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16

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Flashing brake lights

« on: 11 December 2010, 23:54:12 »

Driving home tonight I got a brake light warning.  Getting out to check, I see that the brake lights are spontaneously doing short flashes every second or so.   

They are fine when the tail lights aren’t on, and the initial brake light check on start up clears as usual when the pedal is pressed.  But as soon as the lights are on (sidelights or headlights) the brake lights flash away festively.  When the brake pedal is pushed the brake lights go on as they should without flashing but on releasing the brake pedal the brake light warning comes on and the flashing resumes. 

Of course as a side effect, the slush box lever solenoid chatters away when in park, and the cruise turns itself off thinking the brakes have been operated.

Leading up to this, the left hand indicator sometimes stopped flashing when I used the brakes.  I put this down to a dirty connection in the NS/R cluster and, as the indicator bulbs were losing their yellow varnish anyway (facelift), I replaced both rear indicator bulbs and both brake/tail bulbs.  This fixed the indicator problem. 

I will get the meter on it tomorrow but, meanwhile, has anybody had this problem?  Or have any ideas?

Or should I put tinsel on it and call it a feature?   

17

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Centre console boot release

« on: 08 September 2010, 16:06:46 »

The boot release button on my facelift centre console doesn’t work.  It’s backlight comes on with the rest of the switches and the red LED comes on when the boot is open, but pressing the button does nothing. 

The boot release works fine from the key fob, so I am assuming the wiring to the boot latch is OK. 

I have popped the button out and checked that a good connection is made between two of the pins when the button is pressed (presumably the correct two pins  ). 

So my question is where does the wiring go from the switch, so I can check continuity? 

Is this a common problem with a well known fix, or is it on a fuse?

Thanks

(Oh, and yes, I have taken the key out of the ignition!)

18

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Power sounder removal

« on: 09 September 2010, 23:52:01 »

I’ve got an attack of the dreaded four beeps, so I’ll be whipping out the power sounder this weekend. 

I know the standard method is ignition off and disconnect battery within fifteen seconds, and wear earplugs if the sounder goes off as it’s disconnected.  But I read somewhere else on t’interweb that if you do the final disconnection of the power sounder with the ignition on, it won’t trigger at all and you save yourself the hassle of resetting the clock and radio. 

Is this true?  Is there any harm in trying it, other than general issues with working on the car with battery connected?

19

Omega General Help / Iffy rear shocks

« on: 21 September 2011, 13:53:23 »

Another 13 month ticket on the old girl today – thank goodness.   

Got an advisory “light misting of oil” on the rear shocks.  I’ve taken a butcher’s and it is indeed a very light misting, and I can’t detect any problem in the handling or on a bounce test.  What do you reckon – keep an eye on them until there is a noticeable degradation or replace them to be on the safe side?

Also, mine are self levellers, which TC doesn’t list for the saloon.  Are they 72119085 the same as the estate?

TIA

20

Omega General Help / Facelift centre armrest internals

« on: 03 August 2011, 21:50:35 »

Thought I’d have a bash at fixing my facelift centre armrest height adjust thingy – reminded by a recent post. 

I have taken the whole unit off the car – dead easy – but how do you get into the mechanism proper? 

There are two torx self tappers that loosen the plastic switch panel a little but it hasn’t dropped off easily and I’m reluctant to use brute force with plastic trim such as this. 

21

Omega General Help / Can the HBV hang in there?

« on: 22 July 2011, 13:50:59 »

Spotted a coolant leak today, looks as if it’s the Hateful Bl**dy Valve.  I’ve turned the climate control off completely and it is hardly losing anything at present. 

My question is can I trust it to last two or three hundred miles this weekend without failing catastrophically?  I have other things to do and really don’t have time to replace it before Monday.  I’d obviously keep an eye on the level and top up as necessary, and carry the spare just in case. 

Can I trust it to hang in there for a couple of days, or is it a ticking time bomb?

