Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Alex W on 14 September 2008, 15:27:28
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Following the How To re cam cover gasket replacement. Plenum Off
It says:
"Disconnect the air pipe from the fuel pressure regulator(FPR). Unplug the injector loom...
Does anyone have a picture. I don't know where the FPR is or what it looks like and I can't see any plug to unplug. Where is the injector loom?
Anyone that can point me in the right direction would be appreciated.
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I have just done mine...when you carefully lift plenum off and forward a bit you can see at rear of plenum an air pipe and elec conn loom, these are on pass side, usually last things to unplug.
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Thanks Mike, but I'm below that. The plenum is completely off.
I'm on the lower manifold section. I have removed the inlet and outlet pipes and the six retaining torx bolts and I have then managed to lift the assembly forward. I have then found the air pipe which I have removed and now have located the loom connector. It is a couple of inches long, black with a light grey cap on one end. The is no obvious way of disconnecting it. Do I disconnect from the black end or grey end?
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yes,,sorry with you now..you can see the loom plug clearly on the How to, i didn't disconnect it ..i laid the injector bridge assembly to one side as there was plenty of slack, it didn,t get in my way..sorry if not helping
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its a connector on the back. As you look at the injector assembly, right at the back, underneath the scuttle is the connector. Its in the middle...
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Thanks,
I now have the lower manifold section off the car and I have cleaned out the breathers as described on the how to.
Now the cam cover won't budge!. Obviously I've removed the 8 bolts and have tried a little gentle persusaion with a rubber mallet it you'd think it had been welded on!
Any ideas. how much "persuasion2 can one use. I've read that you shouldn't lever it off in case you damage the facing.
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There is a black tag on the connector that you lift up and it unplugs.
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Thanks,
I now have the lower manifold section off the car and I have cleaned out the breathers as described on the how to.
Now the cam cover won't budge!. Obviously I've removed the 8 bolts and have tried a little gentle persusaion with a rubber mallet it you'd think it had been welded on!
Any ideas. how much "persuasion2 can one use. I've read that you shouldn't lever it off in case you damage the facing.
wonder if an excess amount of sealant was previously used..with all 8 bolts removed theres nothing else holding it on
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Having done mine today they last person who did it used sealant all round the covers. The left hand bank required pursuading with a large flat blade screwdriver. One it budges slightly the rest came away no problem
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Finally, with a more robust use of my rubber mallet I got the cover off.
I was expecting to find some small O-rings from the cover bolts to replace. There seem to be none? They're not on the top of the cam cover, neither are they on the underside of the cam cover neither are they on top of the engine bolt holes.
Where are they supposed to be?
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Finally, with a more robust use of my rubber mallet I got the cover off.
I was expecting to find some small O-rings from the cover bolts to replace. There seem to be none? They're not on the top of the cam cover, neither are they on the underside of the cam cover neither are they on top of the engine bolt holes.
Where are they supposed to be?
They just sit in the recess on the underside of the cover where the bolt goes through
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The o-Rings were so flattened and hard that they appeared to be made of the same stuff as the camcover. All prised out and renewed now.
Its dark now and I've only got the easy side done today. I'll do the other one tomorrow.
Is it OK to reconnect the battery with the plenum and lower half of the inlet manifold off and all those electrical connnectors disconnected - so that I can lock the car up for the night?
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I've just emptied the car of all my stuff. Its not going anywhere in its current state anyway.
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Never disconnected the battery when I did mine, as long as you don't turn the key (and start the fuel pump with the fuel hoses disconnected :o) you'll be fine. :y
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OK easy side done.
But the passenger side is totally inaccesible and my facelift Elite looks completely different to the How To in that I have an aluminium AirCon pipe over the wiring over the cam cover. Its the wiring that the real problem,
I've been fiddling about for an hour now and I can't see how I'm gonna get all this stuff out of the way. I have released a torx bolt at the front but I can't see whats holding it at teh back. Anyone out there that can help?
Thanks in advance.
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Remove the cable tray and as a temporary measure, tie teh cable to the aircon pipe....this gives more than enough remove to support removal and refit.
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As Mark says .. I tried it without re-moving the cable tray .. ended up having to redo the passenger side completely :(
Cable tray is a bit of a pig .. but the small clips CAN be undone using a small flat bladed screwdriver, be carefull, they break quite easily :(
Once the tray is completley off the cables swing out of the way, I tied mine to the bonnet support strut with a bit of string ! and access to everything goes up by about 1000 % !!
HTH
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Thanks Mark!
