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[falconsirrus]

hi guys, first off im new to the site and new to vauxhalls, just got a omega 2.5l V6 x25xe r reg 1997.
but i think i may have been con'd.
the whole car looks fine but....
runs a temp at about 100c and after 15mins gone 110c into the red. the guy a bought the car from said that the thermostat was faulty and needed changing but never said anything about over heating. put it into a garage had the thermostat changed, but made no difference, very disapointing. one of my mates is a mechanic and had a look for me plus ask a friend of his at vauxhall about it, they thought it may be the water pump or head gasket, the water pump is curculating the water and just leaves the head gasket,
also to note is the water pipe on the right of the rad' gets very hot very quick, the water pipe on the left of the rad gets hot slowly and the rad its self stays cold, a part from the head gasket which im thinking about replacing myself due to cost, been told head gasket change would cost near to £1000.
im out of ideas
any help any advice any ideas ,,,,,,,,,,all welcome
thank you

[Darth Loo-knee]

Could be a blocked Radiator if it stays cold mate

[Entwood]

I wonder if its had an oil cooler failure and never been properly cleaned

[Tony H]

I wonder if its had an oil cooler failure and never been properly cleaned

Possibly or as LK says blocked rad first and easiest checks are a flow test on the rad also check if there is any sign of oil in the coolant which would indicate oil cooler failure

[falconsirrus]

also to add, when the rad does warm up, round the edges the centre is still cold ,maybe a block but he squeezed the right hand side water pipe and could fell the water pressure rise and pust though.

[Darth Loo-knee]

Points to a blockage to me

[Boatboy]

Does the 1'' black pipe behind the rad get hot whilst the matrix remains cold? If so almost def a blocked rad.

When my head gasket went I confirmed it by:-

a) water pumping out of the expansion tank from a cold start, and

b) pulled a plug on a warm engine to find coolant in the cylinder.

If it is HG, I know a man who can probably do better than £1000 to replace them, though he might sing to you :-/

steve

[falconsirrus]

ok so its sounding more and more like a blocked rad causing it to overheat quickly and cook me from the inside, which i dont know but sounds better than the head gasket gone, which ive heard rarely play up?

the oil cooler fault
       "If they leak they put a whole load of oil into the coolant system .. oil pressure being higher than water pressure ... usually seen by high engine temps as the radiator gets blocked with gunge, and a header tank full of gunge..."
i dont think oil is in with the coolent but as for gunge, i did notice little parts/bits of crap in the water as it was flooding over the water tank when it was basicly boiling, ( should of made a cup of tea )
how do i clean out the coolent system / radiator / header tank / and any thing else connected to those parts/systems ( i'd rather clean all of it to get it running nice than just 1 part to fix the problem )

and again thanks for all the help so far......

[Varche]

My 97 2.5 V6 had similar issues. Ran fine one or two up in flat country. Hilly country overheated. It was the rad.

Might have been curable by flushing out but the dealer replaced it as we were away on holiday. Been fine ever since.

[albitz]

If you put your approximate location in your avatar there may be someone near you who could help. 

[falconsirrus]

harlow, essex (updated profile as well cheers )

[falconsirrus]

checked a few more things again

no water in oil
temp upto 95c after engine running idle for 5-10 mins
pipes that heat up --
     first was the 3" pipe on the right of the the rad
than the 2"(about) pipe on the left side,about 6-8" down from the top of the rad
then the 1" pipe that runs along the back of the rad
after that all pipes with water in them are warm but by now the first 2 pipes and hot
BUT the rad stays cold and did the whole time engine running and after

when the engine is rev'd the water level goes down and back when rev's drop

also girlfriend made dinner in the middle of testing,
so turned the engine off, temp at 95c
after 20mins turn inigion on temp had only drop to 85c and after 1min went to 88c

donno if any of this helps to find the problem but
tomorrow im going to have a go at removing the pipes to the rad and flushing though some clean water see what comes out the other end
try and find out if it is blocked?
if any one has any pointers on the best way , or things to remember when doing this please let me know

[Darth Loo-knee]

checked a few more things again

no water in oil
temp upto 95c after engine running idle for 5-10 mins
pipes that heat up --
     first was the 3" pipe on the right of the the rad
than the 2"(about) pipe on the left side,about 6-8" down from the top of the rad
then the 1" pipe that runs along the back of the rad
after that all pipes with water in them are warm but by now the first 2 pipes and hot
BUT the rad stays cold and did the whole time engine running and after

when the engine is rev'd the water level goes down and back when rev's drop

also girlfriend made dinner in the middle of testing,
so turned the engine off, temp at 95c
after 20mins turn inigion on temp had only drop to 85c and after 1min went to 88c

donno if any of this helps to find the problem but
tomorrow im going to have a go at removing the pipes to the rad and flushing though some clean water see what comes out the other end
try and find out if it is blocked?
if any one has any pointers on the best way , or things to remember when doing this please let me know

Remove the Radiator and wash it out, then lie it down pour some Radiator Cleaner in it from a Plumbers or B&Q then top up with water whilst it is still lying down. Leave it for a day or two long as you can.

[falconsirrus]

hi guys played with pipes and the hose pipe from garden today

undone all pipes i could get my hands on and cleaned, when removing some of the pipes small bits of crap came out, hooked up the garden hose and ran fresh water though the rad, started pumping stright out the other end.

put all the pipes back on apart from one that goes from the coolant tank to the top of rad which i had the garden hose connected, undone coolant tank cap and ran fresh water again for 5mins while me, gf and next door (gf's bother) all had a chat about it

put the whole thing back the way its ment to be, topped up the water and started, ran idol till bubbles and air locks run out of system

temp of car upto 95c after 10-15mins
at one point temp droped to 85c within a few secounds then back up after a min or two
the temp stayed around 100 at hotest by the pipes heated up and i ended up turn the engine off before they started melting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
with all this said the rad didnt even warm up.

next door started his vauxhall astra after 20mins started to warm up 80c
after a while tho the rad started warming up to, goin from top to bottom getting hot

at the moment sounds like the rad needs replaceing

different question but is there anysort of sensor connected to the rad to tell it to work?

anyother ideas to why my omega's overheating, please post

[PhilRich]

hi guys played with pipes and the hose pipe from garden today

undone all pipes i could get my hands on and cleaned, when removing some of the pipes small bits of crap came out, hooked up the garden hose and ran fresh water though the rad, started pumping stright out the other end.

put all the pipes back on apart from one that goes from the coolant tank to the top of rad which i had the garden hose connected, undone coolant tank cap and ran fresh water again for 5mins while me, gf and next door (gf's bother) all had a chat about it

put the whole thing back the way its ment to be, topped up the water and started, ran idol till bubbles and air locks run out of system

temp of car upto 95c after 10-15mins
at one point temp droped to 85c within a few secounds then back up after a min or two
the temp stayed around 100 at hotest by the pipes heated up and i ended up turn the engine off before they started melting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
with all this said the rad didnt even warm up.

next door started his vauxhall astra after 20mins started to warm up 80c
after a while tho the rad started warming up to, goin from top to bottom getting hot

at the moment sounds like the rad needs replaceing

different question but is there anysort of sensor connected to the rad to tell it to work?
anyother ideas to why my omega's overheating, please post

Nothing 'tells' the rad to work, it gets hot when it has a flow of hot water through it . Because you flushed your rad with a hose & got a good strong flow of water through does not mean it isn't blocked, because the water would just bypass the blocked waterway/s and find the path of least resistance. Welung666 told you to get hold of some descaler from a builders/plumbers merchant . This is good advice & you should try it first before forking out for another rad. HTH