Vehicle

Opel Omega

Opel's rear-drive executive car, sold as the Vauxhall Omega and, in North America, the Cadillac Catera, and closely related to the Australian Holden Commodore of the period — all useful search terms when parts prove scarce. The Omega B is the one still met, and its recurring faults are electrical and thermal rather than mechanical: the ignition module and crank sensor on the X-series engines cause intermittent no-starts that clear on cooling, the plastic thermostat housing and water pump fail together, and the ABS and traction control units suffer dry-joint failures on their internal boards. The 2.5 BMW-sourced diesel in later cars is a genuine BMW M51 unit, so BMW information applies to it and Opel's does not.

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Opel Omega — Charles from Port Chester, New York · CC0 (external)

Generations

Omega A 1986–1994

Rear-drive, cam-in-head engines, and sold in Britain as the **Vauxhall Carlton** — the name to search when parts are scarce. The range tops out in two directions that share no parts with the rest of it: the Irmscher `C36NE` and `C40SE`, and the **Lotus Omega**, whose `C36GET` is a twin-turbocharged 3.6 with its own cooling, driveline and gearbox.
Body styles

Sedan · Estate

Platform

GM V-body
Engines
1.8 — 18NV · petrol

1.8 — 18SV · petrol

1.8i — 18SEH · petrol

2.0 — C20NEJ · petrol

2.0 — C20NEF · petrol

2.0 — C20NE · petrol · 85 kW (114 hp) · 170 Nm (125 lb-ft)

2.0 — 20SE · petrol · 90 kW (121 hp) · 175 Nm (129 lb-ft)

2.4 — C24NE · petrol · 92 kW (123 hp) · 195 Nm (144 lb-ft)

2.6 — C26NE · petrol · 110 kW (148 hp) · 220 Nm (162 lb-ft)

3.0 12v — C30NE · petrol · Omega 3000

3.0 24v — C30SE · petrol · 150 kW (201 hp) · 270 Nm (199 lb-ft) · Omega 3000 24V

3.0 24v — C30XEI · petrol · Irmscher, Omega Evolution 500

3.6 — C36NE · petrol · Irmscher

3.6 turbo — C36GET · petrol · Lotus Omega, twin-turbocharged

4.0 — C40SE · petrol · Irmscher

2.3 diesel — 23YD · diesel

2.3 turbo diesel — 23YDT · diesel

2.3 turbo diesel — 23DTR · diesel · from 1988
Transmissions

5-speed Getrag manual · 4-speed automatic

Drivetrain

Rear-wheel drive
Omega B 1994–2003

Rear-drive executive car; hot-restart faults from the ignition module and crank sensor are the classic complaint. The diesels are all BMW — the `M51` six to 2000 and the common-rail `M57` after it — so BMW service data describes them and no Opel data does.
Body styles

Sedan · Estate

Platform

GM V-body
Engines
2.0 — X20SE · petrol · 85 kW (114 hp) · 178 Nm (131 lb-ft)

2.0 16v — X20XEV · petrol · 100 kW (134 hp) · 185 Nm (136 lb-ft)

2.2 16v — Y22XE · petrol · 106 kW (142 hp) · 205 Nm (151 lb-ft)

2.2 16v — Z22XE · petrol · 106 kW (142 hp) · 205 Nm (151 lb-ft) · from 2000

2.5 V6 — X25XE · petrol · 125 kW (168 hp) · 227 Nm (167 lb-ft)

2.6 V6 — Y26SE · petrol · 132 kW (177 hp) · 240 Nm (177 lb-ft)

3.0 V6 — X30XE · petrol · 149 kW (200 hp) · 270 Nm (199 lb-ft)

3.2 V6 — Y32SE · petrol · 160 kW (215 hp) · 290 Nm (214 lb-ft)

2.0 diesel — X20DTH · diesel · 74 kW (99 hp) · 205 Nm (151 lb-ft)

2.2 DTI — Y22DTH · diesel · 88 kW (118 hp) · 280 Nm (207 lb-ft)

2.5 TD — U25TD · diesel · 96 kW (129 hp) · 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) · BMW M51 D25, X25DT from 1996

2.5 straight-six — Y25DT · diesel · 110 kW (148 hp) · 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) · BMW M57
Transmissions

5-speed manual · 6-speed manual · 4-speed automatic · 5-speed automatic

Drivetrain

Rear-wheel drive

Information, not instruction

CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.

Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

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