Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 20 April 2015, 11:24:44
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Very nearly four years.......but only a paltry 18,000 miles.
As Clint Eastwood would say........" Do you feel lucky, punk."
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Having examined my cambelt and kit on 'Pissy' recently. (that's a car that'd done 27k on those pulleys, but sat for a period of nearly 8 years) my belief is that the 40k refers to the time that the pulleys are 'safe' up to, and the 4 years refers to the time the belts are 'safe' up to. My pulleys were silent, and seemed as good as new to me, no signs of stiffness / seizing whatsoever. The belt on the other hand was showing signs of cracking when flexed. :o It's been said that were it not for a new belt being included in the kit, there'd not be any real issue re-using the original belts, so only once every other 'cambelt change'.
Would I gamble that belief on my own car? Well, that's another question. But certainly worth looking at the belt, and give the pulleys a whirl, see if you can hear signs of any grumbling (which I'm certain at only 18k you won't). It's not a long job to whip the indiction and drive belt off, then look at the pulleys, so worth a nosey?
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The car is driven on a regular basis so the tensioners are never in the same position for very long.
I believe most problems with low mileage cars occur when they have been left standing for months or even years.
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The issue with the rollers is that eventually the seals perish, allowing the grease to escape resulting in roughness and eventual seizure. If you were doing 40k a year, then two yearly would be feasible, but in your position I would go on time ;)
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The car is driven on a regular basis so the tensioners are never in the same position for very long.
I believe most problems with low mileage cars occur when they have been left standing for months or even years.
The very reason I did my Lady's cambelt - the engine sitting stationary for literally years was a concern. I have a complete genuine Vx cambelt kit in my kitchen - only used once. Belt in excellent condition apart from minor cracking everywhere :)
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I hope you didn't fit that belt :o
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Haha. Nooo. I joke I joke. The 'only used once cambelt and pulleys' sitting in my kitchen is the one that's just come off The Lady. She's on a Contitech kit as we speak. Done about 50 miles up to now. :)
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Phew ;D I had visions of all your hard work suddenly going 'Clonk' :D
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Nooo... and the 'every 4 years' part of the rule is potentially what saved her - as if I'd simply gone by the 'every 40k' part of the rule would have meant that I'd have been driving around on that cracking, perished belt for another 13k. Given I do about 4k annually, that's another 3-4 years. Now that is worrying. A £90 kit and a bit of beer money is giving me peace of mind for another 1,460 days :)
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Can't argue with that :y
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Time to sell it:
Old jalopy for sale. 2.6 gas guzzler. Needs cambelt (about £450 at your stealer). One careful old owner. New tyres. Never raced or rallied. Was £450 but need money for my fleet of mistresses so would accept £300 oao.Suit rich expat
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What dilemma ?
40k or 4years. Mr Harry! :)
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What dilemma ?
40k or 4years. Mr Harry! :)
If I had unlimited funds like you, Mr Gixer........I'd tend to agree. ;)
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What dilemma ?
40k or 4years. Mr Harry! :)
If I wasn't as tight as a duck's arse, Mr Gixer........I'd tend to agree. ;)
More like it.
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Exactly. Can you afford a top end re build? No me neither. So I'd be making sure I didn't have to fix the car or buy another one to replace it, one with all the faults you've just fixed and..... Probably needs the belt doing ;D
Although I'm sure Stmo can advise on the betting process. What odds Steve...?
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Exactly. Can you afford a top end re build? No me neither. So I'd be making sure I didn't have to fix the car or buy another one to replace it, one with all the faults you've just fixed and..... Probably needs the belt doing ;D
Although I'm sure Stmo can advise on the betting process. What odds Steve...?
Don't know who's in the frame yet, or even if he's going. If I were a betting man, I'd say he stays (with a smacked bottie).
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Nowooooo! Dr Optis cam belt going pop, Ya Nutter ;D
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Nowooooo! Dr Optis cam belt going pop, Ya Nutter ;D
Oh.....I see ;D ;D
Well....20/1 on it going boing in the next six months, 10/1 in the next year and evens that it'll last the car out.
