Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => Omega Gallery => Topic started by: V6 CDX-er on 08 November 2010, 12:08:32
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Firstly apologies to the mods if this is in the wrong section. I wasn't quite sure where to put such a topic.
The idea of this thread is to document the progress, cost and timescale taken in turning what is frankly a rather tired and unloved late model Omega into something that most on here would be happy to own.
Bought in mid October 2010 for £1200. It shows that I am the third owner of this 94'000 mile, 2003 2.6 CDX auto.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13022b.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13023.jpg)
Since then lots of other things have got in the way of getting the Omega back on the road. namely the fact that my wife has recently presented me with a beautiful baby daughter, and the need to get her nursery decorated.
The vehicle was bought with the following known faults;
Cambelt, tensioners and water pump need replacing.
All filters and fluids need replacing
Needs a complete brake overhaul
Cam cover gaskets leaking
Front fogs, reverse lights and one brake light in-op
Trim pieces under the headlights missing, and a couple of bodywork scrapes
Needs new tyres
over the next week or so I will be keeping a log of all work carried out, including the costs of each job and how long it took me to do each one, (I'm a very basic home DIY spannerer with basic kit) Hopefully this will be some help for those either looking to buy an Omega, or those that have already bought and are thinking of doing these jobs themselves.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13.jpg)
As you can see I already have most of the parts that I need. As I do each job I will list how much the parts and sundries have cost me. (please excuse the mess in my office :-[ )
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unloved late model Omega
There's no such thing - there all loved on here. ;D ;D ;D ;D
Be very interesting to hear how you get on. Good luck with it.
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Good luck with everything! will be a great feeling when its all done :y
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Congratulations to you V on acquiring the car and to both you and your wife on the arrival of your daughter. 8-) :y
I'll certainly look forward to seeing how you progress on the car's revival. :y
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good luck ;)
will wait news from you :D
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I would feel that £1,200 is a little steep for a car that requires so much work.
But congrats on the (two) projects! :)
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I've managed to get a few jobs done this evening. Things got off to a slow start by having to fanny around juggling cars around the garage / driveway.
Anyway, as i stated in the first post on this thread I will be doing a small write-up of each job done.
Airfilter. A new one from the main dealers cost me £11.66 inc VAT. Fitting was a piece of cake. If you can open a can of Coke then you can change an air filter and a pollen filter.
Tools needed for the airfilter change are a T-20 Torx drive, 1/4" ratchet, extension bar, 7mm socket and a vacuum cleaner. The job took me about ten minutes.
Old one in;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13026.jpg)
Old one out. I gave the airbox a good vac and wipe out at this point
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13027.jpg)
Old v New
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13028.jpg)
New one in
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13029.jpg)
Job done.
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Next up was a clean of the drain holes and replace the pollen filter. Yet again it was a pretty easy job. The only 'tools' that were needed was the vac (again) and a 1 metre length of stiff 'twin core' cable to help clear the drain holes. My pollen filter was £7.44 inc VAT.
I used the excellent scuttle drain guide in the maintinance section of this forum as a guide. I found the retaining clips hard to locate at first, (it wasn't obvious that the clips were clips). Clearing the nearside (on UK models), drainhole was tricky due to how little room there was for me to force my hand in. I must admit to having to get the wife to help at that point. My hands were just too big. The drivers side was a piece of cake.
Drain hole cleared
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13033-1.jpg)
Old v New pollen filter
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13031.jpg)
New filter in
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13034.jpg)
The grud that came out of the drivers side drain grommet. Well and truly blocked!
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13035.jpg)
And grommet cleared and cleaned.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Omega%20work/SkodaFelicia13036.jpg)
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Next up was changing the rear discs, pads and handbrake shoes. I haven't finished that job yet, so will report on that tomorrow.
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Well, I've done a little, but not anyway near as much as I would have liked to have done.
What spare time I had yesterday was taken up by doing just one side of the rear brakes. Discs and pads wasn't a problem, but what did cause a major delay was getting the retaining pins on the shoes back into their cover-plates, (if you know what I mean?).
The pin nearest the front of the vehicle was slightly shorter than the one towards the back. Not by much, only a couple of mm, but it was enough to make an already fiddly job neigh on impossible >:(
For anyone who is thinking of changing the handbrake shoes, may I suggest that you include the following in your toolkit,
These very thin and long forcepts from Machine Mart; http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/forceps it will be the best £4.69 that you ever spend. I just wish that I had had some prior to doing the first side.
Plus a large and varied selection of swear words to use when the bloody spring pings the pin back out at you for the 417th straight time.
Today has been stupidly busy at work, so all I've had time to do is clean up my rear wheel, (it was completely black on the inside), which took some doing, then make a start on my front discs and pads. The fact that the caliper to bellhousing bolts are seized solid has drawn things to a close today. Just as well as I didn't notice that it was 02:50am.
if I thought that the rear brake linings were bad, (down to the metal), it was nothing compared to the fronts. I honestly do not believe that the discs or pads have ever been changed in seven years and 94'000 miles. No friction material left on the pads, everything is seized solid with what looks to be factory thread lock on the couple of bolts I have removed, but it's the front discs which worried me the most. Between the vanes is so badly worn and corroded that they are well on their way to splitting in two :o
I've seen some seriously worn discs in my time, but these fronts really take the biscuit. Thankfully I only had to drive the car about 15 miles to get it back home.
I'll post up pics tomorrow so long as I actually have the time to work on the car, and I can get the dam caliper retaining bolts off after using so far half a large can of TT without any joy.
Right, that's my mug of hot milk finished, (yeah, I lead a very rock & roll lifestyle eh?), and I'm off to bed.
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mounting bolts on the caliper are always very tight and as you have found out are threadlocked , long breaker bar is the answer!unless you have a good quality windy gun? and you will have to use it to tighten them when done or they will come loose!!! hence the reason they are so tight in the first place! :y
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Looking at the state of those filters I would guess they are as old as the car. :o I would put money on the breathers etc being very blocked indeed. Looks like you are taking the right approach - go over the whole car and service everything. :y
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Any more progress?
I have been looking forward to seeing you chronicle the work done/issues solved etc. Good luck with it anyway :y
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Very enjoyable to read your progress, keep up the good work, as they say. :)
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Any more progress?
I have been looking forward to seeing you chronicle the work done/issues solved etc. Good luck with it anyway :y
Yes, there has been, but not a lot :-[
Due to sleep deprivation by our baby daughter, all I've wanted to do most nights when I return from work is have my dinner, play with her for an hour, then try and sleep. And on the nights that I have had the energy to work on the Omega, most of the time it has been that cold, (saw -9 one night, -5 a few others), that I've soon got fed-up freezing my nuts off in the garage. Anyway, I digress......