That did the trick. Second cover off in moments after that :y
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Second gasket done, all plugs renewed. Thanks everyone!
Just got to try and remember how to put it all back together.
Swapping the thermostat first. Watch this space.
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Thought I'd do the oil change next. Simple job. Drop the oil, change the filter and refill. Easy, my cat could do it.
But....can I get that oil filter cap to move? Can I f***! I tried using an extension bar but I can't get the leverage required from under the car.
Any tips out there. :'(
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Sounds like its been fitted by a sapnner monkey.
Is the whole filter housing turning or its not budging at all?
I generally use a small ratchet with the correct large socket fitted and hang off it if its tight!
Did you get the stat done ok?
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Nothing moves Marks. I've used all the strength I have. Working under the car on the drive doesn't allow much leverage.
Didn't start the stat yet, decided the oil would be a nice easy job first :'(
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I remember my filter cap was a right swine when I first got the car.
Ended up wit ha breaker bar and 3 foot of scaff pipe to shift it with a chain wrench round the housing as the bloody lot was spinning.
Luckily I was working with the car over a pit.
Maybe worth getting the car mobile and finding a friendly local garage with a pit/ramp to get the cover off for you but make sure they torque it to the figure cast on the cap when refitting.
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Thanks Captain,
I have already dropped the old oil out but I'm just going to have to put the fresh stuff in and forget about replacing the filter for now.
I'll take it back to the garage that did the last oil change for me and ask them to change the filter.
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Please ask to watch while they take the old filter off, then make sure the new one is 'hand tight'.
regards
richard a
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Thanks Richard,
Sadly, my oil filter is the newer paper type that fits inside a cannister fixed to the block. It has a cap that is supposed to be torqued up to a set amount (can't remember how much just now, it's somewhere in the maintenance guides), the last people that changed the oil/filter probably used an air tool and have overtightened it so now it's impossible to remove manually (thats assuming they got if off last time and actually changed the filter, perhaps they didn't manage it either and gave up just like me).
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Thanks Richard,
Sadly, my oil filter is the newer paper type that fits inside a cannister fixed to the block. It has a cap that is supposed to be torqued up to a set amount (can't remember how much just now, it's somewhere in the maintenance guides), the last people that changed the oil/filter probably used an air tool and have overtightened it so now it's impossible to remove manually (thats assuming they got if off last time and actually changed the filter, perhaps they didn't manage it either and gave up just like me).
15Nm from memory.
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Finished at last!
I just want to say a big thanks to everyone that has offered help and advice.
This is the first job I've done on a car myself for over 30 years and if I'm honest I probably bit off a bit more than I could chew so I didn't get everything I wanted done. I wouldn't have dreamt of even attempting this job without the information in the maintenance guides and the knowledge that help is just a few minutes typing away on this forum.
To my utter amazement when I'd finished reassembly the car started first time and drives well :)
However, while I was under the car I noticed that I'm losing ATF from the gearbox and my offside rear shock absorber is covered in oil :(
So, more jobs for me - but not today, I'm knackered!
Thanks again all :y
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I spoke too soon.
Took it for a drive, pulled up at some lights and noticed steam rising from nearside of the bonnet. Went straight home and have discovered oil leak from passenger side when engine under any load. Oil is gushing out.
I must have messed something up when fitting the passenger side cam-gasket. I cleaned the faces, used the right sealant in the right places, I carefully felt all round to ensure nothing pinched and that seal felt good then I torqued it up to the correct level, carefully doing the bolts up a little at a time in a spiral pattern from the centre.
The whole job took me three days. I'm truly gutted. I just can't face taking it all apart again. :'(
Looks like I'll have to pay a local garage after all. Bugger it.
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I spoke too soon.
Took it for a drive, pulled up at some lights and noticed steam rising from nearside of the bonnet. Went straight home and have discovered oil leak from passenger side when engine under any load. Oil is gushing out.
I must have messed something up when fitting the passenger side cam-gasket. I cleaned the faces, used the right sealant in the right places, I carefully felt all round to ensure nothing pinched and that seal felt good then I torqued it up to the correct level, carefully doing the bolts up a little at a time in a spiral pattern from the centre.
The whole job took me three days. I'm truly gutted. I just can't face taking it all apart again. :'(
Looks like I'll have to pay a local garage after all. Bugger it.
If its coming out under pressure then it sounds more like the breathers are not clear as the crank case is always at a slight vaccum.....
Did you clean the breathers fully?
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Are the half moons in place?
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what a bugger - don't give up just yet, a garage will crucify ya. i know you feel let down but try again. rest assured it will work out in the end.