I don't have such problems, modern cars are about 100,000 miles between changes, by which time I've got shut.
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It is a difficult DIY job.
I know a cam locking tool is necessary but what else?
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It is a difficult DIY job.
I know a cam locking tool is necessary but what else?
It's an easy job......to balls up. ;D
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It is a difficult DIY job.
I know a cam locking tool is necessary but what else?
It's an easy job......to balls up. ;D
Yup. Very easy :'(
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Sounds like a case of a day trip to Huntingdon and park it at Serek's for a few hours while you treat Mrs Opti to lunch somewhere nice and expensive! :y
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It is a difficult DIY job.
I know a cam locking tool is necessary but what else?
I don't think it is a bad job on the scale of things actually, if you take your time and check everything. There's far less desirable things to do on a car.
Apart from the new cam belt kit, everything you remove is re-usable and goes back on. :y
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Oof has gone to great lengths to make it as easy as possible diy.
Get yourself an oof cam belt DVD. See what you think. If you can get the inlets, cable tray, aux tensioner and cam belt cover off, and lift the plenum you should be able to do the rest ...?
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The belt needs doing on my new one. DVD's are out of stock, I may have tried doing it, but I don't think my courage will let me. :(
None of my cars see more than 20k before having to have a new belt. :(
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The belt needs doing on my new one. DVD's are out of stock, I may have tried doing it, but I don't think my courage will let me. :(
None of my cars see more thafn 20k before having to have a new belt. :(
Job for the Wycombe meet :y
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Is that a job that could be done there, (weather permitting) I thought that was a big job with half the guts coming out. Are you offering, Chris. How long does it take. Cash waiting. :y I have not got one of the locking thingy's. Obviously I could tout about for a decent price belt. My mate is an MOT tester (doing the 2.5 on Thursday.) he may be able to get me a good price. :y
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It is a difficult DIY job.
I know a cam locking tool is necessary but what else?
It's an easy job......to balls up. ;D
Yup. Very easy :'(
What happened with yours webby put me off doing my own :( Although i seem to recall it was the tensioner that failed :-\
Fitting a cam belt kit to the V6 is not something you want to be faffing around with an hit and hope ::) . Although if its fitted and watched over by someone who makes sure your doing it right it would give bags of enthusiasm . Im pretty good with the spanners but this cam belt malarkey just puts me off :( An ive watched the dvd many times :-[ :-[ ::)
A tooth out here an there debates on here make all the difference , how would a first time diy'er possibly know any difference :-\ Id love to have a go but the fear of what i seen puts me off even though all the correct procedures were followed and we drove off for a few miles in Webby's car only to hear the valves eating the heads :'( :'( :'(
What could possibly go wrong ::) ::) :-\ :-\ :D ;D
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What happened with yours webby put me off doing my own :( Although i seem to recall it was the tensioner that failed :-\
Fitting a cam belt kit to the V6 is not something you want to be faffing around with an hit and hope ::) . Although if its fitted and watched over by someone who makes sure your doing it right it would give bags of enthusiasm . Im pretty good with the spanners but this cam belt malarkey just puts me off :( An ive watched the dvd many times :-[ :-[ ::)
A tooth out here an there debates on here make all the difference , how would a first time diy'er possibly know any difference :-\ Id love to have a go but the fear of what i seen puts me off even though all the correct procedures were followed and we drove off for a few miles in Webby's car only to hear the valves eating the heads :'( :'( :'(
What could possibly go wrong ::) ::) :-\ :-\ :D ;D
The actual mechanical side is straight-forward enough, once you've done battle with the cable tray. The removal of parts is very well explained in the DVD. :y
As I have a 3.2 with the single adjuster I only used the DVD for the order of parts removed as the DVD does not suit the fitment of the belt with the single adjuster. On my engine, you have to turn back the crank a tooth to get the belt lined up with the crank notch so that you maintain the belt tension on cams 3 & 4 when the crank lock is returned to the water pump. All makes sense when you do it. Then you can use the DVD for the checking and double checking process.
