if you wanna keep your catera change your oil cooler now. i just did my first oil cooler in a 2000 catera and it was justso easy to do then changing the engine in one i did last week because the oil cooler failed. also why is this not recalled. this part fails on all of them, they have redesigned them so they know there is a problem. if i wanted to keep the catera running spend the 225 dollars and change that thing before its too late, or better yet dont and ill keep buying these nice cars for a 1000 dollars or less

every how long do you have to get it change it? do you know?

never changed mine once on my 98 and it died of tranny failure at 106k..but i agree if your keeping the car, change it, and your coolant often...

once you change it your good, the new ones are so heavy duty compared to the factory

. . . . also why is this not recalled. this part fails on all of them, they have redesigned them so they know there is a problem . . . . . . .

You make an outstanding point!

I doubt any of us know or understand the inner workings of Cadillac sufficiently well to answer you. But it was decisions like this, these failures to respond properly to Cat design weaknesses, that wrote the epitaph for the mighty Cat.

If the manifestly overpaid execs at GM and at Cadillac had invested half the effort toward FIXING Catera that they did toward running from the problems, there would not be the Ca-tarnish on Cadillac which endures even to this day.

The Cat is one sweet car and was NOT that far away from being a bell ringing winner for Caddy. Their brain-dead leadership stole defeat from the jaws of Catera victory.

but as what i understand isnt the catera motor also in the early year cts.

but as what i understand isnt the catera motor also in the early year cts.

My CTS knowledge is SCANT. However, I think they bored out and fixed the Cat engine before using it in the CTS.

Is that right, guys?? :confused:

They told us we were welcome to the engine we deserved. All we had to do was buy an ugly new CTS.:want:

I hate the looks of the CTS. It's sort of a "Bizzaro" Catera.

Or maybe you could call it a Catera "Hulk".:eek:

Regardless what you call it, I'm NOT a fan.

If the manifestly overpaid execs at GM and at Cadillac had invested half the effort toward FIXING Catera that they did toward running from the problems, there would not be the Ca-tarnish on Cadillac which endures even to this day.I think it may have been more of a problem of parent-partnership car manufacturer... since Opel really made the car, maybe GM just didn't want to spend their own $$ to fix another manufacturers' issues...

Odd thing is the Cat's tend or seem to have more issues than the Opel Omega series..?!? Maybe the rebranding was also a neat way for Opel to get rid of less than stellar editions of the Omega.

I recenlty heard a senior GM exec, talk about the current biggest selling Opel in Europe (I think it's the Corsa)... during the interview someone asked him: when will GM start importing the car for the North American market he said flat out... never. That's not what GM clients want... Then again, the reporter said: then don't question why Toyota (Yaris) Nissan Versa etc, are selling so well... and GM's market shares keep falling. LOL

Opel is sending cars over here....well, sorta. All new Saturns are based on Opels. The new Aura is the Opel Vectra and the upcoming Vue will be based on the Opel Antara. They are doing what they did with the L series, making Opels in America because it's too expensive to make them overseas and import them here with the weak dollar. Unfortunately, quality sometimes suffers and corners are cut when making cars here so I probably won't be shopping at a Saturn dealership anytime soon.

I'm glad my Cat was made in Germany and is a true Opel... too bad they had some bad design flaws... most of which center around the British made engine. Gotta love that British quality!

Jeff

I'm glad my Cat was made in Germany and is a true Opel... Agreed, same here... the real reason I ended buying my Cat...

Are you talking abouth the , "heat exchanger," that is mentioned and pictured in the Catera Coolant Leak Sticky by ewil3rd?

if you wanna keep your catera change your oil cooler now. i just did my first oil cooler in a 2000 catera and it was justso easy to do then changing the engine in one i did last week because the oil cooler failed. also why is this not recalled. this part fails on all of them, they have redesigned them so they know there is a problem. if i wanted to keep the catera running spend the 225 dollars and change that thing before its too late, or better yet dont and ill keep buying these nice cars for a 1000 dollars or less

if i do this, i wanna be sure i get the right part.

yes heat exchanger, oil cooler whatever you wanna call it

yes heat exchanger, oil cooler whatever you wanna call it

how about that part# for the updated stuff?!

all the coolers you buy now are the updated ones

Hey Contourbs or Guardian, what did guys pay for the oil cooler and where did you guys purchase them from?

there around 220 at the dealer but i get employee price. it you buy it off ebay its the same price

Thanks

Hey Contourbs or Guardian, what did guys pay for the oil cooler and where did you guys purchase them from?

