Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: mka306 on 07 June 2015, 12:15:25
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I have just started changing filters and checking levels under the bonnet when I found this in my coolant tank...
(http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx207/mka306/Omega%20Pics/20150607_120515_zpsed9m0tmd.jpg) (http://s756.photobucket.com/user/mka306/media/Omega%20Pics/20150607_120515_zpsed9m0tmd.jpg.html)
(http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/xx207/mka306/Omega%20Pics/20150607_120533_zps49wdqntq.jpg) (http://s756.photobucket.com/user/mka306/media/Omega%20Pics/20150607_120533_zps49wdqntq.jpg.html)
I'm assuming I have oil in my coolant but I'm no mechanic just a weekend worrior, so please can someone tell me what tis is and the possible fix, I am very worried this will cause my engine to go bang!!??
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Oil cooler failed.
Not a straightforward job, as its in the v of the engine under the plenum, and inlet, but most certainly repairable. :)
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Oil cooler failed.
Not a straightforward job, as its in the v of the engine under the plenum, and inlet, but most certainly repairable. :)
Thanks for the quick response, I assume this is an expensive part or is it just a pain to fix?
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Er, both. Genuine cooler is, I think, in the region of £200??But others will know more about that I haven't done the job for ages.
Might be worth a trip to Stoke to see Daz/Darth loo knee on here. Although it's best not to drive it if possible as it will ump sludge round the cooling system and into the heater matrix, plus oil isn't good for the rubber hoses etc. he might visit?
Worth pm'ing him.
Has the coolant been serviced regular? It can turn acidic of left too long and eat the cooler and cover plate etc. ....or it's just failed.
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Er, both. Genuine cooler is, I think, in the region of £200??But others will know more about that I haven't done the job for ages.
Might be worth a trip to Stoke to see Daz/Darth loo knee on here. Although it's best not to drive it if possible as it will ump sludge round the cooling system and into the heater matrix, plus oil isn't good for the rubber hoses etc. he might visit?
Worth pm'ing him.
Has the coolant been serviced regular? It can turn acidic of left too long and eat the cooler and cover plate etc. ....or it's just failed.
Thanks gixer, jamesv6cdx sent me a pm when I first joined offering his services and he will come to me, I've pm'd him so hopefully he will be able to do the job.
Thank you very much for the advice it's refreshing to see such a quick response to a worrying problem :y
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Oh I see. James is pm'ing newbies at first point of call. Interesting ;D
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Oh I see. James is pm'ing newbies at first point of call. Interesting ;D
I don't mind who does the job as long as they know what there doing and it gets done right, he lives close to me so it makes sense.
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Oh I see. James is pm'ing newbies at first point of call. Interesting ;D
Direct marketing, I think its called, one step down from phone-sales(ppi) :)
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Oh I see. James is pm'ing newbies at first point of call. Interesting ;D
Direct marketing, I think its called, one step down from phone-sales(ppi) :)
Yeh but I ignore those calls because there a pain, James on the other hand has offered his services for near enough nout.
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Just had an oil cooler replaced as part of a top end freshen up,think the part was around £140 from VX :-\
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I thought they modified the 3.2 cooler to prevent this happening? :-\
Useless GM muppets :(
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I thought they modified the 3.2 cooler to prevent this happening? :-\
Useless GM muppets :(
They did, but they still fail occasionally. :(
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Oh I see. James is pm'ing newbies at first point of call. Interesting ;D
Not at all, just noticed he was very local and offered some help in response to something the OP asked :y
Sadly I'm far too busy with work and family to do much omega stuff these days, even my own :(
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Oh I see. James is pm'ing newbies at first point of call. Interesting ;D
Direct marketing, I think its called, one step down from phone-sales(ppi) :)
Yeh but I ignore those calls because there a pain, James on the other hand has offered his services for near enough nout.
Can't knock his enthusiasm :y
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Oh I see. James is pm'ing newbies at first point of call. Interesting ;D
Direct marketing, I think its called, one step down from phone-sales(ppi) :)
Yeh but I ignore those calls because there a pain, James on the other hand has offered his services for near enough nout.
