UkLegacyT

dont know if this is in the correct section?

a friend has a 1998 vauxhall omega. its a 3.0 MV6 auto, and standard apart from a K & N cone filter.
in the last few weeks it has developed a problem, it keeps cutting out. the car can be driven for a while and nothing will happen, and then the problem will occur a few times.
when approaching a junction or roundabout and releasing the throttle, the revs drop quite low and then the engine stalls.
i checked for leaks around the inlet manifold etc, but nothing. then i wondered about the K & N filter, so i removed the air flow sensor and cleaned it using electrical connection cleaner, refitted it but the problem still occurs.
then he booked it into local vauxhall dealer and they couldnt find a fault, so they suggested the idle speed control valve, that was ordered and fitted, problem still occurs. then the said the crankshaft sensor, that was fitted today and its still cutting out.
so, as you can imagine he is peed off having spent £300 for no reason.
we have swapped the K & N and put the original air box and filter on, took it for a short run and all seems fine, but will find out tomorrow for certain.

so i just thought i'd post on here to see if anybody could give any advice or had similar problems etc....?

any help really appreciated

thanks
ian

Big Col

is the engine management light on?

does your speedo work ok?

UkLegacyT

forgot to mention, the gearbox has been doing something unusual too:

if accelerating hard from a junction then slowing down, as the throttle is released the box will change up from say 2nd to 3rd gear, and it isnt smooth, happens with a bit of a thud that you can feel, could this be related?

thanks

UkLegacyT

hi mate, the engine light flickered momentarily the other day, but nothing else, the problem has happened for say 2 wks.

speedo works fine too

fatscoobyfella

Does the car have a lumpy idle at all?The idle control valve is usually the main cause,but thats been fitted.Were all the relevant air galleries cleaned out to?
There is 1001 things on that car that could cause this fault unfortunately.Lambda's and EGR valve are your next port of call..
Both of these can be faulty and the TECH 2 diag tool which Vauxhall use may not log a fault..
Did Vauxhall do a software update to the ECU when it was in?..this can sometimes iron out the odd glitch..
Speed sensor on the box?

HTH

UkLegacyT

not sure whether they cleaned out the air galleries when replacing the valve, the company which has the vauxhall dealership are known to pay peanuts and so they get the monkeys

the computer didnt show any fault at all when the first checked it, and so they suggested the above valve.
when the car was checked the second time the crankshaft sensor showed as a fault.
as far as i am aware, there was no update done, but will double check and ask him tomorrow.

as you say, so many things it could be due to the car.
going to bed now, am knackered, will post again tomorrow
thanks again.
ian

fatscoobyfella

Sometimes on Tech 2 the crank sensor will come up if the car has stalled..as will the AFM..Really Ian,you need to look at the live data on the Tech 2 while the car is running,you could have the AFM starting to go(is it the Bosch type?Black tube with AFM in the side with 2 tamperproof screws?4 wires?)
If so,these are going wrong pretty frequently too on all the Vauxhalls.Price for them from the dealer has recently fell too,due to the amount sold..

Bit of a minefield the Omega really..and a money pit..

UkLegacyT

thanks for the reply, forgot to mention that the car does have a bit of a lumpy idle now and again and does occasionally stall when its idling.

also, the car will not stall whenever the accelerating, even gently, only stalls when idling or lifting off.

the afm is the type that you describe above. the car is booked in again next wednesday so will have to see how it goes

ps. car was still cutting out today even with the original air box back on, but not as often as before......maybe the K & N has damaged the afm...?

thanks again

UkLegacyT

the revs at idle were up and down quite baldy this morning, and stalled twice while he was driving 20 miles to work.
then on the way home this afternoon, perfectly smooth with no problems

ian

RS Grant

To me, a mechanical novice, it sounds a lot like the symptoms my old '99 Impreza had when the MAF went due to the Induction Kit that was fitted... I would replace this and run with the airbox and see if its any better.


Cheers,
Grant

fatscoobyfella

Just off what your saying,i would guess at the AFM..or the EGR valve sticking..would defo go the AFM route,unfortunately,it will prob cost around £150ish to find out.
Just as a side note,on some Vauxhalls,weve had faulty ECU's that cause the earth to the AFM to have an incorrect signal,this then causes the AFM readings back to the ECU to become confused,and may put up an AFM fault..but it aint always the case.Im just mentioning this because your symptoms are identical,to when this happens..
Good luck.
Just another note..if it goes back in and they cant read fault codes(or it aint got any),ask them to put the car on a 4 gas analyser.If the oxygen content is high and lambda reading is high also(around 1.300 and up),this shows the that EGR could be stuck slightly open.This also gives identical problems to what your having!!

