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1

Omega General Help / Re: auto box top up

« on: 31 January 2007, 13:11:00 »

halfords do a 5l dextron 3 bottle for £21, and i think eurocarparts do a similar price.

Although euro car parts told me i would only need 1.2 litres to refill the sump/system after completely draining and refitting the main and intermediate sump, even after i showed them the actual capacity of it (8.4l from dry, 4.4l after refitting main sump)

Am doing mine at the weekend and was thinking of taking some photo's for a guide if anyone thinks it will be useful.

(please dont confuse this with a willingness to do anyone elses for them) ;

2

Omega General Help / Re: Transmision leak.

« on: 28 January 2007, 20:47:08 »

Thanks.  That is what i was planning to do, but then found the leak. Will use the guide to refill the sump tho once i have refitted it, as it sounds ten times easier than the way described in haynes!!

Don't suppose you know if its just a simple leak/gasket gone or if it sounds like something more serious?

3

Omega General Help / Transmision leak.

« on: 28 January 2007, 19:54:07 »

Having taken the advice offered in response to my first posting (tale of woe) i have found something rather concerning.
The intermediate sump for the transmision fluid seems to be leaking considerably.  The main sump seems ok, but what i think is the transmision casing, just forward of the intermediate sump, is also fairly well covered in oil.  I am hoping this is just from the intermediate sump and has ran down on to it.  I am going to change the transmision oil, filter and gaskets on both sumps in the hope that this will fix the problem, but if anyone has any tips or more info on this please can you help.  Also, if i am wasting my time, as this is signs of something more serious please let me know.
(Its an automatic by the way) :-/

4

Omega General Help / Re: Tale of woe, reposted.

« on: 21 January 2007, 19:20:23 »

Hi,

Having sorted the blocked hose i have had no problem with any more oil leakage.  I found two things useful in getting rid of all the oil before removing the spark plugs.  An empty bottle from a printer cartridge refill kit, (it has a really fine, long nozzle and sucks ok) and two straws taped together and plenty of sucking, (oil tastes especially good on a saturday morning!!)
I have replaced the leads aswell as the plugs as i thought they would be wrecked, while this sorted the problem to start, it didn't last.  I will try cleaning the other parts you mentioned though.
I have also completely replaced the icv as i thought that was the main problem.  Again it fixed it for two weeks and now im back to square 1!

5

Omega General Help / Re: Tale of woe, reposted.

« on: 21 January 2007, 19:03:56 »

There is no hissing sound under the bonnet, but the engine sounds very 'raw' in general, kind of like the sound of a much meatier engine than it is. I dont know if this is due to a lack of air or another problem, i am begining to think that the engine may be fubared!!!
since the original oil being found there has been no repeat of this.  When the first lot was found i removed the cover that exposes what i think was the cam (not the ecotec plastic one but the only other one on the top of the engine, there were about 8 screws to remove to get it off) to see if the seal was gone, but it was ok, is that what the gasket was?
one of the hoses off this cover was blocked (i think that it was one of the breathers!?) but i have fixed this and there has been no more oil trouble.
i'm not sure how to block the egr off, even with a coke can and would appreciate a bit more info on how to do this.  I am happy to look at previous postings if there are any relating to this, but have so far found none.
the ems light comes on as normal and then goes out upon starting, the only light that has came on is the mentioned handbrake light and that has only flickered as if there was a loose wire, and seems to have resolved itself after the top up in brake fluid.

6

Omega General Help / Tale of woe, reposted.

« on: 21 January 2007, 15:34:29 »

Hi all.

Having read many forums i thought it was time to join one, especially as im having problems with the wifes omega.  Its a v reg 2.0 GLS automatic.  I dont drive myself and as such have little experience in car maintenance, but now find myself trying to learn quickly.

I think the car was owned by a rep as it has 74000 on the clock, and only one  previous owner.  Shortly after buying it, the car started to stall at idle or when changing gear.  The problem was sporadic and so we decided a service might help.  With the brother in laws help we set out to do this and found the first problem...in where the spark plugs go was full of oil!!! After a bit of sucking we cleared this and replaced the plugs, leads, oil filter and oil.  We also found that the smaller hose coming off the top of the engine (you'll have to excuse the technical terms, as mentioned im new to this!) was blocked and pretty much rotton, so we replaced this.  We also put some fuel system cleaner through.  
The car seemed to run better for a week or two and then the stalling started to happen again.  I checked to see if the oil was back but all was clear on that front, and after monitoring the problem and viewing this and other forums i came to the conclusion that the icv needed replacing.  With the help of Haynes, i managed this job, and again all was fine for about two weeks.

The problem is now back, but slightly different so im not sure what the cause is.  The car still stalls but it seems to be mainly under braking at low speeds or heavily, and when changing gear.  In addition the revs are all over the place at idle.  in neutral they get up to 2000 and then drop to 900-1200 in drive. the car also lurches when changing between the two.  Also the kickdown doesnt always work.

One final thing, the handbrake light was flickering when accelerating, i was going to replace the brake fluid completely but the wife took it to quickfit to check the pads and they topped it up when she said not to!! theres now three different fluids in there!!!!  the light has stopped flickering though.

My limited knowledge doesnt help me much, but i thought maybe the automatic transmision fluid might be the problem, as the car is fine at speed and cruising.  Alternativley that the icv was getting fried by a high voltage.  i know we should stick it on a machine but all my local dealers want to charge 60 quid minimum and hint at several hundred, and i gather they still wont be able to help!

If anyone could help i would be ever grateful, and if anyone needs any more info please ask.  If you do reply, please try not to get to techi as i probably wont understand.  I would like to fix the car as we both think its great, but we are now getting frustrated as it seems that this could be a saga as long as this posting!!!

