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152
General Discussion Area / Football
« on: 01 May 2007, 21:57:21 »
Where is everybody? What's the matter, can't you watch the game and tap on the keyboard at the same time? 
153
General Discussion Area / Which is the fastest Police car in the UK?
« on: 01 May 2007, 21:30:56 »
This is bases on an article from the recent RAC magazine, so if you are an RAC memeber and read their magazine please do not answer... 
154
General Discussion Area / (yet another) Joke
« on: 28 April 2007, 11:52:54 »
Following reports that he was unpopular, Gordon brown wanted to know what the people really think about him. So he borrowed his driver’s private car, a small Ford Focus, put on a wig and dark sun glasses and went off to seek the British public.
As he was driving away from No 11, he saw a motorist stranded at the roadside with a flat tyre. Gordon Brown stopped his car and offered assistance, hoping to engage in conversation with the stranded motorists.
As it turned-out, all the motorist needed was a jack, which Gordon happily provided, so the wheel was changed in no time and the motorist was ready to go on his way.
Just before departing, the motorist said ‘let me give you something for you help. I have some money on me, but unfortunately my hands are dirty, so just reach into my pocket and take whatever you want.’
‘Oh no, I couldn’t possibly do that!’ said Gordon Brown.
‘Why not?’ shrugged the motorist, ‘Gordon Brown does…’
As he was driving away from No 11, he saw a motorist stranded at the roadside with a flat tyre. Gordon Brown stopped his car and offered assistance, hoping to engage in conversation with the stranded motorists.
As it turned-out, all the motorist needed was a jack, which Gordon happily provided, so the wheel was changed in no time and the motorist was ready to go on his way.
Just before departing, the motorist said ‘let me give you something for you help. I have some money on me, but unfortunately my hands are dirty, so just reach into my pocket and take whatever you want.’
‘Oh no, I couldn’t possibly do that!’ said Gordon Brown.
‘Why not?’ shrugged the motorist, ‘Gordon Brown does…’
155
General Discussion Area / Hot Fuzz
« on: 14 April 2007, 10:44:14 »
What did you think about the movie?
I liked the bit where he gets the call from a Mr. P. Staker...
I liked the bit where he gets the call from a Mr. P. Staker...
156
General Discussion Area / New Vectra anyone?
« on: 24 April 2007, 00:28:39 »
TC members would have received by now Vx latest offer - 9%-20% discounts off the list price for a new motor, the Vectra being top of the charts with full 20% discount..
TD, looking to refresh your fleet..?
BTW, there has been similar offer going on for a long time for employees of GM partner and affiliate companies (I know because I do some work for Delphi).
TD, looking to refresh your fleet..?
BTW, there has been similar offer going on for a long time for employees of GM partner and affiliate companies (I know because I do some work for Delphi).
157
General Discussion Area / Where's the magic gone?
« on: 22 April 2007, 21:55:03 »
As some of you may know, I am what you might call a ‘born again mechanic’… many (many) years ago I used to play with cars, take them apart and put them back together etc. Over the past 15-20 years I moved away from all that and stuck to dealer service. In part due to family and work constraints, as well as lose of interests, and in part due to the cars I owned being under warranty anyway.
Secretly I was still reading the likes of Car Mechanics Magazine, until I finally re-introduced myself to the wonderful world of DIY car mechanics in mid 2005, when I found the other site after looking for advice re the cambelt change (basically I didn’t believe the Vx dealer that the belt need doing at 40k/4y when the service book said 80k/8y.. I was wrong of course).
I would like to share with you my views on how the whole thing has changed… car mechanics used to be an art form (I kid you not), and now that art is lost… forever. Let look at a few very basic service procedures.
