Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: marko2002 on 17 August 2009, 01:54:27
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Hi guys, well the worst has happened unfortunately and my Omega's engine has turned it's last key - drove to Glasgow tonight and when I started the car I noticed the oil light stayed on for a little longer than usual then went off, dropped the ole dragon in law off then returned to the homeland, only to get a mile or so near and oil light on constant, pulled off the M8 to stop and it cut out. The very very nice man from the AA came out, took one listen to the thing and gave me the bad news that I'm looking at a new/recon engine. I'm not really in a position to put another engine in it so am trying to recoup some of my much injected cash into the thing and wondered if anyone can offer any advice as to the best way to do this. I'm really not keen going down the scrappy route either as it's only a 52 plate with 80,000 miles on the clock, new exhaust, new tyres and in real good condition otherwise - would anyone anticipate it worthwhile on ebay/autotrader or any other site for a decent return?
Thanks in advance guys
Marko
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i would think about doing an engine transplant its not that hard to do and if you like the car, it will give it another lease of life, look in the breaking/ selling section or on ebay for a new lump as theyre not worth much will the engine gone. people look for them cheap to do exactly this.
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to be honest I don't think I've got it in me to spend any more cash on this car, cost me £3000 to buy, already replaced the complete exhaust system, 4 new tyres and a new battery and that was just 6 months into having it, total of around £1500 so far, £450 for it's last MOT and countless minor things so I've named her Christine after the Steven King novel! If I managed to scrape a grand back from it I think I'd be over the moon but I know I have little chance with no working engine but the car has just about driven me over the edge to be honest, one of those buys you wish you'd never made - I will take a look at ebay but I think it will be to see the possibility of selling it in it's current condition! Thanks for the suggestion though :)
Marko
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what engine/trim level is it? Might be worth braking?
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to be honest I don't think I've got it in me to spend any more cash on this car, cost me £3000 to buy, already replaced the complete exhaust system, 4 new tyres and a new battery and that was just 6 months into having it, total of around £1500 so far, £450 for it's last MOT and countless minor things so I've named her Christine after the Steven King novel! If I managed to scrape a grand back from it I think I'd be over the moon but I know I have little chance with no working engine but the car has just about driven me over the edge to be honest, one of those buys you wish you'd never made - I will take a look at ebay but I think it will be to see the possibility of selling it in it's current condition! Thanks for the suggestion though :)
Marko
You might just manage that if its an Elite or CDX with leather and you break it but it will take a while or if you can't break it you could put it on Ebay or sell it to a breaker on here but I would think your only looking at £300 to £500 for it. Personally I would stick a known good secondhand engine in it :y
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What model/trim is the miggy
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It's only a CD Auto guys, nothing impressive to be honest but the exhaust is practically new and genuine vauxhall, I know that's no concellation or anything but it rips the guts out of me when VX kill us with the cost of the parts and the car probably isn't even worth the cost of the exhaust !! As for breaking, I wouldn't have the tech know-how to do it myself which is why I'm looking for a complete sale, even the thought of trying to put another engine in it will no doubt set me back a grand which I just couldn't afford at the mo - I know my chances are slim of getting anything decent and chances are it'll end up in a scrappy but it would just kill me to hand this over for peanuts - fekin cars!
I've chanced my arm and whacked it on ebay for £800, don't laugh, please!
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Don't want to upset you but here is one I just missed out on :(
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150364868266&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
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I know cars lose their value, but for the love of god £375.00!!! that's criminal (sob!) - I reckon you should keep an eye out Pete cause I think that's what I may end up doing with mine also ... I'm away to have a very unmanly cry in the bathroom now :-/
Just out of interest, does anyone know any other fellow Omegan's in the Coatbridge/North Lanarkshire area who could cast an expert eye over the car just to confirm the very nice man's (from the AA) verdict as I know jack sparrow about these damn things!
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It depends what engine is in it, the V6 is very robust but it depends what the servicing has been like. Is there any knocking noises when the engine is running?
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It's only a CD Auto guys, nothing impressive to be honest but the exhaust is practically new and genuine vauxhall, I know that's no concellation or anything but it rips the guts out of me when VX kill us with the cost of the parts and the car probably isn't even worth the cost of the exhaust !! As for breaking, I wouldn't have the tech know-how to do it myself which is why I'm looking for a complete sale, even the thought of trying to put another engine in it will no doubt set me back a grand which I just couldn't afford at the mo - I know my chances are slim of getting anything decent and chances are it'll end up in a scrappy but it would just kill me to hand this over for peanuts - fekin cars!