Firstly I'd like to pay a quick homage to one of the legends in motorsport. It is with a heavy heart that I have just learnt of the passing of Tom Walkinshaw, who has sadly lost his long battle with cancer. It is because of you Tom that I have been a fan of Jaguars ever since I was a young kid watching your cars win Le Mans and blitz the field at Bathurst.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/Tom_Walkinshaw_Win_Percy_Jaguar_XJS_Bathurst.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/xjr14.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/79916811.jpg)
RIP Tom Walkinshaw :'(
Except for changing the brake fluid and adjusting the handbrake, all four corners of the brakes are done. If it is 50 years untill I next have to change handbrake shoes, it will be too soon. Plus one of my rear calipers had seized, which meant hunting for another one at a sensible price, (£25 delivered off eBay).
Front discs and pads were a piece of cake. The only thing which I would advise being carefull of it perhaps getting a few spare disc retaining studs, as two of mine chewed up taking them off. Putting the new ones back on I used a little copperslip on the threads, and only nipped them up slightly.
So, front discs and pads. I bought a set, (discs & pads), from my local VX main dealers for just a touch over £80 inc VAT. Besides a torque wrench, no other special tools are needed for this job. Just remember to crack the bleed nipple off on the caliper, and unscrew the lid on the brake master cylinder before squeezing the caliper pistons back. I also read a very good tip on here, (I forget who from), about using the old pad to squeeze back the pistons, therefore the pistons are going back squarely.
Each side should take you between 30-45 minutes depending on how quick you work.
INTERNET ON A GO SLOW. WILL FINISH OFF LATER.
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Realy enjoyed reading this and look forward to more of your work with great interest. would love to own a one in the future althogh currently own a 2.0 due to be easy to maintain. :y :y :y :y :y :y
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forgot to say earlier on getting my meg I started to experience water coming into passenger footwell. Became very worried as I did not know about pollen filter and area located. After looking around area of glove box and its removal, and further investigation realised problem, blocked drain plug, hence solved, lost several layers of skin off forearm and became quite sore, so I and others undestand your experience.
Finally congrats on the bairn.
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Front discs and pads were a piece of cake. The only thing which I would advise being carefull of it perhaps getting a few spare disc retaining studs, as two of mine chewed up taking them off. Putting the new ones back on I used a little copperslip on the threads, and only nipped them up slightly.
So, front discs and pads. I bought a set, (discs & pads), from my local VX main dealers for just a touch over £80 inc VAT. Besides a torque wrench, no other special tools are needed for this job. Just remember to crack the bleed nipple off on the caliper, and unscrew the lid on the brake master cylinder before squeezing the caliper pistons back. I also read a very good tip on here, (I forget who from), about using the old pad to squeeze back the pistons, therefore the pistons are going back squarely.
Each side should take you between 30-45 minutes depending on how quick you work.
Discs and pads on all four corners were well and truely shot.
Front discs were wafer thin, with heavy corrosion between the vanes. I reckon if I had put the disc in a vice and given it a couple of hits with a chisel and lump hammer than I could have got it to split in two. I suspect that whoever owned this car before me tried to run it on a shoestring.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13050.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13056.jpg)
Wafer thin pads;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13058-1.jpg)
The job is a piece of cake, just so long as the disc retaining bolt doesn't need drilling out. On two of my wheels I 'only just' managed to remove the discs retaining bolt without the need for drilling it out. For how little they cost I bought a set of four replacements, (only ended up needing two though), used copperslip on the threads, and just nipped them up lightly. Hopefully next time the discs need to come off, they should do so with ease.
The only minor problem with changing the discs / pads was the need to file away some of the material on the caliper bracket in order to get the new pads to fit. I did this with the dremmal, (well, cheap Clarke copy), taking care to just file a little at a time so my pads were not a baggy fit.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13062.jpg)
Don't forget to give the discs a dam good clean with brake cleaner to remove any tracers of the wax / greese they use at point of manufactor to stop them rusting. My discs were plastered in the stuff! Also don't forget to torque up the caliper retaining bolts and nip-up the bleed valve after pushing your pistons back in. And a chap on here, (I forget who, sorry), gave me a good tip about using the old pads to push back the pistons, thus making sure that the pistons go back into the caliper squarely.
job done;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13059.jpg)
Next job was cleaning my wheels. These were a hell of a mess. I cleaned these with plenty of Wonder Wheels and some Autoglym spray-on machine cleaner, plus plenty of elbow greese. Finished off with some Autoglym alloy wheel sealent, which should hopefully mean that any future baked on brake dust is easy to remove.
before;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13049.jpg)
after;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13047.jpg)
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Finally congrats on the bairn.
thank you :)
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picking up up some good tips here. Also gives whole new meaning to not doing job by half once some thought is given to any task.
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Now onto the rear brakes.
Just like the front discs and pads, this job shouldn't present any problems, even for an amateur like myself.
A few of the tools or equipment that your going to need are brake cleaner, (at least a couple of tins), a tub of copperslip, (don't bother with the little tubes, you won't have enough), a rubber hammer, and some tie-wraps to secure the brake caliper out of the way without it straining the brakeline.
I'd also strongly reccomend getting one of these cheapo dremmel copys from Machine Mart. I've had mine for a couple of years now, and they are a very usefull tool to have; http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/crt40-40pce-rotary-tool-kit
The reason why I'd reccomend having this tool for changing discs and pads is that it will save you a lot of time when it comes to cleaning up your hubs, prior to fitting the new discs, (using the wire brush attachment).
A quick tip. If like me you find that your locking wheel nut key is very stiff to attach, smear a little copperslip into the recess of the locking wheelnut key. this will aid it going on nice and easy.
The rear discs may prove slightly more tricky to remove than the fronts, due to how much of a groove the handbrake shoes may have worn into the 'drum' part of the discs. As I was changing my handbrake shoes anyway, and my discs were fubarbed, I used the hamfisted method of banging away with the biggest hammer in my toolbox. if I was to re-use my discs, then I'd take a more gentle route of using a piece of wood placed behind the disc to hammer directly onto, and rotating them untill the came free.
As with the fronts, the caliper bracket will likely need a bit of filing in order to get the new pads to fit. Also I gave my retaining pins a going over with the wire brush attatchment on the multi-tool, as these were not in great shape.
Not too many pictures as I was wrestling with doing the handbrake shoes at the same time, (not a fun job!).
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Replacing handbrake shoes.
FFS. What an awfull job! So please allow me to try and make it a little easier for you.
Firstly, when I ordered the parts for mine I was unaware that as well as the handbrake adjuster running along the underside of the car, there is also an adjuster on each individual drum. So, if your handbrake is non existent, and the adjuster under the car is wound to max, try the adjusters in the drums first, as changing the shoes is a job to give you a few extra grey hairs (IMO).