Let’s say I wanted to clean the carburettor. A perfectly sensible thing to do from time to time. You take the thing off, take it apart, dose it in carb cleaner (or petrol), give it a good brush down and put it back. While you’re at it, you need to adjust the float. Remember those drawings in Haynes? You hold the lid at 90 degrees and let the float rest on its valve, then measure the distance between the widest point of the float and the end of the lid gasket. Then bend the float arm to adjust as necessary. Next thing the jets. On high mileage engines, it was always advisable to check the jets hole side using a set of measuring rods, because the jets were made of brass or copper and tended to become wider with use. Once the thing is back in place, you need at the very least to adjust the mixture and idle speed if you have a single-carb engine. If you had a pair of SUs or Strombergs, then there was an additional balance screw to adjust (and let’s not talk about the needle in these carbs…). But if you happen to have a pair of dual-barrel Webbers, or perhaps a triple of those, then you were in for a very lengthy job involving vacuum gauges and witchcraft…
Next, let’s say you take the distributor off. You then put it back (making sure it’s the right way round because you could easily put it on turned at 180 degrees!), then clean the points with emery cloth and adjust the gap with a filler gauge. Then loosen the bracket and set the engine to TDC and the dizzy to the Static timing mark. Start the engine, and using a strobe set the dizzy for the correct advance at the specified fast-idle and high-rev speeds. Lock the bracket, take the car for a spin. Drive it on level ground at low speed in low gear without revving the engine. Then put it in fourth, and floor the accelerator. The car should pink just a bit but catch up without hesitating. Then drive the car downhill in high gear, and put it into low gear suddenly revving up the engine – it shouldn’t backfire. If you got this right, you had the car at the optimal timing advance settings. Until it all went out of tune a couple of months later, that is.
Camshaft out? The tappets need adjusting with a filler gague (or spacers, which was much worst). Change brake pads? Filler gauge again. Everything was down to adjusting and fine-tuning and getting it right. In the U.S. they still call it an engine ‘tune-up’, not service.
Torque wrench was only used when putting back the cylinder head, for everything else the mechanic had a 4-way table in his head which takes into account the bolt size, the lever size, the metal it went into, and errr… the direction of the wind. Well OK, not the last one... You needed to have a ‘feel’ for tightening bolts which was only acquired through experience – in other words through some stripped threads on one side and loose bolts on the other.
Why am I saying all this? Well during Easter I did the cam covers. I took off the plenum and intake manifold with the injectors rail, then put it all back together. The ‘tuning’ comprised of un-plugging three multi-plugs (two, if you don’t have Drive-by-Wire) and then plugging them back in. All the bolts were tightened to torque, fire-up the engine and it purrs like a kitten, just as it was when it left the factory. Steady idle at 500 rpm, nothing to measure, adjust, or fine-tune. No drama, not black art, no magic. A bit of an anti-climax, that is. Yes, you could say it was boring.
I guess it is better this way, and the garage mechanics have less room for error. For me, I still have to get used to this. So what’s the difference nowadays between a ‘good’ mechanic and a 'bad' one?
Secretly I was still reading the likes of Car Mechanics Magazine, until I finally re-introduced myself to the wonderful world of DIY car mechanics in mid 2005, when I found the other site after looking for advice re the cambelt change (basically I didn’t believe the Vx dealer that the belt need doing at 40k/4y when the service book said 80k/8y.. I was wrong of course).
I would like to share with you my views on how the whole thing has changed… car mechanics used to be an art form (I kid you not), and now that art is lost… forever. Let look at a few very basic service procedures.
