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[maracus]

Hmmm. This new omega I brought now sounds a bit bottom endy. It's the last time I go against the grain and get a car with f.a. Service history, it sounded ok the first couple of days but not so sure how much of that was a cover up from a rattly heat shield. I guess keep hammering it til I'm being took home on the back of an AA lorry. But anyways...

Bottom end rebuild or throw it away and drop in a 3.2? Or even just another 3.0!

...or cut my losses, strip and scrap and find another?

Opinions please??!

[Radar]

You could post up a video as this could help identify the problem.
Also if you update your location there might be somone nearby that could give a 2nd opinion?
I'm assuming its a 3.0 auto.

[maracus]

You could post up a video as this could help identify the problem.
Also if you update your location there might be somone nearby that could give a 2nd opinion?
I'm assuming its a 3.0 auto.

Ay, indeedy-doo!

Will post a vid later but to summarise, i thought at first it was the o/s bank tappety. That's how it sounded. But then I noticed it sounded a bit 'under the car' too, more so at the autobox end. Last night I noticed the tappety 'tap' sounds less like a tappet, a bit thuddy. More so if you put your ear down below the sill. I think i did have a noisy tappet, think id drained it with a few stop starts shunting about the yard and when jacked at the front, but that subsided after a 15min idle and short run, revealing behind it this bottom end noise issue. Put some good oil in at the weekend, so will see how it goes, I reckon it'd done most of it's 71k on the same oil!

Just waiting for my 'mechanical advisor' to finish Friday so he can have a listen. I doubt it'll be discuingishable via video it's not desperately loud but I'll try anyway.

Update location? Aaaahhhhh, sheeeessshh! How did that slip me by?? To follow...

[Radar]

Okey dickey dokey!

Sometimes some quick oil changes can reduce noise levels.

When you put your location there could well be a meet going on to widen your chances of a 2nd opinion.

[2woody]

just about every V6 I've seen is in some stage of big-end failure.

best you can do now, and it's relatively easy is to run some flushing oil through it, then drop the sump to clean out the strainer and fit new big end bearings.

[maracus]

just about every V6 I've seen is in some stage of big-end failure.

best you can do now, and it's relatively easy is to run some flushing oil through it, then drop the sump to clean out the strainer and fit new big end bearings.

Pmsl

sump wants to come off anyway coz some muppet... I don't know what they've done but the sump plug was only using psycadellic powers to maintain a seal to the oil! Looked like a helicoil gone baaaadly wrong!!!

[Bionic]

Motto of this is never to buy in a hurry. Always take it for a long run with you in the drivers seat and then let it tickover when hot for a good ten minutes. Any engine noises then become apparent.
Best you can do now is to do as suggested and drop the oil, refill with a good flushing oil and run it a few days or take it for 20 mile motorway hop at speed. Drop the sump and repair the sump plug or change the sump pan then change the oil filter and refill with Vauxhall's GM10/40 Semi Synthetic oil because that will also eradicate any mayo in the filler neck (its the only oil that does) and hopefully that will be the end of your noise problems.
These V6's will go on forever without any bottom end problems IF they are regularly maintained and looked after. My last one had 180.000 on the clock and ran sweet as a nut almost silently. I am not a slow driver either! That said if yours has had the the same oil in since new, and logically the filter too then you you are probably looking at the darker side.
GudLuk anyway.

[Kevin Wood]

Most V6s I've worked on have had a little rattle from the bottom end at idle. I'm not sure if it's some shunt in the drive to the gearbox, piston slap or really that the big ends are all shot.

Is it noticeable when started from cold, and also when hot? Just at idle or does it persist if you rev the engine? Does it get worse when the engine is loaded?

On a car with unknown service history, it would probably be prudent to drop the sump, clean it out and also clean the oil pickup, as we have seen engines die due to oil starvation when the pickup has clogged. Often this happens when it gets fresh oil with detergents that still work after a period of neglect, and all the crud gets flushed into the sump.

If you're going to do this, it's not much more work to inspect a couple of the big ends to see if they are in reasonable condition.

Then give it a couple of quick oil changes to flush it out and see if matters improve.

[maracus]

Ok so it seems wise to drop the sump and see what's going on. Well the previous owner did use a fresh oil, but I reckon it was the 'stick it in everything' 'big metal drum in the corner' cheap generic crap that uncle bobs garage use. So that came straight back out, nice colour and flow so it's not been in long- and in went some g.m. Stuff and filter. The sump off will be next.. Is there any guides on here that will be of help? Tho I'm imagining a simple case of giving myself RSI removing all them bolts and the sump falls off revealing the strainer.