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I cleaned the breathers thoroughly using Carb Cleaner, I was surprised that the pipes weren't that blocked. The pin hole pipe I had to clear with a small drill bit and a squirt or two of carb cleaner. The bigger pipe wasn't too bad. I did the rubber pipe with loads of carb cleaner and then attached it to my outside tap. TB cleaned all the stuff on the plenum while I was at his place a few weeks ago. It all still looked shiny clean so I didn't do that part again.
I would have sworn that the half moons were correctly in place and the whole gasket was sitting properly. It appears I was wrong.
Nothing appears to come out on tickover but as soon as you rev the engine it starts to spew.
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Alex, if its any consolation, it will take you a fraction of the time second time round now you know what you are doing. :y
On the passenger side particularly it would be easy to dislodge the seal/orings as you refit the cover. You should be able to feel around the half moon though - it will be pretty obvious by the mess if that is not in place.
Good luck
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Exactly what I did the first time ... 1/2 moons were OK but about 3/4 inch of gasket had slipped and was "inside" the cover. Sorted the second time by
a) moving the cable tray/cables WELL out if the way so I could see what I was doing
b) using a very small amount of grease every 2 inches to hold the gasket in place. I know the rubber "bits" are supposed to hold it .. but seems like they didn't first time. much more care second time and all was fine.
Just the additional job of cleaning the engine .. :(
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I used a smear of grease to hold the o-rings in place so they shouldn't have moved although space was a bit tight and I could have knocked one off I suppose.
I expect the plug wells will have loads of oil in them again. I think I spent more time getting that out with kitchen towel than doing anything else. Of course there is oil all over the gearbox and the exhaust (presumably that was the cause of the smoke).
Anyway the engine is still hot, it's also raining and I have to work on the drive. :'(
I also need the car for a weeks holiday in Devon starting Sunday.
I need to make a decision about a hire car really.
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I swear I could feel the gasket all the way round including the half-moons after I had replaced the cover but before i started doing the bolts up. Anyway, whatever I did wrong the top has to come off again to find out what and put it right.
I am exhausted from the last three days battle with it and very disappointed that I have messed it up after I thought I had taken such care.
I am nontheless very grateful for everyone's kind help and support. Thanks all.
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Stripped it all down again.
Took the passenger side cam cover off and the outside half moon tore off as I was removing it. Presumably because it was stuck to the sealant. Gotta get a new gasket set now. Bugger it. The stealer is over ten miles away and has to order one. Just as well I ordered a hire car for my trip to Devon on Sunday!
At least there is no oil in the plug wells. Takes ages to get all that out.
Might as well get on with cleaning the oil off the engine while I am waiting :-/
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Stripped it all down again.
Took the passenger side cam cover off and the outside half moon tore off as I was removing it. Presumably because it was stuck to the sealant. Gotta get a new gasket set now. Bugger it. The stealer is over ten miles away and has to order one. Just as well I ordered a hire car for my trip to Devon on Sunday!
At least there is no oil in the plug wells. Takes ages to get all that out.
Might as well get on with cleaning the oil off the engine while I am waiting :-/
I'm wondering if that was a faulty gasket you had, i've done two sets of gaskets so far and not had any tear off when removing the cover. perhaps you ought to bring that up with the staeler. just a thought.
glad you decided to tackle it again :y
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clean the breathers out aswell alex!
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Breathers need cleaning again?
I cleaned them thoroughly first time and changed the oil
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sorry then didnt read that bit if theyre already cleaned then they should be ok!
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OK TMX, thanks for your interest anyway :y
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Good news, The stealer rang back and he's found some gaskets. Been and collected them and have refitted.
A tip for anyone doing this. Its easier to fit the passenger side cam cover by leaning in from the drivers side, especially when your missus is holding the wiring out of the way. :y
I have been as careful as I can it all seems good. Now for the reassembly
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OK all done!
Is there any period of time I should wait to allow the sealant to cure before startimng the engine?
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OK all done!
Is there any period of time I should wait to allow the sealant to cure before startimng the engine?
The sealent is pretty volatile and goes off within about an hour with the small amount required
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I decided to leave it overnight before starting.
Took it for a long drive and everything seems fine. There's still a very small amount of smoke (so little its difficult to see) but I think that is just last of the oil I couldn't reach to clean away, burning off.
I stood it on the drive over some newspaper and revved it for a while and there were no oil drips.
Fingers crossed that I've cracked it this time.
Once again very many thanks to everyone that has offered help and advice :y