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Topics - Stu.C

Pages: [1] 2
1
Omega General Help / ECU interchangeability
« on: 16 December 2022, 21:47:36 »
Evening folks,


I get that you can technically run an X30XE on an ECU combo from a 2.5, but is there actually a different map in them?


Reason I'm asking is that I'm vaguely looking around for a backup ECU with the longevity of the Invisible Omega in mind. Concerns are that I've only got the one transponder chip should it ever get lost, or that the EEPROM gets forgetful in its old age. Either way, if the engine's otherwise mechanically sound, it'd be a shame to get locked out of it.


2.5 ECUs are more plentiful, it seems - so wondered if I'd be short-changing myself if I picked one up?  :y


Oh, and part B - is there anything different about an ECU for an auto, other than needing to ground out the pin for the selector lockout if using it in a manual?


Cheers, Stu

2
Omega General Help / X30XE timing belt - what am I looking at ?
« on: 09 July 2022, 16:36:05 »
After reading up on timing belt changes, watching the OOF DVD a few times and gathering tools, I thought I was all set. Then I got to the step about locking the cams at TDC and things didn't seem to be adding up.  :-\  The crank locking tool was on and engaged against the water pump. Cams 3 and 4 were sort of nearly aligned, really just a smidge out. But cams 1 and 2 are out, seemingly a tooth out. The other thing I noticed was that as I turned the crank over, although the tensioner pulley was rotating, there was absolutely no movement of the tensioner itself, like I'd seen in the DVD.


Different to expected = step back and ask for help  :y  Is it something like the old tensioner's stopped tensioning the belt, and it's jumped a tooth on just those left-hand cams? Is that a thing, as opposed to all four jumping? Or something else?


More importantly, what do I need to do now to sort it out ? I've left it as is and just closed the garage door for now...  ;)




At least this seems much easier without a car in the way  ;)



Cams 3 and 4 ...



Cams 1 and 2 ...



3
Omega General Help / Coolant transfer pipe o-ring
« on: 29 June 2022, 09:45:37 »
I've searched based on what I think it's called, but most results seem to refer to a pipe by the thermostat. The thing I'm talking about is the big one that runs from the rad to the back of the block.


Does it have an o-ring at the block end? And if so, does anyone have a part number or size for it please? There's a slight coolant leak at the joint, and before I undo it, it'd be a good idea to have a replacement to hand, if there's one needed.  :y



4
Omega Gallery / The invisible Omega
« on: 20 June 2022, 00:48:01 »
Not all Omegas are quite what they seem. Not all Omegas have shiny paint. Come to think of it, not all Omegas have paint, or seats, or body panels, or wheels  :o  I'll start the story with where I am today, then wind the clock back to see how I ended up there.


Let me introduce you to "The invisible Omega" ...  ;D





Well, at least it's got a control panel  :y





It all started back in 2016 when I needed a stopgap car for a couple of months, between a diseisel Focus that I was loathe to throw any more money at for an MOT and the arrival of a new lease car. Like many a good car purchase, I wasn't really looking, but kinda was at the same time. A faded-glory 1998 Elite 3.0 manual popped up while I was scrolling through Pistonheads. It was cheap, slightly dented, crucially had 9 months ticket left and although it was 300 miles away it was only down the road from my father-in-law. Queue one hastily arranged family road trip ! Green Flag cover in my back pocket, straight back onto the motorway and I didn't dare touch any of the buttons until I got home  ;)





Stopped at the M6 Toll services for a quick break, and as I was giving it the once over a cocky young lad shouted across "Oi grandad, yer' caravan's fallen off" ...  ;D  Signed up to OOF when I got home - seemed like the right thing to do  :y


A week later we set off on a 1,000 mile holiday round Scotland, with sod all preparation other than a quick oil change and a bit of air in the tyres. Pretty much everything worked on it, driving was effortless, it didn't really squeak or rattle and as a bonus the CD changer was stuffed with the previous owner's AC/DC collection  >:D  It even had a TrafficMaster button, and a text-based satnav - but that was pretty useless as it didn't recognise postcodes and would only vaguely direct you to the general location of the nearest large town ! But it made the right noises when you put your foot down, and my seven year old daughter loved the sunroof...





