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[Omega Al]

Hallo Omega owning friends, I was wondering if any others owners have had blown head gasket/cylinder head problems with this model?
I have only owned the car a month, having replaced an ageing Rover 214 Sei, with a corroded cylinder head with this two owner from new, full service history, 135k miles Omega. It wasn't really what I wanted but the car is very clean and was running superbly. However on Monday last I noticed the car was misfiring slightly, and the engine management light on the dashboard came on, together with the low coolant level warning text. I duly checked the coolant and topped up to correct level, noticing that the tank seemed quite pressurised. The next morning the car ran impeccably until, when halfway to work, some 5 miles the misfire began again, seemingly corresponding with the thermostat opening fully perhaps. I duly got to work and left the vehicle until later that day. I again had to check the fluid and topped up again but decided to leave the pressure cap just 'unlocked' for the journey home. The car ran OK all the way home, with the exception of a waft of steam emanating from under the bonnet when stationary. I am of the opinion that I have at best a blown cylinder head gasket or worse still a cracked head. I have checked the oil and oil filler cap, absolutely no sign of 'mayo'. Any advice would be most welcome as I said previously I have only owned this vehicle for a month.

[Gaffers]

Mayo = nomal.  More so if you do mostly short trips or use non GM oil.
Steam = most likely to be a coolant leak.  Usual suspects are HBV, helta-skelta pipe or oil cooler plate
Misfire = most likely to be oil in the plug wells

If it was HG then it would not run normally and then misfire.  It would run like a bag of shit from the get-go.  Hot oil is very conductive, cold oil is not, hence the misfire when warm.  Pull a plug lead/coil and I bet it is swimming in oil.  You need the cam cover gaskets changing and the breathers cleaned.

[Andy B]

.... Hot oil is very conductive,  ....

Is it? Why don't I get high/low oil level messages then?  Or auto gearbox problems when the gearbox is hot? 

[Omega Al]

Hi Guffer, Many Thanks for your input, I'll get those things checked out early next week, (I'm away this weekend without the car) and get back to you with my findings, good point you make about oil round plugs/coil. Thanks again, Al

[SIR Philbutt]

Hi Al Welcome

2.2 is a coil pack not leads - under the black eco cover two torx screws and lift out gently, you shouldn't have to disconnect at the back as it's awkward if not used to doing it.

As there is no mayo this is the first place to look for the miss fire - oil is cam cover gasket (dead easy to do and cheap'ish), water is from windscreen gutter getting past the foam, nothing found could be coil pack

If you can get the codes read post them here or look them up in the common issues section

Coolant loss could be a pipe, loose connection, Heater Bypass Valve, Coolant reserve, Water pump, etc etc best to look with a torch for water appearing under car or somewhere in the engine bay especially when warm

Keep posting findings, plenty of help on here

HTH
Phil

[JamesV6CDX]

Al, where in the country are you, there are several of us who would be happy to cast an eye

I've never seen a cracked omega head, and only ever 2 head gasket failures on 2.2 engines

I think your issues are likely to not be as bad as you fear

[Gaffers]

.... Hot oil is very conductive,  ....

Is it? Why don't I get high/low oil level messages then?  Or auto gearbox problems when the gearbox is hot? 

OK, very conducive where HT voltage is concerned.

Go back to playnig with your boats in the bathtub

[Andy B]

.... Hot oil is very conductive,  ....

Is it? Why don't I get high/low oil level messages then?  Or auto gearbox problems when the gearbox is hot? 

OK, very conducive where HT voltage is concerned.

Go back to playnig with your boats in the bathtub

[Omega Al]

  Well as promised an interim update on my Omega issues.
Firstly thanks to all who offered advice and solutions, it would appear as suggested by some that I have two concurrent problems. 1. A slight loss of coolant fluid. And 2. An intermittent miss-fire. As I finished work on-time today I popped down to see my mechanic. Whom I've used down the years for jobs I can't manage. Having described the symptoms to him, he connected a Snap On diagnostic box of tricks, he programmed the vehicle details, run a diagnostic check,  cleared the resultant codes and run again. Results show I have a misfire on no 4 cylinder, so at first opportunity in daylight I will be checking coil / plug for condition and oil / water ingress. Just one thing to ask Sir Philbutt, am I mis-understanding your advice here  "you shouldn't have to disconnect at the back as it's awkward if not used to doing it." Am I to disconnect it at the back or not? As for the water loss, I shall be monitoring all the usual suspect places ongoing.
Once again, much gratitude to you all for your advice.
JamesV6CDX, I'm located in Northamptonshire, although my job takes me all over the UK, but not in the Omega!