22

Omega General Help / Water pump suitability

« on: 30 May 2011, 18:01:04 »

BuyPartsBy were a little hesitant in supplying a water pump for my V6 because their part shows suitability for engine numbers up to 08579084 and my engine is later than this.  I went ahead and bought it anyway because I’m fairly sure all the six pots have the same pump throughout the run. 

Is this correct?

23

Omega General Help / How much ATF?

« on: 27 May 2011, 16:07:25 »

About to order enough Fuchs Titan 4000 to replace my ATF, taking advantage of the current Opie discount.  But how much is enough?

Capacity from empty is 8 and a bit litres but in his how-to guide geoffr70 could only drain about 5.5l.  Is this other people's experience too?  If so I will just buy 6l and save a few quid.

TIA

24

Omega General Help / Locking kit loan

« on: 21 May 2011, 13:34:03 »

Please can anybody lend me a V6 cam locking kit?  I’d obviously cover any shipping or other expenses involved, or can pick up in the London or Gatwick areas. 

TIA

25

Omega General Help / Which antifreeze?

« on: 20 May 2011, 15:08:45 »

I'll be changing the coolant shortly.  Currently have the regular green stuff.  Is it worth changing to the new red type?

If so, does it matter if it mixes with the remnants of the old green stuff or do I need to flush more thoroughly?

26

Omega General Help / Which water pump?

« on: 27 April 2011, 18:06:33 »

Hi gentlefolk.

Back after a long period of bad elf - good to see the forum is still going strong as ever.

Anyway, service time looms and I'll be doing the timing belt and water pump on my 2.6.  Which makes of water pump have you found to be reliable? 

Is the Febi OK (seems to be widely available)?  Is whatever BuyPartsBy is selling produced by anybody good? 

Any thoughts appreciated.

27

Omega General Help / Getting water out of headlight

« on: 20 November 2010, 16:58:33 »

Found water in the N/S headlight last weekend - serves me right for washing the car I suppose. 

I read in old posts that I should check the rubber bungs and run a bead of sealant around the plastic cover joint.  Fine, but how do I get the water out first?  Can the plastic front be removed in situ or is it a headlight out job? 

Or should I just stock it with goldfish and call it a feature?   

28

Omega General Help / So what's the rattle?

« on: 19 November 2010, 23:05:29 »

Went to WIM during the week, knowing that something was wrong.  Steering was vague and wandery and there was a little rattle at low speeds over gentle road undulations.  I assumed it was wishbone bushes and a drop link rattle. 

But WIM gave the all clear on all suspension components, front and rear, and the geometry setup has sorted out the vague steering.  (Thanks guys!) 

Great news all round of course but I'm left wondering what is that rattle?  Offside front definitely, not audible over 30mph, not worse over potholes but little juddery clonking noises over slightly uneven road surfaces.  Any ideas?

29

Omega General Help / Breather box access

« on: 20 September 2010, 00:41:55 »

Had a bash at cleaning out the breathers – thanks for the very useful maintenance guide.  I thought my breather bridge was reasonably clear until I saw the amount of gunge coming out.  And it was only after ten minutes of carb cleaner hallucinations that I realised there are two pinholes for the carbon canister vent that were completely blocked to the point of being invisible.

Then I turned to the breather box behind the engine, or at least I tried to – your ‘avin a giraffe, incha?  I reckon that access is more or less impossible with the scuttle off, and a good bit harder than that with it on.   

So what’s the secret?  I didn’t have time to faff around so I’m afraid the engine is back together with the job only half done.  Short of the RMcB method of taking the engine out, how do you get to the breather box?

30

Omega General Help / Key fob boot release

« on: 06 September 2010, 17:09:16 »

One of my key fobs will lock and unlock the car but won't release the boot. 

The car end of things must be OK because all three buttons work fine on the other key fob. 

I have replaced the battery and checked that the switch is OK, and that shorting across the switch with a paperclip also fails to work (either to open the boot or to light the key fob LED). 

Am I right in assuming that the fob PCB is burgered or could this be a programming issue?

TIA