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136

General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?

« on: 28 September 2021, 09:55:56 »

Spent a couple of hours trying to ascertain why an Astra-H with keyless entry won't attempt to start, unsuccessfully.

Cheap cloned Chinese digs tat wasn't being very helpful at all, and for proper diags for an Astra-H you need a Tech 2 and a CANdi, neither of which I currently have

I know Gixer has the Tech2, CANdi still to be tracked down!

Have you tried the key...

Stupidly, there doesn't appear to be a procedure for if the car cannot pick up the transponder, and no physical key override for the ignition (only for the doors, which is plastic, and probably stands no chance in a 12 year old lock that has never been moved - we know how much force is sometimes needed on Omegas!).

My car, for example, has a place you can hold the key to start it, so it can still pick up the transponder chip, even if the key is failing.  The Astra manual suggests holding near wher ethe ignition switch would be, but there is nothing behind it, so thats just a bit silly.

Like any religion - you have believe without question otherwise you won't be saved ?

137

Omega General Help / Re: Still vibrating, the Whole Car and in "Every" Speed

« on: 21 September 2021, 13:08:59 »

One more to consider.

My wife's Galaxy developed fierce vibration through the steering and front of the car when a CV joint became worn.

It came on steadily over a 350 mile drive from Cornwall to Kent. The damn thing was barely drivable on the return journey a few days later.

I know the Omega isn't front wheel drive but it DOES have CV joints.

Just an idea.

138

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Re: Camshaft Voltage

« on: 18 September 2021, 11:21:50 »

Hi
THX for the help. A new one is one the way, I come back with status when i changed it. Maybe I change the ECU to a speeduino.

15 years ago I was looking to improve the ignition on an early V8 Range Rover. I spent a lot of time looking at Megasquirt and diyEFI but never actually got round to splashing any money.
Good to see that there is life in the diy ECU scene - I assumed that it had died out.

139

Omega General Help / Re: Still vibrating, the Whole Car and in "Every" Speed

« on: 17 September 2021, 10:41:53 »

Uneven wear of poor quality front brake discs caused my Omega to vibrate.

Initially it would begin at around 80mph+ (130k?) but as it got worse it would begin at slower speeds.

By the time I changed the front discs it was starting at about 60mph/100k - I was pleasantly surprised when the shacking stopped because I didn't believe it could be the cause 

140

Omega General Help / Re: Cam cover bolts

« on: 12 September 2021, 00:37:40 »

I bought a tiny torque wrench (and set it to 8Nm) for doing up all the 6mm screws.

It was money well spent because it is too easy to strip the thread on those tiny screws. It often happens at the end of a long day when you need to get the job finished and don't have time/patience to faff about.

141

Omega General Help / Re: Cam cover bolts

« on: 12 September 2021, 00:31:16 »

Okay thanks for that just thought I would check
Saves a few quid 

They're short M6 screws; a few pence each.

The first time I followed the combined wisdom of Haynes and the lad behind the VX parts counter I was talked into buying new bolts.

There are quite a lot of them so at VX prices they did cost me pounds rather than pence.

142

General Discussion Area / Re: 9/11

« on: 11 September 2021, 10:59:37 »

I was in an office block in central London.

Someone stood up in their cube and announced to the office that a plane had struck the world trade centre.

I didn't understand the enormity of what had happened until I got home and saw the news coverage.

143

General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?

« on: 06 September 2021, 11:37:33 »

Looks like rust to me.

144

General Discussion Area / Re: Twin rotor helicopters

« on: 02 September 2021, 00:41:52 »

Weren't they once considered flying death traps?

another problem was with the forward gearbox.

Helicopters can normally autorotate, if they lose power,  to make a controlled landing. A chinook is reliant on the rotors being synchronised to prevent the blades hitting each other

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_British_International_Helicopters_Chinook_crash

145

Omega General Help / Re: Vacuum hoses

« on: 31 August 2021, 10:16:07 »

The Vectra has a very different plenum design for packaging reasons, and might only have a single valve.

If you're using the Vectra ECU, then the multirams will never work correctly.

Likewise, if the sensors and wiring harness on the engine are not the Omega ones, then all bets are off as the pin outs on the ECU plugs may not be the same and the signals may not be correct.

Gotcha. Will check the "negative" wire on my front multiram, and even send a new wire. Based on the drawing below my (front MR) positive plug connects with the working positive on the Rear MR plug, and it seems I need to verify/route the negative wire for the front MR plug to Pin#8 on the ECU (?). How do I know this drawing is correct for the 2.6L? anyway I need daylight for that...