[martin42]

Theres me and webby in northants,if you get stuck.

[SIR Philbutt]

Well as promised an interim update on my Omega issues.
Firstly thanks to all who offered advice and solutions, it would appear as suggested by some that I have two concurrent problems. 1. A slight loss of coolant fluid. And 2. An intermittent miss-fire. As I finished work on-time today I popped down to see my mechanic. Whom I've used down the years for jobs I can't manage. Having described the symptoms to him, he connected a Snap On diagnostic box of tricks, he programmed the vehicle details, run a diagnostic check,  cleared the resultant codes and run again. Results show I have a misfire on no 4 cylinder, so at first opportunity in daylight I will be checking coil / plug for condition and oil / water ingress. Just one thing to ask Sir Philbutt, am I mis-understanding your advice here  "you shouldn't have to disconnect at the back as it's awkward if not used to doing it." Am I to disconnect it at the back or not? As for the water loss, I shall be monitoring all the usual suspect places ongoing.
Once again, much gratitude to you all for your advice.
JamesV6CDX, I'm located in Northamptonshire, although my job takes me all over the UK, but not in the Omega!

HI

Apologies if I confused you

You don't have to disconnect the coil pack to get it out, but, you have to be careful removing it from the head so as to not strain the cable/plug.

What I really should have said was, have a go at disconnecting the plug but as it is awkward to get the little clip to disengage so as the plug can be pulled out, you can get away with not taking the plug out. Although it is easier to get the plug out when the coil pack is loose from the head.

Confused - ask me to explain it further and I will try my best to get you even more 

Phil

[Omega Al]

My Omega update, firstly thanks to The Mad Mechanic for the offer of his and Webby's help if I get stuffed. This should be of interest to 'Guffer', 'Sir Philbutt' and JamesV6CDX.
Seems like I may have found cause of my misfire as this pm I remove the coil pack as per Sir Philbutts suggestion to find that I had oil around the bottom of all plug holes, with noticeably more around No  4 cylinder. Upon further inspection I noticed that the rubber 'johnny' that shrouds the contact spring and plug was split in two places and duly fell apart during examination! I have temporarily swopped it with No 1 cylinder and if the misfire persists and is 'fault read' as being at cylinder No 1, I'm sure I could rule out a fault with the coil pack, which would be nice as I've been quoted £110+ for a replacement! So, just two things to ask, Are the aforementioned rubber 'Johnnies' available as a spare part? AND Does anyone have a good tip or trick for cleaning up oil around plug bases, as I don't want to remove plugs (yet) and wash the oil along with any debris down inside the heads. Did consider washing out with a liquid that will evaporate itself dry, say Iso Propyl Alchohol. Any ideas would be welcome and thanks again for everybodies interest, make me feel like I bought the right car and joined the right forum!

[SIR Philbutt]

Oil in plug wells is probably cam cover gasket and breather pipes

Guide to replace is here http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90597.0 job is reasonably easy to do if you have the right tools - sure mad and webby can help there.

Getting the oil out is a bit awkward, I used a syringe with a bit of tube on the end to suck out the majority and then kitchen roll and a screwdriver to soak up what was left - bit crude but it worked.

Not had to get replacement shrouds so sure someone has a better answer than your local stealers

HTH
Phil

edit - clean out all the breather pipes while you have them disconnected - one may be blocked/restricted which could have been the cause of the oil "blowing" past the gasket

[RobG]

Are the aforementioned rubber 'Johnnies' available as a spare part

9195820 for 4cyl's
Kit comes with 4 boots and 4 new springs

[Webby the Bear]

Only just seen this Sorry. Yeah as the mad mechanic says if you need help we are in northampton. . . I'm in moulton if that helps. Drop me a pm if required