Something to be very aware of is the torquing up of the tensioner. It is a two handed job, one holding the spanner and the other torquing up the bolt. Common sense really, but when you tension the nut, the direction of tensioning will loosen the bolt and when you tighten the bolt it loosens the tensioner nut. Hold the nut in place while torquing up the bolt. :y
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Is that a job that could be done there, (weather permitting) I thought that was a big job with half the guts coming out. Are you offering, Chris. How long does it take. Cash waiting. :y I have not got one of the locking thingy's. Obviously I could tout about for a decent price belt. My mate is an MOT tester (doing the 2.5 on Thursday.) he may be able to get me a good price. :y
You bring the cam belt kit. (Kit, with tensioner and rollers, not just the belt) I'll do the rest. :y
(I have locking thingy/tools etc)
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40K or 4 years.... That's at least one every year then on my 2.6 :-[
40K or 4 years.... That's one every four years then on my 3.2 :y
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Its very strange,,,,my latest 2.6 which is 03 registered had a cambelt fitted at 44,000 by Vauxhall main dealers in 2011. The cost was £434.00
That was its first belt change since new..8 years !!!!!!!!! It was fully serviced by the same Vauxhall dealers from day one, and I have all the service sheets , etc, etc.
So Vauxhall seem to have great faith in their belts !!!!!! So if they decree 4 years, why was mine left for 8 years. The mind boggles :o :o :o
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Because, after some failures caused by tensioner bearing failure iirc, they revised it to half the previous period. That being, 40k and 4 years down from 80k and 8 years. I remember this change in service schedule being plastered all over vx dealers at the time...
The reason is the bearing failures, not the belt so much. Hence "changing the cam belt" isn't entirely accurate, but those that know understand this means the tensioner and top and bottom pulleys must be changed. So there's simply isn't any point re fitting the old belt.
Legend tells of vx sales trying to impress fleet managers with excessively long service periods. Oil changes where ridiculously long as well. Hence you often see comments on here about vx service history being not worth jack sh..
I change my oil every 5k if I remember/get time/it isn't bloody freezing. :-[
Vx where quoting 20k on fully synth iirc. :o
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To add, I'm talking about the v6 for terbs.
As most here know, all vx cam belts are 40k and 4 years for the same reasons. Although the more modern/newer engines might be different. But would you trust them if they are...? Given vx's history on such things.
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Thanks for that info Chris, but when did Vauxhall come to that decision. Mine is 'a later model' as I said 03, and the Omega began many years earlier. Being as my particular car was only serviced at Vauxhall in line with their service charts, how come nobody picked up the time factor of my belt.
As you say, it was changed due to premature breaks.....but surely that must have been way before the Omega was due to finish production.
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Alot of dealers were cutting corners by only changing the belt, which highlighted the tensioner weakness...
The Omega kit will do 80k without issue provided the WHOLE kit is changed. That said, if 80k is done over a period of greater than 4 years, then you're taking a real gamble...
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I agree with that, but the point I am trying to make is that my car went 8 years before a full kit was installed. The car only did 44000 in that eight years, But if Vauxhall had issued the new schedule, prior to 2003 when my car was first registered, then I would think it was pretty incompetent of Wimborne Vauxhall not to have brought it to the attention of the owner, as all servicing, repairs, mot's were done solely at that garage. One lucky engine, I guess ???
My records show that the car had only done 20,000 in the first 4 years, so Vauxhall totally ignored the '4 year' and relied on '40,000'. As I said....one lucky engine :y
Which...if following that line....my car has done 20,000 in the last four years, having been fitted with a full Vauxhall cambelt kit, should be ok until 2019 :o :o :o :o
As they say....No Way, Jose........not whilst I own it ;D :y
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I agree with that, but the point I am trying to make is that my car went 8 years before a full kit was installed. The car only did 44000 in that eight years, But if Vauxhall had issued the new schedule, prior to 2003 when my car was first registered, then I would think it was pretty incompetent of Wimborne Vauxhall not to have brought it to the attention of the owner, as all servicing, repairs, mot's were done solely at that garage. One lucky engine, I guess ???