Just saw your post.

I've not had to buy one of these. But the eBay route works for me if you want to stay domestic.

Otherwise, I might seek out European opportunities. Sometimes stuff can be cheaper over there, though with the dollar being as weak as it is I don't know..

Also, do not fail to consider the various Euro-eBay sites. You never know, they might be willing to ship to the USA. And they don't ALWAYS cross-list because they don't think of us as their #1 market and it costs money to cross-list.

Ok, just would like to clarify, because there's a major confusion between some of the guys in the thread- one of them is talking about transmission problem, thus the transmission oil cooler. The other one is the heat exchanger(as caterashaker mentioned) which is also called the oil cooler, but the engine oil cooler and it's replacement is NOT so easy, because it's located in the "valley" between both engine heads and you have to take the whole intake and vacuum hoses and so on to get to it. That's the one that I will be changing some time soon, because I have engine oil in my coolant. I would like to know if you are talking about that one and if yes, I've been trying to buy the whole kit and change the thing, but every time I try to get the part and go online or ask on the phone everybody thinks I'm talking about the transmission oil cooler or some other kind of external cooler, which makes it very hard to find unless you have the right Part # (thus my final point, what is the freaking part #:-):cool2: Thanks!

Ok, just would like to clarify, because there's a major confusion between some of the guys in the thread- one of them is talking about transmission problem, thus the transmission oil cooler. The other one is the heat exchanger(as caterashaker mentioned) which is also called the oil cooler, but the engine oil cooler and it's replacement is NOT so easy, because it's located in the "valley" between both engine heads and you have to take the whole intake and vacuum hoses and so on to get to it. That's the one that I will be changing some time soon, because I have engine oil in my coolant. I would like to know if you are talking about that one and if yes, I've been trying to buy the whole kit and change the thing, but every time I try to get the part and go online or ask on the phone everybody thinks I'm talking about the transmission oil cooler or some other kind of external cooler, which makes it very hard to find unless you have the right Part # (thus my final point, what is the freaking part #:-):cool2: Thanks!

Sorry do not have P/N but, yes, I was writing about the heat exchanger in the valley of the engine. It cools the engine oil.

Do not know much about Cat transmission oil cooler. It does not fail anything like as frequently as the Cat heat exchanger IMO. You do not see many complaints about Cat transmission oil coolers.

Cat heat exchangers should have been the target of a recall IMO. It never happened. But you hear about a lot of heat exchanger failures.

goto ebay and type catera oil cooler. thats what you need. its a very easy job to do

took me about 2 hours to change the cooler and radiator

Hmmm, easy job to do- say 2 hours, I hope so:-) I'll be using this thread:
http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/showthread.php?t=63566
pretty helpful, has pictures too, but by looking at it and by the comments of the other guys , everybody says its an all day job(with the occasional beer and wings break of course) and that's considering I have some experience(which I do, but not with cateras). We'll see- I haven't looked into it that seriously, once I started getting oil in the water I stopped driving tha catera and drove my other car, but now I'm starting to miss it:bigroll: .
Besides the oil in the water it has a pretty big coolant leak behind the engine, but only when you turn off the car- weird, but I guess I'll look into it all at once. By the way, everybody is compaining about the oil cooler, it's design and location and so on and that's fine, but has anybody really thought about the actual purpose- I think it's not mainly to cool the oil "that much", but as to provide for some kind of an "outlet" in case the car overheats and not mess up your headgasket- I haven't heard of a lot of catera head gasket problems, only oil cooler problems, right? Anyway, I'll stop blubbering, but thanks.
p.s.: Rockauto.com has the oil cooler kit for $60 but they can't find it unless I have the original part #- somebody else told me they bought it form them:-) :bouncy:

oil cooler is dealer item only, your gonna need a heater control valve to the way you said the coolant leaks when you turn the car off. where do you live?

