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[PlodV6]

Well I took my motor to a local indepedant Vauxhall garage who stated that the leak and burny hot smell was due to my oil cooler leaking and that they could solve all my probs for between £300 and £400.

Decided to just get a second opinion from a dealer who wanted £60 per hour plus vat just to look at it!!

So just a quick question ?

Am I getting ripped off and would the independant place know whether it was the oil cooler just by having the motor up on the ramp?.
Apart from that I am well chuffed with my motor!!!.

[VXL V6]

When you say oil leak... where is the oil leaking.

AFAIK Oil cooler failure will mix the oil with the coolant so you'll end up with mayonaise in the header tank etc.

[Dazzler]

Can we have a better discription of the problem please as not quite enough info for a good diagnosis yet :-/

[Markie]

When you say oil leak... where is the oil leaking.

AFAIK Oil cooler failure will mix the oil with the coolant so you'll end up with mayonaise in the header tank etc.

agreed, we do need more info though.

Oil cooler can be done by diy`er and will see change from around £150 - if you have a trade card - its really not a difficult job - just fiddely  :-/

[PlodV6]

Right then, the coolant is fine and clear. The temp runs a bit high but nothing too bad.

The leak is, imagine you are stood under the car with it on a ramp, you are stood facing the front of the car there appears to be a little bit of oil running from the top of the engine more to the nearside ( hope this all makes sense !! )

From what I've read so far on this top site we have here I am more thinking its not the oil cooler.

I am just pooing it so I don't get ripped off!!

Hey lads I do appreciate this help!!

[Entwood]

If the coolant is clear I'd go for a cam cover gasket and a breather clean  


Have you tried taking a lead of the sparkplugs and checking the wells ? if there is oli in the plug wells its a cam cover gasket...  well known problem and a how to is in the guides section

Edit ... snap !! its nice when an expert and I say the same thing !!!  

[hotel21]

Pull the plug leads out one at a time and check the bottom of the plug wells.  If theres oil there, good chance its the cam cover gaskets that are shot.  Oil can and does leak outwards and thus onto the exhaust manifolds, hence the burning smell and smoking.  It also can and does leak into the plug wells and can and does lead to shorting of the high tension spark leads, causing a misfire.

Repair is reasonably straightforward, check the howtoo section for details....

 

[PlodV6]

Nice one guys!!

I am gonna get on that tomorrow. Me thinks that the dude at the independant Vauxhall place is trying to pull the wool over me eyes!!.

I will have a looky at the plugs tomorrow!!!.

Oh by the way, where do you get the owners club window stickers from? I wanna spread and advertise the good work that we have here on the brother/sister hood!!.

Cheers for now.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Yep, oil leak is much more likely to be cam cover gaskets.......coolant leak can be the oil cooler plate seal or one or two other items around the rear.

The only time I have seen an oil leak that can be attributed to the cooler is when people cut corners on a cooler change and bend the pipes, this loosens the unions in the block by the oil filter...in theory you could get a leak from te cool to pipe banjo bolts but, only if its been fiddled with.

If its wet on the sump front plate then it could be the crank seal but, as said, pull some plugs and check for oil.

[PlodV6]

Hi guys!!

Well I've pulled the plugs and there is traces of oil there so does that point towards a non oil cooler incident??
If I am gonna get the cam gasket seals sorted what sort of wedge should I be parting with??.
Just don't wanna get done up the pooper by a greedy garage man!!

Cheers

[Entwood]

You could always follow these instructions and save a lot of your wedge

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152564281

The most common cause of these gaskets blowing ( apparently) is blocked breathers .. so also do this :

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1152598350

while you have it in bits  

[JamesV6CDX]

Make sure whoever does the work fully cleans the entire breather system and throttle bodies, else they will blow again, making the repair pointless.

ONLY use genuine GM parts. Make sure O rings are replaced as well as gaskets (often overlooked)

I offer an occasional mobile mechanics service to members, I would charge about £50/60 + travel costs for this job, but probably not an option for you, as a) I'm a fair way away, and b) I wouldn't have time for about three weeks  

Make sure the garage takes the above advice, or the job is not worth doing.

Obviously replace plugs while you're in there. Check HT lead visual condition, and resistance... and replace if needsbe (oil may have cooked them).

[Darth Loo-knee]

Hi guys!!

Well I've pulled the plugs and there is traces of oil there so does that point towards a non oil cooler incident??
If I am gonna get the cam gasket seals sorted what sort of wedge should I be parting with??.
Just don't wanna get done up the pooper by a greedy garage man!!

Cheers

I asked just out of curiosity at the VX Dealer they want £290 for doing the Cam Cover Gaskets..

I paid about £55 for the Cam Cover Gaskets and "O" rings about £7 for the sealer. If you need Leads they are quite expensive but MTek Performance does a good deal for members of this Forum


 

[JamesV6CDX]

Hi guys!!

Well I've pulled the plugs and there is traces of oil there so does that point towards a non oil cooler incident??
If I am gonna get the cam gasket seals sorted what sort of wedge should I be parting with??.
Just don't wanna get done up the pooper by a greedy garage man!!

Cheers

I asked just out of curiosity at the VX Dealer they want £290 for doing the Cam Cover Gaskets..

I paid about £55 for the Cam Cover Gaskets and "O" rings about £7 for the sealer. If you need Leads they are quite expensive but MTek Performance does a good deal for members of this Forum


 

I presume your camcovers have held out OK, since we did them at the Brackley meet?

[PlodV6]

I appreciate your offer mate!!. Yeah are right though you are miles away!!. The garage that I have got in mind are more suited to performance cars and have full rolling road and tuning stuff so I'm hoping they'll know what they are doing. I would attempt the job however I think my sausage fingers would not allow me much sucess!!. Plus what I know about mechanics is well lets just say limited!!
I have printed off your reply so I know what to ask the garage has been done!!.

Right I'm outta here got an early start in the morning catching bad guys!!

Ps - Don't hate me!!! Its just a job!!