Noisy Omega V6 - what should it sound like?
Discussion
Ok I've had some minor issues with my Omega 3.0 V6 lately, and many thanks to all who've helped.
And now, in the true spirit of paranoia, I'm thinking, "I'm sure it should be quieter than this ..." it's always billed as being virtually silent.
Basically, when it starts from cold I can hear it. It doesn't make any funny noises, it's just no quieter than any other car I've owned. Under acceleration from cold, again it's as loud or as quiet as anything else. Once it warms up, it's generally quieter, and when cruising at a steady speed the engine's fairly quiet (pity about the tyres and wind
). But as soon as I accelerate at all, or go up even a gentle hill, it gets louder again.
I tried putting it in neutral, and revving the engine to the same speed - deathly hush, I could only tell the engine was going faster from the rev counter, a bit disconcerting really. So I wondered, gearbox? But any engine will be a bit louder under load. The (auto) gearbox works fine.
So - should I be worried? The loudness itself doesn't trouble me, particularly, but I'm concerned that it may be telling me something's wrong, given that every review describes it as "silent". How does this compare to other Omegas out there? Plenty of oil by the way and recently serviced. Coolant's a bit murky, probably over 2 years old and could do with being replaced, although I doubt that would make it louder.
Oh yeah, and how does 22-23 mpg compare to others out there?
Any help much appreciated.
And now, in the true spirit of paranoia, I'm thinking, "I'm sure it should be quieter than this ..." it's always billed as being virtually silent.
Basically, when it starts from cold I can hear it. It doesn't make any funny noises, it's just no quieter than any other car I've owned. Under acceleration from cold, again it's as loud or as quiet as anything else. Once it warms up, it's generally quieter, and when cruising at a steady speed the engine's fairly quiet (pity about the tyres and wind
). But as soon as I accelerate at all, or go up even a gentle hill, it gets louder again. I tried putting it in neutral, and revving the engine to the same speed - deathly hush, I could only tell the engine was going faster from the rev counter, a bit disconcerting really. So I wondered, gearbox? But any engine will be a bit louder under load. The (auto) gearbox works fine.
So - should I be worried? The loudness itself doesn't trouble me, particularly, but I'm concerned that it may be telling me something's wrong, given that every review describes it as "silent". How does this compare to other Omegas out there? Plenty of oil by the way and recently serviced. Coolant's a bit murky, probably over 2 years old and could do with being replaced, although I doubt that would make it louder.
Oh yeah, and how does 22-23 mpg compare to others out there?
Any help much appreciated.
Got a 2.6 V6 Omega, it is fairly noisy when cold - compared to when it has warmed up.
I have noted that with the really cold weather it is a bit noisier when cold starting.
Once it has warmed up its fairly quiet,and cruises along sweetly and you cant really hear the engine but then 'kickdown' and engine noise does increase quite a bit
IMO you are getting a good average MPG, mine averages abou 18-20 (but then again I have got a heavy right foot) and Mrs M occasionally uses it for the school run and it doesnt really get time to warm up.
I have noted that with the really cold weather it is a bit noisier when cold starting.
Once it has warmed up its fairly quiet,and cruises along sweetly and you cant really hear the engine but then 'kickdown' and engine noise does increase quite a bit
IMO you are getting a good average MPG, mine averages abou 18-20 (but then again I have got a heavy right foot) and Mrs M occasionally uses it for the school run and it doesnt really get time to warm up.
JohnL said: Thanks MM - put my mind at rest a little! We've had a few days of frost around here lately, so that could explain why I may have noticed it a bit more lately.
also noticed that if you set the climate control quite high when cold starting the engine noise increases a bit as it tries to get to temp quickly.
Well I thought, I'll just have a chat with a Vauxhall dealer. Bring it in, we''l have a listen, they said. So I did.
Sounds OK, said the mechanic on the test drive. It'll be noisier in the morning because there's an auxiliary air pump that forces air into the manifold (wahey, a turbo!) to burn the extra fuel needed for a cold start. And it's a noisy pump. Now, it doesn't sound too loud to me, but just pop the bonnet so I can have a listen ...
Don't like the sound of that ...
I'll get my colleague to listen who's an expert with these engines ...
Don't like the sound of that ...
cue sinking feeling in stomach, rising feeling in wallet ...
Something making a high rattly type noise in the top end around the timing belt. Then note that one of the bolts holding down the timing belt cover is missing
. "That should be investigated" Yer damn right it should!
Investigation will cost the price of a timing belt change (plus whatever then has to be put right). Now here's the real irony: timing belt change at the independent place that seems to have f**ked it up cost £140 in the first place (and was then redone for a further £130, covered in another thread). And the friendly and helpful main dealers, who deal with these cars day in day out instead of one every six months if they're lucky, will charge ... £145.
Bah, humbug, curse, mutter, legal action for £270 hardly worth the effort, moan, groan, guess where I won't be going again in a hurry, grumble, mutter.
Still, the sun's shining
Sounds OK, said the mechanic on the test drive. It'll be noisier in the morning because there's an auxiliary air pump that forces air into the manifold (wahey, a turbo!) to burn the extra fuel needed for a cold start. And it's a noisy pump. Now, it doesn't sound too loud to me, but just pop the bonnet so I can have a listen ...
Don't like the sound of that ...
I'll get my colleague to listen who's an expert with these engines ...
Don't like the sound of that ...
cue sinking feeling in stomach, rising feeling in wallet ...
