Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[madmonk]

Hi... I have a stalling problem with my Omega...

I own a 99 (S) 2.5 V6 Auto Omega.   About a Feb 06 the car died on me as I was about to pull away from a junction, i managed to get the car going, albeit it did not like low speed.   The AA were called and tested the system, the only fault was the Mass Air flow meter which I think is code 43...  I took the car to an Auto electrician friend of mine who reset the ECU, everything was fine until now (1 year on)....  This month (May 07) I got the same problem sitting at a set oflights, started to pull away then bingo she stops... AGAIN,... exibiting similar problems, only this time there is no fault code present...   Upon inspection I found one of the black hoses coming from the ECO Tec cover (2nd tube from right as looking from the front of the engine) had perished and split, I have replaced and all seemed fine, then same thing again happend today, just approaching a mini roundabout then the car dies again, re-satarted in Nuetral and pulled away in Drive keeping revs and speed high to maintain momentum...

This has all happened when the Engine Temp is at about 95, and when no throttle is used,  Weather conditions have ranged from Cold (about 1-2degrees, dry) Feb 06, wet (really wet) begining May 07 and dry (warm about 16deg) today 18 May 07... I have used the paper clip method and no fault codes are present... all I can liken the problem to is when you have dirt in a carb she may pull at high revs but dies when no throttle is present, I am at a loss to know what this problem could be, any suggestions/ideas would be gratefully recieved.

David

[TheBoy]

Give the Idle Control Valve a good clean.

Then look for possible air intake leaks.

BTW, I doubt the MAF was faulty last year - a case of the technician trusting the computer, and not using common sense

[miggy]

Had the same prob with a 95 omega select, once the idle control valve was stripped and cleaned the problem went,

 

[madmonk]

Hi, I've cleaned the ICV, and replaced two pipes, the previous replacement I had was no good and had indeed split, so now genuine Vauxhall parts.   Sorry I don't know the technical jargon, these pipes are, as you look from the front, located coming from the plastic Ecotec cover, they are the two situated on the outside and the second pipe from the right... Both outside pipes join together and go into what i beleive to be the the vent housing, the second from the right also goes into this housing... I can't find any other leaks or potentials, and time this weekend is dead against me (exams monday)...  Could it be the fuel I am using, recently I have changed to Esso premium, or super or whatever they call the expensive stuff...  I don't know if it is pure co-incidence or not but my troubles began soon after switching petrol.   It always occurs with the engine nice n hot at about 95 degrees, and the engine cannot hold it's revs, very irratic at low revs...let it cool and she's great, back to normal

Incidentally the DIS pack was changed last summer and I have only done about 10,000 miles since... Right now I'm back on the Fireblade, which is proving far more reliable than the car, trouble is I can't fit 2 kids 2 dogs and tow a trailer with a bike, though it can be more fun...

[Markjay]

With no fault cods, this is always going to be a bit of hit and miss.

As for fuel, I tried most of the super fuels on the market (except Tesco’s 99), and as it seems that the Omegas is generally happy with all of them.

Also, other fuelling problem such as blocked fuel filter or dirty injectors should be even more evident under load then at idle, but you are saying this is not the case.

When you replaced the various breather hoses, did you also take-off the black plastic breather box (under the Ecotec logo) and cleaned it? If not, follow the instructions at: http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152598350

Also, generally speaking I would look at all the basic again: ait filter, fuel filter, oil change, spark plugs, and HT leads…

But since the problem does not affect the engine at load, and as you already know the no1 and 2 suspects seem to the be the ICV – even if it was cleaned, it my need replacing, and manifold air leaks.

[madmonk]

Ok.... I've cleaned out the black Eco Tec thing, loads of dirt and stuff in there... nice n clean now.   Haven't done much more than that but plan to take the Plenum off this Saturday... My brother has the same car so I was going to try his ICV... I'll let you know how it goes

Another thing I noticed about the car today... the problem is in the main intermitenet in so far as I can't tell when the problem will occur, oither than the temperature has to be about 95...   I can however, gaurantee, if I take the car out for a 20 min run stop leave it or 10 mins and get back the problem will occur, can't hold revs, I confirmed this with a run to the shops today, this time though the car ran like I'd got a rabbit under the bonnet, but it was only jumpy at around the 2000 rev range, don't know if this is relevant or not....