Let’s say I wanted to clean the carburettor. A perfectly sensible thing to do from time to time. You take the thing off, take it apart, dose it in carb cleaner (or petrol), give it a good brush down and put it back. While you’re at it, you need to adjust the float. Remember those drawings in Haynes? You hold the lid at 90 degrees and let the float rest on its valve, then measure the distance between the widest point of the float and the end of the lid gasket. Then bend the float arm to adjust as necessary. Next thing the jets. On high mileage engines, it was always advisable to check the jets hole side using a set of measuring rods, because the jets were made of brass or copper and tended to become wider with use. Once the thing is back in place, you need at the very least to adjust the mixture and idle speed if you have a single-carb engine. If you had a pair of SUs or Strombergs, then there was an additional balance screw to adjust (and let’s not talk about the needle in these carbs…). But if you happen to have a pair of dual-barrel Webbers, or perhaps a triple of those, then you were in for a very lengthy job involving vacuum gauges and witchcraft…
Next, let’s say you take the distributor off. You then put it back (making sure it’s the right way round because you could easily put it on turned at 180 degrees!), then clean the points with emery cloth and adjust the gap with a filler gauge. Then loosen the bracket and set the engine to TDC and the dizzy to the Static timing mark. Start the engine, and using a strobe set the dizzy for the correct advance at the specified fast-idle and high-rev speeds. Lock the bracket, take the car for a spin. Drive it on level ground at low speed in low gear without revving the engine. Then put it in fourth, and floor the accelerator. The car should pink just a bit but catch up without hesitating. Then drive the car downhill in high gear, and put it into low gear suddenly revving up the engine – it shouldn’t backfire. If you got this right, you had the car at the optimal timing advance settings. Until it all went out of tune a couple of months later, that is.
Camshaft out? The tappets need adjusting with a filler gague (or spacers, which was much worst). Change brake pads? Filler gauge again. Everything was down to adjusting and fine-tuning and getting it right. In the U.S. they still call it an engine ‘tune-up’, not service.
Torque wrench was only used when putting back the cylinder head, for everything else the mechanic had a 4-way table in his head which takes into account the bolt size, the lever size, the metal it went into, and errr… the direction of the wind. Well OK, not the last one... You needed to have a ‘feel’ for tightening bolts which was only acquired through experience – in other words through some stripped threads on one side and loose bolts on the other.
Why am I saying all this? Well during Easter I did the cam covers. I took off the plenum and intake manifold with the injectors rail, then put it all back together. The ‘tuning’ comprised of un-plugging three multi-plugs (two, if you don’t have Drive-by-Wire) and then plugging them back in. All the bolts were tightened to torque, fire-up the engine and it purrs like a kitten, just as it was when it left the factory. Steady idle at 500 rpm, nothing to measure, adjust, or fine-tune. No drama, not black art, no magic. A bit of an anti-climax, that is. Yes, you could say it was boring.
I guess it is better this way, and the garage mechanics have less room for error. For me, I still have to get used to this. So what’s the difference nowadays between a ‘good’ mechanic and a 'bad' one?
158
General Discussion Area / Vacuum line query
« on: 16 April 2007, 11:10:51 »
When removing the plenum on my 2.6 (long-beak plenum), I noticed a thin vacuum line that goes from the fuel pressure regulator at the back of the injector rail all the way to the throttle boy at the front, and connect to the underside of the throttle body though a small 90 degrees bent rubber hose. The vacuum line runs right inside the injector rail to the right-hand side of it.
I did not notice any reference to it in the vacuum pipes FAQ, so I was wondering if this is a 2.6/3.2 only thing…?
The reason I am asking is that oddly this line seems to short… when I put the plenum back, it was a couple of mm short and did not reach the rubber bent hose, even though it has a short run and goes in a straight line. What I ended up doing was release the throttle body while the plenum was in place, tilt the top towards me, fit the vacuum line on the bent rubber hose, tilt the throttle body back in place and tighten the bolts… it seems to work but the vacuum line is stretched and only has about 1mm inserted in the rubber hose.
The options seem to be either replace the line with a longer one, or get a slightly longer rubber hose…
Just wondering - has anyone had this problem? Does anyone know what will I notice if the vacuum line falls out?
I did not notice any reference to it in the vacuum pipes FAQ, so I was wondering if this is a 2.6/3.2 only thing…?
