Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Rob_G on 23 October 2007, 19:58:04
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Hi all Im new to this site so bear with me , Ive just bought a 2.6GLS estate .2002, Drove it yesterday , temp gauge went through the roof , noticed it , pulled over and the car cut out , waited a few minutes and released the header tank cap slowly , when it was finally off a thick brown gunge came burbling out >:( for about 5mins . Got towed home , towed car to garage this morning , still wouldnt start and was squeaking turning over , garage recons head, head-gasket and water pump :( , does anyone know if this is a common fault , also has anyone got an engine for one !!!! can swap/part ex Calibra red top eng and box , Thanks all ,Robert
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It sounds to me like oil cooler failure - commonly misdiagnosed as head gasket failure.
But no doubt someone much more knowledgable than me will be able to give you more info! :y
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Hi all Im new to this site so bear with me , Ive just bought a 2.6GLS estate .2002, Drove it yesterday , temp gauge went through the roof , noticed it , pulled over and the car cut out , waited a few minutes and released the header tank cap slowly , when it was finally off a thick brown gunge came burbling out >:( for about 5mins . Got towed home , towed car to garage this morning , still wouldnt start and was squeaking turning over , garage recons head, head-gasket and water pump :( , does anyone know if this is a common fault , also has anyone got an engine for one !!!! can swap/part ex Calibra red top eng and box , Thanks all ,Robert
When you say, just bought it, was it bought as a non runner or have you been sold something dodgy
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Almost certainly oil cooler failure. The oil is at higher pressure than the coolant, so when it fails loads of oil gets into the cooling system. Not a huge job (certainly a far easier one than a head gasket) but there is a fair amount of work involved. There is a how-to in the maintenance guides section that you should have a look through. I haven't had to do one myself but quite a few people on here have. They are around £80 I think, and if you're lucky you may be able to flush the oil out of the cooling system. In some cases the radiator is too sludged up and has to be replaced.
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BTW I just hope it hadn't been like that too long, as overheating is a distinct possibility due to the poor cooling of oil/water mix!
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Thanks all , yes just bought it >:( , when checked there was no oil in water and no water in oil , had only driven it about 30 odd miles , will try to contact mechanic to suggest oil cooler , would that make engine go to "safe mode" then not start again ? thanks again all
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Was it a private sale or from a dealer??
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I would deffo make the issue known to the person/dealer you got it from, see what the response is.
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Bought from auction , will be contacting them tommorrow >:(as it was supposed to have full history but its not had a service since 89k and its now at 118k with timing belt and water pump not marked in service book (will be contacting dealerships involved to see if they have been done)
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Rob your car is in need of some serious servicing and pronto too. i would guess that the cooling system had been drained and flushed prior to the sale to hide the problem. The oil cooler would not fail big time just like that with that amount of oil in the water. there is always some tell tale signs of pending cooler problems and oil coolers nearly always fail due to lack of servicing and incorrect coolant mix levels. The head gaskets very rarely fail on the v6 motors, so that is not the place to start the diagnosis. :(
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When you buy from auction you must listen very carefully to the auctioneers description of the car and its condition. By the sound of it the only thing that you can quibble about is that the car has been mis- described, ie not full service history. In my experience the auctioneer will usually say how many stamps are in the service book, all the auctioneer says is normally recorded. Try and get something back, good luck, but don't hold your breath.
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Rob,
While this all sounds like you've been done (depending on what you paid of course), its not the end of the world.
But you do need to plan on doing the oil cooler (don't try to drive it as is) and a new cambelt/water pump asap.
Plenty of help/advice on here if you tackle it yourself :y
Cheers,
Ian
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Thanks again all , contacted auction house today B.C.A told them they said it had FSH (was actually due 6 months ago) tried to get my point accross saying that a FSH is yearly or 20,ooo miles whichever comes first , also managed to track down a garage who looked at this vehicle for previous owner 4 weeks ago and advised him that the r/h head gasket was gone and gave him the costs which he wouldnt pay . So someone has knew what they were doing ,flushed the water tank , and put fresh oil in then took it to auction !!! thare are some unscrupulous people out there >:( . Have been in touch with trading standards and they say I have a case in being sold an unroadworthy vehicle , so I am looking into that area , have also had my mechanic take a look and furnished him with all your info , he's holding off doing anything until next week , have ordered head gaskets, bolts, water/oil pumps and timing belt kit just in case , thanks again everyone , will keep you informed, Rob
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hope you can return the head gaskets and bolts as almost certainly not needed.
How much did you pay may we ask? It may be you still have a decent buy, but just needs sorting out.
Still pursue them for compensation though :y
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Hi , paid £1500 its a 2002, in A1 condition apart from this , can return any unused parts , unfortunately car has now went into safe mode and dont know if battery is flat but engine only turning slowly and wont start !!! Hope its not too serious but checking the cooler first , still going to do belt and pumps if its only the cooler though , wont be beaten ,always had vauxhalls but never the 2.6 so dont know too much about engine !!
