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1

General Discussion Area / Re: Mishap or deliberate

« on: 16 November 2022, 01:32:59 »

Seems Legit

Photos of the wreckage are said to match Ukrainian S-300 AA missile.

Polish TV has said it had no Russian markings.

Probably that nutter Zelensky trying to escalate tension (in my view). 

2

Omega General Help / Re: Heater Issues (mostly resolved)

« on: 15 November 2022, 03:32:29 »

Thanks for the thought Doc!

If all goes well I'd like to do the timing belt next warm season. Odometer sits at 73000 so it needs doing.

I'm all the way up in the northeast corner so I'm about 300 miles NE of Pittsburg. If you ever get up this way the coffee pot is always on.

3

Omega General Help / Re: Heater Issues (mostly resolved)

« on: 14 November 2022, 15:39:14 »

Yepper, actuator rod disconnect is what I suspect to be the issue although actuator motor failure is also on the "possibles" list.

After speaking with my mom about her experience I found that she said the heat hasn't worked in "a long time" (several years) which leads me to believe the HCV died and since fluid stopped circulating through the core for several years..and then essentially sat for about three more years during and after covid while she drove it a total of around 300 miles...the core became plugged with gunk. I did save the HCV which seems to be a lightweight piece of junk IMO.

For now, the biggest problem has been resolved thankfully--in large part because of you folks on this forum who have built and maintained this collection of knowledge.

My hat's off to you for this service to the community!

4

Omega General Help / Heater Issues (mostly resolved)

« on: 14 November 2022, 04:26:42 »

I was getting little to no heat in my 2001 Catera at all so I chased all the relevant threads and formulated a plan of attack.

After much flailing about and wailing and gnashing of teeth it turns out the biggest issue was a bad HCV valve and a clogged heater core.

Given all the issues many have posted with the HCV valves I ended up swapping out the HCV for a 5/8 brass T for now. Will consider either replacing it with a new HCV or a valved T or Y connector so I can manually turn on the flow to the core for the Winter months and off for Summer. I began to get a small amount of heat shortly after doing the swap, but not enough. I flushed out the old Dexcool until I had pure water and added a bottle of Blue Devil radiator flush. I ran it for about an hour and a half including a 25 mile round trip to town. While driving the heat continued to get better until it was quite hot. Radiator temp was just shy of 50% on the gauge.

Drained and flushed again...and drained the radiator and reservoir as far as they would drain. I added 6 quarts of Prestone Platinum to the water that remained in the heater core and the engine and that topped the system up completely. After running another short drive to force the air out of the heater core I now have seriously "like new" heat on the driver's side, but sadly not the passenger side. I will check the activator rods under the passenger side sometime this week and see if I can find the correct operating rod to zip tie into the correct position to open up the mix valve flap for the winter. Heat will then be controlled by fan speed. Even without that the car gets plenty warm...

Gonna have to leave it like that for the winter.
 

5

Omega General Help / Re: Prestone Platinum Coolant

« on: 28 September 2022, 03:05:53 »

Point being that for the same price as Dex Cool you get what is allegedly a better product. With my mileage being well under 5,000 per year it will last several years with no worries.

In any event, it's my choice for the upcoming flush and recharge in the next week or so before the season kicks in up here in the mountains.

Cheers

6

Omega General Help / Re: Prestone Platinum Coolant

« on: 27 September 2022, 15:45:53 »

What are you expecting it to better than any other coolant that meets the engine desgner's specification?

According to the literature it is the best they make and will last 15 years or 350000 miles.

https://prestone.com/product/platinumafc/

MAXIMUM ENGINE PROTECTION† Guaranteed For All Vehicles
15+ Years**/350,000 Miles – Fluid Guaranteed for the Life of your Vehicle*
Extreme Freeze & Boil Over Protection -50 ̊F / +268 ̊F
Industry Leading Protection From Engine-Damaging Rust & Corrosion including our most advanced Prestone Cor-Guard® technology.
Universally works with all fluid colors; All OAT, POAT, HOAT & IAT; G05®, G11®, G12®, G12++®, G13®, G30®, G40®, & GG40®. For all engines & engine sizes, new and older engines.

7

Omega General Help / Prestone Platinum Coolant

« on: 26 September 2022, 23:15:47 »

Hmm.. First I guess I should ask if they sell this stuff in the UK?

I am about to do a full system flush and plan to replace the old Dex Cool red stuff with Prestoine Platinum.

Anyone here use this in their Omegas?

8

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

« on: 16 September 2022, 21:34:50 »

Spent a bit of time and elbow grease today resurrecting the 21 year old wheels on my 2001 Catera. Got this car from my mother who at age 86 finally decided it was time to hang up her driving gloves. She bought the car in 2003 from someone who traded it in with 30,000 miles on the meter. While she owned it she ran it up to 72K miles. It is in great shape with only a few minor issues to deal with.

Today I decided to get out the Flitz polish and give the wheels a good clean and polish. The center inserts had long ago shed their Cadillac logos save for one so I removed them and cleaned them up to remove the old glue spots and prep them to accept new "covers". Seems like there is still some life left in this old chrome eh?

9

General Discussion Area / Re: HM Queen Elizabeth ll health

« on: 12 September 2022, 02:55:42 »

As a 9 year old child I remember laying in my bed awake one night listening on an AM transistor radio to the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. It all seemed so hard to believe at that age that the man I had read so much about was gone. As an avid reader I consumed books, especially history and WWII. Because of that, Sir Winston was one of my heroes even over here in the states.

To now have witnessed the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II who was Queen all the way back then is actually quite remarkable.

I firmly believe the world was a better place because of both of them.

My sympathies on your loss.

10

Newbie Welcome Area / Re: Hello from the Colonies across the pond!

« on: 12 September 2022, 00:49:55 »

Will definitely keep that in mind for those times when I'm feeling frisky Stemo!

11

Newbie Welcome Area / Re: Hello from the Colonies across the pond!

« on: 11 September 2022, 14:14:26 »

Driving around in the Pocono mountains listening to the Allmans sounds like heaven. 
Welcome to OOF.

Thanks Mig!

It's quite refreshing to find a group of enthusiasts with such a wealth of information for my "New" 21 year old "baby". Even though it was well maintained while my mother owned it since 2004 I'm sure it will need some loving attention and having access to the obvious wealth of information I've seen here so far will make that so much more enjoyable (and less frustrating!)

12

Newbie Welcome Area / Re: Hello from the Colonies across the pond!

« on: 03 September 2022, 17:55:34 »

Welcome sounds like you have a really nice car..👍

Thanks Rangie!

So far, so good!

13

Newbie Welcome Area / Re: Hello from the Colonies across the pond!

« on: 03 September 2022, 17:54:16 »

Hi, welcome to the forum. 

Thank You!

14

Newbie Welcome Area / Re: Hello from the Colonies across the pond!

« on: 03 September 2022, 17:53:52 »

A very big welcome to you, and you have a lovely car there!

Thank You Lizzie!

15

Newbie Welcome Area / Re: Hello from the Colonies across the pond!

« on: 01 September 2022, 21:47:57 »

Hello and welcome to the forum  .

Thanks!

Was just out for a cruise testing out a Bluetooth/FM interface for the old gal and blasted some Allman Brothers through the Bose. Listening to "Blue Sky" at volume did the trick!

Dammitman if that didn't put a smile on my face