As well as the tools described above, I would also suggest that before starting this job you grow a third arm & hand, plenty of Plus-Gas / TT, and buy a cheap pair of needle-nosed pliers, modifying them to be quite long and thin with an angle grinder. The reason why will be explained soon enough.
First off, knock the pins out of the brake caliper, remove the pads, and undo the caliper retaining bolts. these are going to be tight, dam tight, as in 20 million lb/ft tight if mine were anything to go by. To make matter worse, my 1/2" drive 18 / 19mm socket, (cant remember which size exactly), was just a little bit too deep to fit in the confined space between caliper and suspension arm. I'd suggest taking the wheel off yours, and before you go any futher, make sure that your 1/2" drive socket & bar will actually fit.
I managed to get around this problem by remembering where there was a couple of lengths of scaffolding tubes dumped, and going there with a hacksaw and cutting a length off. This I used with my 3/8" 18 / 19mm socket, (which was shallower) and my shorter 3/8" bar. you see, the job is turning into a swine already.
Whilst we are on the subject of tips, I wound off the central handbrake adjuster running by the exhaust. Typical me went blasting in, removing exhaust heat shields without paying too much attention to which ones needed to come off. It may be better for anyone else doing the job to learn by this a take a step back for a minute, figuring out which heat shields come off, and which don't, as some of them are a pig to remove and re-fit. If you are removing heatshields, take it as granted that the bolts will be in a bad way, so use plenty of penitrating fluid first.
So, adjuster wound off, pads removed, caliper removed and placed out of the way. (I know the picture below is of a front caliper, but the idea is the same front or back)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13054.jpg)
To be continued.......
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Well done so far 6 - will look forward to the next instalment. 8-) :y
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Handbrake shoes continued.......
Ok, so you've got your caliper and disc off, and the caliper is tied up out of the way. This is where the fun really starts.
You'll see a star adjuster sitting at 12'o'clock between the shoes. Wind this off to almost max. Not too far though as it will eventually buckle under itself, causing yet more problems.
I hope you've had your Wheetabix, cause your going to need it. Try and undo as many of the springs as possible. The one on the backing plate should be easy. Others won't be.
Next up is depressing the springs on the pins to get the caps off. Don't be fooled by how easy these come off, as you still have to get the buggers back on yet.
Now try and stretch the shoes apart, (easier said than done). hopefully after several trips to A&E to stitch back on missing fingers, you should have done this.
Now everything should be dissassembled? Cue lots of brake cleaner to tidy the job up, use of the cheapo dremmel to clean the hub and start re-assembling. Good luck!
Copperslip aplenty on the metal to metal areas, smearing it on the springs. Now all you've got to do is get those innocent looking springs back over the pins, and the caps in place. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, here's where that third arm I asked you to grow comes in handy, as does the patience of a saint.
So here's my top tips....
1; before even starting this job, I wish I'd taken the car to have the pins tack-welded into place on the back of the backing plate. This would have stopped the dam things rotating with the spring / cap every time I tried to get them back on.
2; if you are having real trouble getting the springs to compress, rotate, and the caps back on, then cut out a link from the little springs. Carefull not to take too much out of it though.
3; have a few spare caps handy, (not the sort that go on your head, but the ones that go over the shoes retaining pins), as these caps soon get chewed up.
4; remember the cheapo pair of needle nosed pliers I suggested you got? well now is the time to use them, assuming you have thinned them out a hell of a lot with your angle grinder.
On each side is two pins. One willbe alright(ish). The other won't. I wasted one full day getting the pins on one side, and two days doing the other. bear this in mind, and please don't expect changing the handbrake shoes to be an easy or quick job.
My 2003 omega has 94'000 on the clock. My handbrake was next to useless, but the handbrake shoes only looked about 30-40% worn, (I'd already bought the parts and decieded to do the job). What I think was the cause of my near enough in-op handbrake was a lack of any adjustment being used on the star adjusters on the drums, plus the severe wear on the 'drum' part of my rear discs.
In hindsight, (such a wonderfull thing), I reckon that if I had replaced the discs and fiddled with the adjusters, then the car would likely have done 200'000 miles without the need for the handbrake shoes to be replaced.
Whipping the discs on and off, even a couple of times, is a hell of a lot easier than changing the handbrake shoes,
Anyway, a few pics of the completed job;
old v new rear pads
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13037.jpg)
shoes done (eventually!)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13043-1.jpg)
caliper on, pads in
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13045-1.jpg)
Once your disc is back on, don't forget to wind the star adjuster through the hole in your disc untill the shoes bite the drum, then wind it off one notch.
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Well you've truly had an eppic time of this, however, it has been enjoyable and I look forward to further instalments. ;D ;D ;D :y :y :y
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Next job on the list was to replace the cam-cover gaskets. the first step of this job is to remove the throttle body, plenumn and intake trumpet. You will likely need two tins of Carb Cleaner (or death spray as I now call it)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13069.jpg)
I used the above stuff. It's pretty good, but please, don't go using it in a confined area. Afterwards I felt like I'd got consumption and TB!
As seen as I was removing these anyway, now seemed like a good time to give them all a proper clean, as all of the above were caked in a carbon / oil residue sludge. Removing all of these is quite straight forward, with only two issues arising, (one of which I'll come to later on). The first issue is that some of the hoses that need to be removed are held in place with 'R' Clips, and I don't have the correct tool to remove these. What I did do was to cut them off with the angle grinder, and I'll replace the 'R' Clips with regular jubilee clips.
Throttle body first. A piece of cake, but you will require new gaskets for this, just like you will for the rest of the items which need to be removed. I bought genuine VX gaskets from my local main dealer, which came to quite an astonishing £63 including the Autobahnstormers discount :o Yeah, I did feel like I had just been raped!
Having noticed the casting steps in the ports of the throttle body, and having read another members guide to porting said item, I thought I'd give that a go myself. First off I tried the Dremmel with sanding drums attatched, but this hardly touched it. I then tried some P60 sandpaper, but yet again, barely a scratch. In an act of desperation, I tried my heavy duty drill with a sanding stone on it. All this did was leave some very nasty score marks on the ports smooth surface, basicly buggering it up. I've since had to cheat and send the throttle body off to be machined properly, (at a cost of £45) as my attempts had made quite a mess of it :(
Either through ignorance, stupidity, or stubburness, I decieded not to be put off, and also have a bash at smoothing out the casting steps in my plenumn and intake trumpet. Luckily these were a lot easier, (and clearly not made of Kryptonite).
There are a couple of Torx screws holding in place each butterfly on the throttle body. These need removing in order to clean the barrel properly, but just remove one at a time, or you'll have a right fight on your hands trying to get them back in without one butterfly in place to turn the arm that they are attatched to. Upon re-assembly, don't forget to use a little Loctite on the screws that hold the butterflys in place.