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im having simalar problem on my mv6 where can an oil cooler b bought from apart from vx ? and what is involved n the proces of changing
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Rob and mv6 i would go and get the oil cooler from vx as the part wil be coverd by their parts warrenty and god forbid you have a problem in the next 12 months then vx pay to have it fixed, just my opinion of course. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE HEAD GASKETS RARELY FAIL ON THE V6 AND DEALERS ARE NOT THE BEST AT DIAGNOSTICS, SO BEWARE. Your mechanic should change the oil cooler first then flush the system, and remove the rad and back flush to get as much out as poss. To fully clean the system i used a low foam washing detergent in the water then ran the engine for 20 min fAST IDLE then flush again, refill then more detergent, flush untill the system is clean. this may take a good week of this flushing.YOUR MAIN PROBLEM MAY BE GETTING THE RAD CLEAR,so be prepared to replace. Also when you drain the system, unless you remove the water pump, you only drain about 50% of the water so that means you have to do more flushes. :(
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Thanks gary will try , heres hoping
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£1500 for a 2002 V6?
BARGAIN!
Change this cooler, maybe the Rad, and the jobs a goodun.
Don't mess about with seeking compensation for that money, it's a reasonably easy fix and TBH, at auction, for that price, you pays your money and takes your chance.
2002 models go for more than that as spares/accident damaged.... so you got a GOOD deal.
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Explain what you mean by safe mode please.
Engine turning slowly >> battery flat.
Very unlikely to have blown headgaskets or damaged heads unless its been driven far when overheating.
I would replace the heat exchanger, flush out the cooling system and see how it runs.
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That is a bargain! Estate as well so will hold its value and will be worth about double that in the marketplace :y
The guys on here are very knowledgeable so keep popping back. You may even be able to tackle the problem yourself with some guidance.
I also know a number of the guys buy problem omegas with commonly failed oil coolers to do up and sell on as projects ;D ::) It often leads people to selling their car rather than having it fixed because garage has diagnosed incorrectly. Best of luck.
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Rob G
I have been in the motor trade for 20 years, buying and selling at auction and from our family garage. If you take my advice you will not waste your time pursuing an auction house. Trading standards have given you incorrect advice, a cooling problem does not render a vehicle unroadworthy, unuseable perhaps, but not unroadworthy,tyres, lights, brakes, steering and suspension etc. do. Read the back of your receipt and also the terms and conditions displayed all around the auction, which you accept just by being on their premises and bidding for a car. The car sounds cheap enough and if the rest of the car is OK my best advice is to concentrate on the cooling problem. Unless the car was sold with a 1 hour mechanical warranty or with a BCA engineers report you are throwing your time and money away. You elected to buy at an auction to save yourself money, the same car would have been double the price at a reputable dealer and you would have had some comeback, the repair cost will still leave you quids in.Remember the golden rule, if something is cheap there is a reason for it. I am not trying to sound pompous but we sell 10 / 12 cars a week and we get it wrong as well, and guess where we send our problem cars? Guess where almost all garages send their problem cars? The previous owner of your Omega has probably traded it in to a dealer, and the dealer has sent it to auction. Sorry mate but I wish you the very best of luck. All the excellent help and advice in this forum should have your car running again shortly.
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i dont supose any one on here has a second hand 3.0 oil cooler and rad have they????
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DONT recconmend second hand oil cooler. Is your motor auto or man. 3.0 or 2.6 :-?
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Oil cooler...£80-100...3 hours labour max to change...shouldnt need anything else doing...but worth doing cam belt etc while your at it...as stated dont bother with 2nd hand oil cooler, not worth it.
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I must admit to being a bit concerned that it won't start now. Oil cooler failure is a certainty as mentioned but I'd be inclined to do a few more basic checks before doing any work on it.
Was it running OK when you did drive it? No misfire? Plenty of power?
I'd charge the battery and see if it'll start. If not it's worth checking for trouble codes I'd say. Oil cooler will result in contamination of the coolant but not a failure to start.
When you're doing the oil cooler, do the cam belt and tensioners, change the water pump, check the breathers are clear and check the plug wells are clear of oil as a minimum. These are all necessary on an Omega that's potentially been neglected. Fill with a 50/50 mixture of vx red coolant.
Kevin
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Rob G
I have been in the motor trade for 20 years, buying and selling at auction and from our family garage. If you take my advice you will not waste your time pursuing an auction house. Trading standards have given you incorrect advice, a cooling problem does not render a vehicle unroadworthy, unuseable perhaps, but not unroadworthy,tyres, lights, brakes, steering and suspension etc. do. Read the back of your receipt and also the terms and conditions displayed all around the auction, which you accept just by being on their premises and bidding for a car. The car sounds cheap enough and if the rest of the car is OK my best advice is to concentrate on the cooling problem. Unless the car was sold with a 1 hour mechanical warranty or with a BCA engineers report you are throwing your time and money away. You elected to buy at an auction to save yourself money, the same car would have been double the price at a reputable dealer and you would have had some comeback, the repair cost will still leave you quids in.Remember the golden rule, if something is cheap there is a reason for it. I am not trying to sound pompous but we sell 10 / 12 cars a week and we get it wrong as well, and guess where we send our problem cars? Guess where almost all garages send their problem cars? The previous owner of your Omega has probably traded it in to a dealer, and the dealer has sent it to auction. Sorry mate but I wish you the very best of luck. All the excellent help and advice in this forum should have your car running again shortly.
These comments are exactly what inexperienced 'layman car mechanics' like me and hundreds of others on this forum find of great help, if only to confirm that our gut feelings about these situations are not a million miles wide of the mark. Thanks Owletman!
And, Rob-G, patience and persistance will crack this problem, I'm sure.
Cheers,
Bill.
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ill buy a new oil cooler is any one near me that would b willing to fit it ??? obviously with pay?