Can't knock his enthusiasm :y
I genuinely want to get more involved in the forum... I've said it a few times now :y
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Good on yer James. :y
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It does not matter who does the job as long as the OP is happy, and the Omega gets back on the road :y
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It does not matter who does the job as long as the OP is happy, and the Omega gets back on the road :y
Totally agree, all I want is the miggy running how it should, luckily the car is off the road until I have completed all the necessary work and some not so necessary, but this is something that needs doing sharpish as I can't risk turning over the engine in it's present state. Now it will need a coolant flush, engine flush, oil and coolant change and of course the cooler unit, must say I didn't see that coming :o
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I've sent you a quote that I've no doubt seems free compared to using a dealer ;D
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I thought they modified the 3.2 cooler to prevent this happening? :-\
Useless GM muppets :(
They changed it to stainless steel, but that doesn't alter the fact that the coolant should be changed at regular intervals.
I'm not sure the chaps at Ellesmere Port (many of whom were laid off when 54degree V6 production ceased) would be particularly impressed with you calling them muppets.....
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The answer is probably gonna be "never" . . . but . . . can you fit a used stainless oil cooler if it looks in good condition ? :-\
Just asking as the oil cooler was "supposidly" changed less than 2 years ago by the owner of my 3.2 breaker :-\
I'm preparing for a barrage of flack on this question . . . but just asking ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Problem with a used one is that the threads often strip when you try to tighten the two big bolts down for a second time. You wouldn't, of course, lose anything by trying :)
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Problem with a used one is that the threads often strip when you try to tighten the two big nuts down for a second time. You wouldn't, of course, lose anything by trying :)
Edited because I am stupid.
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Short runs also cause the mayo to accumulate in the header tank ;)
Could just need a coolant flush, then run it for a while and keep checking the header tank...
Not always a oil cooler failure that causes mayo in the header tank, could sometimes be one of the HG's is on its way out also.. or in my case - as I recently found out - both HG's had failed LOL
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Short runs also cause the mayo to accumulate in the header tank ;)
Could just need a coolant flush, then run it for a while and keep checking the header tank...
Not always a oil cooler failure that causes mayo in the header tank, could sometimes be one of the HG's is on its way out also.. or in my case - as I recently found out - both HG's had failed LOL
Ooh. Mini needs a chat with master. ;)
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Short runs will cause mayo to accumulate under the oil filler cap but never in the header tank. Only cause of mayo in the header tank is failed oil cooler.
I have changed 2 leaking coolers on late model V6,s so Im dubious about this alleged improvement on the later ones.
I have used a second hand cooler as a replacement, but as said, you need to take care with the thread on the cooler when installing it. Its not hard to cross thread the nuts and strip the threads on the cooler.
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Short runs also cause the mayo to accumulate in the header tank ;)
Could just need a coolant flush, then run it for a while and keep checking the header tank...
Not always a oil cooler failure that causes mayo in the header tank, could sometimes be one of the HG's is on its way out also.. or in my case - as I recently found out - both HG's had failed LOL
Were not the 2.5's from your manufacturing year prone to HG failure though ? HG failure is a rare occurance as far I am aware :-\ :-\
Looks like a def oil cooler failure from the OP's pics in my book
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Short runs also cause the mayo to accumulate in the header tank ;)
Could just need a coolant flush, then run it for a while and keep checking the header tank...
Not always a oil cooler failure that causes mayo in the header tank, could sometimes be one of the HG's is on its way out also.. or in my case - as I recently found out - both HG's had failed LOL
Ooh. Mini needs a chat with master. ;)
Masters comments here cover it I believe?
http://oldsite.omegaowners.com//forum/YaBB.pl?num=1263501823
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Short runs will cause mayo to accumulate under the oil filler cap but never in the header tank. Only cause of mayo in the header tank is failed oil cooler.
I have changed 2 leaking coolers on late model V6,s so Im dubious about this alleged improvement on the later ones.
I have used a second hand cooler as a replacement, but as said, you need to take care with the thread on the cooler when installing it. Its not hard to cross thread the nuts and strip the threads on the cooler.
I find that placing the nut over the threads loose, then fitting the banjo bolt in the cooler to pull the cooler up in place BEFORE screwing the nut onto the cooler, greatly helps the thread life. The cooler can sit a fraction low otherwise, giving a risk of not catching the thread correctly with the nut.
Apologies if teaching egg sucking, but better safe. :)
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I will buy a new one and get the coolant flushed out so hopefully all is well. If HG,s need doing then so be it but I'll start with the oil cooler and go from there.
