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[jereboam]

That's the first line of a Jim Reeves song.  I'm sure you all know the title

I'm sorry to say that my car is not (for me) an economic repair.  It has developed a fault with the ABS which has taken out the speedo and puts the ABS and TC lights on.  It's not permanent, but it occurs for part of every journey.  I've looked on the forums, and it seems to be a known fault and costs a lot of money to get fixed.  It would cost a lot even if I could fix it myself, which I can't.

I'll be very sorry for the old car to go, because it's done me excellent service for the last 9 years, but I'm going to Scotland for my holiday, and I don't fancy doing the usual 1500 miles sans speedo.  My son has offered to lend me his 8 year old 1.2l Fiat Stilo, and I don't fancy that either!  Got to get something else p.d.q. - not easy on my budget - £0.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the car - the garage man said to trade it in, but I can't imagine anyone will give me anything for it. 

I don't suppose anyone knows a magic cure for the problem?

[symes]

yrs-does rev counter work?-see this- http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=115660.0   it may help

[jereboam]

Rev counter fine - don't have any other dashboard malfunctions or error reports.

Mind you, power steering has been a bit slow to pick up on a couple of occasions recently, and I've had one occurrence of the auto getting a bit lost, but that's happened now and again over the past 9 years and clears fairly quickly.

[terry paget]

[
I'm sorry to say that my car is not (for me) an economic repair.  It has developed a fault with the ABS which has taken out the speedo and puts the ABS and TC lights on.  It's not permanent, but it occurs for part of every journey.  I've looked on the forums, and it seems to be a known fault and costs a lot of money to get fixed.  It would cost a lot even if I could fix it myself, which I can't.

Probably ABS ECU failure, cure is to remove the ECU from car, send to ecutesting for repair, cost £100, then refit. However, you say it occurs for part of every journey. If it comes on, then goes off again on the same journey, it probably is a faulty sensor or eluctor ring. I had a rear elector ring split so that it could wander about on the end of the drive shaft, in and out of alignment with the sensor. Once I had found it, the cure was to glue it into place with araldite.

[jereboam]

Thanks for the tip, but I don't think the fault is with the sensor end of things - the garage has looked at that.  It's almost certainly the ECU, or that part of it that talks to the ABS.  The garage man said he couldn't get them to communicate.

I can't do the work to remove and replace the ECU myself, so I'd need to get the garage to do it, and they say it's not worth doing.  This garage have been looking after the car since I had it, despite the fact that the boss there absolutely detests the V6 engine, and isn't all that keen on the Omega in general.  But he is very good at fixing things.  Unfortunately, he now says that it's no longer a car, it's a money pit, and he doesn't want to take my money any more!

[symes]

theres a few guys on here who can help-pm them --james cdx is one

[albitz]

May be able to pick up a secong hand ECU for around £40. Not that hard to change if just changing the ECU and not the whole pump I would have thought.

[symes]

May be able to pick up a second hand ECU for around £40. Not that hard to change if just changing the ECU and not the whole pump I would have thought.

+1

[jereboam]

These days, I'd find changing a wheel a bit of a challenge. 

There are two or three posts on here describing what you have to do.  I understand them (just) but I just don't have the strength, stamina, dexterity, concentration, tools or garage space to do the work.  Doubt if I could even lift the battery out, and that's the first thing to do, apparently - all the bits that need fiddling with are hidden away behind it.  Anyway, it seems that you've got to get an ECU from exactly the same model, or it needs reprogramming - utterly beyond my organisational ability.  Despite the fact I spent 40 years in IT before I retired...

[jereboam]

May be able to pick up a second hand ECU for around £40. Not that hard to change if just changing the ECU and not the whole pump I would have thought.

+1

Does that mean you've got one?  Or are you just agreeing with Mr. Albitz?

[symes]

if i had one-you would know mate- would have said but Albitz might know some one-if he doesn't have one himself

[albitz]

Only one I have now is on a 3.2 elite,so I doubt it would be of any use.
Might be worth placing a wanted ad to test the water.

[biggriffin]

To get the correct ecu you need the part number off the old one they are different hence you need the part number.

[Kevin Wood]

For once a garage diagnosis that we can agree with. Most likely the ECU, as said.

If you've got one of the OOF mobile mechanics near you, that would probably be the cheapest fix. It's a simple job to replace the ECU, just made awkward by difficult access.

I would say this problem is frequent enough that a 2nd hand ECU might be a false economy when you are paying to have it fitted, especially when the config on the ECU might not match your car. A refurb by BBA or ECU-Testing is a proven cure, though.

[jereboam]

I would say this problem is frequent enough that a 2nd hand ECU might be a false economy when you are paying to have it fitted, especially when the config on the ECU might not match your car. A refurb by BBA or ECU-Testing is a proven cure, though.

Yes - that's what I'm worried about.  It's a good car, and nice to drive, but the bodywork needs some attention, as does the steering, and something underneath is rattling about, and has yet to reveal itself.  I just don't think it's worth spending any more money on it.

TBH, since I retired, I don't do the mileage that would justify an expensive-to-run motorway cruiser like an Omega.  I think I need to look for something else, but I really have no idea what.  I've had big cars for 40 years, and I'm not happy in little ones, especially on fast roads.  Think I'll start a topic somewhere else on OOF - this doesn't seem to be the right place for discussing what car to get next.