I pootled round in it for another couple of months, revelling in the luxury of Vauxhall's most expensive offering back in the day. The lease car arrived, it got parked up "just for the moment" - and sorta sat there for a while. It didn't get forgotten though.  Although the MOT was long gone, I kept it charged up and turned it over once in a while, whilst vaguely thinking "I must get round to selling it or something". The bodywork was scuffed and dented, the underside was rotten as hell, but it was a damn good engine and felt like it was too good to just throw it away.


Around that same time, I'd happened across a couple of folk's build threads over on the Scimitar owners forum, where they'd got to various stages of Omega to Scimitar transplants. It was all fascinating stuff, but way more spannering than I'd ever done on cars. Somehow I didn't really notice I'd started collecting together notes from those threads, tucking them into a virtual notebook with an assortment of links, pictures and screen grabs I'd found along the way. Time passed, and I drifted away to other things. In fact, quite a lot of time passed, but those notes kept getting added to. At some point I chanced across a YouTube from a fella putting the same engine into a cracking little MGB, which ended up being Nick W's mate, which led me back here...


5
Evening folks,


On my shopping list is a new water pump for the X30XE, whilst I'm doing the cambelt. A perusal of ebay offers up choices from First Line, QH and Borg & Beck, among others. Are they all much of a muchness these days, or even exactly the same but in different boxes? Or is there a preferable (readily available) alternative you'd recommend ?


Nothing particularly conclusive turned up in Search...  :y


Cheers, Stu


6
Omega General Help / Fuel purge valve stuck in open state
« on: 06 June 2022, 23:35:23 »
On my X30XE, I've got an unexpected constant vacuum on the charcoal canister side of the purge valve (where the green hose is connected below). Haynes says "the purge control valve is not opened by the ECU until the engine has warmed up, and the engine is under load; the valve solenoid is then modulated on and off to allow the stored vapour to pass into the inlet tract" - but I'm seeing it constantly and don't believe I should be.  :-\


Anyone run into such before? Are those valves cleanable, or is there anything I can try to unstick it? Or do they simply just fail sometimes and it's another thing for the list of 'bits to look out for' ... ?



7
Omega General Help / Vacuum valve alternative part numbers?
« on: 03 May 2022, 23:35:13 »
I've an X30XE running standalone that's currently making more hissy noises than I'd expect (or remember from when it was in the car). My hearing's dodgy on the best of days, but I could at least tell there was a rush of air at the back of the 2-4-6 bank, as a starter for ten.


It seems that at some point the vacuum valve for the plenum multiram got a teensy-weensy bit bashed and has sprung a leak. The engraved part number seems to be 90466244, but I'm not coming up with much for that. Is there a different number I can search for, or a magic combination of keywords? Or if you happen to have a link to one I can just order, that'd be great too...  :y



8
Omega General Help / Autobox gaskets?
« on: 12 October 2021, 21:40:45 »
The 2.6 came with a couple of big jugs of ATF, as apparently changing the fluid was "on the list". The level seems okay in the box, but the changes can be sluggish and a bit wishy-washy - but hey, maybe they all are. There's no history or anything to indicate it's ever been changed, so worst case scenario is it's 18 years old and as thin as Tesco Value custard.


I've read through the maintenance guide, and other than it being a dirty 'orrible smelly job, seems straightforward enough. Can one generally rock up at your local dealer and they'll still do the filter and gaskets off the shelf, or is there somewhere on t'interweb it's easier/cheaper to use...?  :y

9
Omega General Help / Well, it was probably only a small fire...
« on: 10 October 2021, 23:17:04 »
For a while now, I'd noticed that there was a death rattle kinda noise coming from somewhere at the front of the car after I'd started it up. Only lasted a few seconds each time and I had it on my mental list, but you know how life just passes you by.  ::)  Anyhoo, I was out on my first long work drive in months this week, hit traffic on the M6 and when I rolled the window down I realised I could hear it constantly. Tracked it down to the OSF when I stopped, and on removing the wheel arch liner today I was greeted with this...