Here's the throttle body with one of the butterflys about to pop out. The machining / casting steps are quite visible on the left hand chamber.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13070.jpg)
And here are both butterflys, (I had to remove both as I was sending the throttle body off to be machined). One butterfly is clean, the other dirty.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13071.jpg)
Next up was the plenumn. Again, pretty easy to remove. To clean mine I used the death spray, (carb cleaner), along with one of these for getting in all the nooks and crannys.
Plenumn, (pre cleaning);
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13066.jpg)
Alloy wheel cleaning brush. Perfect for cleaning the plenumn and intake trumpet;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13077.jpg)
The plenumn was not a pretty site, very gunked up;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13067.jpg)
And this too has some quite prominant casting steps on it;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13073.jpg)
Luckily these are a lot easier to remove than those on the throttle body, (casting steps shown on the right hand side, those on the left have already been removed with the dremmel);
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13074.jpg)
And finally all cleaned up. I got rid of any swarf from filing out the casting steps by taking the plenumn to a mates garage, and swapping a four pack of Boddingtons for 30 minutes with their parts cleaner, finishing off with blowing it dry with the airline;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13072.jpg)
And don't forget to clean out the hole casting in the top of the plenumn.
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Next up are the plastic breathers that sit atop the plenumn.
Dead easy to take off, and dead easy to clean out.
Here's mine looking very dirty;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13068.jpg)
No pics of after though (yet), as I forgot to take any. Sorry.
After that job it was the turn of the intake trumpet.
This did prove to be a little tricky to remove. Not in terms of access to any of the bolts, but there is a certain knack to persueding it to come out from between the 'V's of the cylinder heads. So a big thanks to Darth Loo Knee, dbug and tapper888 for their kind advice on the contortions needed to get the dam thing out. :y
Once I'd removed the intake trumpet, it was obvious that someone had been here before me, as the base of the trumpet, (were it meets it's mounting plate atop of the bloke), was covered in this horrible yellowy / orange slimey sealent. with it being so dam cold in the garage, this soon hardened and was easy to peel off. The inside 'necks' of the trumpet were, like everything else on the induction / breather front, covered in heavy carbon / oil residue build-up. yet again, copious amounts of carb cleaner and the alloy wheel cleaning brush removed it nicely.
A few pics of 'before';
Old sealant on base;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13075.jpg)
Inside of necks pre cleaning;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13076.jpg)
And after.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13078.jpg)
Finally it's the turn of the breather behind the drivers side cylinder back. Follow the thinest black tube, (that you will have removed from the plastic breather that sits atop the plenumn), and it will end up at a metal (breather) box between the drivers side cylinder bank and the bulkhead. The pipe is a tight fit, and there isn't much room to lever it off, so it's just a case of slowly pulling and twisting untill it pops off.
When mine did come off, the breather hole below was quite mucky;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13079.jpg)
A good old squirt of carb cleaner, followed by poking the hole with a sewing needle, folowed by more carb cleaner, and it's clear. I also gave the pipe I'd just taken off a good squirt as well.
To re-attatch the pipe, as seen as it was such a tight fit, I poured a little boiling water into a cap from a tin of brake cleaner, and left the end of the tube to be re-attatched to the metal breather box to soak for a few minutes. This allows the rubber pipe to become softer, allowing it to slip on a lot easier.
It is advised that after cleaning out your breathers and intake system, especially if so much crab cleaner has been used, to change your engine oil and filter before starting the car, as i understand that the chemicals in the carb cleaner can do a lot of damage to any plastic or rubber componants that they come into contact with in the engine.
Personally I'm planning on picking up a dirt cheap oil filter from Euro Car Parts, changing my oil, and then changing it again with decent oil and a genuine VX filter 650 miles later, (my Omega has 94'350 on the clock). I'll proberly try an engine flush as well.
The next job is the cam cover gaskets, but I've only done one side so far. I'll do a write-up on that once I finished the job.
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Fantastic thread - very intresting read.
Love all the pics too.
Keep it up! :y
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w8ing for the next operation you have in mind :)
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Realy enjoying this which I will be using as referrence.
:y
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Wow! This could end up being THE definative guide to V6 Maintenance! Well Done so far, looking forward to the next Instalment ;D :y
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Wow! This could end up being THE definative guide to V6 Maintenance! Well Done so far, looking forward to the next Instalment ;D :y
Thanks all. :)
The idea behind the thread was to give an idea what the jobs were like to do with basic tools from a novices point of view.
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Right then, that's induction taken care of. Now onto cam covers and spark plugs.
Not the easiest job in the world as on some things it isn't too obvious what to do. So allow me to share a few tips that I picked up off others and a couple that I figured out for myself.
Tools for the job include female Torx socket E10, Vauxhall cam cover gasket set, and Vauxhall cam-cover gasket sealant. Whilst you are in the you may as well change the spark plugs, so add to that list 6 GM spark plugs, a small spark plug socket (14mm?), copperslip, a straightedge to check your cam covers aren't warped, (I used a mental ruler), and most importantly a torque wrench to torque up your spark plugs and cam cover / dis-pac bolts. Due to the low values that these get torqued up to, and the lack of room on the passenger side, I think that only a 3/8th torque wrench will fit.
Spark plugs need to be torqued up to 25NM (18 lb/ft), and the cam cover / dis-pac bolts to 8NM (6 lb/ft).
Once the plenumn and intake trumpet are removed, access at least to the drivers side is pretty good.
For me at least, how to remove the dis-pac wasn't obvious, but thank to a couple of helpfull chaps on here,I soon got pointed in the right direction :)
Around the edge of the dis-pac, (the long dark grey box that sits atop each cam cover), is a rubber lip or seal. Once all the bolts are removed, gently prise away this rubber seal and gently prise out your dis-pac. Chances are that you will break the plastic edging of the dis-pac at a couple of points, but this should really cause any problems so long as it isn't too badly damaged.
If your lucky then the dis-pac will just pop right out complete with all it's shrouds. If your not lucky, some of the spark plug shrouds may stay stuck to the plugs, like in the picture below;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13080.jpg)
Then they are quite tricky to remove. After getting advice on here, I figured the best way to get a stuck spark plug shroud out was to put plenty of WD-40 / TT / Plus-Gas down there and try and break the seal and pop it out with a couple of screwdrivers. This does take time, is annoying, and will damage the sparkplug shroud. If the car is your only motor, I'd suggest trying to pick up a few spare shrouds prior to starting the job. These aren't available at Vauxhall, (unless you want to buy the dis-pac as well), nor did I have any luck on eBay, but if someone is breaking a car, or there is a scrapyard nearby then you may be in luck. Sods law will dictate that if you don't have any spares, you'll end up needing them. If you do have them, then you likely won't need them :P
Once the dis-pac is removed it's time for changing the plugs. As I understand it Vauxhall suggest putting the plugs in dry, (not using any copperslip). On my plugs they were rather difficult to remove, and I fear that on a couple of them, if they had been done up much tighter then getting them out would have damaged the threads on the cylinder head.
old plugs out, (1/3/5 top and 2/4/6 bottom);
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13084.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13095.jpg)
Although the old ones didn't look 'too' bad, I replaced them all anyway;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13096.jpg)
Upon doing so I added some copperslip to the threads in order for the spark plugs to come out a little easier next time. What I may also do is add a little copperslip to the tops of each spark plug, which should reduce the chances of the shrouds getting baked onto the plugs.
