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[Zoe20]

hi all, long story short, i bought another omega after the other ones cam belt went while it was at the dealer, this one from a private seller, was told they was an oil leak, but not a bad one, the car has only had 2 owners im the 3rd. anyways went to town sunday morning and on the way could smell hot oil, when i parked up i had smoke coming up from the drivers side of the bonnet. the man i bought the car from said he was sure where the leak was, so i had a look over the engine couldnt really see so looked under the car, there was a bit of oil at the middle near the front and some about half way down the engine on the drivers side. my other halfs mate had a looked after i bought the car and said it looked like it was coming from the crank case. I know i could be jumping the gun alittle but i had a xantia years ago and the rocker gasket went on that and leaked oil onto part of the exhaust which heated up and smoked, so im just going on that. trouble is i need to know what it could be and my normal garages cant look at the car till after morning (hoping going away on friday night but may need to cancel now)  the smoke smelt oily and was white/grey in colour, please someone any ideas please.

thanks Zoe x

[terry paget]

Rocker cover gasket most likely, and the cause will be blocked breathers. Check which side it is, driver's side much easier to change than passenger's side, due to wiring loom complications. Use genuine Vx parts and sealant. Don't forget the O rings.

[Zoe20]

im nearly sure the oil leak is from the drivers side, and the smoke on sunday was coming up from the drivers side too.

[Kevin Wood]

To be honest, I'd change both sides once you have it in bits.

As said, they fail because the breathers are blocked, so you need to unblock these first.

Also check the spark plug wells for oil as if oil has built up there it eventually brakes the plug leads down and causes a misfire.

It's not worth bothering with pattern gaskets as they don't last, so buy genuine Vauxhall. Member AndyC on here can supply them mail order at trade club prices. Makes them about 60 quid for a set IIRC.

[JamesV6CDX]

Yep, gasket change and breather clean at the same time, new plugs whilst you're in there, and follow it all up with an oil and filter change for good measure

[Zoe20]

thanks guys, managed to get a garage to look at her, it is the rocker garage has quoted £150 to do both sides, he said its pointless just doing one as you have to take the top of the engine off so best to do both at side time. Seem to have nothing but trouble with cars this year. first astra timing belt went, then rover HGF, bought an omega saloon from a dealer and had major loss of power and while they were trying to fix it the cam belt went so got a full refund and now this omega estate needs rocket doing. Anyone want my bad luck for a few month. lol

Thanks again guys

[JamesV6CDX]

Zoe, be very careful. £150 all in for this job, at a garage, sounds way too cheap.

As Chris says, a proper job, including cleaning all the mating faces/covers, dismantling cleaning out the breathers / throttle bodies properly, as well as the subsequent oil change which you should really do after a breather clean, can take a few hours. Add this to the fact that genuine gasket kit is £80 for the rocker covers, something doesn't add up here.

I'm almost sure a corner is being cut - and it's most likely that corner will be either not using genuine gaskets, and/or not cleaning out the breathers - which will see you back at square one in no time at all...

Just trying to help and make sure you don't pay for a false economy, nothing more...

[Zoe20]

thanks James, im gunna ring round my normal garages for quotes and see what they are charging, once the little ones asleep.

[JamesV6CDX]

Stress in the quote that they MUST use genuine parts, and clean the crankcase breathers - and replace the spark plugs + oil change, ideally

[Entwood]

Zoe .. if memory serves you're only an hour away from Stoke .. where resides Daz .. AKA Darth Groomer, Bum Improver .... don't ask !!!   .. he can and will do a proper job at a very reasonable cost .. I would strongly suggest a PM to him ..he's one of the most experienced Omega Mechs on here.


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