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[Marie]

Firstly i would to say hello to you all and introduce myself.

My name is Marie.

I am an aircraft engineering technican in the Royal Navy working at RAF Cottesmore. I fix Harriers for a living have been doing this for about the last 2 yrs and before that i worked on Seaking MK 4's for 6 yrs.

I have owned my omega (its a 99 plate) since 2003, and since last year she has done nothing but swollow money. seems like problem after problem. It all started last year when the day before she was meant to go for a cam belt change the cam belt snapped (trust my luck) fixed that but in the process of this we found a 3 inch crack in the exhaust manifold (which was a kick in the balls). in all it cost me £750 to fix (pulling in some favours i was owed.) she has had 4 new tyres £250, new air idle control valve £90, just replaced the front part of the exhaust £100.

The problem is as follows:

When its damp, wet or raining when you start her she sounds like a tractor and there is no power for about 10 minutes (until shes warm really) it feels like she is missfiring aswell sometimes when driving.  the exhaust sounds like shes blowing too, fwd of the fwd section.
we have looked at the spark plugs to find that the vauxhall garage replaced them with cheep ones but  they look ok. will be replaceing them with better ones as soon as the parts place i use gets them in stock for me. i think the problem might be the ht leads or the dis but not to sure.

How can i check before i go and spend even more money on her.
Could someone please help its easy enough to fix & maintain aircraft but when it comes down to my beast i am less confident.

Nice to meet you all  

Cheers Marie

p.s.  i have done the paperclip test but  all it does is turn the ecu light out. no flashing light for me at all. is this because she is a 1999 model?

[Tafty]

i think the problem might be the ht leads or the dis but not to sure.

 

Hey marie - welcome aboard - good choice

I think you've already hit a good possible root cause there.. and not going to be too costly to discount. Can't advise on Paper clip test as you can't do it on mine  - so never bothered to find out.

Lee

[Markie]

Welcome Marie...is your `99 a facelift model or pre facelift?

[Marie]

Markie,

i beleive its a pre facelift model the grill is not part of the bonet its attached to the front of the car.

Marie

[Matchless]

I would eliminate any possible HT & water problem first.
Are the spark plug wells dry? No oil or water lurking in there?
Could easily have a faulty HT lead, take them off and measure the resistance, it will be around 5k for the longer ones and is proportional to length. You are looking for one which is unusually high resistance or open circuit.
Check the insulation and boots at both ends for splits or signs that someone has pulled on the lead.
Clean the HT posts on the coil pack with WD40 before replacing the leads and try to clean up all the surfaces between the posts.
Is water dripping onto the coil pack from the scuttle? there is a join directly above the coil pack. Also check that the rubber washers / seals are present where the wiper shafts pass through the scuttle.

Oh, welcome BTW

[TheBoy]

Hi Marie.  You can paperclip test your 2.0l, but must be with engine off.  Generally a visual inspection of DIS will show if its likely to have failed.

Generally, mifires without faultcodes will be HT related.

[Marie]

Cheers i will look at all of the above tomorrow and get back to you.
its a bit dark now to be playing with the engine and i would get a tad wet too

What am i looking for with the dis failing?

Marie

[TheBoy]

Cheers i will look at all of the above tomorrow and get back to you.
its a bit dark now to be playing with the engine and i would get a tad wet too

What am i looking for with the dis failing?

Marie

There are some pictures in some posts showing failed DIS packs. From memory, 2 have been posted by Timbuk and Markie, though V6, may be worth having a look at these.  The sort of delaminate if that makes sense?

[Marie]

I know wht you mean ill take a look. cheers


Noticed you do system checks.  How far away are you from rutland?  dont trust my local vx dealer as they broke my headlights on the mot and then refused to pay for a new set . and their arnt any other real good garages about.

Marie

[Matchless]

Have to unbolt the DIS to inspect the underside, moisture gets into the laminations and begins to rust which expands and cracks the plastic, letting more water in and so on until the windings eventually break down to earth.
The DIS screws tend to shear off. On the 2.0 you can get to the bottom of them with a penetrating spray by peering up from underneath, between exhaust and bell housing.

[TheBoy]

I know wht you mean ill take a look. cheers


Noticed you do system checks.  How far away are you from rutland?  dont trust my local vx dealer as they broke my headlights on the mot and then refused to pay for a new set . and their arnt any other real good garages about.

Marie

Where's Rutland?

I'm on Northants/Oxon/Bucks border.

But save your money - yours can be paperclipped

[Marie]

near lincolnshire/peterborough/cambridgeshire area.

ill try again with the paperclip tomorrow and get back to you

cheers

Going for a pint

Night guys

Marie

[DaveL]

Welcome to the forum Marie,
looks as though you have had a few answers to your question so i cannot and any more.

Been a long time since i was stationed at Cottesmore and cannot recommend any garage down there. The Sun Inn though is another story and the Rutland Arms in Exton.

Can you still get Ruddles?

Cottesmore is near Oakham and about 4 miles off A1 from the Ram Jam Inn turnoff.

 8-)
DaveL

[Marks DTM Calib]

Which dealer was it....sycamores?

[Marie]

yes it was. worst experiance i have ever had. said they would have the car for a few hrs (for service and mot) 2 days later they gave it back and without the mot as they broke the lights.

never going there again ever!