My records show that the car had only done 20,000 in the first 4 years, so Vauxhall totally ignored the '4 year' and relied on '40,000'. As I said....one lucky engine :y
Which...if following that line....my car has done 20,000 in the last four years, having been fitted with a full Vauxhall cambelt kit, should be ok until 2019 :o :o :o :o
As they say....No Way, Jose........not whilst I own it ;D :y
I thought the amendment was sent out way back in 2001 and they were told to apply this to all previous models. :-\ It would certainly have been common knowledge in 2003 onwards.
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How would Vauxhall know the cars mileage without seeing the car?
How would Vauxhall know the cam belt wasn't done by another party.
It is entirely the responsibility of the owner to followe the service schedule.
There is currently no service schedule on any petrol engine (of that era, again, not sure on more modern engines) that allows for 80k miles.
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90439.0
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90441.0
I don't know when the service schedule changed, but I have a recollection it may of been between 2000 and 2003.
Anyone know? I'm sure somebody will. :)
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I see what you are saying Chris, however, my car was purchased and then serviced only at that Vauxhall dealers. They had all the records, from day one. And by jove, did they charge for repairs. The servive book, as you probably know, lists all jobs on a service, and in my case, they are all ticked in the various boxes.
The way my car has been looked after by that one owner from new, leaves me to think that it was an 'older' person that owned it. As he was loyal to that garage, they knew the car inside out, I would have thought they would have informed him about belts and kits. After all, there is something called customer service, (says tongue in cheek)
When I had my Laguna Estate, Renault phoned me up and advised me that the belt was due for change. :y
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...................................................
I don't know when the service schedule changed, but I have a recollection it may of been between 2000 and 2003.
Anyone know? I'm sure somebody will. :)
Quote below from an old thread posted by Mr DTM. Much earlier than I thought. :o :o
The original V6 came with an interval of 80K miles.....this was revised around 1997 (interestingly just as the first units were approaching 4 years of age!)
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Woo. Much earlier :(
I thought terbs service schedule was correct for vx guidance at the time. Seems not. Just a lucky engine as said. :o
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I'm sure I remember the signs up in the show rooms and service dept advising of the new schedule, while the face lift omega was on display.
Bah, I should know better than to trust my memory by now. ;D
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I'm sure I remember the signs up in the show rooms and service dept advising of the new schedule, while the face lift omega was on display.
Bah, I should know better than to trust my memory by now. ;D
Have to face facts, buddy....we all get old ;D ;D ;D ;D :y
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Never mind all this how long and how many miles crap... ;D Its 40k or 4 yrs what ever comes first.. So its time for the OP to splash out. :y
Get your wallet out mr opti. :y Your gonna need just over a ton for the parts and then you Are going to need someone to fit it.And thats another ton.
Just pay it... Its only bleeding money ;D ;D ;D
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Mines an 03. New kit fitted by Vx @ 79K, new kit fitted by me @ around 150K, now on around 170K. If it doesn't rot away, I'll be fitting the next one about 230K ;)
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Mines an 03. New kit fitted by Vx @ 79K, new kit fitted by me @ around 150K, now on around 170K. If it doesn't rot away, I'll be fitting the next one about 230K ;)
Good luck :y
So you are going for the 80K :-\
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It's fine if you do the mileage in short order...
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Mines an 03. New kit fitted by Vx @ 79K, new kit fitted by me @ around 150K, now on around 170K. If it doesn't rot away, I'll be fitting the next one about 230K ;)
Good luck :y
So you are going for the 80K :-\
Why not, its done it twice before. kit i took out looked fine, rollers and belt both ok.
Besides its now worth two tenths of fa. and i know what i paid for it new
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It's fine if you do the mileage in short order...
No, it isn't. As the link, there are cases of failures even before 40k. Never mind 80k.
That's not to say it's guaranteed to fail at 40,000.001 miles. Of course. Equally it's by no means guaranteed to last 80k. Far from it. Regardless of time....
