Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: bbps on 23 March 2013, 07:14:16
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A bit of general advice please.
I have a W-Reg (2000) Omega B 3.0 V6 with about 85k on the clock, and the main issue is that the head gasket has gone. It has 4 good (< 5k) Michelin Sport tyres, although one now has a slow puncture, a heavy duty battery that is about 1 year old, which has gone flat at the moment.
I have been quoted quite a bit to have the head gasket repaired, and there are also a few other bits that need doing on the car. So, after 12 years of owning the car, I have reluctantly decided that it has to go. :(
I just wondered how I could get the most money for it, would it be best to just sell it for scrapping, would I do better by selling it on ebay, or something else ? I think it would get around £200 for scrap.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
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Wo up. Given the number of false head gasket diagnosis we see here, it might be prudent to ask what the symptoms are?
Why do you think hg is gone? Who says so? And why?
What symptoms are you seeing? :)
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I second that, head gasket failure is very rare, other faults can cause similar symptoms.
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A good friend of mine that works at Vauxhall had a look and told me he thought it was the head gasket. He couldn't track the issue properly though, because it never leaked when I took it to him, so he could only see what looked like "remnants" of a leak at one of the joins on the head.
It had been leaking outside of the engine, and I had been topping it up with coolant for the past 2 years or so, and I also put some leak stop in it which did work for a while. Sometimes it would go for months without losing any coolant, and at other times I could be putting 3-4 Litres in a week.
Just before Christmas it started losing a lot of coolant again, and when I was checking the oil, the filler cap and top of the tube had a lot of brown/yellow sludge in it. I cleaned it up, but it very quickly came back. I then decided myself that the head gasket must now have gone.
I am not good with cars, but the last time it was leaking, it looked to be dripping down from the right hand side, towards the back. It was hard to see properly though, as I could only lie under the car a bit.
If that was the only thing that needed doing, then I would have considered getting it done, but I decided to take it off the road as I couldn't afford for it to die on me and be stuck without a car.
I think the car is only really worth scrapping, but I guess there may be others that would want it for parts etc, or the really brave that want a challenge of getting it repaired and road worthy again, which is why I thought it may be worth putting on ebay or something. I would also rather someone gets some use for parts etc, rather than it just being crushed for it's weight. :)
Thanks for the replies.
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did it start to use more coolant depending on what setting the heater control was set too ? mine started doing that and it turned out to be the heater bypass valve witch is located at the back of the engine . also when was the oil changed last and are you using good quality oil as if the oil is old or poor quality you will get a lot of mayo in the filler neck and on the cap i found this out through experience also the v6 suffers from mayo in the cap anyway as its the coolest part of the engine . have you tried getting someone to do a sniff test with a kit in the header tank as this will show the presence of hydrocarbons ? hope that hasn't baffled you even more
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You could be loosing coolant elsewhere, like the HBV (heater by-pass valve) very, very common for this to leak fluid.
Build up of brown sludge or mayo under the filler neck is well known as well, when used in short runs and say a poor oil like Castrol. Blocked breathers won't let engine breather right and so you create all this sludge.
How much coolant are you actually loosing?
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Oil cooler :-\
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Oil cooler :-\
The only way to find the leak for certain is to remove the plenium chamber and pressurise the coolant system.
Hbv can been seen without parts removal. Oil cooler leak usually evaporates before dripping on the floor.
Low cost diagnostics.
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This is a for sale ad.
Scrap it or put it on ebay, I really don't care.
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I know it was cold this morning, but rather than push the missus out i still got out the right side of the bed.
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This is a for sale ad.
Scrap it or put it on ebay, I really don't care.
Nice helpful welcome for a newbie :(
Very unlikely to be a blown head gasket mate. Mayo on oil cap normal on V6s and worse on short journeys or with old or crap oil as said.
Water leak from back of block most likely HBV, or coolant bridge seals. Also dodgy hose (there are a few here) or leaky oil cooler plate. All can be fixed cheaply, either diy or by one of the mechs on here.
HTH :y
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This is a for sale ad.
Scrap it or put it on ebay, I really don't care.
It sounds like a request for help to me, not sure if you have read it differently. :o
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That's not a head gasket failure.
It's a coolant leak and a bit of mayo in the filler neck, if you search the pages if this site you'll find numerous threads very similar to yours. The omega doesn't like short journeys, and forms alot of condensation under such conditions. Add in a cool thermostat and a bit off coolant loss and people jump the the wrong conclusion.
Your head gasket is fine. If you want the coolant leak fixed I'll happily take a look. :y
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I'll give you £200 for it tomorrow :y
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Newbie only joined forum to sell car, seems very obvious to me.
Which bit of this is ambiguous?:
"I think the car is only really worth scrapping, but I guess there may be others that would want it for parts etc, or the really brave that want a challenge of getting it repaired and road worthy again, which is why I thought it may be worth putting on ebay or something. I would also rather someone gets some use for parts etc, rather than it just being crushed for it's weight. :)"
He wants rid of it, and doesn't feel that the 250 post rule applies to him.
