Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Taxi_Driver on 07 April 2007, 20:39:37
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Just been looking at vx website....looking for an answer to someone elses question....didnt find it....i thought vx site had handbook book downloads....maybe not!
BUT i did find out that vx recommend my post 2001 omega be serviced every 20k with 10-40w oil (semi synth i guess)
So thats sorted then.....ive been wasting money all this time getting the oil changed needlessly >:(
If vx say 20k is good enough then thats a tenner at least ive saved :y
It must be true coz its on vx website.... ::)
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I'll stick to 3 - 5k myself!
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Just been looking at vx website....looking for an answer to someone elses question....didnt find it....i thought vx site had handbook book downloads....maybe not!
BUT i did find out that vx recommend my post 2001 omega be serviced every 20k with 10-40w oil (semi synth i guess)
So thats sorted then.....ive been wasting money all this time getting the oil changed needlessly >:(
If vx say 20k is good enough then thats a tenner at least ive saved :y
It must be true coz its on vx website.... ::)
There you are then, you change yours at 20K, I'll continue to change mine every 3/4 months... ;)
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Vx will probably also tell you to change the cam belt every 80K but to leave the tensioner alone as it's built for life ..... :-[ :-[ :P
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I'll stick to 3 - 5k myself!
James.....Your wasting money m8.....vx website says every 10k for pre 2001 omegas....it must be true...its on the website ::) ;D
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Just been looking at vx website....looking for an answer to someone elses question....didnt find it....i thought vx site had handbook book downloads....maybe not!
BUT i did find out that vx recommend my post 2001 omega be serviced every 20k with 10-40w oil (semi synth i guess)
So thats sorted then.....ive been wasting money all this time getting the oil changed needlessly >:(
If vx say 20k is good enough then thats a tenner at least ive saved :y
It must be true coz its on vx website.... ::)
There you are then, you change yours at 20K, I'll continue to change mine every 3/4 months... ;)
Is that 3/4 months AA? or 3/4 miles?? probably the same thing ;D ;)
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I've just changed mine after 11k miles. What a state the oil was in. I have never seen anyhthing like it. Have to say I do 3.5 to 4k miles per month so 10/11k is 3/4 months for me. Anyway, it was the first time I'd changed the oil myself as its been garaged serviced previously but the oil was in a helluva state. The inside of the filter housing was like hard black tar and the sump looked like it was full of black sand... or maybe the stealers have never bothered to change the oil before???
Needless to say it'll be done every 5k from now on.
Dave
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I've just changed mine after 11k miles. What a state the oil was in. I have never seen anyhthing like it. Have to say I do 3.5 to 4k miles per month so 10/11k is 3/4 months for me. Anyway, it was the first time I'd changed the oil myself as its been garaged serviced previously but the oil was in a helluva state. The inside of the filter housing was like hard black tar and the sump looked like it was full of black sand... or maybe the stealers have never bothered to change the oil before???
Needless to say it'll be done every 5k from now on.
Dave
As it was in that state, consider doing a couple at 1k intervals, then revert back to 4/5k....
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I've just changed mine after 11k miles. What a state the oil was in. I have never seen anyhthing like it. Have to say I do 3.5 to 4k miles per month so 10/11k is 3/4 months for me. Anyway, it was the first time I'd changed the oil myself as its been garaged serviced previously but the oil was in a helluva state. The inside of the filter housing was like hard black tar and the sump looked like it was full of black sand... or maybe the stealers have never bothered to change the oil before???
Needless to say it'll be done every 5k from now on.
Dave
As it was in that state, consider doing a couple at 1k intervals, then revert back to 4/5k....
Fair point TB. Will do. Buying oil from Vauxhall dealer at 20 quid a case (4 x5l) so well worth doing a weekly change for a month.
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Manufacturers recommendations are a toss up between giving the vehicle a reasonable lifetime and keeping fleet managers happy with regard to running costs. Fleet managers and manufacturers don't give a damn what happens to a car after 3 years or so, so you can draw your own conclusions from that.
For the cost of a DIY oil change I'd never leave oil in an engine for 20k. This is the stuff that blocked breathers and leaky cam covers are made of.
When they changed the interval to 20k did they redesign the engine range? No. They just decided to sacrifice some longevity under pressure from fleet managers to reduce servicing cost.
Kevin
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Manufacturers recommendations are a toss up between giving the vehicle a reasonable lifetime and keeping fleet managers happy with regard to running costs. Fleet managers and manufacturers don't give a damn what happens to a car after 3 years or so, so you can draw your own conclusions from that.
For the cost of a DIY oil change I'd never leave oil in an engine for 20k. This is the stuff that blocked breathers and leaky cam covers are made of.
When they changed the interval to 20k did they redesign the engine range? No. They just decided to sacrifice some longevity under pressure from fleet managers to reduce servicing cost.
Kevin
Very true.
Reduced fleet running costs = more cars sold.
Increasing servicing intervals reduces total cost of ownership (in the short term) so attracts fleet buyers.
As I've said, I've learned my lesson and will be changing my oil every fortnight if necessary.
