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1

Omega General Help / Re: Facelift lights onto pre-facelift car

« on: 14 November 2007, 23:30:56 »

OK, well the ones I have from TYC had the hole where the height adjustment servo from the old just slots in. I explicitly checked this before I bought. Fitted exactly as originals did. Obviously there is some inferior replacement lights around.

2

Omega General Help / Re: Facelift lights onto pre-facelift car

« on: 12 November 2007, 14:55:46 »

Hi, just upgraded my headlights, which were so bad I failed the MOT, to the newer mini-facelift (~'98) clear headlights. Mine were imitation ones made by TYC (I saw also some from DEPO) which were considerably cheaper than original Hello units. Looked practically identical though. I got them from a mail-order comany here in Holland for 130 euro who advertised on the net. Just bolt them in, new lamps and get them aligned by garage/MOT place. Needless to say, the dealer was going to change about 4 times that for the same.

Dead chuffed now. Can see again at night

3

Omega General Help / Re: Handbrake Adjustment - 2003 Omega Estate

« on: 31 October 2007, 14:02:01 »

Just like to add having done this recently, is that I found it NOT strictly necessary to remove the heat shields under the car to access the hand brake adjustment bolt. The reason being the heat shield bolts on mine, not having been touched for years, were completely rusted and sheared on attempting to undo.

I found I could get a ratchet with long entension and 13mm deep socket in from the rear and guide it by reaching in the front side. You do it more by touch than sight. There is not much room but it saves a bit of time. Also helped having access to a car lift .

Now, how to fix those sheared bolts as my heat shield is a bit loose on one side? Drill out and re-tap? For now I can live with it.

P.S. Tried to add this to the Maintenance Guide but seems they are read-only.

4

Omega General Help / Re: Cost of parts to change cam cover

« on: 25 October 2007, 10:14:14 »

That seems excessive. I did this job a few months ago.

The cam cover gaskets come in a set per bank so you will need TWO (my dealer gave me one! Grr!). They are expensive, about 70-80 euro together (I live in Holland). That is by far the biggest expense but according to everyone here GO FOR GENUINE. The old ones were hard and brittle.

Do not forget the 8 small O-rings round the cam cover bolts. These need replacing too. Don't cost much. Pennies.

Inlet bridge to head gasket - I did not need this as it's not removed.

Inlet to inlet bridge, 3 x orange gaskets - mine were fine and did not require replacing.

Inlet to plenum, 6 O-rings - replaced but originals actually OK. Cost not so much ~10 euros IIRC.

Sealant, black - you will require, cost again not so much, few euros.

When I did the breather I removed the throttle body to give it a good clean (recommended!). I also replaced the 2 green gaskets with the plenum here too. The old ones were probably OK but they were a bit hard.

Total cost about 110 euro, so ~ [ch8356]80 for gaskets.

5

Omega General Help / Re: Rear bumper removal

« on: 25 October 2007, 12:10:49 »

Yes, the bumper has to be taken off but it's not difficult. Then the chrome strip clips on with some tabs that have to be bent back. I remember also the painted part has to be removed first to access these tabs.

6

Omega General Help / Re: MOT Failure jobs - Some advice required please

« on: 24 October 2007, 17:01:43 »

I sympathise as my Mega failed its MOT last week too for dim headlights and handbrake too high (even though it still works). So I spent a fun weekend completely stripping down the handbrake and adjusting thanks to the excellent HowTo by MDTM on here. Boy, they were rusted pretty solid. Now just got my replacement headlights I ordered to install. Will look much nicer too.

Re. brake lines, last year I had an advisory and the garage wirebrushed them and spayed with Tectel. Sounds like its a bit late for you though. Prevention is always best but is not something that's visible.

7

Omega General Help / Re: mot failure

« on: 25 October 2007, 09:48:45 »

This sounds so familar to me. Last year my Opel dealer found the same points during the MOT. But at the time I gave them the go-head to replace the track rod joint, which requires the tracking to be re-done afterwards, and to wirebrush the brake lines and respray with Tectel. Cost a couple of 100 but at the time I could not be bothered. Seems it's very common on 10 year old Omega's.

Knowing what I know now (from this excellent site!) I probably could of done this myself except for the tracking.

8

Omega General Help / Re: max lift cam for v6

« on: 19 October 2007, 14:05:33 »

Got my 4 bar FPR from local motor factors. They had to order it though. 60-70 euro (in NL).  But that was before I heard the 3.8 bar from the 2.6 can be had from Vauxhall for half that and is just as good apparently :-/. And, yes it did make a difference for me.

9

Omega General Help / Re: Tyre choices on facelift Elite??

« on: 11 October 2007, 10:57:11 »

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 on rear size 235/45ZR17. Great tyre and wearing well. Much better than budget tyre on there before esp. in wet. Also much less noise.  I would not compromise again.

10

Omega General Help / Re: Panel Filters! Green? Pipercross? K&N?

« on: 09 October 2007, 10:45:22 »

I've had a Green panel filter in mine a few years now. Cheaper than K&N and just as good IMO. I also did not notice much difference, possibly picked up better but that is only subjective.

What did help was adding a second cold air feed to the airbox. Just a few quid for aluminium ducting and a bit of modding. Definately picked up better after that. I'd recommend do this first. There is a How-To over on cavweb.

Since then have 4 bar FPR and filed down some of the lips in the plenum to smooth it off at the same time. Better again. Now picks up so much better than when I first had the car as the power has always been there, just it never felt very "sharp". I must admit I did the cam cover gaskets (leaking) and breathers while I was there so that probably helped a bit too.

11

Omega General Help / Re: High level brake light

« on: 02 October 2007, 14:22:25 »

On my saloon, it looks possible as inner trim is the same but as said, I noticed the dark area on the glass is different so didn't pursue it further.

In the end I went for a cheap aftermarket one which glues to the top of the windscreen - and occasionally comes loose. You'll need to feed the wires down to the main brake wiring and splice it in. Works for me although admittedly not so neat.

12

General Discussion Area / Re: what size wheels and tyres do you run?

« on: 11 September 2007, 15:44:59 »

205/65-15 with winter tyres (original wheels)
235/45-17 with summer tyres (aftermarket)

Upgrading to the low-profile tyres definately improved the handling and firmed things up. Got rid of the wallowing feeling. Recommended. Just not so great in the snow (challenging to drive!), not that we get much here, which is why I keep my old ones for the winter.