Yea, I was thinking that too, might as well change the HCV while in there. Still having some doubts if I wanna do the job anyway or just sell the car cheap($1300- 1400 bucks), but the engine sounds really good and if fixed, it could be a nice 2nd car. Thanks contourbs! (for the radiator tip as well, although I did check that and I didn't see anything, will check again when I get back home).

where do you live? or anybody looking for catera work im in southwest florida

I'm in Atlanta, georgia- just above you:-)(well, about 1000 miles probably if you are down south florida.

im in fort myers florida, yeah if you wanna get the job done down here let me know and save some money then going to the dealer. i get employee prices at the dealer

well, one problem- how would I get the car down there, since the temperature goes to the red once I drive it for about 30, 40 miles and if I don't stop afterwards I'm sure it'll overheat- especially with the HCV needing to be replaced as well as the thermostat, although it opens after it heats up- you can see the t gauge going down while idling, but then it goes back up when I drive the car. I'm sure the oil in the cooling system also doesn't help it cool down.

yeah you need to drain the radiator and refill it with water because the radiator is now filled with oil and everytime i do a oil cooler the radiator needs replacing also because it cracks on the upper hose plastic side

Hey tmkktm, did you change your oil cooler yet? If so, was it difficult and how long did it take you?

On an Omega, its takes me 3 hours.....interestingly, we see these fail quite rarely, maybe you guys use a different antifreeze/coolant change schedule to us (it must be changed every 2 years for a 0:50 antifreeze mix or the cooler can corrode).

The actual part was updated in design in appox 1995 to a stainless steel one, it would then appear to have been changed again to a heavier pattern item in approx 1998.

As for design....note, these power plants are assembled in the UK (Liverpool - Ellsmere Port) but, not designed there, the design is german and the failure is a design fault!

I seem to think we have a maintenance guide for this (plus many oterh useful bits) on our Vaux Omega site at

www.omegaowners.com

what do these coolers cost over there?

Ok, I took it apart- contourbs was right- it took me just about 2-3 hours to get to it, but mostly because I didn't have the right sockets- I needed a 24 and a 30, which I had to buy, otherwise it would've been faster. I will post some pictures- the thing looks nasty!!! Strange thing was though, when I drained the water from the radiator, it didn't have any oil in it- up to the thermostat, no oil in water; after cooler- everything messy. So I think the radiator would be fine, the thermostat probably could be changed(although not sure how to take it out!!!- took the 2 bolts out and pulled, but nothing!). The HCV seems fine, because the water leak I was talking about was from a different hose, the one that goes to the top of the intake and splits- I'll show that in the pictures as well. So I think that hose was messed up because of the oil, instead of it messing up the plastic upper part on the radiator, which contourbs mentioned, which is actually better. Current problems:-)-1st don't know which would be the best way to clean the system and what should I use to clean it and 2nd I so wish the damn part was cheaper- so don't want to spend $200 even $150 bucks on it- for m... sake a transmission costs $200- so expensive for a tiny radiator!!! I'll post the pictures once I donwload them. :thepan:

just put water in the car and drain it every gas fill up

If you catch it early then the rad will be fine.

One method we use for flushing the mayo from the coolant system is to run the car for 20 or so miles with a cup full of water soluable de-greaser in it.

Then flush through with water well a few times and all shoudl be good.

As an additional pointer, dont bend the oil pipes that feed the cooler, it makes the re-fit pretty tough, its much easier to remove the oil filter/housing and using a 19mm crows foot spanner, remove the pipes from the block. If you do bend the pipes it can result in oil leaks from the block end because moving and flexing these joints loosens them plus they are a swine to re-fit.

I pay approx £80 inc tax (about $150 which includes the 17.5% Tax) for the cooler which includes a new plate, 2 bolts and 2 rubber seals plus another £7 ($13) for the grey sealent (works brilliantly on the stat to block joint, much better than the original seal), £4 ($7) for the 4 coolant bridge doughty seals and £2 ($3.5) for the 4 metal oil pipe to cooler washers.

I note somebody asked about stat removal, to do this you need to pull the bridge pipe out before unbolting the stat. This pipe is held be a single torx bolt on the 2-4-6 head near the power steering reservoir. It can be a swine to remove (its actualy easier to use a 10mm open ended spanner, we refer to it as the b-stard bolt!). Then pull the bridge pipe out (wiggle it whilst applying some elverage). Now the stat can be removed, when re-fitting apply some grease to the rubber seals on the end of the bridge pipe to aid re-fitting.

just put water in the car and drain it every gas fill up

Not ideal as you are likely to get 300+miles per tank and the lack of antifreeze means there will be no corrosion inhibitors in the system.

