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211

Omega General Help / MOT failure emissions, high lambda

« on: 05 April 2017, 12:55:26 »

Petrol 2001 manual 2.2 saloon
Good on CO2 and HC but lambda reading varying from 1.16 to 1.036. The engine light comes on occasionally code 0420 emissions bank one. Omega 2.2s have 2 lambda sensors, I understand the first one does the measurement and the second is the German emission test sensor, not used in UK. My hunch is to change the first lambda sensor and submit car for retest, but I seek advice.

212

Omega General Help / Brakes a bit slow to engage

« on: 05 April 2017, 10:28:04 »

2001 petrol manual 2.6 saloon
My daughter complains that her foot brake is a bit slow to come on hard. I have tried it myself, and agree there is a slight delay. On hard braking it is fine, MOTs no problem, no excess travel. I have changed pads, no change. She lives with it, but having had several Omegas before she observes this one is not quite right.
Master cylinder cup? Servo?

213

Omega General Help / 30.2mpg over 3847 miles in a 2.2

« on: 02 April 2017, 19:44:46 »

I bought X807, a petrol manual Omega CDX 2.2, via e-bay last July for £190, to replace a similar car that had been crashed into and written off. After sorting it I handed it over to my son Jonny. He brought it back last Thursday for me to MOT it. I checked the fuel consumption figure on the computer, it read 30.2mpg over 3847 miles. Not bad, is it, for a 2.2?

214

Omega General Help / Difficulty insuring my manual 3.2

« on: 27 February 2017, 17:44:28 »

When I put my Police Special Omega 3.2 into comparison sites they tell me the reg.no. says it's an Elite automatic. When I tell them it's a manual transmission  they think it's an import. In the past I suspect brokers have just nodded it through. Do any insurers understand police specials?

215

Omega General Help / New fuel pump gasket

« on: 25 February 2017, 09:08:43 »

Haynes did say aways use a new gasket when changing a fuel pump but he would. . Lsat Saturday I refitted the old rather stiff gasket. Now I can smell petrol. Is a new gasket normally necessary? What is the best source?

216

Omega General Help / Rust of fuel pipes below boot floor

« on: 21 February 2017, 06:54:45 »

On several Omegas the smell of petrol at rear of car has led me to discover rust in the feed pipe below boot floor, which I repaired with Araldite. When changing a fuel pump last Saturday I discovered that on my 2 spares one cap was good as new and the other was rusted beyond further use, see pic. Happily the estate I was repairing also had an as new cap, suggesting that estate caps last better.

217

Omega General Help / Rattling catalyst - is it MOT failure or merely advisory?

« on: 15 February 2017, 13:25:28 »

2.5 petrol maniual estate

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218

Omega General Help / Intermittently noisy heater fan

« on: 08 February 2017, 14:05:24 »

2.5 petrol manual estate
The heater fan on this car rattles on start up, then rattles or howls on and off when it feels like it. It has been doing this for the last week. In the olden days eventually half a twig would suddenly pop into the cabin and the noise would cease. This car has a pollen filter, however, so I fear something has come adrift within the fan. I suppose I must remove the fan and inspect it. Reading the guide it sounds like the top screw is a challenge.

219

Omega General Help / P180 fuel trim code displayed.

« on: 07 February 2017, 19:54:59 »

Petrol 2.2 manual saloon
My son Jonny, to whom I gave a £10 code reader to cancel his weekly EML illumination with code P420 read out, reports a new code, P180 fuel trim. What does that tell me?

220

Omega General Help / Not much rust

« on: 05 February 2017, 11:04:31 »

2.5 petrol manual estate
This 17 year old car is remarkable rust free, as an MOT tester remarked. I bought it 3 years ago from OOFer ajsphead in Portishead, on the south west coast. I was checking the state of the rear wishbone bushes, and noticed the front wheel arches were strangely rust free. Wishbone rear bushes look good too, and I could trace no slack in them. Pics follow.

NEARSIDE WHEEL ARCH

OFFSIDE WHEEL ARCH

NEARSIDE WISHBONE REAR BUSH

OFFSIDE WISHBONE REAR BUSH

 

221

Omega General Help / Two squirts to start first start in the morning

« on: 05 February 2017, 09:18:52 »

2.5 petrol manual estate
I have mentioned this before. Unlike my other Omegas, this car does not start well first start of the day. First 2 second starter squirt, nothing, second squirt it fires up. Restarts it fires up first time.

I thought it might be lost fuel pressure at the engine, so first thing this morning I removed the fuel pipes at the manifold. As I suspected, no fuel spurted out. Pressure loss at the pump end? A leaky injector?

I replaced the fuel pipes and started the engine. It immediately fired up. That puzzled me too.

222

Omega General Help / New HBV failed after 400 miles

« on: 10 January 2017, 14:28:19 »

2.5 petrol manual estate
I reported recently how this car was losing coolant briskly on LO-LO auto setting. I changed the HBV valve for new bought from Drive Vauxhall Bristol. All seemed well, I drove the car 200 miles last Friday, then lent the car to son Ben while I repaired his stalling Rover Streetwise. Next day he reported low coolant message. He had turned heater from 'auto' to 'off'. I topped up coolant, set heater to auto, LO-LO and again coolant dripped steadily out. I couId not see source of leak, but from below it drips down RHS of gearbox and I can glimpse the HBV thereabouts.

It couldn't be anything else, could it?

I bought 2 valves while I was in Bristol, so I have a spare, presumably from the same batch. I shall fit it unless advised otherwise.

223

Omega General Help / Coolant loss, suspect HBV. is hot or cold best setting to reveal it?

« on: 28 December 2016, 16:35:14 »

2.5 petrol manual estate
This car is losing coolant, no other symptons. I suspect heater bypass valve, I understand heater setting is important, should I set it hot or cold to reveal it?

224

Omega General Help / Weak brake servo assistance

« on: 26 December 2016, 12:16:50 »

2.6 petrol manual saloon
I noticed while road testing daughter's 2.6 following misfire repair that it needs more pedal pressure to stop than the other 5 Omegas. It has just passed MOT, I could bring in the ABS on a dry road with a good heave, but it requires more force than it should. Vacuum line looks OK. What might cause this?

225

Omega General Help / Plug sticks don't fail. do they?

« on: 25 December 2016, 09:36:12 »

2.6 petrol manual, daughter's car based in Enfield. Current mileage 106006
I bought this car May 2015, 95388 miles. Changed cam belt & pulleys, plugs (GM011), replaced aftermarket plug sticks with Bosch to cure slight misfire at low revs on full throttle; changed RH cam cover gasket, LH OK. Car has performd impeccably ever since, is home for MOT, passed no advisories. On Friday wife used this car to collect son who had caught wrong bus, complained of flashing EML light and misfire.
 Yesterday morning I read codes, got PO300, PO306. I removed plugs 1-3-5, found some oil in no. 3 plug hole. Washed the plugs and plug sticks in petrol, put them back, misfire was worse, codes PO300, PO306, PO301, PO304.
This morning at 7am, after opening Christmas stocking (my family are nuts), I removed 2-4-6 plugs. No. 6 is dirty.
I fear by washing oily plug stick rubbers first, then plugs in same petrol in small pot, I may have made plugs 1-3-5 oily, thus making them prone to misfire. No. 6 plug was dirty, don't know why, though I imagine that was the original fault. No chance of buying new plugs today, however I have a plug shot blasting tool.
I wonder what failed first. Was it oil in no. 3 (plug came out looking OK), or dirty no. 6? Might the plug stick have failed on no. 6? The plug stick looks fine, do they ever fail?

I wish all forum members a jolly Christmas day.