Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: OmegaTel57 on 22 June 2013, 14:15:17
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Hi please help, my wonderful old Omega has begun smoking from the exhaust, it appears and smells as if it's the rings, how difficult and expensive a job is it if I took it into a garage ?, or is it a possible DIY job ?, I have just got her through an MOT but needed to replace the catalytic converter in order to pass, the car is pretty much immaculate but has 177,000 on the clock, but is so reliable and has been the best car for reliability, comfort etc in over 34 years of driving Any help / advice would be appreciated
Thanks
Terry
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Hello and welcome :y If your rings have gone it is quite a big job to do, and you may need a re-bore too, ;) if you know what you are doing then you can do the re-build yourself but engineering company will have to do re-bore, if you can get away with just a new set of rings then not too bad just labour time. Look around for another secondhand engine try to see it running though as not to buy one that is a dog. There are people that break on here. :y
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Does it smoke all the time or only on start up?,if only at start up I would suspect valve stem oil seals worn/gone hard,still quite a job but fixable :y
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Does it smoke all the time or only on start up?,if only at start up I would suspect valve stem oil seals worn/gone hard,still quite a job but fixable :y
+1 :y
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At 177,000 miles a replacement lower mileage engine would be the best way to proceed in my opinion.
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At 177,000 miles a replacement lower mileage engine would be the best way to proceed in my opinion.
+1 :y
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If the oil servicing hasn't been great, for some reason, cylinder No1 wears excessively.
If you need to use a garage, I'd say it would be uneconomical. As others have suggested, a replacement lower mileage engine from a breaker may be a better option, esp given the mileage on yours - don't see many 2.0l go much further beyond that sort of mileage.
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My 2.2 is reaching that kind of miles fast, like wise its been so reliable, its been best car I've owned.
As others have said, Garage bills would make it uneconomical to repair, need to look DIY work?
Or contact some of the members here who do work, Elite Pete, JamesV6CDX :y
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In addition to the stem seals, it would be worth checking that the oil isn't getting into the intake through the breathers, or getting past the rings due to blocked breathers.
Given that you'll likely have significant engine wear at that mileage, it'd probably want a re-bore, new pistons and rings, etc. to do a proper job of fixing it. More economical to source a lower mileage engine and drop it in.
The rest of the car should be solid enough to make it worth while. :y
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Thanks everyone for your comments, I guess the cheapest option at first is to check (as Kevin suggests) that the breathers are not blocked, never even thought of that, fingers "very very" crossed mefinks :(
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In addition to the stem seals, it would be worth checking that the oil isn't getting into the intake through the breathers, or getting past the rings due to blocked breathers.
Given that you'll likely have significant engine wear at that mileage, it'd probably want a re-bore, new pistons and rings, etc. to do a proper job of fixing it. More economical to source a lower mileage engine and drop it in.
The rest of the car should be solid enough to make it worth while. :y
Many thanks Kevin, I never even thought of checking the breathers, I am not sure where to check first, the only breather I know of is the one at the rear of the engine on the right hand side, are there others ? and where would I find them ? thanks again mate, I guess it's a long shot but it may just save my fantastic Omega
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Strangely enough she still has plenty of pulling power, no signs of trouble in that regard, plenty of compression it seems, and starts on the button..
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Does it smoke all the time or only on start up?,if only at start up I would suspect valve stem oil seals worn/gone hard,still quite a job but fixable :y
Hi Henry - Smokes as soon as engine has warmed up, oil thinner I suspect and then getting past the rings :(
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the breathers, I am not sure where to check first, the only breather I know of is the one at the rear of the engine on the right hand side, are there others ? and where would I find them
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90586.0
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Well after dodging in and out from the rain I have been able to removed the breather pipes, the small breather pipe was blocked, so I suspect the jet will also be blocked, the breather to the rear of the engine is full of gunk so I have removed and cleaned that pipe and the filter (flame trap), the problem I now have is, how do I remove clean and clear the rocker cover of any blockage, and what cleaning agent do I use ? as I'm sure these two openings will also be blocked with gunk and carbon, I also have the added problem of the blocked tube which goes down to what I am guessing is the sump, I don't want to use any fluids that may cause further damage etc, any further advice would be appreciated, thanks for all your help so far,,, and do you think this might be the cause of my smoking exhaust issue ?...
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Carb cleaner should do the trick, although removing the pipes as far as possible is preferable to allowing any debris to get into the sump. Worth an oil change afterwards, in fact, a couple of short oil changes (1-2000 miles or so will help to remove any remaining sludge and stop it happening again. With both breathers blocked, this may well have been your issue.
A compression test might be worthwhile while you're at it, just to gauge how well the rings are sealing.
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Carb cleaner should do the trick, although removing the pipes as far as possible is preferable to allowing any debris to get into the sump. Worth an oil change afterwards, in fact, a couple of short oil changes (1-2000 miles or so will help to remove any remaining sludge and stop it happening again. With both breathers blocked, this may well have been your issue.
A compression test might be worthwhile while you're at it, just to gauge how well the rings are sealing.
+1 :y
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Well 'after removing and cleaning all the breathers & the jet it appears to have not cured the dreaded smoking exhaust, I am going to try one last thing & do an oil and filter change, if that fails then I will be looking to either sell or trade her in as she has a years mot plus 6 months tax... Not what I want but just can't afford paying out hundreds of pounds on replacement engine and the work involved :(
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If its only smoking a bit i wouldnt worry to much , just keep a check on the oil level . Although my car is not an omega i have a similar issue but im sure mine is because the breathers were blocked for some time before i bought it , now ive replaced damaged and blocked breathers it has stopped the smoking quite a bit and its not using oil either . Maybe just a case of the system clearing all the muck out from being blocked . I also did a full service , performance is spot on so i will monitor any oil usage and keep running it , if it gets any worse i will change the stem seals :y