Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: IanF on 20 February 2013, 18:40:36
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Help needed
After having a heart attack after getting a quote from my local Vauxhall parts counter for the following
Timing belt kit £166.00
Water pump £125.00
Drive Belt £35.00
Not including VAT
I went in search for an alternative, I have come across two timing belt kit manufactures Continental Contitech and SKF and would like your opinions on these makes, I have just purchased an Omega for £500 and I'm a bit reluctant to spend nearly that again on a few belts. I can get the above parts none OEM for £150, The engine I have has done less then 30k and I just want your thoughts whether the none OEM parts are a safe bet or should I bite the bullet and buy Original parts.
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PM AndyC for GM trade :y
Other motor factors will do for belts and pumps :)
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Any of those kits are good :y
I've used many Contitech kits and never had a problem in the past ;)
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:o water pump £125.00. Is it made of gold now?
Cant be right , can it?
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:yThank you for the advise, I need to get the kit soon so I will order the contitech kit, The price for the water pump was correct, I even checked with another dealer, its shocking as I can get a water pump for £20..lol
You have been a great help
Thanks Again :y
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Water pump is about £75 with trade club :y
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Contitech/Gates/SKF all good and all available much cheaper than VX. Ebay is as good a place as any ime,as long as you buy from a reputable trader with a lot of good feedback. ;)
Imo,if your water pump aint broke,dont fix it,unless you have a 4 pot engine.They used to be a £25 job,and it made sense to change it while you were down there on the V6.
Now that genuine ones are extortionately priced its better to leave a working genuine one in place rather than replace it with a pattern version of unknown quality.
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yep, if pump is GM and working well, leave alone :y
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Thanks again, i will take your advise and leave the water pump well alone.. :y
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yep, if pump is GM and working well, leave alone :y
there always but
ok if you do job yourself then you can take chance of no replace if not make any noise
but if you pay for someone to get job done this different story??
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Thanks Serek, I will be doing the job myself, I'll check for any noise when I start the job at the weekend
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Here we go....gonna get a verbal kicking but going to say it anyway,all that's been mentioned about Conti/SKF etc I agree totally with, but then that's where I start to glaze over,I've owned one of my cars for twelve years plus, and at 198.000 miles it has'nt got a VX part on it anymore and has never broken down..period,but would you believe that the only part that has failed recently was a cam cover gasket fitted by who? yup.. local VX dealer. All I'm trying to say is that,take the advice given but VX is'nt the be all and end all unless you have very deep pockets full of readies,then it's not going to be a problem,but if you are like a lot of us with a limited budget then all I say is it's worth taking a bit of time shopping around because there are a lot of suppliers out there who don't sell rubbish parts contrary to popular belief.
That said,I'm off too Youtube for the rest of the night ::)
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Here we go....gonna get a verbal kicking but going to say it anyway,all that's been mentioned about Conti/SKF etc I agree totally with, but then that's where I start to glaze over,I've owned one of my cars for twelve years plus, and at 198.000 miles it has'nt got a VX part on it anymore and has never broken down..period,but would you believe that the only part that has failed recently was a cam cover gasket fitted by who? yup.. local VX dealer. All I'm trying to say is that,take the advice given but VX is'nt the be all and end all unless you have very deep pockets full of readies,then it's not going to be a problem,but if you are like a lot of us with a limited budget then all I say is it's worth taking a bit of time shopping around because there are a lot of suppliers out there who don't sell rubbish parts contrary to popular belief.
That said,I'm off too Youtube for the rest of the night ::)
wise words indeed. :y
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Here we go....gonna get a verbal kicking but going to say it anyway,all that's been mentioned about Conti/SKF etc I agree totally with, but then that's where I start to glaze over,I've owned one of my cars for twelve years plus, and at 198.000 miles it has'nt got a VX part on it anymore and has never broken down..period,but would you believe that the only part that has failed recently was a cam cover gasket fitted by who? yup.. local VX dealer. All I'm trying to say is that,take the advice given but VX is'nt the be all and end all unless you have very deep pockets full of readies,then it's not going to be a problem,but if you are like a lot of us with a limited budget then all I say is it's worth taking a bit of time shopping around because there are a lot of suppliers out there who don't sell rubbish parts contrary to popular belief.
That said,I'm off too Youtube for the rest of the night ::)
That's a risky post!
I can sense the Omega Inquisition forming up now!
They won't be a surprise, but you will be in the comfy chair before you know it!
But seriously, I reckon you're right, and don't worry about genuine VX for most of the bits on my car.
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I don't "worry" about genuine parts, except cam cover gaskets (the reason yours failed again will almost certainly be because the breathers weren't cleaned properly ;)) but do fit genuine parts for most things because they are better value ;) Oil and filter change... £12 wit TC parts. Plugs at a couple of quid each, etc
Ok, I could get cheaper discs and pads but they wouldn't stand up to the abuse I tend to give them ::)
But each to their own :y
To the op... As said, either of those are good kits :y Make sure you use a proper locking kit ;)
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As above re pattern parts - personally i've used Contitech kits from buypartsby without any issues. Water pumps have been QH (rip)
As said a lot of Vx parts on TC cannot be beaten on price ;)
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I used a gates kit. Came with SKF bearings. Phone Andy at Drive. A very nice chap. I'm going be calling him tomorrow for new front shocks. Genuine from Vx on trade club work out cheaper than half decent after market. It's always worth giving Andy a shout before you go down the after market route. It doesn't always work out cheaper but always worth a phone call.
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Imo,if your water pump aint broke,dont fix it,unless you have a 4 pot engine.........
Agreed ......
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and has never broken down..period,but .....
FULL STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:( >:( >:(
Americans & women have periods!!!!!!!!!!! ::)
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As others have said don't worry about the water pump as it is not timing belt driven and there have been problems with new genuine pumps lately
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....
and has never broken down..period,but .....
FULL STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:( >:( >:(
Americans & women have periods!!!!!!!!!!! ::)
You have gone too far over to the posh side..... :D :D :D
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and has never broken down..period,but .....
FULL STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:( >:( >:(
Americans & women have periods!!!!!!!!!!! ::)
You have gone too far over to the posh side..... :D :D :D
I hate Americanism ::) ;)
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How very dare you Mr LD, incinerating that my breathers were dirty,they were routinely inspected a few weeks ago and I was able to eat a quarter pound horse burger off them.....mmmmm luverly!! :P
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Lets get this straight.
There are some items which we recommend genuine is used based on experience (e.g. cam cover gaskets) and others where we recommend aftermarket of a particular type.
In the case of cambelt kits, we have always stated that Gates, Contitech and SKF are good, GM was only used because some years ago they were cheaper than the after market option under trade club which is when its a no brainer (as you get a MUCH better guarantee with the GM items). Since then GM prices have risen more then the aftermarket so there now not as competitive.
On the water pumps, our stance has always been 'every other' cambelt change so effectively 80K miles and 160K miles etc. Again, the GM pumps were cheap via trade club (now silly expensive) BUT, we have seen some aftermarket pumps fail prematurely....what we dont know yet is if the GM ones will fail at say 90K miles if not changed.
Hence its a choice, aftermarket pump which may fail early or aged Gm one which may have little life left......