Managed to get home engine struggling to stay alive, stalled several times trying to park up... Now starts and hold revs fine, mind you I did give the ICV a good does of WD, again don't know if this another red herring.   That's the story so far, I should know more after Saturday.

David

[madmonk]

Ok... Saturday update

Had the plenum off and the injector rail, changed the rocker gasket (drivers side) as found oil in with the plugs.   I cleaned the Black Eco Tec thing, and yep, tons of crap in here. one pipe in particular was bad, this is the 2nd from right pipe as you look at the engine from the front, don't know what this feeds into...

Ok, everything has had a damn good clean , new plugs , replaced the icv, the maf, new gasket for the drivers side rocker cover.   I have taken the car for a run , and great performance, got back home let the engine get up to temp and I get the lumpy idle, foot on the accelerator and she is ok, let her idle and she's got a job to keep going...

One thing that is consisteant is the temperature, whenever she gets to 95 or just above the engine plays up... I have two holes in the exhast could this cause problems, are there sensors in the exhaust, open to lots of suggestions now.

David

[MikeDundee]

I had a similar problem about two years ago, car just died at the lights, got it started again then it died at the next roundabout. Called out the AA they could'nt find any fault with their computer, as i was in Dundee at the time just got them to tow the car to the hotel car park, cos it was sunday and a Vx place was just next door. Called up Vx in London (my local dealer) they said it was probably the relay fuel sensor, and not to risk driving all the ay back to london, so chopped it in £150 bucks later problem solved and yes it was the fuel sensor/relay.

I am not an expert  :-/ :-/, but worth a look just in case.

[Abiton]

Have you checked that the other end of where these hoses go isn't blocked? On my x20xev there was complete blockage of the 'small' breather at the valve cover end, within the hose, and at the inlet manifold end, a hat-trick. Clearing out all three areas fixed that problem.


Sadly for me, cleaning out the ICV seems to have caused me a new problem, but I have a replacement one in the post...As far as I can tell, the return spring has lost it's strength, and can't close off the valve against the pressure of the airflow pushing it t'other way. I now have a super clean lump of scrap metal masquerading as an ICV  .

[madmonk]

Never thought of the relay, i'll give that a go.   I have checked all pipes now, and all appear fine and clear...

I re-checked the black breather box this morning, and one pipe is proving to be a real pain in the bottom, This is the the pipe that connects to the Carbon Canistor Vent, as there are great chunks of of what appear to be charcoal coming out, almost enough to start a bbq, this even when the carb cleaner ran through clear yesterday... So my project for the rest of next week is make sure this is well clear of crap before putting back...

Oh yes whilst writing this reply I've discovered something else... Looking at the "Cleaning crankcase breather system on V6" in the Maintenance Guide, there is a nice picture labelling each pipe, I would say looking at this labelling the Carbon canistor pipe has been swapped with the post throttle breather pipe on my car, could this be another cause of the symptoms I've been having?

I will look at the car again next Saturday weather permitting... This weekend has been well and truly rained off, I don't have a garage, just been working under a gazeebo, not the best of things, has kept the water of my back though but the cold has gotten to me now...

Any how a Big THANKS   to everyone so far for the advice and input you've all made, there's no way I could have made it this far without your help...THANKS

[madmonk]

EUREKA   I think all is fixed...  IOver the last 2 days and after getting home from work I thoroughly cleaned and put everythin back, and this time puting the breather box pipes back in there correct places....

Wow what a difference the car has never been this good, what I have learned from this problem is the absolute need to make sure the black eco tec breather box is well and truly clean, I thought mine was but I was very wrong... I gently tapped the this part and tons of charcoal kept coming out loads of carb clean aand a few taps later no more black bits, also I learnt to check the breather pipes are in the right location, I imagine these were not put back properly when I took the car in for a new DIS pack last September/October...  

Anyhow the car appears to run well at the moment, took the girl into work today as I feel she may be ok this after severall good runs lastnight that were fine, if any problem appears I will post an update, otherwise again thanks to everyone      

[hotel21]

Glad its sorted.  The Forum strikes again.