Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Grrrrrr on 15 May 2014, 09:03:54
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Anyone had any experience of using Forte seal conditioner? Good or bad. Did it make any difference?
Apparently you add it to the oil and it softens and slightly swells hardened seal so they are tight again. Presumably we're looking at valve-stem seals here. I assume you put it in for a few days before your oil change is due and then do an oil change as usual. Thinking of my puff of smoke on startup (2.6 CDX from 01 - the trouble year!).
So, anyone had any experiences of using it?
Cheers,
J
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I have an oil leak in my autobox, such that I have to have my garage top it up monthly (I can't get under the car to do it myself and they charge me £20 a time, with me supplying the ATF!) and I've used Wynn's Oil Seal Renovator firstly and then Lucas Seal Reconditioner - posh and expensive - and neither made a scrap of difference.
On wet roads, you can see a trail of where I've been!
Ron.
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I have an oil leak in my autobox, such that I have to have my garage top it up monthly (I can't get under the car to do it myself and they charge me £20 a time, with me supplying the ATF!) and I've used Wynn's Oil Seal Renovator firstly and then Lucas Seal Reconditioner - posh and expensive - and neither made a scrap of difference.
On wet roads, you can see a trail of where I've been!
Ron.
....by the trail of fallen motorcyclists? By the oil trail? Or both? ::)
Obviously at £20 a go there's a good chance the leak could of been fixed by now? Especially if it's just a sump that's leaking?
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How mean of you, Mr. Gixer: now, if you had written "trail of blood from demolished cyclists"......
More seriously, I take your point about fixing the leak, but the problem is I can't determine where it is. On the garage's ramp, it seems to be coming from what looks like a blanking plate near the bell-housing, above the oil level (hence why it only leaks when the engine is running?), but there isn't anything to undo, just a cap in the casting?
I can't really top it up on my drive, as it slopes too much to get the level right, and I'm too fat to get under the car anyway, even if I had ramps!
I'm getting close to parting with the car, as this regular expense is getting too much.....
Ron.
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I have an oil leak in my autobox, such that I have to have my garage top it up monthly (I can't get under the car to do it myself and they charge me £20 a time, with me supplying the ATF!) and I've used Wynn's Oil Seal Renovator firstly and then Lucas Seal Reconditioner - posh and expensive - and neither made a scrap of difference.
On wet roads, you can see a trail of where I've been!
Ron.
Heard Wynns isn't up to much although never tried it myself. I had higher hopes for the Forte.
Would it work in the gearbox? Temperature wouldn't be as high, would it?
With regards to the gearbox leak, does it have a breather pipe anywhere that might have perished or come off?
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How mean of you, Mr. Gixer: now, if you had written "trail of blood from demolished cyclists"......
..
Ron.
Now now >:( - some of us are BOTH cyclists and Omega owners :D. I do more miles on my bike than in the car :o
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DrAndy, if you don't ride on pavements, jump lights and feel that traffic laws do not apply to you, I will refrain from leaving YOUR blood on the higheway!
Ron.
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Sounds fair :). :y
I stick to all rules and annoys me too when see others flouting the laws >:(
Rest assured however that Lycra guy doesn't normally don't get too far ahead of me as I do 40 miles a day on a heavy mountain bike so I catch them up again and smile as they suddenly realise they have been caught up and can't loose me who is now firmly fixed on their back wheel ;D.
Smug :y
Hope you get your autobox leak sorted :y
Andy.
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Andy, well done for being one up on the "I'm a cyclist" lycra louts! You now have immunity from extermination; and thanks for your wishes re the leak.
Ron.
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When I used to cycle to work I used to deliberately look as nonchalant as possible in my dress shoes and tie as I overtook the lycra lads. Of course, as soon as I was out of sight I was able to get some big lungfuls in!
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I would be no more likely to add an additive to my autobox fluid than go cycling in lycra. ;)
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Gearbox input seal is damaged.
Often caused as a result of box removal and then re-fit of the box without fitting the torque converter to it first.
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BB, if your comment was for my benefit, I thank you, but as I have had the car for the last 5 years/50k miles and the leak has only started in the last 1,00 miles and the gearbox has never been out in all my ownership, maybe never at all, could it still be the cause?
Ron.
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When you talk about a blanking plate above the oil level do you mean something ont eh side of the gearbox? Makes me wonder if it's a core plug in the gearbox that's leaking. Otherwise, most likely to be the input shaft seal, as said. That's an easy fix, once the gearbox has been removed.
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Kevin, that is the mystery! My garage didn't know what the "plate" was and were frightened to investigate, saying that there were all sorts of springs and things in there that would fly out if they took it off. It sounded like a bullshit excuse to me for not wanting to get involved, but what do I know?
I did suggest that, as the "plate" is above the oil level, I might apply some resin or other external sealant to it, but they rejected the idea, saying that the leaking oil would dissolve away anything I put on it: maybe they just want to keep my monthly £20 cash donation to their Xmas fund?
