Ecotec V6 oil cooler info.

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Tue 22 Jun 2004 22:21
Ecotec V6 oil cooler info. - geoff C
Omega (and presumably V6 Vectra nad Calibra) owners may be interested in my experience. The leaking oil cooler problem has been described before on this forum (oil leaking into water).

My problem was slight water loss from the cooling system, and turned out to be leakage from the oil cooler cover. This is a known weakness to Vauxhall mechanics - although not mentioned before to my knowledge on this forum, or in TIS 2000 (whereas corrosion of the aluminium cooler heat exchanger is).

The leak was slight, most of the leakage must have evaporated. When parked facing downhill some coolent tended to appear on the front flange of the sump, having run forward either side of the cooler cover and run down the front of the engine either side of the water pump (I suspected the pump initially). Another sign is white encrustations on the side of the bellhousing flange at the bottom, where the water runs down from the rear of the cooler cover.

In my case there was no visible corrosion damage to the heat exchanger, but it would have been foolish not to replace it once dismantled. Vauxhall have recently upgraded the replacement to stainless-steel and it costs only £76+VAT from Vauxhall dealers. (The previous one was apparently nearer £200!)

Car: Omega Elite Saloon 2.5 V6 Auto
Mileage: 70,555
Registered Dec 1999 (near end of pre-facelift model run).

Job details at independent garage: (£55/hour)
Parts £152.57
Labour £189.00
VAT: £60.62
Total: £407.03
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