Dave
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I was being very 'tongue in cheek'....with this thread....so :D ;D ;)
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Firstly, it's 20k OR 1 year, whichever comes first.
Secondly, a car that does 20k in a year probably does mostly motorway miles which are easy on the engine. On the motorway the miles get racked-up pretty quickly, but in term of actual working hours the engine does not too very much.
Thirdly, being a taxi driver you may do 20k in a year, but this schedule does NOT relate to vehicles used in 'extreme' conditions, and Vx gives as an example cars used as Police car, TAXI, or towing. So no excuses, TD...
Thirdly, if you did still insist on adhering to the manufacturer's spec, then the engine will not go belly-up the next morning - the problem will appear further down the line, and since Omegas get scrapped with relatively low mileage due to the tensioner failure (80k/8y - remember?), most will not be around long enough to suffer the long-term consequences of manufacturer's-spec maintenance.
Fourthly, don't believe anything you read. I bet you actually think that Global Warming scare is real? ;D
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Firstly, it's 20k OR 1 year, whichever comes first.
Secondly, a car that does 20k in a year probably does mostly motorway miles which are easy on the engine. On the motorway the miles get racked-up pretty quickly, but in term of actual working hours the engine does not too very much.
Thirdly, being a taxi driver you may do 20k in a year, but this schedule does NOT relate to vehicles used in 'extreme' conditions, and Vx gives as an example cars used as Police car, TAXI, or towing. So no excuses, TD...
Thirdly, if you did still insist on adhering to the manufacturer's spec, then the engine will not go belly-up the next morning - the problem will appear further down the line, and since Omegas get scrapped with relatively low mileage due to the tensioner failure (80k/8y - remember?), most will not be around long enough to suffer the long-term consequences of manufacturer's-spec maintenance.
Fourthly, don't believe anything you read. I bet you actually think that Global Warming scare is real? ;D
would that include being at high speed, i.e more that 3500/4000 rpm for long periods of time?
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In summary... stick to the recommendation that most of us will give... change the oil and filter every 3 to 5k miles, for the sake of a few quid. Your call will live much longer.
My Elite, when done, will have 3k oil changes as standard...
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No need to bother with oil changes on Omegas at all, the V6 has an automatic oil change facility, all you need do to keep the oil fresh is top it up every now and then, the system automatically expelled the old oil through the camcovers... ;D
Yes, you guessed it, mines need doing.... :'(
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No need to bother with oil changes on Omegas at all, the V6 has an automatic oil change facility, all you need do to keep the oil fresh is top it up every now and then, the system automatically expelled the old oil through the camcovers... ;D
Yes, you guessed it, mines need doing.... :'(
M_DTM's guide is excellent, you will have no trouble.
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No need to bother with oil changes on Omegas at all, the V6 has an automatic oil change facility, all you need do to keep the oil fresh is top it up every now and then, the system automatically expelled the old oil through the camcovers... ;D
Yes, you guessed it, mines need doing.... :'(
Oh dear MJ :(
I did do mine tho....pretty easy really.....but then i have 2 less cylinders ;)
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would that include being at high speed, i.e more that 3500/4000 rpm for long periods of time?
Why cars' engines maintenance schedules are being specified in mileage is beyond me. I used to work with tractors and heavy earth-moving equipment, and they only have an engine work-hour meter, no mileage, and the maintenance and servicing schedules are based on engine hours alone. OK you could argue that this type of equipment does not cover a lot of mileage and that the engine revs are relatively constant, but still I think that ignoring completely the working hours of a car engine is a mistake.
The engine does not know how fast the wheels are spinning. If you do 70mph on a motorway, you cover 70 miles in one hour. If you do 70 miles in heavy city traffic at an average speed of 20mph, you will cover the same 70 miles in 3.5 hours. Does the engine work harder on motorway cruising? I am not sure at all, I think that the frequent rev changing in city traffic is actually much more wearing than motorway cruising, but either way I prefer an engine that did 1 hour on the motorway than one that did 3.5 hours in the city... the problem is that purely from the car's mileage you can't really tell where it has been or how it was driven.
As for driving at high speeds and high engine revs - for the SAME mileage, I still prefer a car that has been driven fast on motorways then on that has been used as a taxi in town...
With regards to the rest of the drive train, then yes the wheel bearings are more mileage-sensitive than the engine, as they actually do the mileage of the car... but if you look at the rest of the suspension components, e.g. bushes, shocks, brakes, etc - these get much more hammering in city driving considering the frequent stops, turns, and speed humps and pot holes then motorway cruising.
If you are doing 20k of motorway driving in a year, and want to keep the car reasonably maintained then you might just get away with 20k/1y oil changes as long as you use semi or full synth oil... but for the cost of an oil change and to help prevent long-term engine wear and other maintenance issues such as blocked breathers etc, it is better to stick to 3-5k intervals especially in mixed town/motorway driving.
