Omega Owners Forum

Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Hmouse on 01 July 2014, 18:49:45

Title: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Hmouse on 01 July 2014, 18:49:45

Hi Folks,

I'm Andy and I have just bought an Omega 2.6 CD.... nice smooth vehicle. Just developed a problem, coolant turned to mayo and under pressure, plus losing oil. After reading the forum I and hoping its just the oil cooler and not the Head gasket...fingers crossed. Dropping it off at the garage tomorrow.. A really nice car to drive and I am hoping for a long and happy ownership.

  H
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: flyer 0712 on 01 July 2014, 18:51:29
Sounds like cooler..good luck at the garage..
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: tunnie on 01 July 2014, 18:53:08
Oil Cooler failure, don't let them tell you it's head gasket, because it's not  :y

See what they quote, but a few members here offer mobile mechanic work at a vastly cheaper cost I bet  :y Also be done right :)
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: The Red Baron on 01 July 2014, 18:54:14
they will no doubt tell you its head gasket though...
sounds like oil cooler to me.  :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Hmouse on 01 July 2014, 18:58:21
Thanks Guys, I had done a bit of reading and you have confirmed my hopes.. Let you know how it goes. H
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: chrisgixer on 01 July 2014, 19:32:30
I hope you didn't tell them your suspicions. I bet they say head gasket. ;D


It is oil cooler btw. There's no other way oil can get in the cooling system.
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: kevinp58 on 01 July 2014, 21:00:23

Hi Folks,

I'm Andy and I have just bought an Omega 2.6 CD.... nice smooth vehicle. Just developed a problem, coolant turned to mayo and under pressure, plus losing oil. After reading the forum I and hoping its just the oil cooler and not the Head gasket...fingers crossed. Dropping it off at the garage tomorrow.. A really nice car to drive and I am hoping for a long and happy ownership.

  H







Should be a shitty brown and as others have said more than likely the cooler, they are easy to do there are threads here to show how to do it :y :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Toledodude1973 on 01 July 2014, 21:28:11
It will be interesting what kind of money they want for the repair ::) As already said i would ask a member on here for quote :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: allen25 on 02 July 2014, 02:36:45
I had the same symptoms as you, it was the oil cooler on mine.

Regarding the oil loss, is this related to the cooler failure forcing oil/brownish sludge out of the coolant header tank or is it 'dripping' elsewhere? The reason for asking is that cam cover seals tend to fail on the V6 over time. There is plenty of info on here relating to that.

Also on the very early 2.6 there was a known issue with valve oil seals from memory. I had this problem personally. With this issue you typically don't see oil loss dripping from the engine, the oil is consumed/burnt by the engine and you have to top up regularly. Most would probably have been repaired to cure the problem but it is possible that some were not and were simply topped up with oil as necessary.

All food for thought but personally I would start by checking the cooler.
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Hmouse on 03 July 2014, 14:57:03
Hi Guys,

Update time.....
First reaction from the garage was "probably the Head Gasket Mate"!
I explained to them that the OOF were positive it would be the Oil cooler. Well a couple of hours after leaving the car at the garage I received a call.... Yep Oil cooler... on order and car will be back on the road by Monday. They will flush the coolant out and fit said cooler....price ah well....its £540 all in.. I have gone ahead with it (mainly they are our local garage and not let us down in the past). Thanks for all your help guys, nice to be made welcome.
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 03 July 2014, 15:09:22
Hi Guys,

Update time.....
First reaction from the garage was "probably the Head Gasket Mate"!
I explained to them that the OOF were positive it would be the Oil cooler. Well a couple of hours after leaving the car at the garage I received a call.... Yep Oil cooler... on order and car will be back on the road by Monday. They will flush the coolant out and fit said cooler....price ah well....its £540 all in.. I have gone ahead with it (mainly they are our local garage and not let us down in the past). Thanks for all your help guys, nice to be made welcome.

