Problems on my new Omega

[AndersH]

Right where do I start?!

1) With the heater on I get a bad fumes smell - people have commented that is smells like exhaust fumes rather than unburnt fuel. When I turn the heaters off it goes away.

2) Just found a load of mayo in the oil filler  :-?

3) Was on a longish trip the other night andwas stuck in a traffic jam for about 1.5 hours and while still my temp gauge kept going into the red and the warning light would come on. Something (I imagine the fan) would then kick in and cool it down again to around 90-95ºc and then it would slowly creep up again. I had no noticable steam coming from the engine.

4) It's an auto which rolls back on hills sometimes. I took it too my local garage who rang VX - they said if the car has done over 20k then this is normal which sounds odd to me, I have driven several autos, some very old and never had this before.

5) It pulls to the left especially when braking. I checked the tyre pressure last night and they were way out - one was over inflated by 6psi and one was under by about the same so I'll see how this goes.

Other than this it's great!
Thanks for any help with this, I am a complete car novice though so I'll probably end up having to pay people to get most of this sorted anyway. Oh and the cambelt is due...
Andy

[Marks DTM Calib]

Model year and mileage would be useful.....

Mayo in the filler is symptomatic of short journeys, pulling under braking may be wishbone bushes.

[AndersH]

Yep, should have said! - 2000 GLS W reg 2.5 V6 88k

Should the mayo disappear after a long journey? or does it hang around until long journeys are frequent?

Thanks,
Andy

[mar892ree]

I had a Corsa once that had a rather nasty pull to the left on braking !
This only happened the once, driving up my drive --- how odd !

Well on investigation, it wasnt a fault with my car, i had just ran over the next door neighbours cat !  

[TheBoy]

flush coolant to overcome overheating - do not let this continue.

Mayo should go on longer runs

Check for suspension wear, esp wishbone bushes...

Hope that gives some pointers

[AndersH]

Thanks, is there a step by step way to flush the coolant somewhere? I really am new to all this...

[TheBoy]

Thanks, is there a step by step way to flush the coolant somewhere? I really am new to all this...

Nobody has written a guide yet (hint )

Basically, on right side of rad (looking from front) is a red tap. Though if you've been getting overheating, its probably worth taking off some hoses and running garden hose through.

In your case, I would flush through a couple of times over period of a couple of days, as cooling efficiency seems suspect.  Remember to do 50:50 antifreeze mix when you refill after flushing.

Coolant should be changed every 2 years.

If that doesn't cure overheating, the rad switch may have a problem.

[AndersH]

Thanks for that - bit concerned though as got a Haynes and they've given this a 3 spanner rating!

[Ken T]

Once you have drained the system, can I suggest you keep a check on how much water goes back in. According to haynes it should be 9litres. I changed the water on my previous '95 2.0l Omega with a fresh antifreeze mixture, and it didn't take all I had mixed up. There must have been a blockage or something, which I never got to the bottom of. However the car started overheating/ loosing water, and she died about 7 months later on the M62 with the engine overheated, blown head gasket etc.

[TheBoy]

Once you have drained the system, can I suggest you keep a check on how much water goes back in. According to haynes it should be 9litres. I changed the water on my previous '95 2.0l Omega with a fresh antifreeze mixture, and it didn't take all I had mixed up. There must have been a blockage or something, which I never got to the bottom of. However the car started overheating/ loosing water, and she died about 7 months later on the M62 with the engine overheated, blown head gasket etc.

If you drained from rad, you only get about half out, so refill via this method is around 4 - 5l.  Thats why you need to flush it through a few times, or use hosepipe.

If you really want to drain properly, remove water pump as well as drain rad...

[Jay w]

hi, welcome to the site.

Issue no 1 souns like one of the rocker cover gaskets leaking onto the exhaust manifold, this causes an oily smell in the car, only cure is to change the rocker cover gaskets and clean out the block breather, i believe there is a 'how to' on that one

issue 2 should go after a few long runs, mine was like that when i got it

Issue no 4 i get from time to time on steep hills, the gearbox isn't able to hold the car on idle basically, that said i noticed a vast difference after i changed the gearbox oil and strainer.

Where the 20,000 miles comes from i have no idea

As for the cambelt, get that done ASAP and have the tensioners changed at the same time, as an added precaution it might be worth getting the water pump changed, seems a bit of overkill but it could save time and money in the long run, this is onr of the few jobs i would recommend getting a Vaux main dealer to do

[Andy B]

.....
Issue no 4 i get from time to time on steep hills, the gearbox isn't able to hold the car on idle basically, that said i noticed a vast difference after i changed the gearbox oil and strainer. ......

Maybe I ought to do something then with the filter & gaskets that are sat on my rear parcel shelf!   :-/

[Markjay]

....Nobody has written a guide yet (hint )...

Well it only covers a quick coolant change i.e. not a full drain-and-flush, and I did not take any pictures, but...:

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1154441342/6#6

[fmarques]

Mayonese is condensation and usually appears only if you travel very short journeys and the engine doesn't reach normal temperature.
It may also happens if the engine overheats and a gasket is blown. You may have a blown head gasket. Check also if there is oil in water or vice versa.  

[AndersH]

Thanks for everyone's help!
Most of that looks a bit too difficult for me to do, all I've managed so far is to change a bulb in my dash, I think I'll be able to manage sorting out the cracking sound on the passenger door using the how to - I may even try a coolant flush but still cannot find the radiator tap :-?

Don't suppose there'll be any more cambelt parties?
or rocker cover gasket parties?
or coolant flush parties?
or wishbone change parties?

Cheers!