Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Abiton on 28 August 2008, 18:52:26
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Car is a '96 2l petrol base model without aircon. Big time steamy windscreen just started happening, smelling of coolant. Header tank level dropping with no other known leaks.
No gunge on dipstick or oil filler cap, so I think it's just leaking from the matrix. :'(
Not found any damp patches on any carpets yet...
I can't see a guide on here for how to get to the matrix for replacement; am I just being rubbish? Haynes makes it sound like a huge mission, but I'm sure I've read a tip on here at some point about cutting/breaking a bit of trim to shortcut the process??
Who's succeeded at this task, or is handier with the search function than me? E-bay has some aftermarket units from Poland for about £40-odd delivered, avoid or jump at? Vx price?
All help greatly appreciated, I'm feeling quite anxious about this one... :-[ ::)
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If you don't want to bodge and damage anything, it is indeed a long job.
I changed the matrix in our 98 Elite earlier this year, don't be surprised if the core is a different size and does not fit without air leakage and modification.
Solved the problem though.
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Thanks Mike, not unduly worried about cosmetic damage, especially if it's out of sight.
What/where do I start cutting? ;D
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Thanks Mike, not unduly worried about cosmetic damage, especially if it's out of sight.
What/where do I start cutting? ;D
I last undertook this task on a Carlton, and as I understand it the method on the Omega is basically the same; stripping out of the whole dash/glove compartment assembly back to the bulkhead. ;)
Although at first a bit daunting, I found it a very satisfying job in first stripping everything out and inspecting each component, then re-assembly after installing the new matrix. 8-) ;) If I remember correctly it took me about 3 hours with stops for tea! :D :D
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I'll take some pics in the day light tomorrow, took about 20 mins to change - and the cuts cant be seen unless your head is in the foot well
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Thanks for the encouraging words, both of you.
I'd be extremely glad of any pics/advice Jon.
Thanks OOFers, you are lovely people. :)
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i steered well clear. 14 hour job or something similar when vx stealer did it. sheesh.
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There was a fairly long thread on this some months back. Seems that if you don't do the hidden cutting thing .. then the whole front has to come out which is a pig of a job... if I remembr the comments correctly.
:(
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Its not hard,
my cuts are little too much but I didnt have any one elses pics to go on - stil looks tidy though
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I done this job a couple of weeks ago... Cut part of the dash out, no problems with size of the core (bought the Valeo kit from Autovaux)
Just posted some info here (http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1219969506)
I used a combination of duck tape, bond and automotive spray glue to put it all back together
Pig of a job is true but all good when its done and if you make the right incisions in the right places (i.e. where the fuse cover goes) you will not be able to see (even with your head in the footwell!! :y )
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One more thing, is yours auto or manual? Clutch pedal will be a pain in the arse!
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Been out and taken the section I cut out away so you can see where to cut
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/jonargraig/Photo-0001a.jpg)
To be honest - you still can't see the hole unless your head is in the well
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One more thing, is yours auto or manual? Clutch pedal will be a pain in the arse!
Yep, manual... Probably going to be a pain in the neck, literally.
Jon/John: Thanks very much for the piccy; you are a star! I won't get my replacement matrix 'til Tuesday, so I can have a practice at removing bits and pieces for access over the weekend.
:y
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Well I got it done, eventually!
Thought it was just worth posting up a picture of what I cut/did, for the benefit of future folk tackling this job the 'cheat' way.
(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc138/EZ_Pete/100_0094.jpg)
This is a view from offside to nearside, just in front of the pedals in the driver's footwell. The picture in Haynes didn't make this sufficiently clear to me, and I started off by trying to access the matrix by dismantling the heater control panel and all its layers ::):(. It wasn't 'til I thought about seeing, on the inside, where the pipes came through the firewall that I realised what a plonker I was being.
On the LHS of the picture you can see the vinyl dash cover trim that I've cut and peeled back carefully from the underlying crunchy-foam-covered plastic that makes up the dash. That vinyl is easily torn, so take it very steady if you want it to look OK later.
You can see I've cut a fairly large area of of the dash material away, using a hacksaw blade, making sure there was no wiring or anything else important behind where I was hacking. I also cut away some of the trim from the portion in the lower left of the picture (under the L-R orange arrow), but you can't see this bit as the vinyl is back in position.
The orange arrows show the 'steering column bracing strut' ( at least I think that's what it is, Haynes mentions moving such a thing) and how it has been undone from its original position (orange dot or thereabouts) and rotated toward the rear of the car just enough to clear the back edge of the matrix. Some gentle persuasion required to get it this far...
The green arrow points to the bottom left corner of the fuse/relay panel part of the dash, which I had to cut just above that hinge point, and then pull forward and up forcibly with some string to give enough clearance for the old matrix to come out and the new to go in. I had hoped that once the matrix moved out a little, it might be possible to tilt it downwards to clear this gubbinry, but that wasn't to be. It had to come out horizontally, all the way.
Yellow arrow points at where the single fixing screw is/was that secures the matrix.
Blue arrow points at the rubber end cover that came with my new matrix. It was subtly different from the one on the original matrix, and wasn't a tight fit on the pipework, so I pre-installed that at the end of the slot before sliding the new matrix in.
Note: Before you fit the new matrix, don't forget to mop out the coolant that has accumulated inside the air distribution unit (about 30 sheets of kitchen-roll's worth...)! You may wish to recruit someone with smaller hands/arms for this if you can find a willing volunteer. ;)
I think Haynes suggests removing the blue control cable just below the yellow arrow, but I didn't need to.
I'm afraid I couldn't be bothered to put all the pieces of the jigsaw back properly, as the vinyl sits in position quite fine without anything behind it, and the fuse panel seemed secure enough for my liking even with the cut I had to make.
Thanks to all for the help and suggestions. :y
No more steamy windscreen, yay!
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My matrix is blocked, got an as-new one with guarantee for £20 then started to pull the centre console out, then realised the Staines manual meant the whole dashboard.. oh bugger that.. came on here and found this thread, so tomorrow Im gonna try it.. will add to the post when Ive finished! 99 MV6 Auto with cold climate control!
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OK guys, got busy with a hacksaw blade and cutting knife, also had to cut away part of the relay surround trim but got the old matrix out and the new one in. I suspect the old one has had a leak on it at some time as there was evidence of mould under the liner in the drivers footwell, and judging by the amount of crap that came out of it in the sink, it was blocked with the evil radweld or Barrs..also the 2 small pipes to/from the header tank were blocked solid, then it dawned on me that thats why it warmed up so quickly and ran around 95C. Now she runs around 91-2 which I think is spot on, the fans can rest and the heater is blisteringly hot. The previous pics by Abiton say it all but I took some anyway, email me if youre thinking of doing this job and need some info.. easy but very fiddly!
Massive thanks to Abiton for the info and pics here, much appreciated :y