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[stevepugh]

Hi all. 
I have been all over the forum and dug out all of the How to guides regarding the Oil Cooler.  And successfully did this job. (It was quite enjoyable, but fiddly in parts... mainly getting the overtightened Oil filter housing undone!!!)

Quick story, is that there was a lot of oil in the Expansion bottle on my 2.5V6.  Figured it'd be the Cooler not the Head Gasket. (So I hoped...)
I stripped the car down as per the instructions and the well that the oil cooler sits in was FULL of Mayonaise.  This was reassuring as It kind of proved that this was the part at fault and not the head...

I refited the new part with the correct Grey sealant.  Left it 24hrs or more.   Filled it up with water and drained several times.  Sat it with a hose running through it for ages and sludge was slowly coming out... 
Once it seemed fairly clear. I put some rad flush agent in to clean it thorougly.   After about 5mins, sludge started to come up slowly out of the expansion bottle.   Not a surprise to me as water flushing alone won't flush the oil.   Anyway.  LOADS more sludge drained out of the system.  Ran it again, water only (not for long, as water boils really fast!) and had the heater on full. 

THIS is my issue... with the temp gauge reading around 80. (or just under) I would have expected warm air from the heater.. NOTHING.  Still freezing cold (it was a cold day).

Is there likely to be loads of sludge in the heater matrix?   Or is there likely to be another scary reason that it wn't heat up?
I have gone out to buy another flush and will do this again with the heater on later tonight.  But I was wondering if anyone else has had this issue after doing an oil cooler replacement.

[Kevin Wood]

My vote is on the heater matrix being blocked. Could also be the HBV.

Flush the heater matrix with a hose using the bulkhead connections perhaps?

Failing that, I think there's a special bio flush you can get for removing oil contamination, By Wynns, IIRC?

[stevepugh]

Thanks.   
Just found this guide: http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90620.msg1155537 so will try this and flush it out as much as I can, then follow this with the radiator flushing stuff.  (I have a Holts one from Halfrauds...)
I assume to do this while the heater is on full to ensure that the fluid gets in there also.
Then fingers crossed!

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, but switch between Hi and Lo on the climate a few times while flushing to work the HBV on and off too. In fact, the HBV has a rubber diaphragm inside, so if this doesn't cure it, might be worth checking that. I'm thinking that the oil may have caused the diaphragm to swell and block the flow.

Also, before flushing, use a garden hose to blast some water through the heater matrix in both directions just to verify that there's flow through it. Flushing will do no good if there's no flow at all, as it won't get to where it needs to be.

[rob in gib]

This is what you need

http://www.forteuk.co.uk/product.php?id=41/Bio_Degreaser

Only product i have found to do the job right

I would flush as much out using normal radiator flush then go for a bottle of bio

HTH

Rob

[rsymes2k]

heater matrix = heat for interior so no, hot water heat in that = no heat in car

oil level isnt changing then since the fix?

[downsmen]

I had the same problem, what i did was disconnect the heater matrix from inside the engine bay and connect a hose pipe to both of the pipes one at a time and flush out the heater matrix both ways. I did this 3 or 4 times and then i blew down through the pipes as well.Then connect the pipes back to the heater matrix top up job done.
Its as warm as toast now.
Hope this helps

[rsymes2k]

make sure you remove all of the flush, technically you should remove the thermostat to flush properly otherwise the thermostat stays closed while you're flushing.... Unless of course you're using 92 celsius water to flush the system?

[stevepugh]

Ok.  so I did the double hose trick and a whole load of white gunk came out.   Was like Expandable foam!!!
Did it both ways for about 10mins each way and had clear water.   Reconnected and yep.  Toasty warm! 
Also (And I know it's not the preferred method) I let the car heat up so that the Therm opens and then I drained it.  Then topped it up with water again and let it heat up and then drained again whilst hot and did this a few times.
The oil doesn't appear to be going down at all so that's reassuring...
It's so gunked up in there it's hard to tell how clear it is... 
where is the Thermostat and how hard is it to remove to flush it properly?

[RobG]

Ok.  so I did the double hose trick and a whole load of white gunk came out.   Was like Expandable foam!!!
Did it both ways for about 10mins each way and had clear water.   Reconnected and yep.  Toasty warm! 
Also (And I know it's not the preferred method) I let the car heat up so that the Therm opens and then I drained it.  Then topped it up with water again and let it heat up and then drained again whilst hot and did this a few times.
The oil doesn't appear to be going down at all so that's reassuring...
It's so gunked up in there it's hard to tell how clear it is... 
where is the Thermostat and how hard is it to remove to flush it properly?

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90603.0

[stevepugh]

Ok.  so I did the double hose trick and a whole load of white gunk came out.   Was like Expandable foam!!!
Did it both ways for about 10mins each way and had clear water.   Reconnected and yep.  Toasty warm! 
Also (And I know it's not the preferred method) I let the car heat up so that the Therm opens and then I drained it.  Then topped it up with water again and let it heat up and then drained again whilst hot and did this a few times.
The oil doesn't appear to be going down at all so that's reassuring...
It's so gunked up in there it's hard to tell how clear it is... 
where is the Thermostat and how hard is it to remove to flush it properly?

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90603.0

So basically i have to nearly do the whole job again to get to it??  so it would have been better to flush it at this point of the re-assembly before I put the manifold back on?    But to do a flush, you need to run the engine...

[albitz]

Not essential to remove stat to flush the system properly,although it may well make it easier/quicker.
It will need flushing a lot more than you think it does.They always do ime.use a strong flushing agent such as forte to shift the worst of it.Then use automatic washing machine liquid -tip a cupful into the header tank,drive the car as normal (as long as it isnt overheating) then drain and flush with a hose or something else which isnt banned at the moment.
Do this every day for at least a week,and if your lucky it will be all clean inside and you can then fill up with nice new VX coolant.

[stevepugh]

Not essential to remove stat to flush the system properly,although it may well make it easier/quicker.
It will need flushing a lot more than you think it does.They always do ime.use a strong flushing agent such as forte to shift the worst of it.Then use automatic washing machine liquid -tip a cupful into the header tank,drive the car as normal (as long as it isnt overheating) then drain and flush with a hose or something else which isnt banned at the moment.
Do this every day for at least a week,and if your lucky it will be all clean inside and you can then fill up with nice new VX coolant.

And the car will smell like Persil Summer Fresh?

[Kevin Wood]

At least you now have flow through all parts of the system.

Thermostat on a V6 is such a PITA to get to I wouldn't bother removing it either. You have flow through the rad. once it's up to temperature. That's good enough.

Just fill with clean water + the flushing agent of your choice, drive it for a day or two, drain, flush through with hose, and repeat.. ad nauseum. It'll run clean eventually, then you can give it a thorough flush to remove any traces of flushing agent and fill with an antifreeze mix.

[rsymes2k]

yep, thermostat is an absolute nightmare in my opinion...

took me bloody ages as after 150k miles of crap had stuck to the connecting pipe it was near impossible to get the leverage on the stat to remove.

Heating the engine up then flushing cold water may sound good in practice but make sure you use warm/hot water when you flush it or the rapid hot/cold will crack/kill heads and gaskets....