Putting the new plugs back in, I have heard of folk using an old piece of hosepipe in order to not get the plug cross-threaded. I didn't bother. Instead I just used a long extension for the ratchet, (but without using the ratchet). Doing it this way it was easy to feel any significant resistance when screwing the new plug back in, (at which point I un-wound and started again), doing them up finger tight, before finishing off with the torque wrench (25 NM).
The GM plugs are pre-gapped, but even so I would reccomend just giving them a visual check, just to make sure that the electrodes aren't damaged.
Now onto the cam-cover gaskets. Drivers side first and loads of room to work on this one.
Lift the dis-pac up and out of the way, placing in the recess where the intake trumpet would usually be. With the 8 cam-cover bolts removed you can now remove the cam-cover.
This may be stuck slightly, so I tapped mine gently with a rubber mallet, whilst using an old screwdriver to again gently tease the cam-cover away from the cylinder head.
With the cam-cover removed, carefully remove any old tracers of sealent and gasket from the face of the cylinder head using carb cleaner, an old cloth and a scraper, being very carefull not to drop any old sealant / gasket material into the camshaft workings or oilways. Once the face of the cylinder head is cleaned up, move onto the cam-cover itself.
Prise out the old gasket and the eight 'O' rings that sit in the recess of the bolt holes. I used this tool from Machine Mart; http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cht161-4-piece-mini-pick-hook-set
Then once all the old gasket, sealant and 'O' rings have been removed, use the straight edge to check that the cam cover isn't warped. If all is ok move onto fitting the new gaskets and 'O' rings.
Here is why it is important to get the face of the cylinder head cleaned up first. The sealant that you will be using only has a short timespan before it goes 'off'. if you haven't cleaned the heads up first, then by the time that you actually have done so, the sealant will have cured already, reducing it's ability to make a proper seal.
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Continued.......
here's the old gaskets. drivers side first, then passenger side;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13086.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13099.jpg)
Fitting the new gaskets I added a little sealant to all areas that were curved on the cam-cover, before pressing in the gasket and wiping away the excess. Then on the face of the cylinder head I added sealant to all four corners, the rear half moons, and the lumps / hills at the front of the cylinder head, (sorry for the crap description), before fitting the cam cover in place.
A little copperslip on each of the eight bolts, did them up finger tight, then torqued up to 8 NM working in a spiral motion, starting from the inside bolts. the fitted the dis-pac, again adding a little copperslip to the bolts and again, torqing up to 8 NM. Job done, (drivers side).
Now the passenger side.
There are quite a few more brackets, bolt, and other stuff that needs shifting out of the way on this one. Just take solice that if all goes well, you won't have to do it again for a long time.
DO NOT go dissconnecting your air-con pipes, as tempting as it may seems. There is a lot easier, and lot safer way.
Along the top of the passenger side cam-cover is a wiring loom. Gently prise away the plastic clips and remove both the top and bottom halves of the wiring loom cover. This will leave your wiring loom exposed. Get a load of cable ties and hook the wiring loom to the bonnet stay, stretching it as far as you can without damaging it. You should end up with something like this...
empty wiring loom cover;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13089.jpg)
exposed wiring loom;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13090.jpg)
and the wiring loom stretched out of the way with cable ties;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13091.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13092.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13093.jpg)
You can now remove the dis-pac. Due to the shape of the bulkhead, this isn't quite as easy on the passenger side as it was on the drivers side, and will require a little juggling. Once out, place it in the same area as before, (between the 'V's of the cylinder head. Now remove the old spark plugs and fit the new ones in the manner described in my previous post.
The only exception being the spark plug that sits nearest the bulkhead (passenger side). To get to this you will need to use a U/J between the ratchet extension and the spark plug socket as pictured below;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13098.jpg)
Yet again remove the cam-cover, clean up the heads and cam cover of old gasket & sealant, fit the new gasket and sealant, replace cam covers and dis-pac, torque up bolts, (8 NM), then re-assembly of intake trumpet, plenumn, throttle body etc, not forgetting and new gaskets needed for these parts. (I haven't actually got as far as re-assembling the induction yet as I'm doing the cam-belt, but I cant imagine re-assembly being difficult).
That's it for the next few days I reckon. So here's wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year :y
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Cam belt & tensioners part 1;
Special tools required:
Torque wrench
Torx bits (T40 / T45 T50)
30mm socket
Long extension bar
Cam locking tool and cam aliliegnment tool
A selection of female Torx sockets from E8 to E20
Some emery cloth
Mrak DTM's excellent 'How To' DVD, available from this fine forums webshop.
A large drip tray and large container to pour the old coolent into.
During this procedure I have been / will be replacing my auxillery belt, cam belt, water pump, cam belt tensioners and changing the coolent.
First up, jack the nearside front of the vehicle up a little and drain the coolent out of the rad. To do this undo, (but not remove) the red screw untill the coolent starts to make steady progress out of the rad.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13132.jpg)
I drained mine into a small oil drain container, then poured it into a larger 25 litre container. i find it usefull to keep two of these containers. One for oil / brake fluid etc, and the other for coolent. Once full, I'll take them to the tip.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13130.jpg)
Then using Mark DTM's DVD as instruction, I started to remove the induction trunking that goes up infront of the rad. However, because I'm a bit of an idiot, I wasn't paying that much attention to the video and tried to unnecessarily remove the radiator bottom hose. This I failed to do correctly as I couldn't get one of the dam clips off, so I cut through the hose with a saw, then took a Dremmal to the dam hose clip. Cost of a new bottom hose = £8.40. Cost of realising that you've wasted your time and your money = priceless :-[
Anyway, it is possible to remove the item below without being as stupid as I was;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13101.jpg)
Next up is undoing the wiring loom protector. Pretty simple, even for a hamfisted fool like me. The bits round to the offside need unhooking by pulling up a little and left a bit. Carefull you don't break them.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13102.jpg)
You can now remove the cover which covers the aux belt,therefore fully exposing said aux belt;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13103.jpg)
Remove the tension out of the tensioner, leaving the belt slack, and remove belt. Mine, condition wise, was 'alright' bearing in mind that there is no evidence of it being changed for 54'000 miles and five years.
