Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: VX1 on 10 January 2008, 22:07:33
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Hi everyone not been on here lately not had any probs either, so I would like to have some piece of mind really. Soon to be an owner of a 3.0ltr, (hopefully if all goes well), and I know that the 3.0ltr's use the AR35 autobox rather than the AR25 autobox. So my question is.......
how reliable is the AR35 compared to the AR25? The trouble is that autobox's and myself don't really get on that well so just need to know if its going to last a while or flunk out after a couple of months. At the moment I don't know much about the car and the history of it yet so I am unfortunately unable to answer any questions about it yet, I suppose I could ask stuart30 but keep forgetting toask him everytime I pm him so I must ask him tomorrow.
Thanks for your help in advance
Paul :y
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Main reason the AR25's fail is that they can't handle as much torque as the AR35.
The boxes are supposed to have a fluid change and new filter (or just clean the original) at 60K intervals so it's worth checking history and probably just doing it anyway as a precaution.
Like anything mechanical, reliability is directly affected by how it's used and how it's been maintained.
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Main reason the AR25's fail is that they can't handle as much torque as the AR35.
The boxes are supposed to have a fluid change and new filter (or just clean the original) at 60K intervals so it's worth checking history and probably just doing it anyway as a precaution.
Like anything mechanical, reliability is directly affected by how it's used and how it's been maintained.
Thanks for that clarification VXL V6 I will try and get some history on the car tomorrow.
Paul :y
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The 35 is a far heavier duty unit. Been in use for years, since the carltons and senators (maybe before?) Almost 50% stronger than the 25. Considering the 25 is used on a 2.5v6 with 170bhp, and the 3.0 is only 210bhp, 50% stronger box coping with only 25% more power should seem positive.
Does depend if its been abused though. If it has a towbar, was it pulling a little trailer or a Twinaxle caravan? Is the fluid a nice smooth red colour, or a rusty red colour and does it smell acrid and burnt at all?
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i had 2 24valve sennies with ar35 boxes and never had any problems,got a 2.5 omega with ar25 box which had to be replaced at 95k. so i wouldnt worry about the durability of the ar35 in the 3.0 car.
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Thanks guys you have put my and the missus minds at rest cheers
Paul :y
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The two boxes are pretty similar......the 25 and 35 desribes the torque capability (i.e 250Nm and 350Nm) which results in a different numebr of clutches internaly plus there are a few minor ratio changes to.
The boxes are NOT the same as those used on the Senator etc as there were quite a few internal changes made plus a more advanced control setup.
Other than the AR25 wearing out on the 2.5TD's, the only other problem they suffer is failure of the oil pump thrust washer which is not to big a job to change.
If you look in the technical section there is some detail on the autoboxes:
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1183545930
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The two boxes are pretty similar......the 25 and 35 desribes the torque capability (i.e 250Nm and 350Nm) which results in a different numebr of clutches internaly plus there are a few minor ratio changes to.
The boxes are NOT the same as those used on the Senator etc as there were quite a few internal changes made plus a more advanced control setup.
Other than the AR25 wearing out on the 2.5TD's, the only other problem they suffer is failure of the oil pump thrust washer which is not to big a job to change.
If you look in the technical section there is some detail on the autoboxes:
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1183545930
Thanks Mark for the info. I have looked at that thread for info so it should be ok. One thing I will do though is do a service on the box if anyone is up for helping me out?
Regards Paul :y
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Hi Paul,
I have done the box service - pretty straightforward although inevitably a bit messy. There is a supplier who do the gaskets and filter for about 40 quid, although I cleaned out the filter and got the gaskets from Inchcape. Do a search and the name will come up or someone will post it.
I bought 5L plus 3 x 1L bottles of Dex 3 from Halfords - you can always take any unused bottles back.
Cheers,
Ian
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I personaly dont rate the Halfords Dex3 (used it in my old ex-plod), I now recommend the stuff from opie oils:
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-965-fuchs-titan-atf-4000-multifunctional-automatic-transmission-fluid.aspx
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Fair enough Mark, so we wouldn't go swapping an old senator box onto an omega and expect it to work. The point was, its a box design thats been around for years and is well tried and tested. Plenty of Senator Auto's out there driving just fine at stellar mileage.
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Mark
When you say Halfords DexIII do you mean the Comma AQ3 that they sell or their own brand?
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Mark
When you say Halfords DexIII do you mean the Comma AQ3 that they sell or their own brand?
The comma stuff.......the Fuchs stuff on the opie website is VERY good.
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I personaly dont rate the Halfords Dex3 (used it in my old ex-plod), I now recommend the stuff from opie oils:
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-965-fuchs-titan-atf-4000-multifunctional-automatic-transmission-fluid.aspx
well I'm not sucking it out now.. ;)
actually I think the 5L was Comma, the 1L were Halfords own brand.
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Did it cause problems in yours?
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Did it cause problems in yours?
It made little difference, changing to the Fuchs stuff made a noticeable difference.
It might have been that the comma stuff flushed more goo out but the fuchs stuff (and given the price) made a marked improvement on the change.
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Ah OK. I'm working on the principle that New DexIII (Or at least Something that supposedly meets GM spec) has got to be better than the original 60K stuff that was in there.
I will admit that I don't think the change is as smooth as it could be so might change it for the Fuch's ATF you recommend in the warmer weather.
Thanks
Sorry for the thread Hijack!
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Mine had 120k+ on it , I doubt with any change, so I'm sure it must have been for the good. Next stop s/w upgrade....
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Next stop s/w upgrade....
Now that does make a major difference, it will feel like a new car afterwards!
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I personaly dont rate the Halfords Dex3 (used it in my old ex-plod), I now recommend the stuff from opie oils:
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-965-fuchs-titan-atf-4000-multifunctional-automatic-transmission-fluid.aspx
Well thats ok then Mark cos' I can get that ATF from work so should be ok.