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[Derek_in_Penzance]

re: Omega 3.0 V6 Estate April 1998 mini-facelift , 166,000 miles

According to the service history my cam belt was done at 137,000 miles. I've been panicking thinking that it must be changed at 40,000 miles, but the Haynes manual says that 1997 model-year cars on have the modified tensioner assembly which permits a longer service interval of 80,000 miles. Is this correct?

If so, it is good news, as I've been bracing myself to do the job, fearing that even though I have 10,000 miles to go, it could break at any minute.

Footnote -after all my problems, that took eight weeks to resolve, the car is running perfectly, so far as I can tell. Fast, powerful, smooth, luxurious motoring for next to no money (£365 off eBay plus ABS ECU and various other more minor jobs and an MOT), so I am well pleased. Driving 200 miles for £24.50 of LPG is what I call cheap motoring!

[tunnie]

no.

Its 40k or 4 years, for all V6's without fail.

[Kevin Wood]

The 80,000 interval was later shortened to 40,000 again due to the number of belts failing under warranty so our advice is to replace them all at 40,000. You've got another 10,000 to go, though.

Kevin

[TheBoy]

40k or 4yrs across the entire range, irrespective of year.

[Mr Skrunts]

Cam belt and tensioners need to be done every 4 years or 40,000 miles which ever comes 1st.

Vauxhall suffered some failures for what I gather and decided to play it safe, hence dropping from 80k to 40k belt changes.

When you do your change, if you dont know the history of the water pump, then change that as well.

If you are not one allready, consider getting a Trade Club Membership.  Water pump for a V6 for examaple is £22 + Vat.  

[Tafty]

And if you're going to do it yourself - which is very straight forward with the V6 DVD on here You'll save a packet

[dippydave]

no.

Its 40k or 4 years, for all V6's without fail.

why the 4 years? surely if you don't drive very far it won't wear out?

i've got a belt / kit / pump that's nearly 4 years old and has done about 500 miles since sitting idle!!

[dippydave]

re: Omega 3.0 V6 Estate April 1998 mini-facelift , 166,000 miles

According to the service history my cam belt was done at 137,000 miles. I've been panicking thinking that it must be changed at 40,000 miles, but the Haynes manual says that 1997 model-year cars on have the modified tensioner assembly which permits a longer service interval of 80,000 miles. Is this correct?

If so, it is good news, as I've been bracing myself to do the job, fearing that even though I have 10,000 miles to go, it could break at any minute.

Footnote -after all my problems, that took eight weeks to resolve, the car is running perfectly, so far as I can tell. Fast, powerful, smooth, luxurious motoring for next to no money (£365 off eBay plus ABS ECU and various other more minor jobs and an MOT), so I am well pleased. Driving 200 miles for £24.50 of LPG is what I call cheap motoring!

woah... how did you manage to get the motor so cheap? and that was with a conversion already?!!.  

mind you 200 miles for £24.50 of lpg sounds expensive to me   that's like 53 litres!

[hotel21]

no.

Its 40k or 4 years, for all V6's without fail.

why the 4 years? surely if you don't drive very far it won't wear out?

i've got a belt / kit / pump that's nearly 4 years old and has done about 500 miles since sitting idle!!

Fair point, and well presented.....

However...

If you were sat on your harris for 4 years, moving only now and again, do you think that perhaps you might have a wee sore bit thats liable to give way when you want to use it all of a sudden?  

4 years, 40k miles, no argument....  Too many rubber ducked engines on the VX list (and elsewhere) to argue with...  

[Tafty]

I would assume that the belt condition deteriorates, the bearings can become flat in the rollers sitting in the same position for prolnged times. For the damage that it can cause if it does snap, I would rather change. You would be looking at scrapping your car for the sake of saving money on the belt/pump/idler change

 

[dippydave]

ah. i've got no intention of firing that one up again, but i guess it's not worth keeping for future use either. lol!!

[Derek_in_Penzance]

Thanks for all the feedback. Right then, I'll get all the parts including a  water pump in good time ready to do the job at 40,000. I already have the DVD and very good it is too. Thoroughly recommended.

My 200 miles for £24.50 was with numerous short town journeys, if that is below average mpg maybe I need to check the system over. But that's  20.4 mpg @ the 55p/litre for gas that I paid. If I were to go on a single 200 mile journey I'm sure it would be a lot better.

The car was cheap, although not as good a bargain as some that I've read about oon here or seen on eBay. It had a fubared ABS ECU, blowing secondary air injection pipe (thought originally  to be manifold), no tax or MOT. The multi-ram wasn't working because of a broken solenoid (oh, didn't fix that 'til Friday, maybe that's why consumption is up?).  The previous owner was faced with yet more big garage bills and just decided that he'd had enough.