Thanks to you all for the help it has made a big difference to how worried I was earlier today :y
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bought the kit from courtney for £150 delivered last week.
http://www.courtenaysport.co.uk/buy-online/shop-by-category/parts/oil-coolers/oil-cooler-kit-v6-all-non-turbo-models/prod_668.html
if you remember to turn the option of inlet gaskets to no thanks
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bought the kit from courtney for £150 delivered last week.
http://www.courtenaysport.co.uk/buy-online/shop-by-category/parts/oil-coolers/oil-cooler-kit-v6-all-non-turbo-models/prod_668.html
if you remember to turn the option of inlet gaskets to no thanks
This forum is a goldmine of top info . . . excellent ! :y :y :y :y :y :y
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bought the kit from courtney for £150 delivered last week.
http://www.courtenaysport.co.uk/buy-online/shop-by-category/parts/oil-coolers/oil-cooler-kit-v6-all-non-turbo-models/prod_668.html
if you remember to turn the option of inlet gaskets to no thanks
This forum is a goldmine of top info . . . excellent ! :y :y :y :y :y :y
Could not agree more, need to do my 3.2 oil cooler also :y
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and get the coolant flushed out
Oh, believe me, you are in for a lot of flushing once its fixed ;D
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I thought they modified the 3.2 cooler to prevent this happening? :-\
Useless GM muppets :(
And probably too late in the production run to make much odds to all but the 2003 v6s. As older ones fail, the replacement part should be the latest ones... Which incidentally are now plastic :-X
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and get the coolant flushed out
Oh, believe me, you are in for a lot of flushing once its fixed ;D
Twenty three times iirc for Aarons car... Plus a bumper box of Aerial Liquitab dishwasher tabs ::)
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mine has failed and it is a "53" plate >:(
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mine has failed and it is a "53" plate >:(
Crap coolant maintenance, pure and simple ;)
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picked it up for £210 with the cooler problem so cant complain :y
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I thought they modified the 3.2 cooler to prevent this happening? :-\
Useless GM muppets :(
And probably too late in the production run to make much odds to all but the 2003 v6s. As older ones fail, the replacement part should be the latest ones... Which incidentally are now plastic :-X
So an oil cooler kit from VX will now be supplied with a plastic oil cooler element/rad part ? :-\
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Last time I enquired after one, that's what I was told... Personally I will probably buy onefrom the States when I need to...
Worth nothing that mine has had the coolant changed regularly and is still on it's original one after 268kmiles
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New coolers are not plastic. Or have I miss read?
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New coolers are not plastic. Or have I miss read?
The suggestion from the parts chap was that the original ones were mild steel, 2nd generation ones are stainless and third generation are plastic :-\
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New coolers are not plastic. Or have I miss read?
The suggestion from the parts chap was that the original ones were mild steel, 2nd generation ones are stainless and third generation are plastic :-\
Some crossed wires thee somewhere surely. Although I haven't bought one for a while.
I do remember, some old posts here suggesting the original ones where plastic, although I've never seen one of those either.
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New coolers are not plastic. Or have I miss read?
The suggestion from the parts chap was that the original ones were mild steel, 2nd generation ones are stainless and third generation are plastic :-\
Some crossed wires thee somewhere surely. Although I haven't bought one for a while.
I do remember, some old posts here suggesting the original ones where plastic, although I've never seen one of those either.
Nope, very early ones metal. Doubt any cars still have them. Changed to stainless very early in production run.
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Just purchased a genuine Vauxhall oil cooler with all parts required from Pentagon Vauxhall in Sheffield, plus free first class signed for postage at a cracking £133.99, not bad if I do say so myself :y
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Just purchased a genuine Vauxhall oil cooler with all parts required from Pentagon Vauxhall in Sheffield, plus free first class signed for postage at a cracking £133.99, not bad if I do say so myself :y
:y :y
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well done that man,my local vauxhall garage quoted me £199 not including the sealant.
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I'm thinking of maybe giving this a go myself, no offence to jamesv6cdx but it will give me some more confidence and a better understanding of the vehicle, also the how to guide is very competent so that has given me the push to have a crack and the help on here is a great back up in case of any major issues..........or am I mad to try, lol. :D
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19mm crows foot :y
(Suggest a hardened one for longer life as mine spilt on another job. )
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19mm crows foot :y
(Suggest a hardened one for longer life as mine spilt on another job. )
Stupid question time but isn't a crows foot just a 19mm spanner? Oh and thanks for the help gixer. :y
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19mm crows foot :y
(Suggest a hardened one for longer life as mine spilt on another job. )
Stupid question time but isn't a crows foot just a 19mm spanner? Oh and thanks for the help gixer. :y
No, you'll need a crowsfoot socket.