£400 2.2 vauxhall omega
Discussion
So, 6 months ago I bought this.
I decided my bmw was never going to pass its next mot so decided to get myself a new car. All I wanted was a rwd saloon again, and as cheap as possible. Couldnt believe it when I found this 10 minutes down the road from my house. Had 2 months tax and 5 months MOT. Perfect! Bought it straight away. It didnt need anything until about 2 months ago when the headgasket went
It wasnt too hard to fix, took 2 days to sort. Also changed my timing belt, all the pulleys and front disks and pads at the same time.
So, once that was all run in I was travelling back from work on the motorway and all of a suddenly there was a loud bang and it died. Pulled onto the hard shoulder and phoned the Rac. After I'd got off the phone I could smell burning. Had a quick look and couldn't see anything anywhere, no signs of smoke. Anyway, got it towed to my mates garage and started to have a look. Found my fuel pump fuse was blown so replaced it and it happened again as soon as I turned the key, so opened the boot to have a look at the pump and noticed the pump wiring loom all melted together! So, made a new loom and fired it up, noticed the exhaust was blown straight away, seemed to be coming from the backbox...
Thatll be what the bang was then! Also what wouldve melted the cables together. So I put a new peco backbox I had lying around on it and it passed its mot first time! So thats where I am now. Soon to be lowered, possibly a new engine. A friend of mines just fitted a 2.3 turbo Saab engine in his, I'd love that but cheaper and easier option will be v6
I decided my bmw was never going to pass its next mot so decided to get myself a new car. All I wanted was a rwd saloon again, and as cheap as possible. Couldnt believe it when I found this 10 minutes down the road from my house. Had 2 months tax and 5 months MOT. Perfect! Bought it straight away. It didnt need anything until about 2 months ago when the headgasket went
It wasnt too hard to fix, took 2 days to sort. Also changed my timing belt, all the pulleys and front disks and pads at the same time.
So, once that was all run in I was travelling back from work on the motorway and all of a suddenly there was a loud bang and it died. Pulled onto the hard shoulder and phoned the Rac. After I'd got off the phone I could smell burning. Had a quick look and couldn't see anything anywhere, no signs of smoke. Anyway, got it towed to my mates garage and started to have a look. Found my fuel pump fuse was blown so replaced it and it happened again as soon as I turned the key, so opened the boot to have a look at the pump and noticed the pump wiring loom all melted together! So, made a new loom and fired it up, noticed the exhaust was blown straight away, seemed to be coming from the backbox...
Thatll be what the bang was then! Also what wouldve melted the cables together. So I put a new peco backbox I had lying around on it and it passed its mot first time! So thats where I am now. Soon to be lowered, possibly a new engine. A friend of mines just fitted a 2.3 turbo Saab engine in his, I'd love that but cheaper and easier option will be v6
Edited by rosscobmw on Thursday 6th June 08:21
What has melted the wiring lume?
The heat from the exhaust has made the floor pan very hot in that area.
Therefore the wiring has melted together causing the fuse failure. Twice.
The exhaust has split open I'm guessing now that it was old , and likely had water heating up and boiling or perhaps oil.
I would not bother spending money making this car 'faster', or sounding better, however, I recommend an Omega 3.2 V6. Th 3.2 are all manual and are a special edition almost all made for Thames Valley Police. They already have remapped ECU, Lotus suspension, the 3.2 reworked engine rather than the 3.0. These are very quick. You can buy one relatively cheap and spend money on that instead with less 'hard work'.
Alternatively how about the VXR VECTRA TURBO. Again mostly an ex police job but are seriously quick and handle amazingly. These engine are prone to bottom end failure. That is the downside ..
before
after
The heat from the exhaust has made the floor pan very hot in that area.
Therefore the wiring has melted together causing the fuse failure. Twice.
The exhaust has split open I'm guessing now that it was old , and likely had water heating up and boiling or perhaps oil.
I would not bother spending money making this car 'faster', or sounding better, however, I recommend an Omega 3.2 V6. Th 3.2 are all manual and are a special edition almost all made for Thames Valley Police. They already have remapped ECU, Lotus suspension, the 3.2 reworked engine rather than the 3.0. These are very quick. You can buy one relatively cheap and spend money on that instead with less 'hard work'.
Alternatively how about the VXR VECTRA TURBO. Again mostly an ex police job but are seriously quick and handle amazingly. These engine are prone to bottom end failure. That is the downside ..
before afterDoctor Bean said:
What has melted the wiring lume?
The heat from the exhaust has made the floor pan very hot in that area.
Therefore the wiring has melted together causing the fuse failure. Twice.
The exhaust has split open I'm guessing now that it was old , and likely had water heating up and boiling or perhaps oil.
I would not bother spending money making this car 'faster', or sounding better, however, I recommend an Omega 3.2 V6. Th 3.2 are all manual and are a special edition almost all made for Thames Valley Police. They already have remapped ECU, Lotus suspension, the 3.2 reworked engine rather than the 3.0. These are very quick. You can buy one relatively cheap and spend money on that instead with less 'hard work'.
Alternatively how about the VXR VECTRA TURBO. Again mostly an ex police job but are seriously quick and handle amazingly. These engine are prone to bottom end failure. That is the downside ..
before
after
The heat from the blown exhaust blowing the air up over my fuel tank melted it. It blew due to the baffles blocking the flow. I'm not planning on doing anything to this awful engine to make it faster, It's not worth my time. The heat from the exhaust has made the floor pan very hot in that area.
Therefore the wiring has melted together causing the fuse failure. Twice.
The exhaust has split open I'm guessing now that it was old , and likely had water heating up and boiling or perhaps oil.
I would not bother spending money making this car 'faster', or sounding better, however, I recommend an Omega 3.2 V6. Th 3.2 are all manual and are a special edition almost all made for Thames Valley Police. They already have remapped ECU, Lotus suspension, the 3.2 reworked engine rather than the 3.0. These are very quick. You can buy one relatively cheap and spend money on that instead with less 'hard work'.
Alternatively how about the VXR VECTRA TURBO. Again mostly an ex police job but are seriously quick and handle amazingly. These engine are prone to bottom end failure. That is the downside ..
before afterI could go and buy another car, but wheres the fun? This car is very clean and rust free, there's no dents and the main thing, its manual. My friend who has the omega turbo has 6 2.5 V6s lying around, a 2.6 V6 and a 3.2 V6. All going cheap if i want one and could be done in a weekend. You say "hard work", I say "fun". I love ripping an engine out and scratching my head to make a new one fit. I'd rather drive a car i know I've built than one i could just go and buy like everyone else. It's what makes me love cars.
rosscobmw said:
Also, i dont have thousand to blow on a FWD vectra. My budget is a few hundred. Comparing a £400 omega to a Vectra VXR is a bit, strange...
I Understand what you are saying,and yes , the Omega you have is VERY clean for it's age. And true if you love taking engines out etc then it isn't hard work but as you said , more fun.I mentioned the VXR vectra solely because they are incredibly cheap to buy and you can do a lot to modify them. I bought one for £390 with bottom end smashed and rebuilt it and another with light front and rear for a bit more, but both made relatively cheap projects. But sure, you can't beat having fun with a RWD.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do with it :-)
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