That is crazy money. I paid £220 plus a bottle of Glenlivet. That included new oil and filter plus 5 litres of red GM coolant. :y

Wishing you well though. :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: tunnie on 03 July 2014, 15:23:06
Hi Guys,

Update time.....
First reaction from the garage was "probably the Head Gasket Mate"!
I explained to them that the OOF were positive it would be the Oil cooler. Well a couple of hours after leaving the car at the garage I received a call.... Yep Oil cooler... on order and car will be back on the road by Monday. They will flush the coolant out and fit said cooler....price ah well....its £540 all in.. I have gone ahead with it (mainly they are our local garage and not let us down in the past). Thanks for all your help guys, nice to be made welcome.


 :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

Can you get a break down on that?
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 03 July 2014, 15:27:48
Hi Guys,

Update time.....
First reaction from the garage was "probably the Head Gasket Mate"!
I explained to them that the OOF were positive it would be the Oil cooler. Well a couple of hours after leaving the car at the garage I received a call.... Yep Oil cooler... on order and car will be back on the road by Monday. They will flush the coolant out and fit said cooler....price ah well....its £540 all in.. I have gone ahead with it (mainly they are our local garage and not let us down in the past). Thanks for all your help guys, nice to be made welcome.


 :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

Can you get a break down on that?

........and is that with genuine GM parts?
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: chrisgixer on 03 July 2014, 15:30:35
Opps me. And to think I/we did Arrons for curry ;D
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 03 July 2014, 16:03:56
Hi Guys,

Update time.....
First reaction from the garage was "probably the Head Gasket Mate"!
I explained to them that the OOF were positive it would be the Oil cooler. Well a couple of hours after leaving the car at the garage I received a call.... Yep Oil cooler... on order and car will be back on the road by Monday. They will flush the coolant out and fit said cooler....price ah well....its £540 all in.. I have gone ahead with it (mainly they are our local garage and not let us down in the past). Thanks for all your help guys, nice to be made welcome.

That is crazy money. I paid £220 plus a bottle of Glenlivet. That included new oil and filter plus 5 litres of red GM coolant. :y

Wishing you well though. :y

I did it much to cheaply!  :D :D :D :D :D ;D :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 03 July 2014, 16:12:26
From memory, it was circa 170 notes for the parts (oil, filter, antifreeze, cooler pipe seals, coolant bridge dowty washers, cooler plate sealant), a tenner for fuel and around 40 for the work (three hours ish)
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Temetsy on 03 July 2014, 16:19:32
Just wondering why don't you just plug it? Two bolts, 10" of hose and two clips would be a lot cheaper and 100% warranty of not leaking again  :y 
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: zirk on 03 July 2014, 16:24:24
That is Top Doller Garage money, why didn't you take Tunnies advice and look into one of the Mobile Techs on here to quote and do the work, probably too late to pull out it now.   :(

Just make sure that when you pick the Car up, that the Coolant is crystal clear with no muck in it, a clear Red Colour or worst case Blue, Car runs at normal temperatures and the heater work, and theres no coolant loss, as the Coolant flushing does take some effort to clean. 

Oil Cooler failure, don't let them tell you it's head gasket, because it's not  :y

See what they quote, but a few members here offer mobile mechanic work at a vastly cheaper cost I bet  :y Also be done right :)
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: zirk on 03 July 2014, 16:27:06
Just wondering why don't you just plug it? Two bolts, 10" of hose and two clips would be a lot cheaper and 100% warranty of not leaking again  :y
Explain Please???, its an Oil Cooler Fail.
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 03 July 2014, 16:36:16
You could in theory bypass the cooler, there are downsides to this relating to oil temperature and engine warm up times.