I've chanced my arm and whacked it on ebay for £800, don't laugh, please!
You can pick up a good working engine for around 300 squid. I was quoted 400 to fit it by my local vauxhall independant specialist (not even the cheapest place, but they have some know how on these cars). So to be honest I would ring around and certainly ask some of the chaps on here what sort of price theywould do it for you :y Im confident you could get it all done for less than 750 :y
By the way, did the AA man actually tell you what had heppened to the engine? I mean if it isnt seized.... :-?
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It depends what engine is in it, the V6 is very robust but it depends what the servicing has been like. Is there any knocking noises when the engine is running?
It starts (almost) then sounds like a tin can full of nails, and knowing very little about engines I can probably guess this is not a good sign.
The AA guy simply heard my story, listened to it running and reckoned the engine was starved of oil and as such would have most likely rendered it useless with a load of bent bits and bobs now rattling about!. To be honest, I wouldn't attempt to have it repaired as I've spent a lot of money on the car so far and couldn't stomach putting any more out on it. I know I might sound a little defeated, but my wife is disabled and receives the mobility allowance so we're taking the sensible route now and going for a 3 year lease which covers us for most eventualities, I just thank god she wasn't in the car at the time!.
The AA guy went on to explain that it could have been a pump issue or a blockage/clog etc which restricted the oil - just wanted to add this in case anyone thinks I'm a complete numpty and didn't have oil in it ;)
I'll be honest also guys, if anyone is on the lookout for such a car I'd welcome any sensible offer but I don't want to go on about selling it here as I don't think it's the right place to do so, just let me know if anyone thinks they may be interested and I'll oblige with any additional info you may need :)
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As said before, you would be best off getting the engine done and then decide to sell or keep it. You will only be starting over with a new set of problems with another car and if yours is only worth £300-£500 then surely it is worth getting fixed even to sell?
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PM user Markie or have a search for him on ebay as Markiescar parts. Search on e-bay for omega and scotalnd and he no doubt will appear close to top of the pile. He is local (ish) to you and would cast a clever eye/ear over your car and advise accordingly.... ;)
(finger wavering over the lock thread button, as to whether this is a car for sale/breaking or whatever, as the vultures are circling....) :P :)
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i260, I understand your logic and it may still come to keeping it as it would really kill me to 'give' the car away considering the amount of money I've pumped into it so I may very well do a rethink. Hotel, sorry, didn't really mean to plug a sale or anything hence the reason I didn't want to go on about it, I think we may have lost the original intent for the thread which was to determine if there was a best way to dispose of the car - feel free to lock the thread if you feel it may go overboard and apologies if I've taken things off topic a little. I may very well take your advice and see if I can track him down :)
Cheers
Marko
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Marko, no probs meantime... :y
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HI Marko... i have your pm and will reply by tomorrow morning, i am local and dont mind casting an eye/ear over it....if we can get a suitable time :y
I am still in the city centre at work right now :(
Brucie - appreciate your kind words ;)
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Thanks Markie, appreciate it :) If you want to name the day and time I'll make sure I'm here m8
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Although it's only a CD it has only done 80,000 miles so if you like the car I'd put a good used engine in it, then offer the broken one for sale as spares/repair. That way you'll get some money back without the hassle of selling dozens of parts. Even though the engine is scrap, there are enough bits on them to make it worthwhile for some one like me to buy it and then strip it, selling all the parts separately. It's amazing how much it can all add up to, although it can take quite a while to break even and go on to make much of a return.
Short of selling your car for spares/repair -and it won't fetch much, it will stand you a hefty loss -I would go down the engine replacement route. If you get a Miggy enthusiast mechanic to do the job he might take your old engine in p/x. That's by far the cheapest way out of your predicament.
Just make sure the new engine is good, again, the guys on here should be able to help you out. I'm a bit too far away to be any help myself.
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Thanks Derek, think I will be looking to see how much we're talking to get her back on the road but I think it will be merely to sell her on in good condition. An update on the situation of the engine however ... a friend of mine (who know's nothing really about engines) was asking what happened, told them and they asked if the engine still ran, curious after a couple of days and knowing that chances are the engine was knackered anyway I decided to give it a shot and the engine did actually start and run without gas or anything but it is making a whore of a noise, not a knocking or thumping noise but more or a 'slapping' noise. Does this ring any bells with anyone? Bear in mind the problem initially was the oil light came on and then the engine cut out.