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Who made you a mod/administrator? To many people when things like this happen jump in, just makes us look like a bitchy community. Should be left with the Forum team. If you don't like it I suggest you just ignore the thread and read another.
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I thought when i got my ommy 2years ago the mayo was goodnight but it is condensation in a big engine also the hbv was the coolant problem this site certainly eased my initial panic ie. cars had it
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Stand by my comment.
Bad day at home.
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Stand by my comment.
Bad day at home.
Think the toys have come out the pram :o now showing as a guest
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only just had a quick read of this so sorry if ive missed but no one has said about removing the oil filler neck. I was told my head had gone because the filler neck was covered in mayo. Its a load of bull my car has done 6k since i was told it had gone and still no issues
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only just had a quick read of this so sorry if ive missed but no one has said about removing the oil filler neck. I was told my head had gone because the filler neck was covered in mayo. Its a load of bull my car has done 6k since i was told it had gone and still no issues
That is a very good point :y,and worth considering ;)
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Newbie only joined forum to sell car, seems very obvious to me.
Which bit of this is ambiguous?:
"I think the car is only really worth scrapping, but I guess there may be others that would want it for parts etc, or the really brave that want a challenge of getting it repaired and road worthy again, which is why I thought it may be worth putting on ebay or something. I would also rather someone gets some use for parts etc, rather than it just being crushed for it's weight. :)"
He wants rid of it, and doesn't feel that the 250 post rule applies to him.
And you are a guest ::) ::) ::) ;D ;D ;D
I had the same thing happen to my 3.2 and hey presto as all the learned people on here were right. ;D ;D ;D :y :y
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Totally agree - coolant leak could be many other things, mayo in filler neck is standard equipment.
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only just had a quick read of this so sorry if ive missed but no one has said about removing the oil filler neck. I was told my head had gone because the filler neck was covered in mayo. Its a load of bull my car has done 6k since i was told it had gone and still no issues
That is a very good point :y,and worth considering ;)
...I would not recommend removing the filler neck tbh. Other than to prove the point that the filler neck sits in cooler air, and that is what causes the mayo in conjunction with short journeys giving condensation in the crank case.
If the filler is removed the owner is unaware of the state of the breathers. The two are quite closely related re mayo, so the filler gives a good indication of the breathers condition.
But each to their own as they say. :)
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Thanks for the advice all, it is most welcomed. :)
If I just wanted to sell the car, I would have put it straight on ebay, or somewhere else that caters selling to the masses.
I had the heater valve done about 2-3 years ago. I remember when this went, the water emptied rather quickly and all in one go.
It didn't use more/less water depending on the heater setting. It was just losing a lot.
About 18 months ago I put a leak stopper in it, and that did manage to tide it over until recently. I had it pretty much confirmed at this time that the coolant was leaking from the head gasket, but not going inside. I put another leak stop in recently, but unfortunately is didn't work. :(
The oil is probably just over 15 months old, as the car was overdue a service, but the mileage I do is very low. It would have been genuine vauxhall oil in it - not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
Plenium chamber. I had to google that one, and would need to mention that one to my Vauxhall engineer.
When I fully cleaned the filler cap and neck, within a week it was really badly mayo'd up again, loads of it. This is not something that I had seen happen at all with this car before in the 12 years I have had it, and my driving habits haven't changed.
Not sure how bad a car would run with the HG gone, but it was still running pretty smoothly last time I drove it.
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Mayo in the filler neck is definitely not a sign of head gasket failure on these engines.The area at the rear of the engine needs inspecting to see where the coolant is leaking from.It could be the heaterbypass valve (coolant valve),especially if the one put on the car three years ago was a pattern part.If it isnt the valve there are several othe coolant pipes ec. in the same area as the valve so they can all be inspected at the same time.It may be possible to see where the coolant is leaking from by holding a mirror at the back of the engine and maybe getting someone to shine a torch in there at the same time,but really its best to remove the plenum (big alloy casting that sits on top of the engine) and then everything is easy to get at and see.
If you have a browse through the maintenance guides,you will probably find they inspire confidence to have a go.
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I dont know where you are in London but if you can get it out to me (J4 M3) I can have a look and help you fix it. I have a good working HBV here too if that is the issue. Kate had the exact same issue and even with my fat hands she went home with a leak free car after 30 mins of work :y
Drop me a PM
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Many thanks for the offer to look at the car Guffer, but it has no tax and no MOT.
Since taking it off the road, I had a great offer come up to buy an Astra from my Sister-in-Law, so I jumped to get that before she sold it to someone else. 6 years old, 33k miles, and she was the owner from new. Yes it is a big step down, but at least it is still a Vauxhall.
The wife is now moaning because the Omega is just cluttering up the drive, so I have resigned myself to the fact that after 12 years or so, it is time we parted company. :(
I would like to thank everyone on here for their time and great advice.