The reason I am asking is that oddly this line seems to short… when I put the plenum back, it was a couple of mm short and did not reach the rubber bent hose, even though it has a short run and goes in a straight line. What I ended up doing was release the throttle body while the plenum was in place, tilt the top towards me, fit the vacuum line on the bent rubber hose, tilt the throttle body back in place and tighten the bolts… it seems to work but the vacuum line is stretched and only has about 1mm inserted in the rubber hose.
The options seem to be either replace the line with a longer one, or get a slightly longer rubber hose…
Just wondering - has anyone had this problem? Does anyone know what will I notice if the vacuum line falls out?
159
General Discussion Area / Plumbing help...
« on: 14 April 2007, 20:45:55 »
Did some plumbing today, mainly removed the bent pipes under the sinks and gave them a good clean. I know, should have done the rusty PAS pipe (I bought the Hammerite for it), but I spent all of last weekend on the car so... 
After putting back all the various plastic pipes etc, one of them seem to have dampness around the seal when the water is running... no matter how many times I took it apart, aligned it,and retightened, it still gets damp. Since i don't have any experience with this sort of stuff, before I change all the rubber seals, is it one of those things that are normal and will resolve themselves (please say so...), or if it is wet it will always be wet unless I change the rubber seal....?
My alternative idea is to put some black Vx sealant on the thread, great RTV stuff...
Thank you in advance.
After putting back all the various plastic pipes etc, one of them seem to have dampness around the seal when the water is running... no matter how many times I took it apart, aligned it,and retightened, it still gets damp. Since i don't have any experience with this sort of stuff, before I change all the rubber seals, is it one of those things that are normal and will resolve themselves (please say so...), or if it is wet it will always be wet unless I change the rubber seal....?
My alternative idea is to put some black Vx sealant on the thread, great RTV stuff...
Thank you in advance.
160
General Discussion Area / The Police and me
« on: 13 April 2007, 19:11:38 »
Just went outside to get something from my wife’s car. The was a Police Astra with flashing lights parked alongside it, and two officers looking at the car and taking notes. ‘Is there a problem, officer...? I asked as one does... well apparently they pulled-over a van because the driver was talking on the mobile while driving, and the van scratched the front wing of my wife’s car...
So technically, the officers said, because they had the blue lights on, my car was involved in a police collision and they had to fill-in a report... I took the other driver’s details, turns out he is a nice Greek fellow who hired a van because he is moving house today, and was not very skilled at driving one of these big beasts...
Two hours (!) later I get call from one of the police officers (I gave them my mobile number), he needs me for some paperwork... so I go back to them again, and he starts filling some form and says it’s only a formality, but as the car was parked there and they had the blue lights on etc, and then he tells me to take the form to a police station and produce my valid insurance and MOT.
I said no way I am going to a Police station on Monday, far too busy, and anyway I don’t care too much about the scratch on the wing... told him if he wanted I’ll go and get the documents now (luckily I did the MOT on the last day just a week ago - thanks Tony STS Watford!) , he can see them, copy them, but I am not wasting any more time on this... so I showed him the docs and he took notes, lots of notes, which I thought was very odd... surely the Police have access to the DVLA database (everyone else seems to anyway)?
I then pointed out to them that it seems odd they spend so much time on this, he said yes there is a fight nearby and they have to go and help, but they can’t leave the ‘scene’ until another police car arrives to take over... take over what? OK the guy talked on the phone and scratched my wing, but you would think there are more important things to deal with... they are still outside the house...
So technically, the officers said, because they had the blue lights on, my car was involved in a police collision and they had to fill-in a report... I took the other driver’s details, turns out he is a nice Greek fellow who hired a van because he is moving house today, and was not very skilled at driving one of these big beasts...
Two hours (!) later I get call from one of the police officers (I gave them my mobile number), he needs me for some paperwork... so I go back to them again, and he starts filling some form and says it’s only a formality, but as the car was parked there and they had the blue lights on etc, and then he tells me to take the form to a police station and produce my valid insurance and MOT.
