Omega Owners Forum

Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: jacko on 13 June 2017, 16:29:28

Title: very bad news
Post by: jacko on 13 June 2017, 16:29:28
hi chaps,

have been told today that my head gasket has gone hence the loss of water and missing, I have a couple of questions

one is how big a job is it and cost and the other is does the head need to be skimmed or what do you chaps recommend  :'(
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: tunnie on 13 June 2017, 17:52:32
Do you have a compression tester? Worth making sure the diagnosis  :y

If the engine has not over-heated, you tend not to need a skim. If you DIY the cost is very low, as it's just the gasket and bits. But if paying a garage, it may be an issue as labour will be big price, especially at London rates  :(

Easily £500 + if not nearly double that.  :'(
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: terry paget on 13 June 2017, 18:37:24
The gasket set cost me £48, cheap enough. It's tempting to change the cam belt pulleys and water pump while it's apart, plus new antifreeze. If all goes well, and no exhaust manifold studs break off, it's not that bad a job for a confident DIYer There is a good forum guide.

Make sure HG is the problem. Last week my son Ben presented me with his 2.2, engine overheating but no heat from heater. 'Head gasket', I groaned. I popped some water in and ran engine to look for leaks; found none, so put heater on and set to HI-HI, and was overjoyed to see a steady drip beneath the heater bypass valve. I changed HBV, now all is well.
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: jacko on 13 June 2017, 19:16:55
hi guys ,

yea I have done a pressure test and it is 210 on pots 1`3`4 and 150 on pot 2 have a miss on cold start up until cleared and is losing water and there is no visible sign of a leak and a header tank test shows gasses in water.

is there any one on here that may do the work car hasn't over heated and is still driveable don't mind traveling  :y
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: jacko on 13 June 2017, 19:20:36
oh and the car has done 102 k seems to be about the time they go  :'(
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 13 June 2017, 19:23:52
Contact Serek. Heis at Huntingdon, so not hat far.  :y
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: jacko on 13 June 2017, 19:30:29
okay thank you I will do just that  :y
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: jimbo125 on 15 June 2017, 01:16:55
Never done a HG before so when my V6 went thought long and hard about it, read the guide here and decided to do it myself. Took my time and ended up doing a decoke, valve skim and some other bits whilst in there and now it runs perfectly. It may look daunt actually taking it step by step not that bad at all what a sense of satisfaction once done :y
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: tunnie on 15 June 2017, 10:51:39
oh and the car has done 102 k seems to be about the time they go  :'(

Hit and miss really, mine was on 190k when I sold it on, head gasket still original!
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: annihilator on 15 June 2017, 18:26:52
worth a trip,genuine good guy  :y
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=139799.0 (http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=139799.0)
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: terry paget on 15 June 2017, 20:37:52
Never done a HG before so when my V6 went thought long and hard about it, read the guide here and decided to do it myself. Took my time and ended up doing a decoke, valve skim and some other bits whilst in there and now it runs perfectly. It may look daunt actually taking it step by step not that bad at all what a sense of satisfaction once done :y
Congratulations to you. I did the same on my 2.2. It took me a long time, I hit snags along the way, but in the end I reassembled everything, put in coolant and fired up. It ran, and ran without further trouble until some clown ran into the car on the M32, writing it off. Never mind, I had changed the head gasket. As you say, a satisfying thing to have done.
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: plym ian on 15 June 2017, 23:32:14
2.2 head gasket is fairly easy to do( just factor in a new back!!!!)

Did mine in a day and I didn't skim it and its run perfect ever since
Title: Re: very bad news
Post by: jimbo125 on 16 June 2017, 00:04:14
Never done a HG before so when my V6 went thought long and hard about it, read the guide here and decided to do it myself. Took my time and ended up doing a decoke, valve skim and some other bits whilst in there and now it runs perfectly. It may look daunt actually taking it step by step not that bad at all what a sense of satisfaction once done :y
Congratulations to you. I did the same on my 2.2. It took me a long time, I hit snags along the way, but in the end I reassembled everything, put in coolant and fired up. It ran, and ran without further trouble until some clown ran into the car on the M32, writing it off. Never mind, I had changed the head gasket. As you say, a satisfying thing to have done.
All that work and some idiot buggers it, very frustrating :y