Of course, you would now get coolant spraying out the cooler unless you made up a blanking plate.  :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Temetsy on 03 July 2014, 16:51:42
Yeah forgot that plate, had in mind to just clean and plug the leaking cooler :D  You just put a hose between the two nips near the oil filter (feed and return of the heat exchangen aka cooler). DO NOT plug these because doing that is waving goodbye to oil pressure! Make a plate size of the coolers top or just clean the old leaking cooler and plug the holes on top.
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: chrisgixer on 03 July 2014, 18:10:08
Just wondering why don't you just plug it? Two bolts, 10" of hose and two clips would be a lot cheaper and 100% warranty of not leaking again  :y 

100% won't leak into the coolant certainly. Coolant warms quicker than oil though, so will warm the engine oil quicker from cold.

 Then cool the oil once hot I would of thought.

But anyway, you see the gm thinking on its location for a customer passenger car. As was explained to me on here many moons ago as well. :)
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Temetsy on 03 July 2014, 19:26:32
Yes I'm aware of what it's meant for and that's why I called it heat exchanger, was just offering a cheaper way out of that operation ;)  Not sure if you really need the cooling for the oil unless you like to go pedal to the metal on the autobahn or on a track but the oil heating function is usefull. One way is also to install aftermarket oil cooler behind the bumper but if the car is just for moving from A to B then it's pretty useless. But if you go for the cooler swap for new genuine VX part it should be the new improved version so it'll propably last for the rest of your car's lifetime  :)
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: chrisgixer on 03 July 2014, 19:30:37
And given the old part had to be removed anyway.... :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Hmouse on 03 July 2014, 20:27:35
Well the good news is the parts are Vauxhall parts. Also I have had a decent service from this garage, who look after my wifes car as well as my previous car ( ford focus diesel ). I know that it was suggested I use one the mechanics from here, but time was of the essence so I went for the option I know would get it done in time for me. In future I all certainly look here.
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: kevinp58 on 03 July 2014, 22:58:17
Well the good news is the parts are Vauxhall parts. Also I have had a decent service from this garage, who look after my wifes car as well as my previous car ( ford focus diesel ). I know that it was suggested I use one the mechanics from here, but time was of the essence so I went for the option I know would get it done in time for me. In future I all certainly look here.



Just make sure they leave it over night for the sealant to harden off before they fill it or you will be doing it all again.  :y :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 04 July 2014, 10:42:08
Just wondering why don't you just plug it? Two bolts, 10" of hose and two clips would be a lot cheaper and 100% warranty of not leaking again  :y 

100% won't leak into the coolant certainly. Coolant warms quicker than oil though, so will warm the engine oil quicker from cold.

 Then cool the oil once hot I would of thought.

But anyway, you see the gm thinking on its location for a customer passenger car. As was explained to me on here many moons ago as well. :)

Generally, oil warms faster than coolant actually as it gets sloshed around the head and back of the pistons plus there is a smaller volume of it so the oil would heat the coolant is the general rule in my experience.

What we have to consider is that oil coolers will last the life of the engine IF the coolant and antifreeze mix is correctly maintained.  :y
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Temetsy on 04 July 2014, 15:22:58
iirc the first model of the cooler had some kind of design flaw and GM even gave discount for the job of swapping old leaky cooler the redesigned version so I guess even with extreme care the old cooler would pop at some point..
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 04 July 2014, 15:28:53
iirc the first model of the cooler had some kind of design flaw and GM even gave discount for the job of swapping old leaky cooler the redesigned version so I guess even with extreme care the old cooler would pop at some point..

Old cooler was in about the first 12 months of production from memory, most of which would have been in the Vectra A/Cavalier
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Temetsy on 04 July 2014, 20:38:39
iirc the first model of the cooler had some kind of design flaw and GM even gave discount for the job of swapping old leaky cooler the redesigned version so I guess even with extreme care the old cooler would pop at some point..

Old cooler was in about the first 12 months of production from memory, most of which would have been in the Vectra A/Cavalier
Now when you said that yes it was Cavalier cooler that had those issues  ;D errare humanum est..  ::)
Title: Re: Coolant Mayo and losing oil
Post by: Bigron on 04 July 2014, 22:58:39
........diabolicum est per animositatem in errore manere.
 ;D


Ron,