On the other hand it already had lots of work done recently before I won the car such as new discs all round, new exhaust, cam covers, etc. So I am more than happy with how it's turned out (of course I did all the  all the current work myself, with guidance from this forum for which I am bery grateful). It is also in my favourite colour -the metallic green -with light grey/magnolia? leather. It also has the (optional?)  sat nav, which works. And yes, it had the multipoint LPG system already installed, which is why I wanted the car. On top of that -get this -the vendor delivered it to me for free, from 90 miles way! How is that for a good eBayer!

I have to say that much as I love my 60,000 mile Monza GSE, I'm also falling in love with this Omega. Both being 3-litres, they complement each other very well.

 

[Derek_in_Penzance]

Regarding the low-use scenario, yes, it can damage a  car just as much if not more than using it every day.

Prserving your cherished car in aspic sounds like a good idea, but unless done in virtually laboratory conditions you'll end up with a  completely differrent set of problems. One of the things that happens to our "for scrap and parts" cars is that the cam belts start cracking up the minute they stop being useed regularly.

Cars also rust out quicker. Don't know why but they do. So use it or lose it! If you really must keep the mileage down, make sure it is driven at least once a  week.  

[dippydave]

Thanks for all the feedback. Right then, I'll get all the parts including a  water pump in good time ready to do the job at 40,000. I already have the DVD and very good it is too. Thoroughly recommended.

My 200 miles for £24.50 was with numerous short town journeys, if that is below average mpg maybe I need to check the system over. But that's  20.4 mpg @ the 55p/litre for gas that I paid. If I were to go on a single 200 mile journey I'm sure it would be a lot better.

The car was cheap, although not as good a bargain as some that I've read about oon here or seen on eBay. It had a fubared ABS ECU, blowing secondary air injection pipe (thought originally  to be manifold), no tax or MOT. The multi-ram wasn't working because of a broken solenoid (oh, didn't fix that 'til Friday, maybe that's why consumption is up?).  The previous owner was faced with yet more big garage bills and just decided that he'd had enough.

On the other hand it already had lots of work done recently before I won the car such as new discs all round, new exhaust, cam covers, etc. So I am more than happy with how it's turned out (of course I did all the  all the current work myself, with guidance from this forum for which I am bery grateful). It is also in my favourite colour -the metallic green -with light grey/magnolia? leather. It also has the (optional?)  sat nav, which works. And yes, it had the multipoint LPG system already installed, which is why I wanted the car. On top of that -get this -the vendor delivered it to me for free, from 90 miles way! How is that for a good eBayer!

I have to say that much as I love my 60,000 mile Monza GSE, I'm also falling in love with this Omega. Both being 3-litres, they complement each other very well.

 
 

Sweet.  




ps i get me gas for 46p a litre so it's not that fair to compare really hehe.

[TheBoy]

Thanks for all the feedback. Right then, I'll get all the parts including a  water pump in good time ready to do the job at 40,000. I already have the DVD and very good it is too. Thoroughly recommended.

My 200 miles for £24.50 was with numerous short town journeys, if that is below average mpg maybe I need to check the system over. But that's  20.4 mpg @ the 55p/litre for gas that I paid. If I were to go on a single 200 mile journey I'm sure it would be a lot better.

The car was cheap, although not as good a bargain as some that I've read about oon here or seen on eBay. It had a fubared ABS ECU, blowing secondary air injection pipe (thought originally  to be manifold), no tax or MOT. The multi-ram wasn't working because of a broken solenoid (oh, didn't fix that 'til Friday, maybe that's why consumption is up?).  The previous owner was faced with yet more big garage bills and just decided that he'd had enough.

On the other hand it already had lots of work done recently before I won the car such as new discs all round, new exhaust, cam covers, etc. So I am more than happy with how it's turned out (of course I did all the  all the current work myself, with guidance from this forum for which I am bery grateful). It is also in my favourite colour -the metallic green -with light grey/magnolia? leather. It also has the (optional?)  sat nav, which works. And yes, it had the multipoint LPG system already installed, which is why I wanted the car. On top of that -get this -the vendor delivered it to me for free, from 90 miles way! How is that for a good eBayer!

I have to say that much as I love my 60,000 mile Monza GSE, I'm also falling in love with this Omega. Both being 3-litres, they complement each other very well.

 
 

20mpg from an LPG'd 3.0 v6 isn't bad as an average, esp if lots of town trips.  You will get reduced mpg from LPG