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[woolley11]

Well my 1 previous owner, fully specked MV6 3.0 on a V plate has cried enough on one of the head gaskets.

I was considering sorning it in the new year and do the cam belt, thermostat, full service
and a bit of body work on the O/S rear arch

Some joker who works for me said you'll be scrapping it then.

No why should I do that ? I said

Why it's only worth £400 and it'll cost you £500+ to sort

So where to start ?

Is there a link to replacing head gasket on this site ?

Thanks in advance for any assistance

[terry paget]

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90560.0
I have never done one myself, but JamesV6CDX is a great guy, and his 'how to change a clutch' guide is so good I have changed two, something I had thought beyond me. He did say it can be done in 4 hours though, it took me longer than that. He is still active on this forum, so if you get stuck help is available.

[Nick W]

Head gaskets are just over £100 in  parts; another £90 per for a new cambelt. Assuming that it's just a rotten gasket, and the heads are OK, then a days work should see it sorted.

[tunnie]

What's confirmed the head gasket has failed? Compression check?

As often HG failure is miss-diagnosed on the Omega.

[The Red Baron]

It's not that bad a job tbh. 

[woolley11]

Yea pretty sure it's head gasket

Missing on one or more cylinders, water gone from coolant bottle, steaming from exhaust. Coolant light came on pretty quick. There's oil spray in engine bay around coolant bottle area too so guess that's got squeezed out the split.

Turned engine off at that - left it for a bit to cool down, filled up with spare water. Managed to nurse it home after another refill. Thankfully near home at time. Difficult to start too unless I could get some revs up as it would be lumpy and stall.

I'm not to upset about it as was thinking of some TLC on the car anyway. It's done 113k.

Shame I'm in East Yorkshire as some of these whizz mechanics on here could have done it for me.

I'll read up on it and get my tools out. It'll be new year though now as not much time.

Would you recommend genuine parts by the way anyone?

[Nick W]

Only if you're suffering from an overstuffed wallet.
Reinz or Elring are plenty good enough.
Gates or Continental for the cambelt.
Replace the thermostat while you're in there, as it has to come off anyway.

[robson]

and don't forget a new transfer pipe to the therrmostat

[Nick W]

and don't forget a new transfer pipe to the therrmostat

They come off in one piece when the belt cover backing plate is removed.

[TheBoy]

Yea pretty sure it's head gasket

Missing on one or more cylinders, water gone from coolant bottle, steaming from exhaust. Coolant light came on pretty quick. There's oil spray in engine bay around coolant bottle area too so guess that's got squeezed out the split.

Nothing there suggesting HG to me.

Its *very* rare for the fire rings to fail on Omega V6.  In fact, all the genuine V6 HG failures are on MFL 3.0l, where coolant leaks to outside at the rear of passenger bank.

Now, its possible you have this mode of failure, and the coolant has sprayed/damaged DIS pack, but I think you need further diags first.


My beloved MV6 failed twice, both times diagnosed by making a special coolant cap with a tyre valve in (and lots of sealant), pressure it to around 6-8PSI, and watch where is pisses from.

In my case, no other symptoms beyond coolant loss (relatively moderate - topping up every other day or so, but gets progressively worse) and that sweet smell all the time. Occasional steam visible from passenger side of bonnet when sat in traffic.  I know in MaxV6's case, the leak was more catastrophic, but no non-coolant related symptoms.

[woolley11]

Well I'm no mechanic -I've tinkered with and restored cars over the last 30 years but never got deep into engine mechanics and real technical stuff.

If there's other tests I can do I'll happily look into.

I think the first thing is a compression test - I suspect the failure is on the O/S bank.

[Andy B]

I forget his name now, but years ago, everyone here kept telling a bloke local to me that his steam making V6 wouldn't need a new head gasket. Checked all sorts of stuff, but within a few miles of driving, it looked more like a heritage steam train. When the affected head did come off, there was a hairline split in a fire ring. Head gaskets do fail ...... not often, but they do.

[terry paget]

Compression test should confirm it. I had a HG go on a 2.2, I understand not an uncommon failing. I got a complete gasket set for £45 on e-bay. Not a job I would attempt in the street, as it involves laying out all the cam bearing caps carefully in order to replace them correctly.

[woolley11]

Well whatever it is - she's not feeling very well at all 

[zirk]

Just dont run it too long if its poorly, the V6's run hot as it is and can quickly go over temperature if the coolant is low/blocked/or being pissed out, otherwise if its not a HG fail it soon will be.