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infernal omega....flashing engine warning light, wont start

7K views 53 replies 13 participants last post by  Paul Baldwin 
#1 ·
Hiya,

Over the recent cold snap, the darn thing has been a real pain in the rear to get started....Its all happened really since the battery decided that it would drain following some muppet leaving the boot not closed properly.....Got it jumpstarted, drove it for a good 60 miles last night at 60 plus and for about 70 minutes...

Went to start the darn thing again today, and it fires ok, and sometimes even starts, but it then promptly dies again, with the orange warning light flashing......

Any ideas? Sensor nackered somewhere? Engines the 2.5 v6, it has been super chipped but cant see that being a prob......

Obviously cant do anything with it, need to get it into a garage to get it looked at, once it starts, its fine, but currently the darn orange warning light is flashing and I cant do anythng with it....

Rapidly going off vx cars........

HELP!
 
#2 ·
Sounds like an immobiliser fault to me mate.

We had a 2.0 16v Omega that did the same, it will prob be the chip in the key, the reader at fault or the controll unit.

Vauxhall will diagnose it correctly for you.

Mart.
 
#4 ·
hmmm spose it could be that, just wondering why it fires ok, even starts, gets to about 3k revs, and then nowt again.........same as your patient?

The key opens the door fine remotely........Oh if you have a dead battery on on of these, ya buggered if its deadlocked, its open the boot with the key and CRAWL in through the backseats.....amuses the neighbours anyway..........

Is it worth disconnecting the battery for a while to try and clear any alerts and going from there?

Just being very careful not to kill the battery as once thats dead, you cant get the darn thing out of park very easily?

Any further advise appreciated, including wheres best to place the semtex under one of these darn cars....

Mark
 
#6 ·
naaah wouldnt say give up easily

Take a look at my review on

http://www.carsurvey.org/review_33411.html


You'll see the hassle I've had..........I'm basically preparing the car for sale and could do without this at the mo......

I've seen the flash codes before but this one is differnt, it flashes all the time, last time i saw that, mr cambelt disintegrated the engine......However after last nights jumpstart, it drove fine,....

The imobiliser thing i think sounds a good one? Just wondering though why it started last night?
 
#7 ·
yep immobiliser fault will flash the light once per second (read your owners manual!!)

May be loose connection to the receiver/exciter unit under the steering lock, or at ECU.
 
#8 ·
sounds like a tow job to the dealers then?

Wouldnt know what to look for....

As for the owners manual.........I would if i had it.......

Any more for any more?

Thanks for everyones help, sorry to sound so so peed off, but i think this has just about taken the biscuit.......

Have I just been unlucky with this one? It was main dealer serviced up until the point they told me there was another cambelt fault............which turned out to be a dodgy aircon pump...... I reckon in 4 years this cars cost me at least 8k in bills......
 
#13 ·
Probably immobilizer

Would say Mark CDX is right. Had exactly the same prob with same engine while doing engine swap, ECU light flashing constantly at 1 sec intervals. ECU has locked out and has to be reset on teck2 at Vauxhall. Takes them about 10 mins to plug it all in and reset it.
Would suggest changing battery as our ecu locked out due to low voltage while testing starter, they dont like it! Hope this makes u feel better.
 
#14 ·
to clear the memory of the fault u have too.....

turn the ignition on either 20 or 24 times (cant remember which) this will re set the ecu and hopefuly the immobyliserlingabonga and wehupwehey and hopefuly away lmao

if that dont make sence then dont read the haynes manual :rolleyes:

if it runs up to 3k as u say, then it could be the crank shaft sensor, vaux will fit one but dont expect much change from 200 notes :eek: i had mine done and had the pleasure.... or not as the case may be.

good luck.

gav.
 
#15 ·
hmmm so its a tow job to the dealers then...................I've tried both keys after getting the spare from my mate.....

Its had a new battery and alternator in it recently, basiaclly the whole battery draining thing was due to the boot courtessy light and a boot not being shut properly.......The wierd thing is though, it jumpstarted fine.........twice!

Just need to get it in, get it fixed and then chop it in.....

But finally, thanks to everyone for all their help, its appreciated, I'm afriaid though my vx experience hasnt been a good one.......over the last 4 years, 4 different dealers, in 3 different regions etc etc etc

M
 
#16 ·
okey dokey an update

Done as my erstwhile omega owning friend suggested.......basically inserted the key, turned it to the point just before the notch to start it (assuming thats what you meant?) 24 times, and a few more for good measure......

No joy...,...

I've got the haynes manual (no 3510 copyright 1999) sitting here, I've looked at the part regarding the imobiliser and it just refers you to the dealers......

Any other relevant pages? I've looked again for the semtex placement chapter but cant find it....hmmmmm ;->

M
 
#18 ·
to disconnect it do I use semtex or 20 gallons of fourstar? LOL

Hmmm might try that, just remove -ve from battery and insert key into ignition within 15 seconds to stop alarm going off? But hmmm i wonder if the alarm unit will recognise the key? It still opens and closes the doors.....

M
 
#19 ·
To disconnect the battery (assuming it's the same for the Omega as it is the vectra), turn the ignition to position 2 (dash lights up).
Disconnect -ve from battery.
Remove key, remove battery.

To reconnect, put key back in and turn to pos 2 again.
Reconnect battery. Reprogram remote if necc. Reprogram windows.
 
#20 ·
It probably is, but when they stick an elite badge on it, you start adding zeros and the dealership principle strangely enough orders a amg SL55 on the proceeeds ;->

Will give it a whirl.......In the morning, dont fancy having to try and explain to herts police what I'm doing at 2am in the pitch black with a car alarm going off and me inside the bonnet!

Mark
 
#22 ·
reprogramming remotes and boot lights

Hmm ok, it got left for about 3 days, at least.........DOH.......

I've searched high and low for the manual, got the trusty haines of course but unlike the others i've seen from haynes anything to do with the alarm or imob, they just refer you straight to a dealer (spose it makes sense and stops them getting sued or something).........

On that train of thought, do the keys need reprogramming if the batterys been dead for a while? The daft thing is i got the darn thing started the first time, but then it just wouldnt play ball after that.......This is where ye olde orange light started flashing.....Any ideas how to re-prog? I've chatted to masterfit and they reckon its about 35 quid for them to redo the keys etc.....Can i do this myself or is this dealer type thing? As I said no manual so if ya got any ideas......please share!



Mark
 
#23 ·
As far as I know teck2 is your only option, as I said we had the same symptoms exactly while putting Vectra lump in astra. When the ecu light is flashing permanently it means the ecu is locked out, it thinks someone has tried to steal it and therefore will not start. It wont start even if u put right what went wrong and try to restart with the correct transponder key.
We got lucky and paid the Vauxhall technician four cans of stella for the info and for resetting the ecu.
As far as I know there is no set fee for tech2, it depends on your dealer, we tried all sorts of places before resorting to main dealer but had no other option. Hope this helps.
 
#26 ·
The Perils of recovery insurance with your car ins

Just check they dont limit the number of calls and ya dont get shafted by a call out charge...........even a local firm wants 50 quid plus vat to even get off their backsides.........

Great! so its gonna cost me more to tow it to the garage than i hope it is to fix it!

M
 
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