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[wedge]

hi

i'm in north yorks with 2001 2.6 & seem to have a similar problem to other members, which their suggestions have been to check the water pump seal, oil cooler plate, coolant bridge & the thermostat housing - here's my problem & are the same suggestions still appropriate ?

with the radiator overflow cap tight it uses the overflow tank in 10 miles, but when loose i did 200 miles & didn't loose a drop.  my local garage (arrgh) said it was the oil cooler & changed it but that made no difference, still steam under the bonnet but no obvious leak. next he put in rad-weld which stopped the steam, but not the water usage, after that he pressurised it to 2 bar, but again with no visible leak, he didn't have the stuff to put in the rad that shows whether it means head gasket or not but says that coz there's no obvious leak that it must be - should i take his word or insist on the detector stuff?

at all stages i've parked over paper but nothings dripped down.

i'm already at arguement stage as he should have put the detection stuff in before changing the cooler, my local vaux garage has quoted £1287.50 for head gaskets & cam belt - does this all seem right to anyone reading this & can anyone recommend anywhere, or anyone good in north yorkshire to check & hopefully solve, as i'm in a wheelchair & am frustrated coz i can't even see enough of the engine to find a leak myself...

thanks for any help  

[JamesV6CDX]

Shame you're not a bit closer, I'd have given you my opinion for nothing.

Could you possibly get someone to pop under the car for you with the coolant system pressuised (engine running for a bit) and see if there are any drips down the gearbox bellhousing?

It's also a good idea to pop the plenum off, block off the two coolant pipes at the front, and pressurise the system via the header tank cap, this can help you see leaks down the back or in the valley...

[unclelicklug]

Sorry to hear you have a problem, there are people here who know these engines very well (I don't) but from similar experience:
- It sounds like head gasket given that there are no external leaks.
- The sniffer test is pretty easy to do and lots of places have the equipment to do it, I wasn't charged for the test by a local specialist when I had a suspected head gasket on my Toyota Previa
- No doubt you will be able to get much much better quotes on the work you (may) need than Vauxhall dealer prices, hopefully someone in your area will be able to recommend a specialist, definitely helpful that the car is still mobile.

Good luck, darkest hour is before the dawn and so on..

[JamesV6CDX]

You can't yet be sure there are no external leaks though. You say you put paper under the engine - it's famous for leaking further back , running off the gearbox...

HG failure is rare, it's more likely to be a leak somewhere.

[unclelicklug]

Bows to James' superior knowledge - would still get the HG test done if it's cheap tho'.
If you do then make sure you trust the guy making the test...no doubt there are people out there using it as a selling tool. Hmmm - getting very cynical in my old age...

All the best
Rick

[Entwood]

I know this is mainly for V6 owners .. but might be worth a glance through ??

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1209123016

[JamesV6CDX]

I know this is mainly for V6 owners .. but might be worth a glance through ??

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1209123016

I think this is a V6?

[ians]

You sure its not the HBV?  (usual first suspect in my book when it comes to coolant leaks)   From next to the drivers side wheel you can shine a torch in behind the block and below the scuttle and look for signs of damp - either wet or brown staining.

[TheBoy]

remove plenum, pressurise it up (fabricate a cap with valve in), should be easy to find leak...

[stuart30]

Bows to James' superior knowledge - would still get the HG test done if it's cheap tho'.
If you do then make sure you trust the guy making the test...no doubt there are people out there using it as a selling tool. Hmmm - getting very cynical in my old age...

All the best
Rick

Ive had two head gasket tests done....first was a pressure test whilst it didn't prove conclusive the (   ) mechanic said he was 99.9% sure it was head gasket.

Second time was the one where water turns a different colour and was told that was 100% guaranteed head gasket.

Two different cars taken too two different garages and both were completely wrong....first car had its auto fluid drained by mistake.....second was leaking.

Admittedly neither car was an omega but id have thought the test should still work regardless of car....so personally id not trust and garage now who offers a head gasket test,especially when they know they will make a killing if you agree too the work being done.

[wedge]

to all that replied, thanks for the help

i thought the hg test would be foolproof, so thanks to stuart30 for showing it's not a definite.

thanks for all the other things to try, as the car only has 73k miles & James says hg is rare, i'm going to do more searching before i give lots of £'s away - James i'm almost tempted to do the 200 miles for your diagnosis, but i'll try everything else 1st

this site is a god send !!!

p.s. it is a v6 & (too innocent) what does HBV stand for ?

[willyboy]

Heater Bypass Valve
That price you were quoted  were they for real, my car only cost that !

[wedge]

thanks willyboy

i've just been festering around the site & found that the hbv is a very likely suspect & should cost about £25 from vaux, after the original hg price i'm almost tempted to just change the hbv & hope that fixes it  

but that's a bit extravagant, so i've printed out the suggestions & will get my mate to see what we can find tomorrow.

did your problem get sorted ?

[wedge]

sorry willyboy,

just read your pm - your problem would have me head scratching, after that many miles you'd think the pressure would blow it out if there was a hole somewhere

i'd be interested how it works out

[philhoward]

I was told of 2 "free" checks for HG failure - both from cold.

Remove the expansion tank cap, put your hand over the top and start the engine.  Count to 10 - and if there's any pressure in there then it's not looking good.  Apparently, in really bad cases (mine was..) there's a lovely constant stream of little bubbles into the header tank which I was told was probably a cracked head (2.0 16v).  At this point, it was still cold - but the results in my case were pretty conclusive!