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From what I'm reading (trying to do some homework!) on the forums I think it's definately a case that the oil was having problems reaching the top of the engine somehow, possibly clogged filter or something which has starved the moving parts and hence causing the "slapping" noise - but I'm still not 100% on what exactly I'm looking at in way of getting it fixed. Markie has mentioned he'll try and get across at the weekend and he may be able to put his finger on it straight away but in the meantime and to hopefully help Markie if he makes it across from what I've described can anyone poke a suggestion as to what could be the problem and what I'm looking at for a repair?
Cheers
Marko
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I would say that if the engine suffered a total loss of oil pressure and is now noisy, it needs a strip down and rebuild firstly to discover why it lost oil pressure and secondly to ensure that any damage has been rectified.
Whether that's worthwhile as opposed to chucking another engine in depends what you find when you strip it IMHO.
I would have expected the bottom end bearings to suffer first as these are relatively soft metal and heavily loaded. If it was shut down quickly you might survive without irreparable damage to the crank, bores, pistons and cams. At the minimum I would expect it to require new main and big end bearings and a crank polish / grind.
You may be very, very lucky and find that the noise is just the lifters having filled with air and got noisy but without getting to the bottom of why the oil pressure failed that is little help.
Kevin
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Thanks for the response Kevin, unfortunately I know little about the engines or whether I could say the engine was shut down quick enough but I guess the fact that the engine shut itself off wasn't a good sign. I literally had something like 2 seconds (or at least it felt like that!) between the oil light coming on and pulling off the motorway to try and stop but the engine cut itself off before I had a chance to. I last tried starting it quickly the other day and it does start but making a lot of noise so I really do think it would be impractical to rebuild as the labour involved in this alone would cost an arm and a leg so my only option could be a replacement engine but again depending on the cost of this I may not get round to it as quickly as I would like but I think for now I'm going to try and budget for a replacement and see how I stand. Can anyone recommend a recon/replacement outfit?
Cheers :)
Marko
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OK guys, final update from me on this and I'm afraid to say after much thought on the matter and after chatting a little to Markie I've decided to cut my losses and not fix the car but to simply get rid as is. Problem is I'm looking at the best part of a grand to have the car put right which in all honest is probably the most I'd get back from my insurance if someone decided to write me off tomorrow, so taking that into account and the fact I've spent a couple of grand already and the purchase price of the car means I'm driving a massive liability and even fixing it to sell may not even cover the cost of the replacement engine so alas it's time for me and my former beast to part company I guess. Thanks to all who offered their advice on this thread and especially to Markie who gave some great points and advice - you never know what the future holds, maybe another Omega?!
Cheers
Marko
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Good luck with the sale Marko and I hope you get a decent price for it :y
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When my last mig had engine probs i was able to get a second hand unit and had an all in price for fitting of £600 ... as it happens i decided not to bother either but there are good replacement engines out there :-/
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Thanks Pete, here's hoping :)
Proz, it's just not viable for me unfortunatley m8, I'd honestly jump off the nearest kerb if I put another engine in this thing and something else went (not that I am expecting it) but so far the cost of the car to me has been something like five grand after the intial cost, exhaust, tyres and so forth. Sometimes we just need to say enough is enough, and I've definately reached that point :'(
Cheers
Marko
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Thanks for the response Kevin, unfortunately I know little about the engines or whether I could say the engine was shut down quick enough but I guess the fact that the engine shut itself off wasn't a good sign....
I forgot about that. Sounds like it seized, which does mean a proper rebuild if it's salvageable at all so unless you are handy with the spanners, or fancy embarking on a learning experience I think you are making the right decision. :'(
Kevin
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Yep, my son's 15 year old and jumping up and down like Tiger at the thought of getting his first car in a few years and left to him we would both definately be on a learning experience with the car but the last time I did anything like this the car I was working on ended up in the scrap-yard anyway because the wife got fed up with the engine parts on the kitchen table (you can imagine the scene .. "where's all those bits love?" .. "wot, those filthy bits I threw in the bin?") errrrrrr :-/
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Yep, my son's 15 year old and jumping up and down like Tiger at the thought of getting his first car in a few years and left to him we would both definately be on a learning experience with the car but the last time I did anything like this the car I was working on ended up in the scrap-yard anyway because the wife got fed up with the engine parts on the kitchen table (you can imagine the scene .. "where's all those bits love?" .. "wot, those filthy bits I threw in the bin?") errrrrrr :-/
There's your mistake. Next time, put them through the dishwasher before she finds them. ;D
Kevin
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LOL ;D