Aux belt off and close up's of it's condition. A few cracks visible on the inside of it;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13104.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13106.jpg)
At this point the PAS pulley, water pump pulley and crank pulley can be removed. On mine the PAS came off no problem, but the water pump pulley was well stuck, even after spraying TT on it for the last few days. I eventually got it off by using a big pry-bar and gentle(ish)ly trying to pry the pulley free like in the picture below;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13100.jpg)
I had to do the same with the crank pulley, but this only took a couple of yanks and it was off.
Next I undid the five bolts holding the cambelt cover in place, not forgetting the semi hidden one on the drivers side.
Then using an E20 female Torx socket I slowly turned the engine clockwise untill the timing marks on the cam drives were just before the timing marks on the cam casing. At this point I fitted the cam locking tool to the crank pulley housing, and turned the engine over a little more untill it locked in place against the water pump;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13108.jpg)
The timing marks on the cam vernier pulleys should resemble something like this, (or at least mine did);
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13109.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13110.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13111.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13112.jpg)
Things didn't look 'too bad' untill I put the proper timing aliegnment tool on. Then :o
My timing was a mile out on all four banks. who on earth set this up this time? Stevie Wonder? Ray Charles? David Blunket? David Blunket's guide dog? Pics below of timing a mile out (banks 1-4 in order);
With the aliegnment tool on the pics look a lot worse. I couldn't get the cam locking wedges in either side. Banks 1-4 are pictured in order;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13113.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13114.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13115.jpg)
Not to worry. We can fix this :) To do so you will need an extension bar with a 30 mm socket, and a ratchet with a T50 bit on the end of it.
Using the extension bar and 30mm socket, slacken off the adjuster / tensioner between your two 'V's;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13117.jpg)
Then with the ratchet and T-50 Torx bit, carefully adjust the timing more accuratly, like so;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13118.jpg)
Untill all four are spot on;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13116.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13119.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13120.jpg)
Continued.........
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Continued as I was running out of charactors on the above post.......
With everything aliegned correctly, it's time to check, double check, re-check, and check again to really make sure that your timing is spot-on. I was happy that mine was. I then put in the cam locking tools. if your timing is spot on, these should slip easily into place;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13121.jpg)
Then the tensioner can be removed, (13mm bolt I think, or maybe an E12?). This will allow the cambelt to go lose so that it can be removed easily;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13122.jpg)
Belt removed and pics of it's condition;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13123.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13124.jpg)
The belt condition appeared good, with no cracks or fraying. Not bad considering that a belt change was 14'000 miles overdue :o
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13125.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13126.jpg)
I had no noises coming from my water pump, but as what little history I do have shows that it has never been changed, and I was in here anyway, I thought it best to change it. I managed to get a OEM water pump for £26 delivered, and the gasket from my local VX main dealer was only a couple of quid. The old water pump is a piece of cake to remove, just make sure that you have a bucket handy!
Remove the locking tool that attaches to your crank pulley bracket and locks onto the water pump. So long as you leave the green and red 'wedges' in place the cams cant move.
Undo the three bolts that hold the water pump in place. My water pump needed a few gentle taps with the rubber mallet to set it free.
Water pump removed;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13128.jpg)
Old v new water pumps. Even though my new water pump is OEM there are differances in the impeller design and material used, although the shape of the backing plate remains the same. Pics below;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13127.jpg)
Before fitting the new water pump I cleaned up the mounting point on the engine block with some emery cloth, then some P-360. wiped it all down with a clean rag, then an anti-bacterial wipe in what was likely a futile effort to remove any tracers of swarf. ::)
I also gave the face of the new water pump, and the new water pump gasket a quick, light smearing of copperslip;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13129.jpg)
And as seen a I struggled to remove the water pump pulley, I'll go around the inside of that with some emery cloth to clean that up a bit as well as giving it a quick and light smearing of copperslip too.
And that's were I left it for tonight. All that left to do is to remove the other two tensioners, (cant see that being a problem), fit all the new ones and fit the new cambelt and aux belt, then re-assembly.
I was quite concerned that as an amatuer I'd really struggle doing a cam belt change, but TBH, so far it's been pretty straight forward. if it's as easy to finish as I expect it to be, then I reckon that providing you had the tools and the parts to hand, any old joe could get it done in a weekend, even if they were working at a pretty relaxed pace. What would take longer is doing all the other jobs that you might as well do whilst in there, such as rocker cover gaskets, spark plugs, cleaning out the breathers, cleaning up the intake system and grinding / porting out all the casting steps.
Anyhow, part two coming your way in the next couple of days. Lets hope that finishing the job is as easy as the start of it has been so far.
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This thread is worth its weight in gold especially saving garage bills. I'm really looking forward to more of this and has given more confidence in doing these jobs, especially being an absolute novice.
Keep up this excellent thread. Am sure many will find this an absolute boon. :y :y :y ;D ;D ;D
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This thread is worth its weight in gold especially saving garage bills. I'm really looking forward to more of this and has given more confidence in doing these jobs, especially being an absolute novice.
Keep up this excellent thread. Am sure many will find this an absolute boon. :y :y :y ;D ;D ;D
[/highlight]
I can only agree! :y
At the moment I am a 4 pot owner but would love a V6 & your excellent attention to detail is invaluable! So, a bloody big Thumbs Up from me :y ;D
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Top thread!! :y
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can't wait for the next episode, well done :y
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Bad news chaps. I've had to admit defeat on the cambelt, (and it was going so well :-[ )
Finding Top Dead Centre (TDC), lining the timing up with the old belt in place, removing the belt were all easy enough just so long as you keep on checking and double checking what you have done.
Fitting the new belt was a two person job for me / us. I had the car over the pit, with me stood under the car holding the belt tightly around the crank, whilst my wife followed the instructions on Mark DTM's excellent DVD and fed the cam belt through the tensioners and around the cams. Once we had done this we turned the engine through 360 degrees and checked the timing again.
At this point the timing was slightly out on banks 3/4, whilst still spot on on 1/2. Timing was adjusted, tensioners adjusted, engine rotated again through 360 degrees. This time 3/4 was out a little, 1/2 was spot on.
Again adjust, re-set tensioner, and rotate engine through 360 degrees.
What followed was a couple of hours of chasing the timing marks, each turn of the engine made the timing on 1/2 go further and further out. :o :'(
I've now decieded that it would be best if I got a mechanic mate round to help me set it up properly. I don't know what it is that I'm doing wrong, but it's bound to be something simple, (fingers crossed). I'd rather not go messing with the timing any more in case I make it a lot worse and end up bending a valve turning the engine over by hand.
