Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[omegavan]

Hey guys

Not sure why I never joined before but its defo where I need to be now and would be grateful of any help and advice please

Heres my converted 1999 Omega 2.5td van.... I bought back in 2012 off ebay , im sure some will remember the car

been an excellent motor with 48k on the clock then, now on about 110k and to be honest the only issues shes had has been the belt tensioner cracked and pulley fell off lol but was an easy fix, oh and a London bus outside Tower Hill ripped the front bumper off, so i upgraded her to a new one in the same colour with added fog lamps


The issue I have is last week the gears where a little crunchy, I thought it was my being lazy on the clutch but then I noticed blue fluid under the car after a few days, the symptoms im getting are when trying to change gear its very hard to get in and have to push hard, so i decided not to drive again incase i do damage, when stationary I depress the clutch then into first gear and rev a little and you feel a slight drag like its trying to pull away.. and when you rev gently theres a rattle that sounds low down, goes into all gears ok when stationary. never had any clutch slip.. thought it was the concentric slave and the thought of changing that on my drive :/

then i read somewhere on here that coolant fluid getting into and contaminating the clutch...so im going to go have a lay underneath today and have a poke around... I try to tackle most problems with the motors ive had but thought of this one without a bench is dull lol

any help would be great thanks

il try post some pics up too

wayne

[106pete]

Wow never seen a van version before, I can't begin to imagine how much stuff you can get in that boot lol

[omegavan]

LOL you can just about get an 8X4 sheet just over your heads to fit in with the boot closed.

shes been very handy for laying a few classic car panels ive picked up for other motors like big rear quarters,  other than that it doubles up as a bed for the night ha.. gets a few funny looks, some say its abit of a hearse looking motor, im sure if required you could get a few bodies in the back   

might be going nowhere if i dont get her fixed lol

[Lazydocker]

Going back about 16 years, the boss of the local undertaker (whose vehicles we looked after and serviced) had a 3.0 Estate with limo tints. It wasn't unheard of for him to collect bodies in it

[terry paget]

Very smart van! I use my Omega estates as vans and they carry lots, with the roof rails for large items.
My petrol 2.5 Omega estate was losing brake fluid recently, turned out to be via the clutch slave cylinder. I could see drips at the bottom of the bell housing. I imagine the diesel is similar, if so it's a gearbox off job to change the concentric clutch slave cylinder. Quite a job, and you might as well pop on a new clutch while you're in there. Good luck!

[BazaJT]

Must say it does have a certain "private ambulance"look to it,but I like it.There again I like hearses too.Is it the blue anti-freeze you are using?A lot on here seem to favour the pink[?]coolant,certainly sounds clutch related whether contaminated or not.

[omegavan]

thanks for your replies guys.. looks like its the clutch and or slave then, as when i depress the clutch when in gear theres a rattle and drag, but never any slipping when driving yet, unless somethings come loose/broke due to the oil leakage, my coolant is pink and i flushed and renewed this just before winter when i put the new tensioner on and gave a good service, must admit ive never changed the gearbox oil.. only blue fluid is in my washer fluid,

always passed the mot last 3 years no advisories as yet, new battery and windscreen a few months ago too, and has had the oil changed regular at national tyres.

sitting thinking about it here, MOT is due next month and needs rear handbrake looking at and a plate up the front welded on front chassis leg, and the cost of all the clutch, slave, oils and any hidden other costs, I cant see its economical to keep her atm, had lots of new parts seems a shame to sell or scrap. bought new plugs and fuel filters last month too lol typical

il have to have a think about where to go with her

[terry paget]

Are you losing brake fluid? Is there a drip from the bottom of the bell housing?

