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[djdaveyp85]

I recently bought myself a X reg 2000 Omega 2.6 CDX knowing it was transfering oil to the water system but thinking this would be the oil cooler as this is apparantly a common fault. ( And i got it very cheap on ebay).

I am now unsure as to whether it is this or not. I have been driving the car on short local journeys keeping the revs low and tickling the throttle pedal until all of a sudden a big pipe blew off my radiator on my way home and put oily water everywhere. I called out the recovery who reattached the pipe and put some new coolant in and attempted to drive home only to find the car kept overheating very rapidly.

When i got home eventually i realised it had no coolant left in the bottle and it was instead full of oil (not oil and water mixed!) and whenever i tried to fill it it seemed to immediately leak out under the car (without the engine running). I tried to start it yesterday to take it to the garage and realised the temperature dial was no longer working on the dash and the smoke coming out of the exhaust was ever so slightly grey (which it wasn't before). I therefore decided not to drive it to the garage and am now going to have it recovered there (when i can afford it!). Strangely the coolant tank was now empty of oil and when i tried to fill it up with coolant this time it stayed there instead of leaking.

There is a very small amount of cream just inside the oil cap but none on the dipstick but it was shifting a hell of alot of oil into the water. The engine doesn't make any strange noises apart from a slightly noisier tapping from one tappit.

Anybodys help as to what this could be or how much it will cost to repair would be great.

Thank you in advance for your help. ANd if i've missed anything please let me know.

[Dazzler]

Sounds like it was just the oil cooler, but because you have kept driving it which is a big no no, it has now devoloped in a larger failure.

[feeutfo]

may well have pumped all the oil into the cooling system, or a good portion of it. You probably already know by now, should not have driven it. But that wont help you know. Depends how far its gone. Oil in the water could have damaged a seal/hose and over pressureised cooling system, and at some point it may have been very low on oil with barely any water. May well have done the H G as well now.
I suppose start with fixing the oil cooler, youll have a devil of a job flushing the sludge/oil out of the coolant system, get the cooling system running and see if the car runs with no HG symptoms. Hopefully youve been lucky. Maybe get some other opinions from more experienced owners. Hope helps.

[TheBoy]

Will be oil cooler.

We can treat your bad experience as a reminder to others not to use the car with a failed cooler...


The oil will software and weaken all the rubber pipework and seals.  It will also start to clog the cooling system, particularly the radiator.

[Andy B]

....

The oil will software and weaken all the rubber pipework and seals.   ......

can we guess what kind of thing you do for a living?  :-?  :-?      

[djdaveyp85]

Thanks for all your help guys, my guess was the the radiator had become blocked due to the excess oil in the water, i never allowed the oil to get low as i kept topping it up but i guess the pressure just got too high and the pipe just blew off.

So am i right to think to change the oil cooler first perhaps replace all the  pipes off the cooling system and flush the radiator out with some degreaer and then see if there is still cream in the oil cap?

[djdaveyp85]

oh and i also did the pedal thingy and got the code 1612 does anybody know what this means?

[TheBoy]

....

The oil will software and weaken all the rubber pipework and seals.   ......

can we guess what kind of thing you do for a living?  :-?  :-?      

SOFTEN, FFS, I meant SOFTEN!

[TheBoy]

Thanks for all your help guys, my guess was the the radiator had become blocked due to the excess oil in the water, i never allowed the oil to get low as i kept topping it up but i guess the pressure just got too high and the pipe just blew off.

So am i right to think to change the oil cooler first perhaps replace all the  pipes off the cooling system and flush the radiator out with some degreaer and then see if there is still cream in the oil cap?

Its not the pressure, its the weakening of the pipes that causes them to fail.

Continued use has/will damage the rubber pipework and seals.  Also, with continued use, you'll end up blocking/damaging the rad and heater matrix. Don't use it!

Replace cooler, do as many coolant flushes as you can - I would expect if you flushed it daily, it would clear in 2-3 weeks, and expect more of the rubber to fail over the coming weeks.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Driving with a failed oil cooler is not a wise move at all!

Good luck in flushing the crap out the system following the fix.

[feeutfo]

Thanks for all your help guys, my guess was the the radiator had become blocked due to the excess oil in the water, i never allowed the oil to get low as i kept topping it up but i guess the pressure just got too high and the pipe just blew off.

So am i right to think to change the oil cooler first perhaps replace all the  pipes off the cooling system and flush the radiator out with some degreaer and then see if there is still cream in the oil cap?

From what i have read on here the main lasting problem/or one of them anyway, is flushing the heater matrix. If your cc works but no heat, you will have to flush the matrix iirc. Look to the left of engine at the bulk head, you will see 2 water pipes going in/out. There is a guide re flushing those 2 pipes to the matrix. Read a post, a guy did oil cooler months ago and heater stopped working. He flushed those pipes/water bottle backwards and dislodged a big lump of sludge. Voila,working heator.
Re the oil filler car mayo, dont worry to much about it. The omega is known for this as the filler neck is clear of the cam covers and the temp. differance of the cooler air causes condensation to form in the neck, hence the mayo. Mayo on the dipstick is a better guide. Best of luck.

[Marks DTM Calib]

The biggest problem is that over time, the oil attacks the rubber so the longer you run it the worse state the hoses etc get in (they go very soft!)

[djdaveyp85]

Thanks i'll bear that all in mind.

[djdaveyp85]

Right i've finally got it into a grage for the repair, the mechanic says it is a full day of a job and he needs a special glue to fit the oil cooler. Is it really a full day of a job? Oh and luckily the HG hasn't gone it was just a blocked radiator and the thermostat had seized to function!

[Marks DTM Calib]

Right i've finally got it into a grage for the repair, the mechanic says it is a full day of a job and he needs a special glue to fit the oil cooler. Is it really a full day of a job? Oh and luckily the HG hasn't gone it was just a blocked radiator and the thermostat had seized to function!

2-3 hours work to change an oil cooler.....maybe another hour to flush the system.