So, failure? Well, yeah, I guess. Trying to put a positive spin on things, this was my first ever cambelt change, there is four cams to time up, (so it ain't the easiest job for a novice), but I have had a decent stab at it. So long as I haven't done any damage, (and I don't think I have), then even getting a mechanic round to help for a couple of hours is still going to end up cheaper than paying one to do the job. Plus with the job being done under my supervision, I can make sure that the timing is set-up perfectly, not just near enough(ish).
As my mechanic mate cant come round untill next week this leaves me at a bit of a short end, scratching round for little jobs to do. With the clock ticking in January, the Omega isn't going to be on the road untill the begining of Febuary, (it has no tax, and I'd rather get a full 12 months tax, not 11 1/2 months tax).
So the little jobs to be getting on with over the next couple of weeks are obviously finishing the cambelt,
bleeding the brakes,
adjusting my handbrake'
re-fitting the heat shields that cover the central handbrake adjuster.
cleaning my sunroof 'disc' (sunroof has a mind of it's own),
changing oil and filter, (lots of carb cleaner has made it's way into the engine, will change again in another 650 miles when the car gets to 95'000 miles),
changing fuel filter
collecting throttle body from machine shop,
re-assembly of intake system
add coolent, (system flushed, excluding heater matrix, by removal of water pump).
As usual I'll do the little write-up's for each job, but like I said, as far as timing goes, I've been defeated :-[
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Don't forget to take pics [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=dankk2.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif]... too much?? just one more for your help :-*
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so... nothing new yet?? changed the belt??
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Failure. That dependends on whats meant by failure.
Yes I agree you only got to acertail n point but even that is a learning point and a success for the next time, assuming there will be.
I would say you can pat yourself on the back as youve achieved sheds loads in my humbe opinion and have been a credit to the forum.
A big thumbs up from me :y :y :y :y.
Looking forward to next series. :) :y
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so... nothing new yet?? changed the belt??
Just a quick update chaps.
At first I couldn't remove the oil filter canister, (it's welded itself to the block), but I think I've figured out an easy way to get me some more room to swing a bar in on it.
I couldn't remove the fuel filter as I couldn't undo the plastic clips. A mate has lent me a special tool for this job, (and I think these are sold in Machine Mart for not a lot). I'm about to go out in the garage and give it a go.
And for the cambelt, I had a mechanic mate come over yesterday to take a look. I'd got myself to the point of not being able to see the wood for trees, and also blinded by the fear of valves meeting pistons as the timing slipped further and further out.
Upon closer investigation, we, (or rather mainly my mechanic mate), could only really conclude that even though I ordered the parts from my local VX main dealer, either the belt is too long, or the tensioner is the wrong sort.
Each time we try and tension the belt, the belt will catch / wedge itself against it housing just above the tensioner located at 9 'o' clock in relation to the water pump.
So very little progress but at least (hopefully) a breakthrough.
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just having read this maybe it should have its own space "how to the complete service guide"
excellent report. :y
also the problem with the cambelt/tensioner seems to be happing alot with different people? urm vx cocking up?
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is it tip top now?? any more work to be done?
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Right, here's a few more updates.
Elite Pete was kind enough to pop over and got my cambelt sorted in about 30 minutes. IIRC I had messed around with one of the tensioners that much that I'd lost track of what position it should be in, and how to get it there. But now the cambelt and timing are all tip top. Cheers Pete :y
Fuel filter;
An easy enough job providing that you have the right tools!
I mistakingly thought that I'd be able to remove and re-fit the fuel filter by just using a regular set of needle nosed pliers. Wrong! All I suceeded in doing was chewing up the plastic connectors. What you really need is this; http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cht441-3pce-fuel-line-disconnect-set
Yes, it might be £15, but with this tool I got the fuel filter changed in about 20 minutes. Without it I at first struggled for a couple of hours, and still hadn't got it changed.
The fuel filter is located just behind the drivers side rear wheel. Removing the rear wheel makes access dead easy.
Old fuel filter in place;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13181.jpg)
New kit, included new plastic connectors;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13178.jpg)
As you can see in this picture, because I wasn't (at first) using the correct tools for the job, I made a nice mess of the connector clips, which required some filing in order to get the new clips in place;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13183.jpg)
New filter in place. As you can see I couldn't remove the old filter strap, so had to bodge the old one a little. It seems pretty secure though;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13184.jpg)
EDITED TO ADD;
First, a pic of the fuel filter pliers;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13203.jpg)
And secondly a little tip. When your under the car, having petrol dripping into your face, I found it wasn't that obvious in which direction the fuel filter 'flowed'. By making it very obvious by writing the flow direction in marker pen, it made the job a bit easier.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13204.jpg)
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Next up, Aux belt.....
I bought mine from Euro Car Parts. Belt ordered after giving them my reg number and confirming vehicle model and spec.
Old belt off;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13195.jpg)
Euro Car Parts belt;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13198.jpg)
This belt was too short by at least 20 odd cm. Looks to me like this ContiTech belt was for vehicles without air-con. According to Euro Car parts this is the longest belt that they do.
The old belt looked worn, but not too bad. Personally with all the other work that I was doing, and with a lack of history to confirm when it was last done, I'd rather change it anyway;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13105.jpg)
Now a trip to Vauxhall to get the proper belt for it;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13199.jpg)
Which fitted like a glove :)
Whilst I was at it I decieded to take the aux belt tensioner apart and re-grease the inner bearings. A simple, cheap and worthwhile job, but the use of a vice will make the job a lot easier.
Before;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13192.jpg)
After;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13191.jpg)
Don't forget that both sides need re-packing with grease.
Whilst I was at it, I also gave the all the pulleys a dam good clean, gave the mating surfaces of the pulleys a light sanding, and put a liberal coating of grease on the mating surfaces of the various pulleys that the aux belt passes over, and used brand new bolts, (as reccomended in the Haynes Manual).
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13196.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13197.jpg)
So long as the intake 'trumpets' are removed, changing of the aux belt is a piece of cake, although because the tensioner needs winding back, it is slightly easier to get someone to help hold the tensioner back whilst fitting the new belt.
This is not the best photo as I was actually taking a picture of something else, but here's the new belt fitted before the rest of the gubbins get mounted around it;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13170-1.jpg)
Just a little top tip for you chaps......
When trying to place a bolt into a bit of a tight spot, the sort of area where you really, really don't want to be dropping it, I found this this little trick works a treat.
Have your bolt in the socket, then hold it in place by sticking masking tape at opposite sides of the socket. The masking tape is strong enogh to ensure that the bolt won't drop out of the socket, (so long as you are still carefull), but is also weak enough to enable you to pull the socket and the tape clear once the bolt is in place.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13201.jpg)
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And now we move onto converting my oil filter from a canister type to the spin on type. There are a couple of words of caution here, (one very serious), so you may wish to read carefully.
Changing the crappy canister type filter for a spin on one has been covered plenty on this forum. It's isn't really a difficult job, (or at least shouldn't be unless things go wrong), but there is a certain knack to it due to the fact that there isn't that much room to work in.
