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Topics - Clouseau

Pages: 1 [2]

Omega General Help / Door check strap - fixing the A pillar mounting

« on: 21 February 2010, 11:38:31 »

Well after a scintillating 14 hours I have replaced the head gasket and removed a bucket load of sludge/mayonnaise from the breathers, throttle body etc. Runs like a new car with a perfect tickover.

Nice. Looks like a vindaloo and reminds me of that old joke about "sh*t in yer carb mate".....

Turning my attention to other things now. The driver's door check strap is a concern - there is no 'death crack' noise, and it has been kept well lubricated, but the bracket on the A pillar is starting to come loose. The two spot welds nearest the car have given way and I have drilled these out and replaced with rivets. However this has only partially helped, and I suspect the steel behind the bracket is heavily corroded.

I seem to remember a thread on his which referred to a repair kit from Vauxhall (I think there was a plate which fitted from the other side, and a 'how to') but I can't find this anywhere.

Anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks Rich

Omega General Help / A few HG questions ...

« on: 13 February 2010, 14:09:49 »

I'm about to embark on my 2nd head gasket change in 18 months. Had to take the head off last time to repair snapped exhaust studs and I used a cheap ebay HG kit. I'm fairly certain now that it's leaking although I'm going to confirm with a compression test. (I bought the Gunsons meter but I'm waiting for the extension piece to arrive as the plugs are so deep in the Ecotec head). This was what the gasket looked like ...

Symptoms:

1. Misfire when starting from cold (lasts about 10 seconds before clearing)
2. More white smoke than usual on start up
3. Thin film of oil on coolant in header tank plus orrible smell of oil/petrol
4. Very slight coolant loss (internal)

No mayonnaise though.

Can you help with these questions?

1. Is it a false economy to use cheaper gasket sets or should I just go with GM? How much will the head gasket be?
2. Haynes recommends renewing the crankshaft sprocket bolts (is this really necessary?) - head bolts of course will be replaced
3. I'm considering removing the head with the manifolds attached to save time - is this doable?

Cheers

Rich

Omega General Help / Not Firing On All Cylinders

« on: 08 February 2010, 17:46:33 »

Bit of a weird one, this.

My 2000 Omega CD (X20 XEV) has just passed the MOT and looks good for another year, but it has recently developed a problem when starting from cold.

The engine fires instantaneously but runs rough, as if it was only firing on three cylinders? After 15 seconds or so and a few blips of the throttle it settles down and then runs perfectly.

I have done all the usual checks, cleaned breathers etc and have also put in a new set of GM plugs. I did find oil in the spark plug well of no. 3 cylinder, but put this down to the rocker cover gasket which has now been replaced with a £25 GM one (!) The oil leak has now gone but the same rough starting problem is still there. No fault codes / EML light either.

Anyone come across this or have any ideas?? :-/

Omega General Help / Duff external temperature sender

« on: 22 January 2009, 20:02:33 »

Now I know it's been cold folks, but my dash display was showing -24 yesterday. The rest of it works fine so I'm thinking the sensor for the external temp reading is duff. Anyone had this problem and know where I will find the offending sensor?

Omega General Help / More problems: oil pump oil seal - anyone got one?

« on: 27 September 2008, 17:38:35 »

Having sheared off an easy-out in my cylinder head yesterday

I carried on with the job and tried to put that behind me! Got the manifold welded up - quick before and after ...

Well pleased with that.

I'm doing this job to get to the route of a very oily timing belt area - I suspect the camshaft oil seals as they were in pretty poor condition, but I' replacing everything including the oil pump (crankshaft) seal. I had already bought a new one from Vauxhall (£17!) and whilst trying to fit it I knackered it.

Now no-one has got one in stock and this is going to set me back until Wednesday.

Before (oily)

After a clean up

Rich

Don't suppose anyone's got a spare oil seal or knows where to get their hands on one? Part number is 90501720 :-/

Newbie Welcome Area / Hi everyone

« on: 21 September 2008, 21:48:14 »

Hi folks

Looks like a great forum! Thought I'd sign up as I'm about to embark on a number of jobs on my X20XEV:

Cambelt, tensioner and pulleys
Water Pump
Head gasket
Crankshaft oil seal
Exhaust manifold repair (usual crack to weld)
Broken manifold studs (another X20XEV specialty)

Not looking forward to the manifold studs, but got to be done! Expecting to post loads of stuff on here for help!!

Rich

General Discussion Area / Please sponsor a fellow Omega Owner! (Marathon)

« on: 15 November 2008, 14:38:48 »

Hi folks

I'm running the Flora London Marathon in April to raise money for Hearing Dogs For Deaf People. Anyone out there good enough to sponsor me and support this fantastic charity? If you can please drop in on my Just Giving site. You can also keep up with my progress on my official blog:http://www.realbuzz.com/en-gb/Training_stats_and_goals/index?pageID=1997&blog=10566 and find out more about Hearing Dogs here - http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/index.php

Please click on this link to sponsor me:
http://www.justgiving.com/rich4hearing-dogs

Many thanks!!!

Rich

Ps (Moderators) would you please consider 'pinnng' this post for a week or two? :-?

General Discussion Area / One minute Ecotec rebuild!

« on: 01 November 2008, 11:32:23 »

Came across this clip on the web ... not sure which'tec it is though.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ab7_1225497871

General Discussion Area / Flux Capacitor(!) fitted ... it flies!

« on: 26 September 2008, 07:30:26 »