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[littlesis]

hi people!!  im trying to help my big bro out and have found my way here, he has an omega v6 cdx saloon automatic on a v plate and is having major problems. when hes driving along the tractioncontrol light keeps lighting up randomly, whenever it does this it switches the car into a different running mode which is then followed by the engine temperature shooting up into the red, at this point he switches the engine off..as you would do.... and then its a while before it will restart again, when it does restart it will be okay until the next time the light comes back on...it is happening a few times a day and he says he is having to put in at least 2 litres of water everyday...nightmare!!!...it got even worse when vauxhall failed to solve the problem, they had it in overnight and left it running the whole night to try and figure it out but to no avail.......they have said there is nothing they can do so my bro is now stuck with it and he has his mot coming up and its never going to pass cos its going to end up doing it whilst in the bay. what can we do....it was vauxhall main dealer that me bro went to and he was persistant with them in trying to get them to sort it so there seems no point in going back there again..wondered if anyone else has had this or similar or any thoughts on where he could take the car next?? all help would be greatly appreciated...thanks alot for taking the time out to read this post...all the best..little sis x

[Markjay]

I am not sure about the traction control light, it may unrelated... are you sure it is the traction control?

However... the car is obviously loosing coolant. V6 Omegas tend to loose coolant from the Heater Bypass Valve (HBV) which is located at the rear of the engine and is fiddly to get to, but not too expensive to fix (around £30 for the part).

The other common fault for the V6 is loosing coolant through the Oil Cooler which is buried inside the 'V' between the two engine heads. The part will cost around £100, but it takes some dismanteling before you get to it so will be expensive labour-wise if not done DIY.

Do you get oily deposits in the coolant top-up bottle? If so then you almost certainly have a failed oil cooler.

On top of that, like any other car the Omega can loose coolant from a a verity of places such as a perished hose or leaking radiator etc.

A failed head gasket is also a possible cause, but less likely on the V6.

In short, you need to try and sort out the coolant loss first, then take it from there....

[Entwood]

Are you CERTAIN it is the traction light ??

Sounds to me like it could be the EML light and the car drops into "limp" mode.

If so, then the "paperclip" test

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1189022687

is the first thing to do.

The coolant loss could be the HBV as stated, if the VX dealers had a different cabin temperature set than you do, this could be why they got no leak and you do.

My .. random .. thoughts are this possibility ... at certain cabin temps the HBV is leaking badly (coolant loss/overheat), this coolant is shorting out the DIS pack which is right underneath, hence the EML detects a problem and drops the car to "limp" mode.

Probably miles out .. if so an expert will pass by shortly and corrrect me ..

[Markjay]

See also:

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1193594464
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1192574064

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1192574209

[littlesis]

hi peeps...thanx so much for the advice, ive written it all down and im off to see my bro shortly so will get some feedback from him and see where we get...i do know it is definitley the traction light cos thats whats been confusing him, he says when vauxall had it in they had it a week and they found only one fault code but they didnt know what it meant!! he has since called them back over and over to question them on various things but they never say anything helpful or know answers to anything. i reckon his best bet is to do as you say with eliminating the water loss first as it makes sense that water could be dripping on to something else and causing other probs. until now we have been viewing it as a singular problem so it is good to realise that we could get somewhere with it if we look with a fresh perspective!! anyways....thanx so much again...forums like this really do help where quite often companies fail to deliver.... a great site...best wishes to all and their cars!!!!!!

[Marks DTM Calib]

Where are you?

Or more importantly, where is the car?

[ians]

Are you CERTAIN it is the traction light ??

Sounds to me like it could be the EML light and the car drops into "limp" mode.

If so, then the "paperclip" test

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1189022687

is the first thing to do.

The coolant loss could be the HBV as stated, if the VX dealers had a different cabin temperature set than you do, this could be why they got no leak and you do.
My .. random .. thoughts are this possibility ... at certain cabin temps the HBV is leaking badly (coolant loss/overheat), this coolant is shorting out the DIS pack which is right underneath, hence the EML detects a problem and drops the car to "limp" mode.

Probably miles out .. if so an expert will pass by shortly and corrrect me ..

..or if they switched off the AC that can also make a big difference..

I must say, this Vx dealer sounds truly inept - not knowing what a fault code means!   I would like to think they had checked the HBV as that is the obvious fail point, but it sounds like that is not to be assumed.

[ffcgary1]

What vx main dealer meant by they dont know what it meant ,WAS THAT THEY CANT BE BOTHERED TO FIND THE FAULT SO PASS IT BACK TO YOU, untill you say fix it whatever the cost then as if by magic they fix it and you get a bill a mile long for all kinda parts that they supposedly fitted.  
It does sound more lke the EML light than TC as the car goes into limp mode. coolant loss is most likly to be the HBV as already stated.

[adi191927]

Maybe your brother should find out from the dealer what fault code was coming up.Presumably that would help the experts on the forum.

[JasonH]

If you can tell us where the car is (roughly) there may be a forum expert that could take a look. You shouldn't put the full address on this public forum but once we know which town the car's in someone local could send you a private message to arrange to take a look at it.

You can read a fault code using a paperclip (yes really) so no need to try to extract the info from the dealer.

[Kevin Wood]

Might be worth trying a drive with the ABS/TC fuse removed to see if it is the TC interfering with things. Bear in mind that you'll obviously have no ABS or TC and speedo and speed sensitive power steering won 't work as these require a speed signal from the ABS ECU.

Also, check the engine and ABS/TC for fault codes.

Kevin