2013, 21:35:01 »

In the latest issue of Car Mechanics there is an article on Automatic Gearboxes.  They state that the 4 speed GM gearbox (4L30E) is a good unit but they recommend if you own a BMW or a Vauxhall with a GM box you should really replace the torque converter lock-up clutch solenoid as soon as possible as they are prone to failure.  They also mention  that a filter and oil change is a good idea on lower mileage units.

I changed the oil and filters on my auotobox when I bought the car at 89,000 miles, as recommended here and it is still as sweet as a nut at 115,000 miles.

I have seen no mention of converter solenoid failure on my rather infrequent visits to this excellent forum, has anyone here experienced problems with this and is it easy to replace if necessary?

15

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Speedometer illumination bulb

« on: 13 April 2011, 21:05:34 »

One of the bulbs that illuminates the speedometer and rev counter on my estate has just failed.  What type of bulb do I need  to replace it?