For anyone at the back who didn't recognise it instantly, it's the self-levelling suspension compressor. Not sure if it  combusted or there was something really corrosive in there that wanted to get out, but that bit circled used to be a metal casing with an air line attached. Unsurprisingly it wasn't doing much compressing any more  :o


Thankfully I've got a spare from the 3.0 I gutted last year...

10
Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / WANTED - Saloon roof bars
« on: 01 July 2021, 00:45:07 »
Has anyone got a set kicking around in the shed that they want rid of - and crucially - are willing to post? Genuine GM ones look alright in the pics I've seen, but anything that fits is better than nowt. Ideally with keys as the bike's likely worth more than the car... 😅




11
MV03 NXR has moved a couple of hundred miles up North...  :)





229,231 miles and counting, with a few creaks, moans and groans of old age - it'll be my daily for at least a little while. The current lease car's going back next month, and as my monthly mileage is averaging two thirds of bugger all these days, it's not worth throwing big money at anything new for the moment. Woke up the other weekend, saw it on offer, thought "why not?" and picked it up the following weekend  :y


The furthest back on the forum that I've found any pictures of the car are from 2012, but I believe it's been around these parts since 2009.


I'm building up a list of bits and bobs to sort out over time, anything from missing bits of trim to dealing with those rear arches, but fundamentally it's a sound 2003 2.5 Elite. Rather annoyingly, I scrapped the remains of my old '98 Elite 3.0 back in January and never really thought I'd have another, so there's a couple of bits I'm now kicking myself for not having kept hold of. But hey, hindsight's easy...  ::)




If someone could add a link to here from the For Sale thread it'd be appreciated, just to keep the history going.


12
Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Coolant temp sensors
« on: 23 February 2021, 23:50:23 »
Did aircon and non-aircon cars have different coolant temp sensors, or do you think I've run into an oddity in the Haynes diagrams?  :-\

I'm deleting the aircon from a '98 X30XE and my current wiring harness tallies with the left side of the below with pin 3 of the sensor being the trigger and pin 1 the ground. But on the right side (for a non-aircon car) it's telling me that the trigger would be pin 1 and pin 3 the ground, which would mean a different sensor...?


13
Omega General Help / What's the rear vacuum reservoir for then ...?
« on: 03 February 2021, 18:40:35 »
Evening folks,

My X30XE came out of the car and into a series of boxes along with the entire loom and anything else that wasn't nailed down. Then the shell went off to be turned into baked bean tins. I'm in the process of getting the engine running on a stand, and working my way around the vac hoses based on the guide but I can't for the life of me find this rear vac reservoir anywhere.

It looks like this is where it would have attached - heck, it seems there's even still the grommet into the scuttle on the pipes - but I've got a complete mental blank on ever having seen it!


a) Out of curiosity, has anyone got a pic of what it would have looked like in-situ next to the pollen filter?

b) Am I correct that if I'm ditching the entire cabin heating system that the rear reservoir's not actually needed, and that it's only there to hold vacuum for the heater control valves, rather than being vital to the running of the engine? If so, I can just happily remove that tee ...

14
On the 98 Elite, the outside temp display comes up blank when I cycle through the dash display, which the previous owner said just needed a new sensor to fix. Not un-coincidentally (from a few searches here) it turns out, there's no life in the aircon.  ???

After looking at the maintenance guides, it's suggested the sensor is behind the bumper on the nearside. Rummaging around this evening it looks like the car's taken a front-end hit at some point and everything's been lashed back together sharpish. There's no sign of the sensor, but I did find this connector dangling down near the horns - does it ring any bells with anyone ?



You'll notice the signal wire from the connector is cut, so it wouldn't have done anything anyway, but if it's the right wires I could try putting a variable resistor across it to see if I can trigger a reading on the dash...

15
Omega General Help / Cabin recirculation
« on: 25 July 2016, 15:47:47 »
Okay, so the only thing(*) that's bugging the hell out of me on the "new" '98 Elite is the fact that every time I turn the ignition, the cabin air recirculation is switched on even though I switched it off last time. Is there some magic combination of button pressing I have to do to make it stay off ??


(*) Okay, there's actually a small list, but we'll start with this one ;)

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