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[Garfield]

Hi all.

Having read many forums i thought it was time to join one, especially as im having problems with the wifes omega.  Its a v reg 2.0 GLS automatic.  I dont drive myself and as such have little experience in car maintenance, but now find myself trying to learn quickly.

I think the car was owned by a rep as it has 74000 on the clock, and only one  previous owner.  Shortly after buying it, the car started to stall at idle or when changing gear.  The problem was sporadic and so we decided a service might help.  With the brother in laws help we set out to do this and found the first problem...in where the spark plugs go was full of oil!!! After a bit of sucking we cleared this and replaced the plugs, leads, oil filter and oil.  We also found that the smaller hose coming off the top of the engine (you'll have to excuse the technical terms, as mentioned im new to this!) was blocked and pretty much rotton, so we replaced this.  We also put some fuel system cleaner through.  
The car seemed to run better for a week or two and then the stalling started to happen again.  I checked to see if the oil was back but all was clear on that front, and after monitoring the problem and viewing this and other forums i came to the conclusion that the icv needed replacing.  With the help of Haynes, i managed this job, and again all was fine for about two weeks.

The problem is now back, but slightly different so im not sure what the cause is.  The car still stalls but it seems to be mainly under braking at low speeds or heavily, and when changing gear.  In addition the revs are all over the place at idle.  in neutral they get up to 2000 and then drop to 900-1200 in drive. the car also lurches when changing between the two.  Also the kickdown doesnt always work.

One final thing, the handbrake light was flickering when accelerating, i was going to replace the brake fluid completely but the wife took it to quickfit to check the pads and they topped it up when she said not to!! theres now three different fluids in there!!!!  the light has stopped flickering though.

My limited knowledge doesnt help me much, but i thought maybe the automatic transmision fluid might be the problem, as the car is fine at speed and cruising.  Alternativley that the icv was getting fried by a high voltage.  i know we should stick it on a machine but all my local dealers want to charge 60 quid minimum and hint at several hundred, and i gather they still wont be able to help!

If anyone could help i would be ever grateful, and if anyone needs any more info please ask.  If you do reply, please try not to get to techi as i probably wont understand.  I would like to fix the car as we both think its great, but we are now getting frustrated as it seems that this could be a saga as long as this posting!!!

PS. to anyone with a dodgy icv i would advise replacing it yourself, as it is quite simple and cost me £75 as opposed to £250 to get it done by vauxhall.

[TheBoy]

I'll just say here that poster has check air intlet for leaks.  I have already suggested blocking EGR.

[JasonH]

Don't worry about the brake fluid. Pretty much all DOT3 and DOT4 brake fluid (which is what will have been used) mixes together OK.

Sounds like an air leak - a hose off or cracked. You might be able to hear a hissing sound under the bonnet.

Is the engine management warning light (yellow one) on all the time? If it is the car has detected a problem itself.

[sounds2k]

if the spark plug wells are full of oil, then that usually means that the breathers have become blocked (so need cleaning out) and the cam cover gasket has most probably blown due to the increased crankcase pressure, so will need doing too ... is there any more oil in the spark plug wells since they were cleaned out?

there's a how-2 on changing the cam cover gasket here, plus another on cleaning out the throttle body on a 2.2 here, although the 2.0 is slightly different?

[Garfield]

There is no hissing sound under the bonnet, but the engine sounds very 'raw' in general, kind of like the sound of a much meatier engine than it is. I dont know if this is due to a lack of air or another problem, i am begining to think that the engine may be fubared!!!
since the original oil being found there has been no repeat of this.  When the first lot was found i removed the cover that exposes what i think was the cam (not the ecotec plastic one but the only other one on the top of the engine, there were about 8 screws to remove to get it off) to see if the seal was gone, but it was ok, is that what the gasket was?
one of the hoses off this cover was blocked (i think that it was one of the breathers!?) but i have fixed this and there has been no more oil trouble.
i'm not sure how to block the egr off, even with a coke can and would appreciate a bit more info on how to do this.  I am happy to look at previous postings if there are any relating to this, but have so far found none.
the ems light comes on as normal and then goes out upon starting, the only light that has came on is the mentioned handbrake light and that has only flickered as if there was a loose wire, and seems to have resolved itself after the top up in brake fluid.

[JamesV6CDX]

You need to clean your breather system, and throttle body. paying specific attention to the big metal pipe that screws into the block by 2 13mm bolts..

then change camcover gasket (10 mins) before your new leads get shagged by more oil leakage.

to totally empty the holes, remove the plugs, hold a rag over the holes, and crank the engine for a second or two

[JamesV6CDX]

Oh, and clean out ICV using CARB CLEANER not petrol and other substances which are crap.

[Garfield]

Hi,

Having sorted the blocked hose i have had no problem with any more oil leakage.  I found two things useful in getting rid of all the oil before removing the spark plugs.  An empty bottle from a printer cartridge refill kit, (it has a really fine, long nozzle and sucks ok) and two straws taped together and plenty of sucking, (oil tastes especially good on a saturday morning!!)
I have replaced the leads aswell as the plugs as i thought they would be wrecked, while this sorted the problem to start, it didn't last.  I will try cleaning the other parts you mentioned though.
I have also completely replaced the icv as i thought that was the main problem.  Again it fixed it for two weeks and now im back to square 1!

[TheBoy]

The brake light flickering was due to low fluid levels, hence topping up fixed. Low fluid level is usually a sign of worn pads so check them.

If the breathers were in a bad way, you need to check the icv again - it tends to get gunked up very quickly if breathers are/were clogged...

[rpont]

If the breathers were in a bad way, you need to check the icv again - it tends to get gunked up very quickly if breathers are/were clogged...

That ties in nicely with a thread on the dark side. If the fine breather gets clogged the crud can't go directly into the plenum so goes through the large breather in front of the butterflies. Since they are closed at idle it winds it's way to the ICV and gunges that up.