These units need a 50:50 antifreze mix changed idealy every 2 years.....if you do this you will not get oil cooler failure in the first place.

so how much could i get the oil cooler kit and the 4 rubber coolant bridge washers for

Here is the man to ask.....shows $142 (inc UK tax).

Vaux Parts - Oil Cooler (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200059249228&ru=http://search.ebay.com:80/200059249228_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8QQsubmitsearchZSear ch_W0QQfviZ1)

He can get the washers and sealent to.....

Dont forget that you also need the 4 washers for the oil cooler pipe to oil cooler joints

wow thats a great price compared to here

Contourbs, the current exchange rate from American Greenbacks to Her Majesty's pound is well, let's put it this way, one pound would cost about $1.39 American or so. Parts people get us all over the globe. It's still about 200 bucks. I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and buy one tomorrow. I'll have to take some of my Christmas cash and spend it on the CAT. I'll let you all know how much it cost. P.S. If i'm wrong on the exchange rate, please, someone jump in and correct me...thanks.

Contourbs, the current exchange rate from American Greenbacks to Her Majesty's pound is well, let's put it this way, one pound would cost about $1.39 American or so. Parts people get us all over the globe. It's still about 200 bucks. I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and buy one tomorrow. I'll have to take some of my Christmas cash and spend it on the CAT. I'll let you all know how much it cost. P.S. If i'm wrong on the exchange rate, please, someone jump in and correct me...thanks.

Try $1.9 per British pound....the dollar is an a bad way at the moment....!

Ouch!!!

It's still only $142 for brand new, which is pretty good. I tried to win one on E-bay the other day, but somebody bid $180 for it. Sorry about the pictures, I'll post them as soon as I can, I've been so bisy with work right before the holidays! I found one used oil cooler from a wrecked 2000 Catera- $95 and was told it was in a good condition- the car had only 6,000 miles on it when it was hit in the rear. I think I'm going to buy it. What do you guys think?

never ever put a used one it you would just be asking for trouble. if anyone needs i have a new updated cooler and coolant bridge kit for sale

never ever put a used one it you would just be asking for trouble. if anyone needs i have a new updated cooler and coolant bridge kit for sale

How much?

How much?

How much?

make me an offer the oil cooler was 220 and the coolant bridge kit was 178 so make me an offer. it was for a side job and the guy didnt have enough money so im stuck with these parts i dont need at the mment

The guy in the ebay add will ship to the states........and that is a buy it now price.

Re-using oil coolers is difficult as the threads that the nuts screw onto to fix them to the cooling plate sometimes strip (they are a very fine thread).

The guy in the ebay add will ship to the states........and that is a buy it now price.

Re-using oil coolers is difficult as the threads that the nuts screw onto to fix them to the cooling plate sometimes strip (they are a very fine thread).
Yea, already talked to them- will ship for $30- so that's even cheaper than the guy that beat me on E-bay the other day:-) By the way- wasn't that you contourbs that was bidding on it? I checked the prices in Germany as well- they are about the same. So good,it's nice to have many options. I'm so tired of work- 2 more hours til the weekend and 'll be finally able to fix the car.

Contourbs, did you sell your cooler and bridge yet?

no not yet a couple of people are wanting it thou but i havent seen any money yet

How much do youneed for the oil cooler? I don't need the crossover pipe kit.

paid 220 would like to get close to that if not ill keep it

anyone need the cooler?

Hey guys, sorry I took so long, but the holidays are finally over:-) HAPPY NEW YEAR!:-) Anyway- here's the link with my oil cooler repair photos finally.
http://www.rangertrucks.com/oilcooler.html
I ordered the oil cooler and guess what they sent me- the transmission cooler!!! Even after I told the guy 50 times specifically, it's NOT the transmission cooler, it's located between the heads, under the intake, it's very small and described him the part in details. Anyway, I'm guess I'll just order the one from UK- the total for that one is $170 with shipping. Hey contourbs, I know you paid $220 for yours, but that one is the cheapest one so far, I guess you'd want to keep yours for $160, right? let me know. thanks