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[marko2002]

No such luck Don, cash!

[marko2002]

OK, spent a little more time on the car today and as the noise from the exhaust was a little more noticeable when cold I stood in front of the car with the bonnet up whilst my son (13 and loving it!) started it up.   Straight away and without a shadow of a doubt, the noise is coming from the exhaust manifold together with a smell of exhaust fumes.   The noise and the smell lessens as the car heats up.   As the new exhaust was obviously fitted and connects to the manifold in question and before I hit the garage again tomorrow I'm left wondering ....
1. Could they then turn round and say it's my manifold and nothing to do with the exhaust, so it's my problem
2. If they did, could I then stand my ground and say it wasn't like that when it came in and manifold's don't just break for no reason (although after reading a few threads on the forum I'm seeing a common fault with manifold bolts shearing!)
3. Given that most of the problems regarding manifolds on the forum are to do with the one on the drivers side (i.e. 2.5, 3.0 engines) could the manifold on a 2.2 (passenger side) develop the same prob as in how I described?

I'm obviously thinking along the lines of 'it wasn't like that when I brought it in to the garage' and will fight my corner although is there anything else I can arm myself with before I get there, such as I don't beleive the exhaust is the right one anyway so this could have caused the manifold problem, etc etc.   Obviously, the more ammo I have, the better chance I have of making them look like total spanners especially in front of other customers!.   I'm taking along the pics Mark provided previously and will pull these out also but any further advice especially in relation to the manifold greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Marko

[Kevin Wood]

4 pot manifolds can be troublesome, but stick to your guns if it wasn't blowing before they changed the exhaust. Most liekly they haven't sealed the downpipe to the manifold properly.

.. and if the 2nd Lambda sensor is after the main cat this is wrong. There should be a pre-cat before the Lambda sensor and a post-cat after it if it's the same setup as the V6. Sounds like it's a cheapo pattern exhaust where they've tried to do without the pre-cat.

Kevin

[marko2002]

Sorry for the delay in posting back guys, was chasing jobs most of today - anywayyyyyyy, better development at long last yesterday ... went back to the garage at 9am and told the guy I couldn't leave the car which was fine - work started about 10 minutes later, off with their last new exhaust and on with the new exhaust again, oops, what was all that swearing I heard??? Turns out one of the monkeys totally balls'd up one of my lambda sensors much to the annoyance of the manager (titter titter) and waiting for the million dollar line "ooooh, that's gonna cost ya sir" I loosened my cuffs and sported a look even Frank Bruno would have ran from although much to my annoyance the manager apologised unreservedly and asked if I could in any way leave the car with them as they would order up another sensor.

I agreed (as he said he wouldn't be able to get it until after 1pm) to a genuien VX replacement which wasn't a problem.   The part didn't turn up till around 3pm and I got a phone call about 4.30pm, returned to pick up my car and it honestly was the difference between night and day.

It started smoother than it ever has and ran incredibly quiet, and guess what else - the exhaust emissions light is out!!! WOHOOOOOO!!!   I have no idea what they did right this time but I can't honestly complain as in my opinion the car is running quieter and better than it did even with the original exhaust on!  And power!!! wooohhhh, foot down hard and it's serious eye white's for those in front of me - my honest guess is they totally bodged something up last time and had a guy in that actually knew what the hell he was doing.   Whether or not they spotted something other than the exhaust (i.e. manifold) and sorted that as well I still have no idea but for £400 I can now honestly say I have my money's worth at last (and crossing fingers it stays that way).

Only thing left to do now is put it through a pre-MOT as I got a free one anyway when I took out my insurance so I'll still be keeping a close eye on the emissions part of it in particular.

Thanks a million for everyone's help and support on this one.
Mark

[JamesV6CDX]

Glad you persevered for the result

Presumably you now have the precat AND the main cat?

Do check...

[marko2002]

Nope, it's still the system with the one cat J which still makes me slightly nervous hence the reason I'm getting it in for a pre-MOT asap as they did tell me they had ran an emissions check on it and it passed no problem but a second opinion is always good to have just in case.

[Auto Addict]

Result  

[marko2002]

Another quick search on ebay came up with this ....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-OMEGA-2-2i-16V-NEW-EXHAUST-CAT-CATALYTIC-90794_W0QQitemZ260154590915QQihZ016QQcategoryZ10404QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem
which looks exactly lke what was fitted to my car, apart from the obvious price difference! Wish I had still asked here before getting Budget to fit one mind you and I could have ordered Mark's recommendation on ebay which looks like the original cat system!

[Olympia5776]

Glad you got there in the end.
Good luck with test.

Don

[marko2002]

 

[JamesV6CDX]

Is there one lambda in front of the cat and one behind?

Fact remains you still have the wrong system, even if it appears ok...

[Andy B]

Is there one lambda in front of the cat and one behind?

Fact remains you still have the wrong system, even if it appears ok...

Exactly.  

[arthill]

Hi.
I'd be very wary of a change to manufacturers spec. as many settings on cars nowadays depend many components and can affect each other, I would be concerned that even though car is running fine just now, what will long term effect be, two cats are there for a reason and I'd still be insisting on a proper system to avoid possible future problems. cheers,

 John

[marko2002]

Is there one lambda in front of the cat and one behind?

Fact remains you still have the wrong system, even if it appears ok...

There is a lambda sensor on the downpipe from the manifold as well as behind the CAT although unfortunately to get the right system fitted at the time would have been a £800 job from VX - granted it would have been the right system but I really don't see what warrents £800 for a cat, it's just VX again picking a figure and slapping it on a part, especially those which we can't be without - having said that I am still very tempted to order the right part for £100+VAT off ebay and fit the damn thing myself as I don't reckon it can be that hard given the monkeys that work for these fast fit outfits!   Until then, it's a pre MOT and if it passes the emissions test then I'll probably have to live with the fact it's a replacement part rather than genuine, otherwise I will order the part myself and fit it then return to Budget with their old exhaust for a refund ... stay tuned!!!!

[achoo81]

If I was you I would buy the ebay one and keep it as a spare, just in case the budget one goes wrong or is wrong ,better to be safe than sorry!!!