First tip is to turn the steering to either full left lock or full right, (sorry, I cant remember which way now). This will give you that extra couple of cm clearance needed.
Second tip is to buy a proper oil filter canister car removal tool like this; http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/oil-filter-wrench-set-cup-style-15-piece
I've seen these tools sold as kits in Machine Mart or sold seperatly in Halfords. I didn't buy one, but in retrospect I wish that I had.
What I did do was use a regular 12 sided 27mm socket to try and get the cap off, attatched to a 28" long breaker bar. All this did was start to round off the nut on top of the cap. (NOTE; even with the steering turned to full lock, there isn't much room to swing the bar).
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13177.jpg)
Next I decieded to try using a 6 sided 27mm impact socket. This still didn't budge the bloody cap >:(
Ok, plan 'C', and now I'm starting to lose my temper a little.
Forget the socket, just use the 1/2" square end of the breaker bar allied to some rather colourfull language and threats of extreme violence.
FAIL! All this did was split the cap in two, without actually unscrewing it at all;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13161.jpg)
At this point I'd reached Defom 5 so got the angle grinder out to teach this oil filter canister exactly who was boss.
To be honest this isn't exactly the safest way to go about removing the canister, but because I hadn't used the correct tools for the job, it was about the only option left. I dread to think of the consiquences(sp?) of dropping the angle grinder whilst stood / laid underneath it :o but eventually I managed to cut the bugger off;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13168.jpg)
You can just see in the picture above the 'hex' drive bolt that bolts the base of the canister to the block. This is a 12mm hex. Nothing else would have got my canister off.
Once my canister was removed, here's what was left of it. You'll note the old oil filter, (I dread to think how old it is!) next to a new canister type filter. This is because at first I wasn't going to change from a canister filter to a spin on one, so I already had the new canister oil filter.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13167-1.jpg)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13169-1.jpg)
Old V New oil filters;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13187.jpg)
And the parts needed for converting to the new type of spin-on oil filter. Don't forget to use some decent stud-lock for the stud that bolts into the engine block;
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13188.jpg)
There are two different types of spin-on oil filter. BE VERY CAREFULL THAT YOU BUY THE CORRECT ONE.
After changing my oil cooler I didn't buy the correct type of oil filter. After fitting and within 10-20 seconds of starting the engine, the (wrong type) oil filter popped clean off. Luckily the vehicle was still stood over my inspection pit and I had somehow sensed that something wasn't quite right so my hand was already on the ignition key ready to turn the engine off. I was very lucky that no damage was caused. I dread to think what would have happened at 80mph in lane three of the motorway :o
According to the friendly parts chap at Vauxhall there is two different strength valves inside the two different oil filters. The one with the weaker valve doesn't have the strength to withstand the V6's oil pressure, hence pops off.
I'll be going to collect the correct type of oil filter tomorrow so I'll post up clear pictures of the right and wrong type next to each other for clarity.
Anyway, mouting stud Loctited in place, left 24 hours to set, then new spin-on filter filled with fresh oil, (GM own brand 10w/40 semi synthetic) and put in place, (and obviously 6.25 litres of fresh oil in the sump).
Job jobbed as they say :)
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13189.jpg)
EDITED TO ADD;
A picture of what was left of the oil filter canister cap after I had had to butcher it.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13209.jpg)
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.....
What I did do was use a regular 12 sided 27mm socket to try and get the cap off .....
i thought it was 24mm :-/ :-/ :-/
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Bleeding brakes.
An easy one this one, but once again, just so long as you have the right kit.
Me and a mate tried the traditional two man method in the order described in the Haynes Manual. Well, after nearly three hours we still hadn't managed to bleed even one corner. Plenty of air bubbles were coming out, but they just seemed to keep on coming. At 11pm we got cold / bored / tired / hungry and called it a night.
The next day I bought myself a Gunson Eazi-Bleed kit from Halfords, (retails at £15.99 I think?). Worth it weight in gold, but with one very serious word of caution.
To those not familiar with this bit of kit, you have to fill one bottle up with fresh brake fluid which them transfers the new fluid into the master cylinder under air pressure from a spare wheel.
If you look at the picture below you will notice a clear plastic tube that runs from the bottle to the master cylinder. This is the tube that transfers the new brake fluid to the master cylinder under pressure. Gunsons themselves reccomend no more than 20psi. I set my spare tyre, (space saver so it can easily be carried around for this task), to 17-18psi.
(http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/TVRMoneypit/SkodaFelicia13190.jpg)
Once connected I found that the clear plastic tube had a very tiny hole in it. Luckily this shot off, (rather impressively, like a brake fluid fountain) to the offside of the car, missing all bodywork, my tools, toolchest and my wife. The word of warning is that I took this kit back and another 8 of these kits that Halfords had in stock were damaged in exactly the same place.
You couldn't really see the tiny split, but you could just about feel it by running your thumb nail along the length of the pipe.
The solution was to trim a little bit of the pipe off and re-attatch. The only problem with this is that my kit now weeps a little, requiring the wife to stand over the master cylinder cap with a couple of rags to catch the leakage.
The good news is that the kit gets even badly air-locked brakes bled in next to no time.
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.....
What I did do was use a regular 12 sided 27mm socket to try and get the cap off .....
I thought it was 24mm :-/ :-/ :-/
You might be right. It's been a few weeks since I did it. This old age and sleepless nights, my memory ain't as good as it used to be :D
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With regard to the changing of the aux belt, new bolts for pulleys and the parts needed for changing the oil filter, do you have any part numbers available for the bits you got from Vauxhall?
Otherwise, looks like you've been cracking on and I'll be following suit very soon! :y
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With regard to the changing of the aux belt, new bolts for pulleys and the parts needed for changing the oil filter, do you have any part numbers available for the bits you got from Vauxhall?
Otherwise, looks like you've been cracking on and I'll be following suit very soon! :y
I'll try and get a proper answer to you in the next couple of days. The best I can do for now is the following;
If you look in the maintinance section of this website there is a topic entitled "How to convert your oil filter" (I think?). You will find the part numbers for that job in there.
For the aux belt I was told by my local VX main dealer that there is only one belt available for the facelifts, as they all came with air-con fitted. Euro Car Parts seemed to think that no Omega was ever fitted with air-con, hence supplying me with a belt that was far too short.
The new bolts for the pulleys, the crank uses 6x E10's, PAS uses 3x 10mm's and the air-son uses 3x E10's. Your local VX main dealer should know exactly which ones you mean, and TBH I didn't find the main dealers really any more expensive than some random nut and bolt supplier.
However I'll try and get you all the part numbers listed up here by tomorrow night.
HTH?
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Lovely job, thank you :y
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Really enjoyed reading through this thread. great work so far :y