Just thought I'd post to update on life with my Omega, it's been relatively painless apart from one or two little issues...
I noticed sometime ago that the engine management light wasn't coming on with the ignition, only the engine electronics light (car with spanner) so I thought I'd try 'the pedal trick' to see if any fault codes were stored. I got 0430 and 0420 which are to do with lambdas or cat's not operating correctly and 0650, malfunction of indicator lamp, or usually someones removed the bulb from the dashboard to try and mask the other faults! The car was still driving fine so I didn't feel the need to look into the problems any further.
The next issue was a little more serious as it caused me to break down at the side of the road whilst on the way to collect my Daughter from school, the car had lost all electrical power but luckily I was not too far from the school so I was able to get there on time plus it's only a short walk back home. Once at home I removed the battery from the Omega I still have for breaking and went back to my stranded car and fitted it, I noticed then that the battery light was not coming on but the car started and drove home fine.
I know that on some older cars if the battery light on the dash fails then it can stop the charge from the alternator reaching the battery so, after checking fuses and relays, I stripped the dash to check the light was still intact which it was.
Oh well, at least I knew where to find a replacement alternator, and it wasn't going to cost a fortune either!
I soon managed to unbolt the replacement alternator from the engine block and disconnected the wires but then I realized I wasn't going to be able to free it from the engine bay without first removing the air filter box and variable inlet gubbins.
Also, on refitting I somehow managed to miss the top mounting on the block and when I tightened up the nut and bolt I heard a horrible cracking noise, I thought I'd cracked the alternator casing as it's only cast aluminium which is quite brittle. Luckily I'd only dislodged one of the steel collets that act as guides and spacers for the bolts, I popped it back in and all was well.
My replacement alternator looks almost new, I guess someones not long had it refurb'd...
Whilst I had the dash apart checking the battery light I noticed that the engine management bulb had indeed been removed so I replaced that too. It now operates as it should and goes off after a few seconds once the engine is started. No sign of any emissions related issues now either, seems they have sorted them selves out!
Another problem has been my shiny new Irmscher back box which looked wrong due to it hanging too low. I was able to cut the bumper easily enough so as to allow it to be raised but that caused it to bang and knock on the bumper bracket every now and again which was getting on my nerves.
I decided to remove the bumper to allow me to trim the bracket slightly but then discovered that the rear bumper was held on with 'Tiger Seal' in places! Both the bumper rail and the inner arch liner were damaged on the passenger side.
I replaced the arch liner easily enough but the bumper rail is riveted on so I had to drill them out and then use a few 10.m.m. self tappers (the bolts that hold the front wings on are ideal) in their place.
Whilst the bumper was off I discovered that someone has hacked the foam backing to pieces, I've no idea why but can only assume they became frustrated when fitting the reversing sensors!
The above picture shows how much they trimmed down the foam when compared to the undamaged item below it.
The picture below shows how I removed the sensors one at a time to mark the exact areas to be trimmed.
And this is the bumper about to go back on, note the wires safely taped out of harms way rather than left to trail...
Final picture, all back together with no more knocking and banging, and looking better too!
No other major issues with the car but I am having a few insurance problems, as a result you should expect to see a For Sale ad appearing on the Forum some time soon. And maybe a few pictures added to this thread that show a clean car, for a change...
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Topic: Mi Amigo (Read 6696 times)