Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: Grrrrrr on 02 May 2009, 21:21:51
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Saw an Omega today which I am interested in buying. Car wasn't cold but probably had been standing for an hour. Checked under the water and oil caps - nothing.
Took car for a spin. Ran nicely. Got back, opened water cap to see if anything shaken loose and it poured out all over the tarmac. Waited, tried again - same again. By the time I got the cap off it had pretty much emptied the reservoir onto the tarmac. This from a 2001 plate. Also, on the cap were brownish-grey flecks (oil I suspect.) Guy reckons the oil cooler was changed 4 weeks ago and maybe not all was flushed out of the coolant.
Question: should it do this? If not, could it be the oil cooler wasn't fixed properly or could it a head gasket going? Low mileage so wouldn't have thought so but you never know if they've not checked the coolant and cooked it.
Ideas anyone? Am I just overreacting or could it be more serious?
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Was it soon after you'd pulled up that you tried removing the cap?
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Its a pressurised system...remove the water cap of any Omega when up to temperature and the coolant gushes out...
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check from cold as pressurised :y
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Its a pressurised system...remove the water cap of any Omega when up to temperature and the coolant gushes out...
Correct. And if it looks OK under the oil filler cap there is not much moisture in the oil.
Flushing out the cooling system is a long and tedious job, so I wouldn't be too surprised to see a few drops of oil after an oil cooler change.
NN
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Was almost straight after I'd stopped the engine.
Thing is, I drove my Omega back 40 miles and pulled the cap straight off and only a little spilt out but my one's a 1994 so figure things might have changed a bit.
Well, if the concensus is that it is probably nothing to worry about then maybe it is worth a second look.
Thanks for the advice!
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Oh, both oil cap and dip-stick were clean. Oil felt OK too between my fingers.
Guess maybe I'm just worrying. Big purchase. And now I see a 3.2 for sale on here... although admittedly somewhat more expensive!
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both my old 2.5 and 3.2 poor coolent out when still hot.
Personally(i have not had an oil cooler fail so not certain of the exact symptoms post and pre repair)i would be more concerned re oil in the coolent. Is it possible the cooler is in need of repair? Rather than been repaired? If your def interested in the car maybe insist they flush it in front of you until your happy its clear...? Can the garage show you receipts for the oil cooler parts? Cooler and grey sealent? They may be trying to hide something..."may"...
Would def flush it thoroughly, the oil will rot the rubber coolent pipes.
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I thought that all omega's since mini facelift had stainless steel oil coolers fitted to stop them failing. :question
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Seemed odd to me that it should fail as it hasn't done 40k yet. Still, not exactly an expert mechanically.
I'm told you can get a head testing kit for about £20. Some dye changes colous when you put it in the expansion tank or similar. So, will buy one and try it out. Assuming it passes that test I'll risk it, I think.
J
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I would take chrisgixers advice and ask to see receipts for the oil cooler work,or if he did it himself ask to see the old cooler.and receipt for the new one.
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yes your right my mini f/l has a s/s oil cooler as i checked it and its nice n shiny (when i dusted it)!
and ive got every single recipt for this car and its on its original cooler 130k still going strong :y
btw im fairly sure all vauxhalls have a pressurised cooling system every single one ive had has expelled loads of water when you undo the cap when its hot! Ashtray,Omega,Vectra
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Seemed odd to me that it should fail as it hasn't done 40k yet. Still, not exactly an expert mechanically.
I'm told you can get a head testing kit for about £20. Some dye changes colous when you put it in the expansion tank or similar. So, will buy one and try it out. Assuming it passes that test I'll risk it, I think.
J
Dont even bother with coolent "sniffer" test as a means of checking head gaskit, for which it was designed. They are very unreliable. It detects exhaust gas in the coolent which, if its had an oil cooler failure, it will detect and fail the test, ie turn yellow. There have been several people on here worried about incorrectly diagnosed failed hg due to this test.
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Cooler in my Elite was still strong on 180k.....
Changing it with the rebuild for good measure - but it's ok!
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Seemed odd to me that it should fail as it hasn't done 40k yet. Still, not exactly an expert mechanically.
J
Dont even bother with coolent "sniffer" test as a means of checking head gaskit, for which it was designed. They are very unreliable. It detects exhaust gas in the coolent which, if its had an oil cooler failure, it will detect and fail the test, ie turn yellow. There have been several people on here worried about incorrectly diagnosed failed hg due to this test.