PS. to anyone with a dodgy icv i would advise replacing it yourself, as it is quite simple and cost me £75 as opposed to £250 to get it done by vauxhall.

7

Newbie Welcome Area / Re: Hello, and welcome to my tale of woe!

« on: 21 January 2007, 15:51:27 »

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

forgot to say have replaced the air filter, and checked the main pipe and hoses coming off and all seemed to be intact when i serviced it.
as for the egr is it better to just replace that or is cleaning it ok, and then refit with a new gasket?

8

Newbie Welcome Area / Hello, and welcome to my tale of woe!

« on: 21 January 2007, 15:13:59 »

Hi all.

Having read many forums i thought it was time to join one, especially as im having problems with the wifes omega.  Its a v reg 2.0 GLS automatic.  I dont drive myself and as such have little experience in car maintenance, but now find myself trying to learn quickly.

I think the car was owned by a rep as it has 74000 on the clock, and only one  previous owner.  Shortly after buying it, the car started to stall at idle or when changing gear.  The problem was sporadic and so we decided a service might help.  With the brother in laws help we set out to do this and found the first problem...in where the spark plugs go was full of oil!!! After a bit of sucking we cleared this and replaced the plugs, leads, oil filter and oil.  We also found that the smaller hose coming off the top of the engine (you'll have to excuse the technical terms, as mentioned im new to this!) was blocked and pretty much rotton, so we replaced this.  We also put some fuel system cleaner through.  
The car seemed to run better for a week or two and then the stalling started to happen again.  I checked to see if the oil was back but all was clear on that front, and after monitoring the problem and viewing this and other forums i came to the conclusion that the icv needed replacing.  With the help of Haynes, i managed this job, and again all was fine for about two weeks.

The problem is now back, but slightly different so im not sure what the cause is.  The car still stalls but it seems to be mainly under braking at low speeds or heavily, and when changing gear.  In addition the revs are all over the place at idle.  in neutral they get up to 2000 and then drop to 900-1200 in drive. the car also lurches when changing between the two.  Also the kickdown doesnt always work.

One final thing, the handbrake light was flickering when accelerating, i was going to replace the brake fluid completely but the wife took it to quickfit to check the pads and they topped it up when she said not to!! theres now three different fluids in there!!!!  the light has stopped flickering though.

My limited knowledge doesnt help me much, but i thought maybe the automatic transmision fluid might be the problem, as the car is fine at speed and cruising.  Alternativley that the icv was getting fried by a high voltage.  i know we should stick it on a machine but all my local dealers want to charge 60 quid minimum and hint at several hundred, and i gather they still wont be able to help!

If anyone could help i would be ever grateful, and if anyone needs any more info please ask.  If you do reply, please try not to get to techi as i probably wont understand.  I would like to fix the car as we both think its great, but we are now getting frustrated as it seems that this could be a saga as long as this posting!!!

PS. to anyone with a dodgy icv i would advise replacing it yourself, as it is quite simple and cost me £75 as opposed to £250 to get it done by vauxhall.

PPS. i have reposted this on the general omega questions section of the site now.

9

General Discussion Area / Re: 2 litre chips

« on: 10 February 2007, 22:31:46 »

I too would be interested.  

Also been wondering if there are any tech 2 software upgrades that would be worth having.  as far as i know i have whatever it left the factory with.

10

General Discussion Area / Re: Hard Drive

« on: 09 February 2007, 22:54:01 »

In all likleyhood TB is right; getting a new system is the best (and simplest) option,  However it would be useful to know how old the machine is as hard drives do have a life span.  You can easily tell how full the hard drive is by going to my computer, then assuming your hard drive is refered to as 'C' right clicking on it then selecting properties, it should tell you in the form of a pie chart.  

other factors to consider are the other components such as the video card that may prevent you using the newest programmes, if thats what you use the machine for.

In the interim, while you decide, you may help your hard drive by doing the following if you are running windows xp as your OS; (by the way if you are you really need a minimum of 512mb memory)

go to start
then run
type cmd
hit ok
type the following exactly, including spaces

convert c: /fs:ntfs
then hit return

the 'c' part is the letter that signifies your hard drive.

All that this does is change the form that operating files are stored and should slightly speed up your machine.

i suspect though that you are best off getting a new machine.

if you want any more info on any of the above please let me know.

now for the technical part!!!!   :-/

the probable cause for the chattering is this:

when you run a programme the information needed to run it is stored in the memory.  If there is not enough to store everything, it gets stored on the hard drive, in a 'virtual' memory  it takes longer to access this virtual memory on a hard drive than it does to access proper memory, and it slows the system down as it keeps needing to access the correct point on the hard drive (kind of like looking up an entry in the yellow pages continuously). the chattering is basically the same noise as you flicking through the pages.  The crux of the problem is that while the pc does this it struggles to do anything else.

if you check the hard drive and its not full more memory should help.

11

General Discussion Area / Re: Complaint sent to BBC re Top Gear

« on: 05 February 2007, 13:15:51 »

front of the alpha was nice. looked angry.

still couldn't have a TT.

12

General Discussion Area / glass screws

« on: 05 February 2007, 13:03:29 »

Out of interest does this apply to all omegas or just mine.

over the weekend i replaced the transmision fluid and tried to clean the breather tubes, throttle housing etc, and ended up with three snapped screws.

i was using a torque wrench and turning the right way and now i have a pain in the rectum job to remove these screws.

also from the state of the breathers and cam cover, i may have more joy just replacing them, so if anyone has any spares or knows where to get them??

if anyone knows anything aout removing screws id love some help.  i think i know what to do and have a kit, but not sure, as ive never had to do it before.

13

General Discussion Area / Signs

« on: 30 January 2007, 13:57:26 »

just noticed that there are 666 members at the mo!!!

 :-?