I said no way I am going to a Police station on Monday, far too busy, and anyway I don’t care too much about the scratch on the wing... told him if he wanted I’ll go and get the documents now (luckily I did the MOT on the last day just a week ago - thanks Tony STS Watford!) , he can see them, copy them, but I am not wasting any more time on this... so I showed him the docs and he took notes, lots of notes, which I thought was very odd... surely the Police have access to the DVLA database (everyone else seems to anyway)?
I then pointed out to them that it seems odd they spend so much time on this, he said yes there is a fight nearby and they have to go and help, but they can’t leave the ‘scene’ until another police car arrives to take over... take over what? OK the guy talked on the phone and scratched my wing, but you would think there are more important things to deal with... they are still outside the house...
162
General Discussion Area / Front wheel bearings change - full report...
« on: 07 April 2007, 18:55:04 »
When the Omega went through the MOT last July, it had an advisory for front wheel bearings play on both sides. Tony (STS Watford) checked and confirmed it, but said it was very small play and nothing to worry about for now.
Recently, the car developed a vibration when braking from around 70mph to 50mph. The vibration could be felt through the steering wheel and was quite strong.
I wasn’t sure if the vibration problem was related to the bearing play, or perhaps it was a result of some problem with the brakes e.g. warped disks. However, I decided to renew the front wheel bearings, as well as the brake discs and pads, in one go.
The front wheel bearing is integral with the hub, so the entire unit needs changing, at a cost of around £70 per side. The discs and pads set cost the same again. All were original Vx parts bought on TC.
Having replaced the bearing, discs and pads, I test drove the car today and the problem seem to have disappeared, so hopefully this has cured it.
I was initially concerned about releasing the wheel nut which suppose to be very tight, but with the appropriate tool (1m long breaker bar) it came off easily and without a fuss. In fact, the whole operation involves undoing just one dust cap and one 32mm nut over a standard brake disc change.
A few notes I made along the way:
1. Haynes says that both the 18mm hub carrier bolts and the 13mm calliper bolts need to be replaced with new ones. I did buy new bolts, because they were only a couple of Pounds. I doubt however that everyone does this, definitely I have never been billed by Vx for bolts and I am certain that if they did use new bolts when changing the discs then they would show on the bill… but I still recommend that new bolts are used if available.
2. I read in several places that it is advised to open the calliper bleed nipple when pushing back the calliper to accommodate for the new pads, to avoid air bubbles being trapped in the ABS or the master cylinder seals being reversed. I did this on one side (using Draper’s one-man bleed kit), and as you can expect it was somewhat fiddly and messy. I then read the official Vx pad change procedure on TIS and they do not mention the need to open the bleed nipple – they simply say open brake fluid reservoir in engine bay and push calliper back. On the other side, I did just that and pushed the calliper back (using a Draper’s tool which makes it easier and safer) without opening the bleed nipple, and it seems to have worked OK. So on balance I don’t think it is really necessary to open the bleed nipple when changing pads…
3. The discs and pad were replaced by Vx 30,000 miles ago. Having inspected the old discs and pads, they seem fine… the discs’ surfaces are nice and flat and hardly grooved, with a lip of less than 1mm. The pads were quite chunky – probably around 2/3 of the thickness of the new pads. So if the vibration problem was due to the brakes, you definitely could not tell from looking at the components that there was anything wrong with them.
4. I find the whole issue with the front bearings quite puzzling. This is not a common fault, as can be seen from the fact it rarely comes up on the forum. And the Vx dealer did not have them in stock, which also says something. The car has only covered around 50,000 miles from new, and while a premature demise of a bearing is always a possibility, having both sides go at the same time is odd… just a thought.
And last, a special thank you to TheBoy whose excellent Front Discs Change maintenance guide I used when carrying-out this job.
Recently, the car developed a vibration when braking from around 70mph to 50mph. The vibration could be felt through the steering wheel and was quite strong.
I wasn’t sure if the vibration problem was related to the bearing play, or perhaps it was a result of some problem with the brakes e.g. warped disks. However, I decided to renew the front wheel bearings, as well as the brake discs and pads, in one go.