UkLegacyT

thanks again for the replies

the car has been run a few days now with the standard air box, but still no result, still cuts out etc

i have just mentioned the egr valve to my mate, and he said that when he first had the trouble he called out the AA. the first thing they mentioned was this valve, and so the AA fella disconnected it, the car was run and still had same trouble, so it was reconnected.

the car is booked in again for wednesday so i will ask them to try what you say

ian

fatscoobyfella

Disconnecting the EGR will do exactly f**k all!!! it will be manually stuck open,due to carbon,thus allowing unmetered air to pass into the induction,thats why the oxy content and lambda readings go high..
Thats AA men for you tho...!!!couldnt diagnose a flat tyre...

Senior_AP

Idle control valve.

Coil pack.

ECU issue.


Take to Vauxhal, could be nothing expensive.


Has traction control light flickered at all for no reason???

UkLegacyT

thats what i thought, if its stuck then disconnecting a plug aint gonna do anyhting

traction control light hasnt flickered at all.

ian

XK-R

Check the breathers and clean them out.

Common for the leads from the coil to the spark to go to. My mate just had this exact problem on his MY99 MV6 Omega.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

You need to check the gearbox level if its clunking, i dont think the boxes are that smooth when cold anyway (have a 2ltr 16v auto) but am topping the oil up tomorrow, and this one needs a nice run out, but it should be smooth when its warm.

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Another note on the Auto gearbox, having filled mine up today, take note, these take over 8 litres of ATF!! but it feels much better

Tony

NEILCAVEN

have you checked the air intake pipe after the airflow meter? my mate had a prob the same on his astra and turned out the rubber was perrished and sometimes let air in which caused stalling after lifting off. also mate the k&n are not very good on these engines they run better with a good cold air feed to the standard box and an after market panel filter, but they do sound good though. ive got a 3.0 v6 in a vectra gsi that im trying to sell at the moment as i want a scooby.

Pauleds2

He needs to sell it and buy something decent.

UkLegacyT

lol, thats the plan, get it fixed, then get rid! bloody thing is thirsty as hell.

will check the rubber intake hose tomorrow. having swapped back to the original airbox we have noticed that its more responsive, and possibly quicker.

we were in the car this eve, started from cold and was run for about 20 mins or so, then parked up. after idling for a few mins it cut out. restarted it and it wouldnt idle. if revved a little it would run, but as soon as you lift off the throttle it stalled.(sounded a bit lumpy and poss misfire, cat smelt eggy too ) restarted it about 5 times in total, then drove it again, it was a pig, cut out at every junction/corner etc. after a few mins of this we pulled over to go in the shop, didnt have to turn off the engine, did it itself

it was sat for a few mins, then we got back in, started up smooth as anything, and drove perfectly for the next 5 mins home, then idled perfect before he turned it off

stupid cars
ian

fatscoobyfella

Needs to go to men who Know what there doin..needs to see whats happening on live data with Tech 2 when running..Gotta say,its usually the idle contol valve..but if its been fitted i would go for the AFM and clean EGR....

This car will not get better by sitting in it and revving it...

UkLegacyT

lol

going into the vauxhall dealer in the morning, so fingers crossed
will post findings

cheers

Johnny50

Had a similar problem on my old Vectra Sri.

Various problems were found/replaced.

Faulty idle control valve.
Faulty Camshaft Sensor.
Faulty Crankshaft sensor.

fatscoobyfella

I said MEN WHO KNOW WHAT THERE DOIN!!!!!!!!...ha ha..

Good luck mate...Where abouts in the UK are you BTW?

LC Geezer

Crankshaft sensor. I'll bet you £50 it's that. It won't raise a fault code until it's really bad. Common failure point on this car.

UkLegacyT

evening

idle air control valve and crankshaft sensor were the first things replaced a few wks back, but no luck

car went to the dealer wednesday, they cleaned the egr valve and raised the idle base speed they said it was fine when they tried it, and they are clueless to what to replace. took the car away, did the same thing again 10 mins down the road.

i told him to order a new afm, dealer wanted around £250 + vat so i ordered one from bba-reman.co.uk at £150 +vat and are waiting for it to arrive now.

i am on the north wales coast btw

cheers

UkLegacyT

completely forgot to post since the problem was fixed, it was the air flow meter......thankfully

now the passenger door is jammed shut, seems like the dead lock is stuck on

never ending with that car lol

cheers

LC Geezer

Well that's interesting to know. Thanks for updating us with the solution.

XK-R

How much for the MV6 when you sell mate?