[omegavan]

Had another look today and the brake fluid level has not gone down.... but I think the blue dripping off the gearbox bell housing is diesel, I put a board under the car and let it drip.

when I put the ignition on I don't hear the pump activate from inside the car like I used too, and she's taking a good few turns to fire up... that aside I still have the difficulty of getting into gear when driving issue lol

I gave the motor a wash and stood back and thought sell or keep.. so I am going to move the cars around and get her in my garage, and box off in a few weeks to have a look..

mad really cause its only an old omega but I like the van.. been such a good and practical motor even thou it was a pig to get an insurance company to insure me..  #slightly attached ha

[terry paget]

Crunchy gear changes, sounds like leaking slave to me. The fluid take off the brake reservoir is high up so that you don't lose your brakes if the clutch leaks fluid. My low brake fluid light glimmered ocasionally, topping up cured it for a while, but it went down again. Your clutch may be fine, it should not slip yet, mine was fine, I just thought while | had it apart it was worth changing. Clutch kit (friction plate and pressure plate) cost about £100, slave cylinder and thrust bearing about the same. Job involves removing exhaust, prop shaft and gearbox, to get access to the clutch.
On the Senator the clutch slave cylinder was external to the gearbox and easily changed. The Omega has the superior concentric slave cylinder, more reliable, no lever to bend, but a sod to change.

[Bojan]

Very interesting conversation.
Can you give more (as many as posible) pics of the interior.

[Viral_Jim]

Very interesting conversation.
Can you give more (as many as posible) pics of the interior.

Indeed interesting. Seats are pfl saab 9-5 if I'm not mistaken, may have been in the OG 9-3 as well but not sure   . Everything else looks miggy to me. Were the seats easy to swap and are they heated still?

[omegavan]

Hi guys

found some effort and time to start looking at the Van, the bad leak was diesel from the black cover on the side of the diesel pump,loosing quite alot and all down the bell housing, so ive cleaned it up well so just need to get some sealer now, need to change a few of the small hoses in the engine bay as they look a little brittle, and I saw a post on here where the common turbo pipe was changed for an ally one, so might do that as the mess the standard one makes is getting ugly.

as for the gearbox, im pulling it off when the suns next out and im not numb on the garage floor lol

The seats are indeed Saab, thats all i know, not heated thou, all I changed was the door cards from cloth to leather ones, i found four trims for 99p on ebay lol bargain, shame as i only needed the fronts,  surprising how ive missed driving the old girl lol, ive been cycling to london from essex instead, but thats wearing thin now ha

[omegavan]

Hi guys

So I pulled the gearbox off at the weekend.. once I finally got it off, the only thing i missed which was making it awkward was the 10mm gearbox sandwich plate, always one thing, I was getting tired and under the car on my drive not alot of room, i just over looked the bolt, then straight away after undoing the clutch from the flywheel it just fell out lol.. the plate had broke in 3 places on where it secures to the tabs as you can see in the pics.. no wonder it was hard to go into gear and lots of knocking sounds.

so I changed the concentric slave / bearing and full LUK clutch and a smelly tree all came to £202 bargain from euro carparts as over easter they had big discounts on.. I didn't buy the clutch lining up tool in time so i done it by eye which was turned out fine, also  a bleeder pump from halfords for £20 that works off the air in the tyre for the reverse clutch bleed, easy to do, and once all back in, which was abit of a job so had a mate help...i got it onto the spline and then two of the larger bell housing gearbox bolts in and slowly done them up and it popped in..aslong as you have the right angle to the engine it isnt a problem.. i just wish i had four poster ramp lol

then I spent the afternoon putting everything back together, as i had the inlet manifold off for the 3.2mm braided diesel pipe change and easier to re seal the electrical box on the diesel pump, and renewed everything from gaskets pipes clips, tidied it all up..

next on the list is the rear brakes as i need new hubs only £50 off ebay and a quick adjust on the handbrake, then a small amount of welding on the front chassis rails, looks to be where the water runs down from the windscreen and is directed along the rail causing some rust.. looks abit tricky around the engine cross member, its not bad bad but id rather get it done now, so im just getting a few quotes as im done laying under it lol..