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2010 Omega 3.0L 'Check Engine' warning.

Devil_n_Disquiz

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Hello,

I am appealing to the collective knowledge and wisdom of the forum :)

Last year we bought a one owner 2010 Omega. Of late we have been getting an intermittent 'Check Engine' fault and also a 'Stability Control' fault. The check engine, however, is more frequent. It would usually come on if we started the engine before the 'status check' was completed. I'm not aware if its a bad thing to start the car before the status check is done??

Usually if we stop the car and restart then the check engine goes away. However, on a recent trip to NZ the check engine came on in Sydney at the motel and wouldn't go away. Even coming down from the room at various stages of the night and starting the car the warning was still there. Come back from NZ after 5 days and its STILL there. Stopped in at airport Maccas, come back out and start the car and the warning goes away.

Occasionally whilst stopped at lights the car will 'feel' like it drops a cylinder and the car sets up a real wobble, but after 10 seconds or so seems to right itself. Sometimes we will know if the check engine is about to come on as the car starts funny and wobbles around when starting from cold.

The car is out of warranty at the end of the month and has been into Holden to find the fault. They can't seem to find anything wrong with it. No codes in the system. They suggested we bring it in when the check engine comes on. Problem is that by the time we get it to Holden it seems to have sorted itself out. They did have a suggestion not to run E10 but to only use 95 or 98. We hadn't been running E10 anyway and was usually running 91. We don't know what the previous owner used though. Quite possibly he ran E10 always..I just dunno.

I am hoping that this version of events is ringing a bell with someone that has had a similar problem and got it sorted. What should we be looking for? Is there anything I can suggest to the Holden techs to be having a closer look at? The car has just gone 75000k

Much appreciate any assistance.

Cheers

Rod
 
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bandit10

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i would try a different dealer, if the engine warning light has come on it should of stored a fault code in the memory.
Its always the way, get the car to the dealer and its miraculously fixed its self just long enough to make you look silly..

I wonder if its dropping a cylinder from a faulty coil pack, do the V6 has individual coils like the V8's do?
My wifes old VX super6 started doing what you described, shuddering and engine light at start, that turned out to be a faulty coil pack.
 

MYVESSV8

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how old is the battery? had similar on mine and I have seen a few reports on here of the same, replaced battery all good, if there was a fault up it should log (f__k holden and use different fuel- this seems to be their response lately to alot of things, shouldn't be though as there are some good techs around) this use to happen mainly on start and right itself within secs but odd occasion a minute or two have the battery load tested/checked
 

Shorty33

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I have a 2010 3.0 L Omega sedan, with 145k on the odo. I only use 91 ULP in it. I drive it daily, and have driven Darin to Melbourne and return four times. I am very happy with it.

The only time that my 'Check Engine' lit up, was when I was waiting for a service (had to book a fortnight in advance) and the oil level got abut 1mm below he lower indicator on the dipstick. I added 500ml of oil and the 'Check Engine' disappeared.

I suggest that if your oil and coolant are OK, you take your car to a different dealer.
 

Devil_n_Disquiz

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Tomorrow it goes in for them to take a look at.

Kinda a little annoyed at the attitude I got on the phone though. For some reason the fault doesn't log so they can't check what it was and they can only see what it is if it does it while they have it. You know what cars are like...they never misbehave in the service shop :)
But the line the service tech threw out that "there is not much we can do" annoyed me. There is even less I can do and they are supposed to be the Holden gurus. Anyhoo..see what tomorrow brings. Thanks for the replies. I'll give them those ideas to look at.
 

RiCeY

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Reality is if it isnt faulting for them and there's no codes what are they supposed to do?
 

Devil_n_Disquiz

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No idea. But reality also is that if its faulting, something is wrong. I'm not qualified to find out what it is. Thus I take it to someone who is qualified and has more of an idea. Reality would also suggest that if our car is intermittently faulting then there have been other cars that have also done the same thing. WHat did they do for those cars? Can't the check similar on mine? Reality is that the car runs out of warranty at the end of this month. I'd rather get it sorted while it is still under warranty.

