Dear all at \"Technical matters\".
I wonder if the combined brainpower might help me with this one please? Either specific suggestions or point me at a good garage that REALLY knows Big Vauxhall Omegas.
The patient is an ex-Police 3.0 ?P? reg Dec-96 manual Omega MV6 Saloon (white?). Had it since about 100k, now 202,500 miles nicely run in. Everything works (including the air-condition added) but we have a difficult to diagnose hesitation SOMETIMES under heavy acceleration.
It manifests itself as an apparent misfire, intermittently (I mean only 10ths of seconds long), more usually at lower revs (below 3,000).
Car has been checked over heavily by my local Vauxhall Dealer but as I live in the remote Highlands of Scotland he don?t see that many Omegas, let alone 3.0 litres. The AA had a look (nowt) and I?ve had it checked on one of those ?free? Vauxhall checkups (apparently useless). The fuel pump died about 10,000 miles ago and the problem seemed to go away (sounded logical to me..) ? replaced with a new one by Vauxhalls - but problem has crept back recently. There are no strange lights on the warning systems, no diagnostics come up when she?s serviced. (Does anyone know if these diagnostics are connected on ex-Police MV6s?). She?s serviced as recommended (I like to feel comfortable that my car will go, steer & stop) including spark plugs. Petrol consumption is OK (I get 28-31 average!). I tried Shell?s ?OptiMax? (I?d run out of ideas) and that made no difference (after 3 consecutive tank-fulls). The cam-belt and tensioners are up-to-date (about 15,000 miles ago they were changed). She doesn?t use any oil (I cannot remember when I last topped it up between services). No water leaks. No high temperatures shown. Air filter standard Vauxhall, exhaust Kwikfit replacement system.
Yours truly,
Confused of the Highlands.
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Hi Highland man,
My car ('98 R 76k) also suffers this ailment from time to time - although no misfire as yet.
I suspect the plug leads - mine are original - how old are yours? They are pigs to get at BTW.
Liked your comments re the de-icer as well! Two sites for you to look at:
www.kenlowe.co.uk - for an engine preheater - magic!
www.autobahnstormers.co.uk 6 cyl Vx club with its own email chat facility for members. Worth joining.
Regards ........
Robert
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Robert - Thanks. Yes, knew of bahnstormers (used to be a member..), may re-join on our advice. Will look at kenlowe...
Plug leads believed to me original (I checked with the Police - Bicester- after I got the car for the maintenance history and don't recall plug leads amongst all the typres/brake pads/oil/filters... )
The iced up car is gospel truth..
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Dynamic Dave - Thanks. Dunno about the cats: The car passed
MOT emissions happily but I will investigate. Stone me, Cats ain't going to be cheap...
Best wishes from Bonnie Scotland (blowing a gale outside, snow still lying up on the hills. but the hills covered (really) with Orchids if you look in the right place.... )
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Robert - Thanks. Yes, knew of bahnstormers (used to be a member..), may re-join on our advice. Will look at kenlowe...
Plug leads believed to me original (I checked with the Police - Bicester- after I got the car for the maintenance history and don't recall plug leads amongst all the typres/brake pads/oil/filters... )
The iced up car is gospel truth..
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Dynamic Dave - Thanks. Dunno about the cats: The car passed
MOT emissions happily but I will investigate. Stone me, Cats ain't going to be cheap...
Best wishes from Bonnie Scotland (blowing a gale outside, snow still lying up on the hills. but the hills covered (really) with Orchids if you look in the right place.... )
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Robert -
Many thanks. New Plug leads fitted (and plugs just-in-case) by friendly A*-man on his day off. Yes, he said they were ****ards to get at. The insulation was visibly breaking down in a couple of places. Mind you at over 200k that seems fair-ish.
Car now going stunningly again, I found myself smiling as I was tootling about the roads up here.
Thanks for the tip!
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Good stuff,
Did he have to take the induction top cover off? Or was he able to just get away with removing the wiper arms and associated cover? Frankly I'm daunted by the prospect of changing the leads as I can't get my hands in. Any clues as to how he did it?
All the best .......
Robert
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Dunno, will ask him tomorrow.
btw he found that the heater ducts were not draining and there was 8 (eight, count 'em) inches of water in the bottom. Explains the intermittent passenger carpet dampness.
Of course if you are ever driving through Fort William I'm sure he'd be happy to oblige. I doubt your local ****hall garage would be cheaper.
Yours aye
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Strewth! If I'm in Fort William I'll bear that in mind - they charge £50 per hour down here! Its a 500 mile detour though.
BTW, the last time I was in Fort William (1998) I was driving a Sintra on the road back to Glasgow. A massive coach coming the other way side swiped me whilst I was stopped - claimed he didn't see me! Made the next 500 miles back home somewhat interesting as a was shaking all the way home!
You might be interested in fitting heated rear seats in your car! My kids loved the ones in my Elite so I fitted them to the MV6. Its complex a Vauxhall rear seat is!
TTFN .........
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Aye.. I asked..
He says he took off the wiper arms & the ?fascia? below, then the stepper motor. Moved wiring loom on left away to get at the left hand leads. Could do the work just with one arm going one-way-in, the other the other-way-in. (He?s a biggish lad, reference the gent mentioning dainty hands).
Plug leads and plugs supplier by sales@autovaux.co.uk with whom I have no connection except as a satisfied customer. From memory the leads came in 3 varieties (careful, autovaux were very helpful) and were about 50% of ****hall price.
NB Any lawyers out there? As we live (allegedly) in a single market does anyone know how GM manages to still get away with (apparently, allegedly) charging surprisingly high prices for it?s bits in UK compared with elsewhere in Europe? Should we ask the competition department of the EU to do something useful for a change and start an investigation? It is of course entirely possible that there is a good and valid explanation for this and what seem to me high prices are in fact excellent value (OK Moderator?).