It is definitely not an easy fix for me as I don't have the facilities or skills to remove the gearbo9x and am fearful of what my garage would charge me for doing the job, and as they seem none too familiar with autoboxes anyway, would I trust them?
Thanks for your helpful comments, though; much appreciated.
Ron.
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Might be worth taking it to an auto box specialist and see what they reckon after a quick look.
I'm thinking it could be a core plug or cover plate that has oil pressure behind it, in which case it may be an easy fix with the gearbox in-situ.
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I've used Wynns in the past on cars with varying levels of success.
From what I remember, it works best if added during a oil change.
If it works, it should be used as a stopgap until you fix the root of the problem OR sell the car :-X
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I've used Wynns in the past on cars with varying levels of success.
From what I remember, it works best if added during a oil change.
If it works, it should be used as a stopgap until you fix the root of the problem OR sell the car :-X
+1 and stp . Not had much luck with any of them though , vectra just burnt it >:(
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A friend used some ATP AT-205 and recommended it. Note used it myself.
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I've used Wynns in the past on cars with varying levels of success.
From what I remember, it works best if added during a oil change.
If it works, it should be used as a stopgap until you fix the root of the problem OR sell the car :-X
+1 and stp . Not had much luck with any of them though , vectra just burnt it >:(
Thats because your valve stem seals were not seated correctly lol.
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I've used Wynns in the past on cars with varying levels of success.
From what I remember, it works best if added during a oil change.
If it works, it should be used as a stopgap until you fix the root of the problem OR sell the car :-X
+1 and stp . Not had much luck with any of them though , vectra just burnt it >:(
Thats because your valve stem seals were not seated correctly lol.
Oh yeah , one of them was though :D
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Well, if it continues to give a puff of smoke on startup I'll have to get rid of it as it niggles me - although not enough to try stripping it down to the valve-stem seals! I'll give the Forte a shot. Sounds like I have a 50/50 chance of success.
BMW and Audi prices are just having a giraffe.
Tried a Jaguar X-type - ride nowhere near as good. Tried a Jaguar S-type - ride almost as good as the miggy but bloody scarily light steering above 70 mph.
Seen various CL500 Mercs and even a CLS55 - all corroding to death. Tried an SLK today. Better ride and went OK but bl**dy tiny. No-way I can fit all the family inside.
For decent performance, comfort and ride quality you just cannot beat a mig for the money! Oh, and durability. There's no rust on mine at all. Clean underneath. You should have seen the underside of some of the cars I've looked at recently.
If only the Monaro prices would fall back down where they were a few years back. There's a nice car ...
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When you talk about a blanking plate above the oil level do you mean something ont eh side of the gearbox? Makes me wonder if it's a core plug in the gearbox that's leaking. Otherwise, most likely to be the input shaft seal, as said. That's an easy fix, once the gearbox has been removed.
As said most likely gearbox input shaft seal - if you ignore it will deteriorate mare and it will dump the contents of your autobox ???
Part is only a couple of quid, and once box out (about 1.5 hours working underneath, lower with large jack as it is heavy!!), from memory three screws holds the old one in, take it out, carefully fit new one over shaft (wrap shaft in tape to protect new seal), remove tape and refit box and torque converter. Would have thought a half decent garage would have done that rather than keep topping up ATF at £20 a go :o
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Ugh, that IS bad news for me, dbug! Looks like it's end of life for the car, as I can't do the job myself and my pension won't stretch to having the garage do it at their labour rates.....
Ron.
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Ugh, that IS bad news for me, dbug! Looks like it's end of life for the car, as I can't do the job myself and my pension won't stretch to having the garage do it at their labour rates.....
Ron.
Should be well within the scope of OOF mobile mechanics - may be worth contacting them ;)
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Well, I've bunged a tube of Forte in. Done about 300 miles. I'd say the smoke has reduced by two-thirds, maybe three quarters. I'll see if it is better in another week or so.
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That's great news, "Grrrrrr"!
Back in the days when the streets were black and white and cars were simple, I once changed the valve stem seals on a BMC A-series engine (in an A30) without taking the cylinder head off - but I cannot remember how I did it! It was a long time ago.....
Ron.
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Further update: it did get better but started to get worse again. Figured kill or cure so bunged another tube in. Now MUCH better but still not 100%. I fear that it'll reverse back out again.
Valve stem seals: looks a fairly major job. Looks like the Vectras of the time had the same issue. I just don't have the time, even if I could bodge my way through.
Not losing enough oil to worry about but that little puff on startup does niggle - or will when it becomes noticeable again. Car's only done 88k miles so that's a bit disappointing.
Looking around I see the Jaguar X and S-types are looking rather reasonable for the value. Something to think about.
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Looking around I see the Jaguar X and S-types are looking rather reasonable for the value. Something to think about.
Some much worse issues to contend with than a couple of valve stem seals, though. :-\
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Nice looking car though. Go OK too. If there were a 3.2 miggy at the right price I might be tempted though.