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Oldsmobile Alero
3012 messages, Last post on May 28, 2012 at 5:28 AM
You are in the Oldsmobile Alero Forum.What is this discussion about? Oldsmobile Alero, Sedan
#2361 of 3012 Oldsmobile Alero 2001 GX by surenvis
Mar 01, 2004 (5:52 pm)
I bought a 2001 Alero in December 2003. Since ownership, I've always had problems with the brakes. Is this common? My previous car was a Toyota Carina in the UK. Every year, the car had a service (Inspection) and that was all that was needed. I just had to pump petrol (Gas) and check the tire pressure. No oil changes or anything (just once a year). Do cars in the USA need a lot more maintenance?
#2362 of 3012 Update by drivehard1
Mar 03, 2004 (12:25 am)
I haven't wrote in a while, My 2001 Olds Alero just turned 92,000 miles today. I was having no problems up untill a few weeks ago. I got my recall about the hazard switch, I guess i wasn't the only one with that problem. Then my Service Engine Soon light appeared, it ended up being a engine knock sensor, and the relay for the HVAC fan had to be replaced. The fan only worked on speeds 3-5, not notches one and two. I also took my car to the dealer for the intake gasket leak, and all they did was tighten the intake gasket bolts, they didn't put new seals in, so far so good, we'll see how it holds up, it sure was cheaper than replacing the gaskets. I also had the drive belt replaced, otherwise I am debating the fate of this car, anyone have higher mileage, problems ???#2364 of 3012 Re: Update by mikey00
Mar 04, 2004 (7:55 am)
Glad to hear you made it to 92k with relativly few problems. My 2000 has 47k on it and I am still very pleased with it. Only 2 real problems. Brake rotors warped at 13k and were replaced on warranty. They were warping again at 30k and I had them turned down and the pads replaced. Then they warped again at 40k and replaced by my local guy at my cost. My blower motor resistor board went on speeds 1&2 same as yours. It only cost $17 for a replacement and I put it in myself.What symptoms did you have indicating a intake gasket problem? Was it the usual coolant leak? I know this is a problem I will see sooner or later. It would be great if I could just get away with a tighten up as you did.
All in all I still think the Alero is one of the best cars I have owned.
#2365 of 3012 RE: Stuff by jtrujillo86
Mar 04, 2004 (9:24 pm)
Hey fellas - I haven't talked here in a while. There is a new forum that I and others from here are involved in. But, have no fear, Jeremy is here. Just kidding.To Drivehard: After 92,000 miles and only those few repairs, I would say that you have found a fine automobile. As for the drive belt, I would say you got your monies worth on that bad boy. Most of them need replacing at 50-60K miles. Honestly, once again, I believe you have a great car there. Keep up with the maintenance and she shouldn't cause too many problems for you.
As for those crappy rotors, I would definitely go non-GM if you haven't done so already. At 30K miles I'm beginning to feel a SLIGHT pulsation in the brakes when I slow. I think that I will go to either slotted or cross-drilled rotors. I saw a set of the slotted rotors on a 2001 Grand Am GT1 and they looked sweet. The Grand Am was silver as well, so I hope that if I shell out $50 per rotor, they will look equally as well on my baby.
As for my car, I'm making a trip back to the dealer tomorrow. So far I have had little trim annoyances that I wanted fixed before the warranty runs out. Anyway, my trip tomorrow is to replace the right rear exterior door handle...AGAIN. It was working fine for a month or so, then yesterday I went to clean my car out, and the door handle just flat out didn't work. I tried and tried but nothing happened. I found a TSB out for the door handles, but the stealership informed me that it didn't appear to affect my vehicle. Oh well - we'll see after tomorrow.
As for my radio, they ended up replacing it with a remanufactured one. That really peeved me, but I figured they would since that's what it stated in my warranty booklet. The new one hasn't cut out on me at all, but the buttons take a little harder push than the other radio took.
The dealer suggested to me a while back that I have the transmission fluid flushed as well as replace the filter, and have the plugs cleaned and re-gaped at 30K miles. The manual says that there is no need to change the tranny fluid or filter until 50K miles, but I would like to play it safe. I think that I will purchase the filter from GM but have Aamco do the flush since that's cheaper. As for the the plugs, I just purchased Bosch Platinum +4 plugs. Instead of cleaning and re-gaping the other plugs, I'll just have them replaced with the Bosch's. Hopefully I'll see an increase in MPG as well as new "peppiness".
Everything so far is going well with the Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W-30 oil. It looks much, much cleaner than with the dyno oil that was in it, even when the dyno oil had just been put in. I think it's a keeper!
Well, I guess that's the end of me for now. I'll let you know what happens, if anything, with the door handle.
Jeremy
#2366 of 3012 Vote now! by pat
Mar 05, 2004 (9:47 am)
Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles for 2004 Survey is posted and ready for your input!#2367 of 3012 Plastic button on gear-shift handle by rdeschene
Mar 31, 2004 (10:12 am)
Well, it's happened again. The plastic button on our gear-shift handle broke off. Same thing happened two and a half years ago . . . except that then, it was covered under warranty. This time, we'll have to cover the cost of replacing the part. The expense is not astronomical, but still. We keep our car parked in the garage most of the time, so it's not constantly exposed to direct sunlight (which can weaken plastic). Seems to me this indicates it's a defective part and/or flawed design.#2368 of 3012 No Problems? by coalcracker1
Mar 31, 2004 (10:44 am)
I assume the lack of activity here is due to no problems with the Alero. I have 23,000+ miles on 2000 Alero and still have no problems. Still love the car.#2369 of 3012 Re: No Problems? by mikey00
Mar 31, 2004 (6:45 pm)
I just hit 47K on my 2000 and couldn't be happier.#2370 of 3012 Problems, Coil, Tires, brakes by rose_jw
Apr 01, 2004 (8:52 am)
I have a 1999 Oldsmobile Alero GLS, I recently discovered that I broke a Front Coil Spring after I blew 1 tire and almost my spare as well. Then it was brought to my attention that my Front Brake Rotors and Pads were completely worn after 23,000 miles, I bought it with 34,800 and they replaced the rotors and pads then. When I brought it in with a broken coil the mechanics looked at me like they have never seen it before, anyone know how I could have done that, anyone else with the same problem.To POST a message, please
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