All that plus sorting out the non-draining heater vents plus oil change & filter (Castrol Magnatex 10-40 @ £12:99+vat for 4.5 litres from Makro) all for the cost of 36 minutes of ?your? Labour rates.
Sorry to hear of your experience with the coach driver. IMHO and in my experience people with special licences or permissions to drive (e.g. ?bus, coach, lorry ? but I am sure not the Police) seem extraordinarily adept at avoiding admitting guilt in such circumstances. It is of course entirely possible that there is a good and valid explanation for this and what seems to the average punter as the avoidance of guilt is in fact simply a misunderstanding (OK Moderator?). Always thought that claiming one ?didn?t see someone? was evidence of guilt of the driving-without-due-care-and-attention variety.
Did he perhaps think you were English? Before anyone starts I am Mongrel and proud of it being half-Welsh, half-English and half-Brazilian, living in and loving Scotland with an ex-2nd-wife who is an Essex girl, 3 Jewish sons the youngest of whom plays Rugby for London Scottish and has a trial coming up for Welsh Schoolboys.
Thanks for the offer on the heated rear seats: I ?outsourced? my 3 kids getting divorced from ex-1st-wife some years ago so this is of little interest. But the three lads are great and I still see them!
Yours aye..
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Cat partially collapsed/blocked maybe?
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Over 202,000 miles! Wow... that must be a record for an Omega! Any serious problems with it?
S.
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If you remove the wiper motor the plug leads are fairly easy to get at. As long as your hands are fairly dainty :)
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(Now 207k+.. )
Serious problems?
I checked shortly after I got it with the Police servicing department (Bicester) where it had lived: They said normal servicing all through - I saw the computer record. They also said they had a few Omega V6?s with exhaust manifolds cracking after car-chase - all gets hot - then car sits for some time idling whilst the boys-in-blue sort the problem out.
For me so far - over 100k miles by me - it has been normal servicing plus clutch (x1), exhaust (x1), tyres (several), rear shocks (once), alternator (x1), cambelt/tensioners (several, as ****hall recommended), battery (x1), Front Discs (- try to avoid buying from a ****hall dealer.. ? try sales@autovaux.co.uk with whom I have no connection except as a satisfied customer ) plug-leads + plugs (just done, sorted hesitation), and then there was the 12 left-hand bank valves when a tensioner let go (arrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhhh..). Oh, and rather a lot of petrol.
i.e. specifically original engine, gearbox & cats.
Plus occasional ?accident/break-in? damage ? e.g. windows, steering lock/ignition, radio, front ?fogs? (x3 so far).
It seems to blow more bulbs than I would expect but can?t be ****ed to check the voltages : Rear side lights ? too many times - (I drive almost always with side-lights on) and for some reason the front nearside dipped headlight bulb (several times), which as I have big hands I need to take the battery out to get to. Also instrument ? speedo etc. panel bulbs (all 3 went eventually so had to ask the garage to try that)
It still goes too quick, I've only tried it up to 135 mph (Original Police calibrated speedo, since checked with my GPS..) being of a nervous disposition but it was still accelerating strongly and solid & stable as a rock..
Gearbox is notchy, particularly 2nd - which also whines a bit as does back-axle - but if one changes gear as per. RoSPA recommendations you don?t notice it. I was once asked by a back-seat passenger if it was an automatic (mind you he was a long-time Porsche driver so like almost all of them wouldn?t understand comfort or smoothness). Front suspension is getting rough/noisy so maybe time for new bushes (any experience anyone??). There is an ?ole in the driver?s carpet through wear (don?t use mats as I need ALL the leg room ? yes, really ). Anyone know anyone who repairs carpets in-situ?
For over a year as it has effectively no realistic street value (but offers accepted..) I have been planning to run it until something really big gives out.
Oddly enough I met a couple of Police drivers with a new 3.0 V6 MV6 just off the M6 at Crewe last Thursday night and they said they would NEVER buy an ex-Police car. Guess I have been (fairly) lucky.
Yours aye
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I've got the 2000 MV6 xpolice also and am having the exact same problem that you have detailed and it has just failed its MOT.
It has 110k on clock and I have had it 6 months without any problems until now.
The garage do not seem to know what the problem is so I might give them a call to discuss the leads.
Thanks for the info
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I called the garage to discuss the leads and eventually got a call back from the bloke who was actually looking at the car. He told me that the leads were indeed the problem and that they would need to be replaced.
He told me that there were two different types of leads and the only way to discover which ones are required was to remove the distributer pack (three hours labour). He would then order the leads and then fit them and then replace the distributer pack.
Total cost for this will be £460 which I think is a bit excessive. Has anyone else had to get this done at a Vauxhall dealer and if so what was the cost?
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Don't see why they need to remove the DIS to tell which leads : Autovaux (usual disclaimer) could tell me which leads were needed for my Omega from the engine number : half the price of vauxhall too!
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Just to confirm what "Spam" says - there are indeed 2 or even 3 variants of OM HT leads for Omegas. I bought mine from Autovaux and there was no need to remove the DIS unit - though admittedly they are a real pain in the neck to change.
Just call Autovaux with your engine number and they'll be able to supply them at 1/2 the price of Vx.
Chad.R
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Got a quote from AutoVaux for DIS-pack and 6 HT Leads for my V6 cav for £165 delivered to my door. Please note I had free delivery offer because they were slow to respond so normal price would be £165 + delivery. They are loads cheaper than Vx and leads are Bosch (same as OEM without Vx badges I believe)
CavV6 and cavWeb fan.
www.cavweb.co.uk
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