Hi all.

Having read many forums i thought it was time to join one, especially as im having problems with the wifes omega.  Its a v reg 2.0 GLS automatic.  I dont drive myself and as such have little experience in car maintenance, but now find myself trying to learn quickly.

I think the car was owned by a rep as it has 74000 on the clock, and only one  previous owner.  Shortly after buying it, the car started to stall at idle or when changing gear.  The problem was sporadic and so we decided a service might help.  With the brother in laws help we set out to do this and found the first problem...in where the spark plugs go was full of oil!!! After a bit of sucking we cleared this and replaced the plugs, leads, oil filter and oil.  We also found that the smaller hose coming off the top of the engine (you'll have to excuse the technical terms, as mentioned im new to this!) was blocked and pretty much rotton, so we replaced this.  We also put some fuel system cleaner through.  
The car seemed to run better for a week or two and then the stalling started to happen again.  I checked to see if the oil was back but all was clear on that front, and after monitoring the problem and viewing this and other forums i came to the conclusion that the icv needed replacing.  With the help of Haynes, i managed this job, and again all was fine for about two weeks.

The problem is now back, but slightly different so im not sure what the cause is.  The car still stalls but it seems to be mainly under braking at low speeds or heavily, and when changing gear.  In addition the revs are all over the place at idle.  in neutral they get up to 2000 and then drop to 900-1200 in drive. the car also lurches when changing between the two.  Also the kickdown doesnt always work.

One final thing, the handbrake light was flickering when accelerating, i was going to replace the brake fluid completely but the wife took it to quickfit to check the pads and they topped it up when she said not to!! theres now three different fluids in there!!!!  the light has stopped flickering though.

My limited knowledge doesnt help me much, but i thought maybe the automatic transmision fluid might be the problem, as the car is fine at speed and cruising.  Alternativley that the icv was getting fried by a high voltage.  i know we should stick it on a machine but all my local dealers want to charge 60 quid minimum and hint at several hundred, and i gather they still wont be able to help!

If anyone could help i would be ever grateful, and if anyone needs any more info please ask.  If you do reply, please try not to get to techi as i probably wont understand.  I would like to fix the car as we both think its great, but we are now getting frustrated as it seems that this could be a saga as long as this posting!!!

PS. to anyone with a dodgy icv i would advise replacing it yourself, as it is quite simple and cost me £75 as opposed to £250 to get it done by vauxhall.

PPS. i have reposted this on the general omega questions section of the site now.

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

forgot to say have replaced the air filter, and checked the main pipe and hoses coming off and all seemed to be intact when i serviced it.
as for the egr is it better to just replace that or is cleaning it ok, and then refit with a new gasket?

Hi & welcome

Hi and welcome

hello.  i'm new to.  my first post.

stalling on idle or when changing gear, common on the 2l ecotec ( used on Vectras as well).  usually is a sticking idle valve, which need a ggod clean, and cleaning around that area.  just replacing the valve only works for a couple of months.  some people fit a flame trap to the adjacent vent pipe from the crankcase though that has been done to mine and it still gets sticky.

3 kinds of brake fluid doesn't sound a good idea.

david

Welcome to the forum Garfield. 

Hello and welcome to the site

Hi Garfield and welcome to the forum