Jeez. I'm stuffed! Just out of interest, why would leak from oil cooler cause false positive from test kit? Thought they just picked up carbon monoxide?
Brings me back to my conundrum: do I assuming the collant just gushed out because I caught it at the wrong moment or has some muppet baked the head with no coolant? This is going to sound REALLY sexist but previous owner was a woman and I don't think she serviced it once in the year or so she had it!
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oil carrys exhaust gas as it lubes the cylinder wall and piston blow by will be in the crank case. When the oil gets in the coolent so does exhaust gas.
You said the oil is ok, which is a far better pointer if it has no mayo/water deposits(as you would expect on filler cap, looks similar) would expect hg to be fine. Thats not to say they havent changed the oil recently to possibly hide this, though a check after a good long test drive should reveal any mayo or emulsified oil.
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:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
If you take the cap off ANY car, whether it has a header tank or whether it'a radiator cap, it's going to spill/spew coolant out! It says so on the cap doesn't it? [size=14]High pressure - Open slowly[/size] It's a pressurised system cos the coolant gets hot hence the cap having a relief valve, generally around 13/15 psi.
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Thinking about this I figure if it should have no pressure cold. Then, if I get it nice and hot with the cap off and then screw the cap down and wait a bit, if I take the cap off again it shouldn't be too pressurised as it will have expanded all it could getting hot. Assuming all well there and he has the receipts for the oil cooler (which he says he does) then I should be OK, I think. Possibly!
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Thinking about this I figure if it should have no pressure cold. Then, if I get it nice and hot with the cap off and then screw the cap down and wait a bit, if I take the cap off again it shouldn't be too pressurised as it will have expanded all it could getting hot. Assuming all well there and he has the receipts for the oil cooler (which he says he does) then I should be OK, I think. Possibly!
Take the cap off your car when it's all cold. Start your car and get it warming up nicely on tick over. Eventually your coolant will gush out of the tank as your stat opens & allows all the hot water/coolant from the block around the rest of the system.
Do have some burns gell in your 1st aid kit .... sounds like you might be needing some! :-? :-? ;)
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Thinking about this I figure if it should have no pressure cold. Then, if I get it nice and hot with the cap off and then screw the cap down and wait a bit, if I take the cap off again it shouldn't be too pressurised as it will have expanded all it could getting hot. Assuming all well there and he has the receipts for the oil cooler (which he says he does) then I should be OK, I think. Possibly!
You need to move on from the water bottle pressure mate. Its not relevant. Firstly your plan is flawed. When hot their will be pressure. The cap is sealed to 13psi to stop the fluid boiling and hence expanding. When you take the cap off the water will boil/expand. It just does. Forget the pressure.
What are you trying to test by doing this? Maybe we can get you on the right path?
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Sure there's something wrong here but bought it anyway!
Cannot smell any exhaust fumes but regardless of how many times I release the pressure it keeps building up. Temperature holds steady though. Wonder if there's a slight blockage caused by oil not being flushed out of the coolant properly.
Either way, the investigation starts. Let's get the old girl in top tip condition! Starting with flushing out that oil from the coolant!
Thanks for the tips guys!
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Sure there's something wrong here but bought it anyway!
Cannot smell any exhaust fumes but regardless of how many times I release the pressure it keeps building up. Temperature holds steady though. .......
Listen to Chris above (apart from using Copper slip ;) ;)) Your engine & any other engine builds up pressure in the coolant system when it's running , cos it's getting hot!!
[size=16]Stop taking the header tank cap off before you scald yourself![/size]
Put a decent coolant flush in, follow the instructions on the can/bottle but you say your temp is staying steady, so there can't be much of a blockage.
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Just changed an oil cooler on the Estate as it had failed. Takes ages to clear oil from cooling system - found best way was to drain, flush, refill with water + wash up liquid and run for a couple of days. Clean out plastic tank as most seems to find its way there. Repeat all above until water flushes clean and no oil residue in plastic tank. Took about 6 - 7 goes to clear. Then refill with 5 lits Vx pink antifreeze and top up if required with water. Job done :y
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Forgot to tell you all what the problem was: the guy had been topping up his radiator with screenwash from the local garage! So, the alcohol or whatever it is was bursting to get out.
Flushed system several times and topped up with correct antifreeze. Six months later and still no problems.
Relief!