Something making a high rattly type noise in the top end around the timing belt. Then note that one of the bolts holding down the timing belt cover is missing
. "That should be investigated" Yer damn right it should! Investigation will cost the price of a timing belt change (plus whatever then has to be put right). Now here's the real irony: timing belt change at the independent place that seems to have f**ked it up cost £140 in the first place (and was then redone for a further £130, covered in another thread). And the friendly and helpful main dealers, who deal with these cars day in day out instead of one every six months if they're lucky, will charge ... £145.
Bah, humbug, curse, mutter, legal action for £270 hardly worth the effort, moan, groan, guess where I won't be going again in a hurry, grumble, mutter.
Still, the sun's shining
Too right, that's why I agreed to them doing what will essentially be the third timing belt change in 300 miles. If it breaks, dealers have variously said, "At the very least £1500", "Funny money", "You really, really don't want that to happen", etc etc. Probably be better just getting a 2nd hand engine instead.
I might try writing to the original bunch and request that they refund at least their labour charge, but they'll figure that I won't be back anyway and I won't be inclined to take it any further. This is jumping the gun anyway - I'll wait and see what the dealers actually find out.
I might try writing to the original bunch and request that they refund at least their labour charge, but they'll figure that I won't be back anyway and I won't be inclined to take it any further. This is jumping the gun anyway - I'll wait and see what the dealers actually find out.
So here's the result:
Dealer took the timing belt cover off (which had been broken to get over a fan belt pulley, then reglued, rather than remove the fan belt pulley) and found the timing to be well out. Quote: "I'd be scared to start the engine with the timing that far out". They reckon I'm very lucky not to have suffered any valve damage (they're confident that I haven't incidentally).
The timing belt, when they took it off, was already showing signs of wear because of the strain of the timing being out. This after less than 200 miles!
They also said that last year they had a similar problem, an inexperienced independent had changed a belt wrongly and c0cked it up. That had then failed damaging the engine.
A grand or so for a top end rebuild? I asked (trying to sound knowledgable
No, £4,000 for a new engine, they said
£310 or so for the dealer to sort that lot out, plus £270 from the original garage, against £300 if I'd got the dealer to do all the work originally. And they gave me a courtesy car at half a day's notice, for four days. Well - £280 wasted, not going to kill me, very annoying though. I'll ask the original garage to refund that, not going to hold my breath though.
Anyway it sounds miles better now, fuel consumption is better again (had risen by 3-4 mpg), all's well that ends well ... until the credit card bill comes in!
>> Edited by JohnL on Thursday 27th February 15:42
Dealer took the timing belt cover off (which had been broken to get over a fan belt pulley, then reglued, rather than remove the fan belt pulley) and found the timing to be well out. Quote: "I'd be scared to start the engine with the timing that far out". They reckon I'm very lucky not to have suffered any valve damage (they're confident that I haven't incidentally).
The timing belt, when they took it off, was already showing signs of wear because of the strain of the timing being out. This after less than 200 miles!
They also said that last year they had a similar problem, an inexperienced independent had changed a belt wrongly and c0cked it up. That had then failed damaging the engine.
A grand or so for a top end rebuild? I asked (trying to sound knowledgable
No, £4,000 for a new engine, they said
£310 or so for the dealer to sort that lot out, plus £270 from the original garage, against £300 if I'd got the dealer to do all the work originally. And they gave me a courtesy car at half a day's notice, for four days. Well - £280 wasted, not going to kill me, very annoying though. I'll ask the original garage to refund that, not going to hold my breath though.
Anyway it sounds miles better now, fuel consumption is better again (had risen by 3-4 mpg), all's well that ends well ... until the credit card bill comes in!
>> Edited by JohnL on Thursday 27th February 15:42
. Sh%t, my Omega needs it's cambelt changed as it's about to hit 40,000 miles (sounds a bit low for a cambelt change to me). Was going to use a specialist but you've got me thinking now....
Also thanks for telling me about the pump that comes on for a cold start. Wondered what that racket was!!
Graham
PS. I seem to average around 26mpg in mine.
>> Edited by Graham B on Thursday 27th February 19:25
Also thanks for telling me about the pump that comes on for a cold start. Wondered what that racket was!!
Graham
PS. I seem to average around 26mpg in mine.
>> Edited by Graham B on Thursday 27th February 19:25
Right, that's it settled then. I'm going to have Mr. Citroen rather than Mr. Under-the-arches do my upcoming timing belt change. It's a 2 litre petrol turbo and I'd not want to think about the wallet damage of a valves meet pistons, pistons meet valves style failure.
JohnL - good job you're paranoid about how your engine sounds! Glad it's all sorted...
JohnL - good job you're paranoid about how your engine sounds! Glad it's all sorted...
Graham B said: Sh%t, my Omega needs it's cambelt changed as it's about to hit 40,000 miles (sounds a bit low for a cambelt change to me). Was going to use a specialist but you've got me thinking now....
Also thanks for telling me about the pump that comes on for a cold start. Wondered what that racket was!!
Graham
PS. I seem to average around 26mpg in mine.
>> Edited by Graham B on Thursday 27th February 19:25
Is yours a 3 litre? How do you manage to squeeze 26mpg out of it? Best I've seen is 32 when I went from Glasgow to Edinburgh at a steadyish 70ish as an experiment, but in general running I've rarely seen over 23 from a tankful.
Mind you I've just discovered that I've been consistently running my tyres 4psi low. Doubt it'd make that much difference but we'll see.
I'd've thought an independent vauxhall specialist would be up to the job, but maybe not a do-everyting-fix-anything type of place.
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