Incidentally, my previous Omegas was purchased in 1998 when it was 10 months old and had 20k on the clock, it was never serviced before so I had the oil changed immediately - as you can imagine it was black as coal. However this was the best engine I ever had - it was definitely far smoother than my current 2.6 - I ran the car up to 60k using mainly motorway driving and had it serviced once a year / 10k (I sold it after a lucky escaped with a failed tensioner...). The reason it was good in spite of the lack of oil change for the first 20k is again because anyone racking-up 20k in 10 months is bound to have done this on motorways, and in terms of engine hours the car probably did as much work as one that has covered just 5k in town...
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No need to bother with oil changes on Omegas at all, the V6 has an automatic oil change facility, all you need do to keep the oil fresh is top it up every now and then, the system automatically expelled the old oil through the camcovers... ;D
Yes, you guessed it, mines need doing.... :'(
Oh dear MJ :(
I did do mine tho....pretty easy really.....but then i have 2 less cylinders ;)
Well I won't get it done by staying indoors and writing long posts... better put my overalls on and get out there... ;D
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The other aspect to be taken under consideration is the number of cold starts versus the number of times the oil gets up to full working temperature for a few hours at a time. Every cold start dilutes the oil with fuel, combustion products (acids) and water. The oil needs to get very hot for a period of time to boil off these contaminants. So an engine that's done 5 hours on the motorway is much more healthy than an engine that's done 5 hours of school run!
Cars with service indicators apparently take this sort of thing into consideration - but are still biased to please the fleet manager.
Kevin
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because anyone racking-up 20k in 10 months is bound to have done this on motorways,
Unless its been driven by me ;)
I easily do 20k miles in 10months just plodding about town ;)
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Very few automotive oils manage beyond 7k before breaking down, so its a compromise between wear caused once oil has started to break down, and service costs.
Mineral oils start to break down almost immediately, but do so gradually. Full synths tend to last longer, but then break down quickly.
No automotive oil will ever last any where near 20k.
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No need to bother with oil changes on Omegas at all, the V6 has an automatic oil change facility, all you need do to keep the oil fresh is top it up every now and then, the system automatically expelled the old oil through the camcovers... ;D
Yes, you guessed it, mines need doing.... :'(
Oh dear MJ :(
I did do mine tho....pretty easy really.....but then i have 2 less cylinders ;)
Well I won't get it done by staying indoors and writing long posts... better put my overalls on and get out there... ;D
See progress report below:
(http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1627/image041kx2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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Firstly, it's 20k OR 1 year, whichever comes first.
Secondly, a car that does 20k in a year probably does mostly motorway miles which are easy on the engine. On the motorway the miles get racked-up pretty quickly, but in term of actual working hours the engine does not too very much.
Thirdly, being a taxi driver you may do 20k in a year, but this schedule does NOT relate to vehicles used in 'extreme' conditions, and Vx gives as an example cars used as Police car, TAXI, or towing. So no excuses, TD...
Thirdly, if you did still insist on adhering to the manufacturer's spec, then the engine will not go belly-up the next morning - the problem will appear further down the line, and since Omegas get scrapped with relatively low mileage due to the tensioner failure (80k/8y - remember?), most will not be around long enough to suffer the long-term consequences of manufacturer's-spec maintenance.
Fourthly, don't believe anything you read. I bet you actually think that Global Warming scare is real? ;D
Incidentally, if you think that earth moving equipment is measured by working hours because it foes not move very much, then why are jet, train, and boat engines measured by work hours rather than mileage? Surely aeroplanes cover vast distances... Furthermore, airline pilots' experience is measuring by flying hours, not distance covered. It seems that only the motor industry is obsessed with maintenance schedules based on miles...
As for the 20k, it my very well be the case that the oil won't last as TB say. Some Large truck fleets in the U.S. do not change oil based on either mileage or hours, they simply run periodic tests on oil samples taken from the trucks and replace the oil when it starts breaking down.
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Better shut up now and get out there and strip the second camover... ;D
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OK, I put it all back together and started the engine, seems to be running so I guess it is good news... I'm off to get some jubilee hose clips from the local Homebase for the breather pipes to replace the awkward ones that came with the car.... It's been 6 hours since i applied the RTV sealant so should have cured by now, I'll take the car... no worries the breather pipes have been temporarily secured with cable ties ;)
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Fair point TB. Will do. Buying oil from Vauxhall dealer at 20 quid a case (4 x5l) so well worth doing a weekly change for a month.
£20 a case!!?! :o
I'm going to buy some oil tomorrow then!! :)
Is it the proper GM stuff in the blue bottles?
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Yeah, it's the proper stuff. Arnie Clark Vx parts dept in Glasgow. I asked if they were still doing the 4 for 3 offer. He said he'd give to me trade at £20 a case. I'll be back for another next week!
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Fair point TB. Will do. Buying oil from Vauxhall dealer at 20 quid a case (4 x5l) so well worth doing a weekly change for a month.
£20 a case!!?! :o
I'm going to buy some oil tomorrow then!! :)
Is it the proper GM stuff in the blue bottles?
The official price on TC for 4 x 5l is £26 ish + VAT. Some dealers have additional offers from time to time.
Vx oil comes in Grey bottles (with either a blue/white sticker or reddish sticker).
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Ah, on TC.... :-[