So once I'm that far, I'll be nearly able to see the big ends??

I feel like a proper odd one- I've worked on engine top ends enough times but have never touched a bottom end! Never had to!

Most V6s I've worked on have had a little rattle from the bottom end at idle. I'm not sure if it's some shunt in the drive to the gearbox, piston slap or really that the big ends are all shot.

Is it noticeable when started from cold, and also when hot? Just at idle or does it persist if you rev the engine? Does it get worse when the engine is loaded?

That's exactly how I feel lol!

It's a fairly constant noise, a job to tell if it gets worse as you rev it it just gets faster with engine speed. Seems pretty constant regardless of hot or cold although I'll probably notice different now when I go to start it in a mo... It doesn't seem to get worse under load but worryingly, if you blip the throttle and catch it right you hear a nasty kind of nock rattle sound, almost an undividual knock or two. Also, is it the norm for that dual ram lark to sound noisy? On idle that plastic tubing round the front sounds echoey, for want of a better word lol

Another thing I noticed last night. Sounds like the cat has started destroying itself, she now rattles too when you gently blip the pedal!

As Said, I should be able to give a better update come the weekend when my mate can come have a listen and a spin round the block, and I have some time to whip the sump off. Anyone got a replacement?

The moral of the story is simple. Stick to your method! I've always gone with 'if it makes it past 100k and still goes strong, it'll keep going, and never buy a car lacking service history.'

Shame on me. As for the test drive, well I don't know why I didn't notice the noise, as its all the sort of thing I listen for- either It was bad luck and sounded ok but is progressing, or the fact that they were muted to me by the fact that I'm not used to the v6 sound so was a bit in awe anyway.. But that said, I had a v6 in oz years ago, and thinking back, that didn't sound much better...

[Kevin Wood]

The lower half of the two-part sump can be dropped pretty easily and you just need some grey (IIRC, same as the oil cooler?) sealant to seal it back up.

It would be good to get an opinion from someone who knows them before diving in, perhaps? It's so difficult diagnosing rattles over the internet. Suffice it to say, many V6s that have proven themselves perfectly healthy have sounded a bit rough at idle to me.

I would have thought that a serious big end knock would be quite noticeable under load from inside the car.

[maracus]

The lower half of the two-part sump can be dropped pretty easily and you just need some grey (IIRC, same as the oil cooler?) sealant to seal it back up.

It would be good to get an opinion from someone who knows them before diving in, perhaps? It's so difficult diagnosing rattles over the internet. Suffice it to say, many V6s that have proven themselves perfectly healthy have sounded a bit rough at idle to me.

I would have thought that a serious big end knock would be quite noticeable under load from inside the car.

[maracus]

Sorry! Last post as it was supposed to read;

The lower half of the two-part sump can be dropped pretty easily and you just need some grey (IIRC, same as the oil cooler?) sealant to seal it back up.

It would be good to get an opinion from someone who knows them before diving in, perhaps? It's so difficult diagnosing rattles over the internet. Suffice it to say, many V6s that have proven themselves perfectly healthy have sounded a bit rough at idle to me.

I would have thought that a serious big end knock would be quite noticeable under load from inside the car.

I suppose that would disguinguish between wether it's actually a problem or not- I guess If I give it some stick, if it is a major issue, something will soon become apparent- but in the meantime I'll have that sump off. I'll get my mate to pop over and that covers the aspect of someone more clued up having a listen. But either way, I'm sure checking the pickup wouldn't be a bad thing!

But no, it's not noticeable under load in the car.

[trainmanone]

hi there, had problem just like the one you have {well sounds like it} it was the drive plate cracked all round fixing bolt !!!!
ther is a pic of it in the genarel section i think ,darth sorted it for me heres the link      http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=94195.0

[Kevin Wood]

Good point.

And we recently had another car making nasty knocking sounds, and it was the sump-to-gearbox bolts missing in the end, I believe.

[maracus]

Good point.

And we recently had another car making nasty knocking sounds, and it was the sump-to-gearbox bolts missing in the end, I believe.

Hmmm... I'll get on my back and look properly lol, I remember the guy saying he had a leaky rear main oil seal (or something) gearbox off job.. I bet there's something missing lol. When I do that sump...