They said they rely on computers to tell them whats wrong. Fair enough. But what happened to good old fashioned mechanical detective work? Computer won't tell them so why not go looking.
 

Phantom

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Mate as long as you have reported an issue during warranty period, and if it is not fixed during warranty period, then even after warranty runs out, Holden are still obliged to fix it even if it is out of warranty. I understand it is hard for stealerships to fix faults, even if they are staring them in the face, but make sure you have told them about the issue and that they write it down on the report so you have it in writting. You are taking it in to them to sort out this issue, so you need to get them to write it down on their report. In my experiences with Holden, unless it is a straight forward fault, you will have troubles with Holden sorting it out. They will tell you, drive it for a while and if it happens again, bring it back. As if we have time to keep visiting them, Holden still do not get this. An example, my SV6 series 2 VE sportwagon brake master cylinder cap, leaks brake fluid, they have replaced the cap 4 times now, still leaks, checked a few other cars in the lot, 7 of 9 cars leaking brake fluid, so I got sick of them not solving the issue, so I modified the cap seal and guess what, no more fluid leaks, they then asked ME what did I do, I just laughed and told them, I charge 150 dollars per hour for my consultative services, then the service advisors just stared blankly at me, obviously I did not tell them, fark em, Holden should know how to fix their products. Anyways, get it in writting, so they can not screw you over any more and you can get your car fixed under warranty
 

RiCeY

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No idea. But reality also is that if its faulting, something is wrong. I'm not qualified to find out what it is. Thus I take it to someone who is qualified and has more of an idea. Reality would also suggest that if our car is intermittently faulting then there have been other cars that have also done the same thing. WHat did they do for those cars? Can't the check similar on mine? Reality is that the car runs out of warranty at the end of this month. I'd rather get it sorted while it is still under warranty.

They said they rely on computers to tell them whats wrong. Fair enough. But what happened to good old fashioned mechanical detective work? Computer won't tell them so why not go looking.

Your issue is not common therefore there is no history to go by from other vehicles.

Warranty isnt an issue, it remains covered beyond warranty as it was reported within warranty.

Computer does not tell us what's wrong, it simply provides clues. Detective work is required more in modern vehicles than it was in days gone by. They are very complex systems. This being the case you cant just "go looking" when you have no clues aka DTCs or symptoms to go by. While the vehicle is not faulting there's no point doing circuit testing as everything is working correctly. All you can do are basic checks. To check every single circuit related to a check engine light would take days and Holden wont reimburse the dealership for doing so if no fault is found. Dealers have limited time to do diagnostics when there are no codes or symptoms at the time of testing.

The reality is that dealers are businesses that need to make money to survive. If Holden would pay them to spend hours on your car they would happily do it. They wont, so they dont.
 

monkeys437

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Your issue is not common therefore there is no history to go by from other vehicles.

Warranty isnt an issue, it remains covered beyond warranty as it was reported within warranty.

Computer does not tell us what's wrong, it simply provides clues. Detective work is required more in modern vehicles than it was in days gone by. They are very complex systems. This being the case you cant just "go looking" when you have no clues aka DTCs or symptoms to go by. While the vehicle is not faulting there's no point doing circuit testing as everything is working correctly. All you can do are basic checks. To check every single circuit related to a check engine light would take days and Holden wont reimburse the dealership for doing so if no fault is found. Dealers have limited time to do diagnostics when there are no codes or symptoms at the time of testing.

The reality is that dealers are businesses that need to make money to survive. If Holden would pay them to spend hours on your car they would happily do it. They wont, so they dont.

You would expect a more constructive response from the dealers though, something more than bad luck, and cry me a river.

Obviously they may not have an immediate answer for the fault, but being the experts on the car surely they are in the best position to help resolve it.
 
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