Oh never mind! It's 40k or 4years. As TB would say. Accept it, deal with it, and move on. ;D
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works ok for me, dealt with and moved on :)
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I can see this one is going to drag on ;D ;D ;D
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Not from me.... ;)
I was stating a point with my individual car. I fully accept 40k or 4 years. And I speak with the authority of a man who has suffered three belt snaps, going back as far as my Victor FD :y
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Anyway....it was the good Doctor that stirred up the Hornets nest ;D :y
But we do need to know these things...and why :y
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Both of mine will probably be four yearly now as I doubt they will do 40k in that time... The black one might just, in which case that will be done on mileage.
The white one has been serviced to much the same regime as TVP were using pre austerity... But then it was doing a similar, if not slightly higher, annual mileage :y
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Out of interest I asked a local garage (who charge £40 P/H labour) if they'd like to quote for labour if I supply the parts.
Their reply......" Nah.....too complicated. That's a main dealer job" The guy had no idea what a cam locking tool was so probably a lucky escape. :-\
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Might be able to fit a kit for you if you need
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Out of interest I asked a local garage (who charge £40 P/H labour) if they'd like to quote for labour if I supply the parts.
Their reply......" Nah.....too complicated. That's a main dealer job" The guy had no idea what a cam locking tool was so probably a lucky escape. :-\
Oh dear ::) Must be using Mole Grips then ::)
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Sounds like M'lud is missing having a money pit to
waste spend endless amounts of money on. Go on, ignore the belt changes, oil changes and save on anti-freeze with tap water top ups. You know you want to neglect it so it costs sheds loads of money to fix, you know you do. :P :P :P :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D
You could always get yourself a modern diesel to replace it. Cheap as chips to run on unfiltered chip pan oil, those high pressure fuel pumps, injector sets and dpf on the scale of your wealth, cost next to nothing to replace. ::) ::) ::)
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Let's do the sums. If you take it to a garage and they quote anything over £400, then you're paying more than the car is worth, so just drive it until it goes pop.
There........all sorted. :y
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And if your Astra goes bang, you say it was just sneezing. :P :P :P
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Let's do the sums. If you take it to a garage and they quote anything over £400, then you're paying more than the car is worth, so just drive it until it goes pop.
There........all sorted. :y
Granted.
But a decade from now my MV6 will be worth £2000.
Check out the prices for a rot-infested Senator. :y
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Let's do the sums. If you take it to a garage and they quote anything over £400, then you're paying more than the car is worth, so just drive it until it goes pop.
There........all sorted. :y
Then you need a new car. Yes the omegas is worth (more than Steve thinks) a pittance. But its value is that it saves buying a worse, slower, less comfortable, smaller and MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE alternative, in puke green ;D. Although you do need an ounce of sense to fix the omega. :)
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And if your Astra goes bang, you say it was just sneezing. :P :P :P
It's Steve's big day tomorrow, Mr Rods.
Right now he's like a kid at Christmas, eager to get his hands on the snot coloured Astra. :D :D ;D.
Very soon now the giant green bogey will be among us. ::) ::) ;)
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Brilliant Doctor ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D pmsl
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Slightly off our topic, but not much....do all cars have to have all the pulleys done when they have a belt change, because I notice you can gets the belts separate :y
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Slightly off our topic, but not much....do all cars have to have all the pulleys done when they have a belt change, because I notice you can gets the belts separate :y
These days mostly yes,as change intervals have got longer there is less chance of guides/tensioner/water pump bearings lasting two terms
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Slightly off our topic, but not much....do all cars have to have all the pulleys done when they have a belt change, because I notice you can gets the belts separate :y
That's probably why VX made such a big deal out of the interval... some garages will only fit the new belt as the tensioners 'looked ok'... a month later, the tensioners fail and the belt snaps >:(
The crux is that when they price the job, it's based on the complete kit, but only changing the belt saves about half an hour in labour time, so profit there, and the belt alone probably saves a further £75 on the kit price... net result, garage is up £100 and you're none the wiser until the belt fails :-X