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[NaughtyNigel]

The head gasket on my CDX 2.5 V6 is on its way out after just 98,000 happy miles.  

This has been confirmed by a local independent motor engineer, who found high CO levels in the coolant header tank.

He is suggesting that replacement head gaskets would cost around £800, as both heads will need to be stripped down, skimmed and then put back together.

The body is a facelift model (2000) and is in very good condition otherwise.

Any advise or suggestions? Second-hand Jags (or should that be re-badged Mondeos) are looking more and more attractive by the day, but what could I ever replace the Omega with if I really wanted to?

 

NN

[ians]

what are the actual symptoms?  (what caused you to get it tested?)

[markey mark]

very rare for v6 headgaskets to go unless its been run on mainly water ie no antifreeze then gaskets will have rot  

what problems you having bud ??

[mkaminski100]

I understand that any garage will charge around £500-800 to do it, but more or less, parts (incl. skim)will cost  no more than £200-250. Rest is only a labor – it usually takes 2 days to do it.  
If you have some tools and enough time, you can do it yourself in 2-3 days. Hard work but worth the hassle.

[Richard A]

As already said, very, very rare for the head gasket to fail on a V6.
My local Vauxhall dealer told me, by useing the same method, a 'sniffer' that the HG gone, minimum £1200 to do the job.
Became a member of OOF, asked the same question as you, problem was the 'oil cooler'. All fixed for less than £200, plus a couple of other jobs.
Wait and see what other replies you get  
regards
richarda

[ians]

as previously, what is actually the problem?

[NaughtyNigel]

what are the actual symptoms?  (what caused you to get it tested?)

Thanks for the replies.

I first noticed a missfire under load (probably one or two cylinders) when the engine was warming up, and a mile or so from cold (but not when hot or cold). This I dismissed as an ignition problem or similar, and as it always cleaerd up by itself I just carried on.

Next I noticed a sweet smell of hot antifreeze whenever I got out of the car after a journey;, especialy after climbing a hill or similar. The antifreeze level was dropping slightly, to the point that it now needs a top up every 500 miles or so. The water is also looking dirty, but the engine oil is not contaminated at all. I suppose this has been going on for at least a year now, and probably 8,000 miles or so!

I asked the garage to have a look when it went in for MOT recently, as I suspected that the water pump might be failing, and I know that can spell disaster on these engines.

The engineer checked out the cooling system, and put his CO sensor into the coolant header tank to check for exhaust gas. This was positive, and as he said, there is only one place that exhaust gasses can come from!

Oddly enough, the head gasket went on our Astra Arctic only last year, and that had only done 48,000 miles.  

Seems we are unlukcy with Vauxhall head gaskets.

NN

[Richard A]

Sorry on what you have described I am still not convinced it's HG.
regards
richarda

[going crazy]

Does the car fail MOT if you have a HG problem? What are the usual symptoms of a HG failure? Mine is leaking coolant but I can see the water coming for the Radiator. Should I be worried about a HG failure in the near future as I can also smell the sweet taste of coolant after long journeys

[iainb]

I dont buy the blown head gasket just because he's pushed a sniffer in the expansion tank.
What is the colour and condition of the coolant.
When the engine is running are there any bubbles in the coolant.
Iain.

[jonathanh]

I dont buy the blown head gasket just because he's pushed a sniffer in the expansion tank.
What is the colour and condition of the coolant.
When the engine is running are there any bubbles in the coolant.
Iain.

Neither do I.  where is the coolant going?  if it is into the oil then you'll get loads of mayo in the filler/dipstick.  If it is into the cylinders then you'll get exhaust gasses in the cooling system and over pressurisation.

Sounds like the HBV has gone and decided to piddle coolant over the DIS pack.  

[cem_devecioglu]

Hi,

please check this

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1209123016

there are things to do before deciding that its a head gasket failure,

like compression testing when engine is cold..

Also Omegas tend to loose coolant from some places like

Heater bypass valve,  oil cooler area, thermostat area, heater matrix and even from the reservoir cap..

[NaughtyNigel]

I dont buy the blown head gasket just because he's pushed a sniffer in the expansion tank.
What is the colour and condition of the coolant.
When the engine is running are there any bubbles in the coolant.
Iain.

The coolant looks quite dirty (cloudy dark grey with suspended particles), and leaves a tide mark around the header tank. Coolant consumption is variable - sometimes needing a top up after 300 - 400 miles, but other times it will go to 1,000 or more.

The engine oil, as decribed above is perfectly clean, and even the filler neck doesn't have any mayo around it.

Finally, there are no bubbles in the coolant at idle, but there must be some when under load, as the header is highly pressurised, and after a run (and standing beside the header tank) I can smell the coolant coming through the relief valve. The smell is much stronger after climbing a hill, or after a fast run, whilst driving in traffic creates much less pressure and smell.

I hope that helps narrow down the problem.

I must say a leaking head gasket sounds plausible. The only other possible explanation that I can think of would be a cracked cylinder head, but that would leak all the time.

I have been out in the old girl  this evening, and she was running like an express train, so I have decided I would like to get the work done and run her for at least another year or two. I have had the car from new and it would be a pity to part company now over a relatively minor problem.  

NN

[Vamps]

Who was your independant mechanic, can I suggest keith in Fishburn

[Marks DTM Calib]

A number of miss informed bits here.

1) You wont find a 'real' engineer in a garage, he might be able to test adn change parts but hes not upto the level of being able to design the lumps!!

2) The water pumpmgping will not cause a major fault on these units unless it totaly falls apart and stops water circulation .....but you would notice the alternator chargng light come on first as its aux belt driven and not cambelt driven.

3) The coolant system should be pressurised although not excessively!

4) Loss of coolant through the header tank cap could be a faulty header tank cap so aheva  good look at it and its rubber seal!

Right, so we hae some coolant loos and some miss fire.

I assume there is no oil in the plug wells?

Any sign of coolant under the car after its been stood?

Has it been properly serviced with coolant changes every 2 years?

When you top the water up are you just chucking water in or doing the proper thing and adding a 50:50 water anti freeze mix?

A coolant setup wtih old or no antifreeze will cause a LOT of damage on ANY engine from ANY manufacturer. The anti freeze contains corrosion inhibitors which protects the alloy sections and gaskets etc