The front wheel bearing is integral with the hub, so the entire unit needs changing, at a cost of around £70 per side. The discs and pads set cost the same again. All were original Vx parts bought on TC.
Having replaced the bearing, discs and pads, I test drove the car today and the problem seem to have disappeared, so hopefully this has cured it.
I was initially concerned about releasing the wheel nut which suppose to be very tight, but with the appropriate tool (1m long breaker bar) it came off easily and without a fuss. In fact, the whole operation involves undoing just one dust cap and one 32mm nut over a standard brake disc change.
A few notes I made along the way:
1. Haynes says that both the 18mm hub carrier bolts and the 13mm calliper bolts need to be replaced with new ones. I did buy new bolts, because they were only a couple of Pounds. I doubt however that everyone does this, definitely I have never been billed by Vx for bolts and I am certain that if they did use new bolts when changing the discs then they would show on the bill… but I still recommend that new bolts are used if available.
2. I read in several places that it is advised to open the calliper bleed nipple when pushing back the calliper to accommodate for the new pads, to avoid air bubbles being trapped in the ABS or the master cylinder seals being reversed. I did this on one side (using Draper’s one-man bleed kit), and as you can expect it was somewhat fiddly and messy. I then read the official Vx pad change procedure on TIS and they do not mention the need to open the bleed nipple – they simply say open brake fluid reservoir in engine bay and push calliper back. On the other side, I did just that and pushed the calliper back (using a Draper’s tool which makes it easier and safer) without opening the bleed nipple, and it seems to have worked OK. So on balance I don’t think it is really necessary to open the bleed nipple when changing pads…
3. The discs and pad were replaced by Vx 30,000 miles ago. Having inspected the old discs and pads, they seem fine… the discs’ surfaces are nice and flat and hardly grooved, with a lip of less than 1mm. The pads were quite chunky – probably around 2/3 of the thickness of the new pads. So if the vibration problem was due to the brakes, you definitely could not tell from looking at the components that there was anything wrong with them.
4. I find the whole issue with the front bearings quite puzzling. This is not a common fault, as can be seen from the fact it rarely comes up on the forum. And the Vx dealer did not have them in stock, which also says something. The car has only covered around 50,000 miles from new, and while a premature demise of a bearing is always a possibility, having both sides go at the same time is odd… just a thought.
And last, a special thank you to TheBoy whose excellent Front Discs Change maintenance guide I used when carrying-out this job.
163
General Discussion Area / Jobs done this (long) weekend
« on: 09 April 2007, 20:22:10 »
Replaced front wheel bearings, brake discs & pads
Camcover leak sorted on driver-side (the easy one...), breather box cleaned.
Errrr... that's it.
Camcover leak sorted on driver-side (the easy one...), breather box cleaned.
Errrr... that's it.
164
General Discussion Area / New How2 - front wheel bearing
« on: 06 April 2007, 21:21:09 »
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1175890350
Admins, please move to the appropriate area... thank you.
I took the easy option, and opted for a proper 1m long breaker bar, and a 395NM torque wrench. Using these tools, undoing and tightening the wheel bearing nut was no problem at all in spite of the high torque. This is not cheap however for a one-off job...
n
Admins, please move to the appropriate area... thank you.
I took the easy option, and opted for a proper 1m long breaker bar, and a 395NM torque wrench. Using these tools, undoing and tightening the wheel bearing nut was no problem at all in spite of the high torque. This is not cheap however for a one-off job...
n
165
General Discussion Area / (yet another) big thank you to Tony...
« on: 06 April 2007, 00:08:10 »
...from STS Watford for sorting out my wife's Previa today!
My Omega has been straight as arrow since he set it up last year, if anyone has the dreaded drift-to-the-left then go and see Tony...
My Omega has been straight as arrow since he set it up last year, if anyone has the dreaded drift-to-the-left then go and see Tony...