Is it possible to confuse the front multiram plug with something else? I have this nagging feeling that it is just possible to swap the front multiram plug and the air intake temperature sensor plug if you try hard enough (the later engines dropped the separate air intake temperature sensor)

146

General Car Chat / Re: Morris 8 Project

« on: 23 August 2021, 08:12:19 »

I don't have vehicular access to the bottom of my garden, but I reckon we can lift that body over two of my neighbours' fences, and everything else can be carried up the alley. This makes building it at home feasible.

How will you get it back over the fences when it's built?     

147

General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?

« on: 22 August 2021, 03:11:37 »

Master cylinder was my thoughts. It seems no seal kits are available[Big Red certainly don't have them] Were all Omega master cylinders the same or were there different types? The one on mine seems to say Lucas on it but it's awkward to see as it's partly under the reservoir.

A quick Google turned up several, both seals and new pistons LINK .


 I'm not keen on rebuilding this  sort of thing, and would only order rebuild parts after dismantling the suspect unit. That means immobilising the car for several days, and increasing the work.


Especially hard to justify when a similar search turns up new cylinders for £75, LINK

Absolutely agree.

There is near zero chance of the body of the master cylinder being in perfect condition given the years in service and time standing idle.

148

General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?

« on: 21 August 2021, 11:33:21 »

Master cylinder ?

It is the most plausible answer.

40 years ago you would have paid 2s & 6d for a packet of new master cylinder seals and had it fixed by lunchtime.

2 weeks later you would discover that the master cylinder was scored and the new seals were shot as well so you would do the job again but get the cylinder reamed first to remove the scoring.

149

Omega General Help / Re: Removing rear hub Questions.

« on: 19 August 2021, 12:14:50 »

Response to Nick-
Just to be clear, when inserting the bearing you say pull against the inner race? Why not drive in the bearing, pulling on the outer race?
Pulling on the inner aren't you risking pushing the bearing apart? bear in mind the hub is not out yet and I haven't seen a bearing in my hand yet!

Here's a cross section of the bearing:




Black is the outer race, green and red are the inners, arrow is the hub going in.
The hub is a light press fit into the inners.
If you don't support the red race while you doing this, you'll push it out, rather than the hub into it. That isn't good for your new bearing.


You always support the part of the bearing that you're fitting; the outer race when putting it into the trailing arm, and the inner race when fitting the hub

I wrote that I use the bearing puller set to refit the hub, which was a mistake: what I actually do is pull the hub through the bearing using its own nut and a couple of old inner races for spacers as necessary. The split one you cut off the hub will do, as the spacers need to be loose

The way I did it was
1. Pull the new bearing  into the swing arm using a spacer the correct size to press on the OUTER race. (Only press on the inner race if you are pulling a bearing that you have already decided to scrap as the balls are likely to indent the bearing surfaces.)
2. Pull the drive shaft through the inner bearing races using the drive flange nut. Use a spacer that will only press on the inner race otherwise you will pull the new bearing apart. Take care if you do use an old inner race as a spacer because it will be a b*rstard to get off afterwards (I chose not to)

150

Omega General Help / Re: 1995 rear brake back dust shield undo

« on: 17 August 2021, 00:22:47 »

What part number was the unbranded one supposed to match? 24436738 to fit an Omega B?

Or was it sold as fitting an Omega A, Senator B, Vectra A & Calibra?

Yes, I bought that to my Omega B. I could put them one upon another and take the new pic. I think they are similar (L&R).

So you bought the unbranded backplate as fitting an Omega B, which is fine.

However member addy asked about using Senator backplates on his Omega B? So what's still not answered is whether or not Omega A/Senator B/Vectra A/Calibra backplates can be used on an Omega B? EPC suggests not as they have differnent part numbers.

The old style Omega B pivot pins, with the crosshead, fit into the backplate from the outboard side. The new pins with no crosshead fit through the backplate from the inboard side. Either pin can be used. No need to change or upgrade the backplate. unless damaged. However to fit the newer style pins, without the crosshead, you need to loosen the four bolts and temporarily move the plate outwards so the pins can be installed. That's the GM service instruction.

The same service instruction is true of the Omega A/Senator B/Vectra A/Calibra pivot pins. The new style pins can be used by inserting them from the back of the plate.

Member addy shouldn't need to change his plates unless the locking slot is too damaged or corroded. There is no need to upgrade the pins for the new type if the plates are in good condition. Is's just that the new pin type, inserted from the back, are less likely to pull through the plate as they have a bigger contact area.

I definitely didn't loosen the 4 triple square bolts when I put the pins in from behind - I didn't have the tool to undo them. Quite how I managed it I can't remember, I think I spent a long time trying to feed the pin in from underneath the trailing arm before trying from above and then it just slipped in
On the subject of service instructions...... I have lost count of the times I have followed Haynes and spent days doing a 5 minute job, hopefully the GM service instructions are more accurate