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Oldsmobile Intrigue: General Care & Maintenance

119 messages,  Last post on Nov 09, 2011 at 3:40 PM

You are in the Oldsmobile Intrigue Forum.

What is this discussion about? Oldsmobile Intrigue, Oil, Paint, Sedan

Messages Page 12 of 12

#110 of 119 Avalon vs Intrigue by dirkwork

Jun 05, 2008 (8:58 pm)

An older retired lady in my neighborhood had me help sell her '96 Avalon with 95k miles. I was quite surprised to see a vaunted Toyota have so many problems with low millage, contrasting my '00 3.5 Ebay Intrigue where I only had a power steering hose fail and a few bulbs burn out. I have done brake job and changed oil but otherwise its been trouble free car.
 
Among the Toyota problems: Leaking rack & pinion, engine oil leak (possibly rear valve cover gasket?), CV joint rubber fell off and joint needs replacing.
 
Factor in the near zero fun to drive factor and crappy handling, I am happy I did not buy the Toyota that some of the experts in the magazines said I should. And on a highway trip in winter w/o AC I got 32-33 mpg pretty easily, high 20's easily on higher speed roads w/ac on. Why buy a small tin can car when you can have a nice car and still get reasonable fuel mileage....
 
Scott

#111 of 119 Re: Avalon vs Intrigue [dirkwork] by dtownfb

Jun 06, 2008 (12:58 pm)

Replying to: dirkwork (Jun 05, 2008 8:58 pm)
Among the Toyota problems: Leaking rack & pinion, engine oil leak (possibly rear valve cover gasket?), CV joint rubber fell off and joint needs replacing.
 
It is a 13 year old vehicle....
 
You are pretty lucky if that is all the problems you have had with your Intrigue. Read the main Intrigue board to see what others have been experiencing.

#112 of 119 98 intrigue, general maintenance by jimconno

Nov 10, 2008 (2:29 pm)

I have the 98 intrigue since August '98, have burned no oil so far, threw the serpentine belt with the water pump at 120,00kms, had problems with oil leaks (now fixed).
The Delco battery split at connection post. Of note was a whining noise when accelerating, about 150,000 kms, turned out it was the resonator (aluminum part in an otherwise stainless exhaust system) $137.00 to fix. My question now is at 195,00kms (or 120.000 miles) of relatively trouble free driving should I replace the suspension parts (rear), the alternator and is there a timing belt in this 3800 engine that figures in a preventive scenario??
Jimconn

#113 of 119 Re: 98 intrigue, general maintenance [jimconno] by dtownfb

Nov 11, 2008 (8:57 am)

Replying to: jimconno (Nov 10, 2008 2:29 pm)
There is no timing belt in the Intrigue. I wouldn't replace the alternator unless you are having issues. My 2000 Intrigue has 167,800 miles on it with the original alternator. As far as the rear suspension, it depends on how long you plan to keep it. 6 months? maybe not; 2 years? definitely yes

#114 of 119 General maintenance by filipe

Nov 12, 2008 (1:20 pm)

Thanks "dtownfb" I forgot to mention the most important (to me) item. The belt idler is supposedly maintenance free, it gives out at about 150,000 klicks and somehow "Goodrench" (cannot do not will not diagnose it unless you are savvy enough to tell them to replace it. My "90" Olds had this problem (3100 engine) I finally replaced the car with the Intrigue and yes the same item failed. This time I insisted on the replacement of the part rather the vehicle. Rear struts, dealer or??
Thank sagain jimconno

#115 of 119 Re: General maintenance [filipe] by dtownfb

Nov 13, 2008 (11:07 am)

Replying to: filipe (Nov 12, 2008 1:20 pm)
Any private mechanic should be able to replace your rear struts. visit www.gmpartsdirect.com or www.rockauto.com to get an idea of how much the rear strut assembly costs.

#116 of 119 stuck spedometer by chrissymustang

Apr 28, 2011 (6:37 pm)

1998 Intrigue 3.8L
 
My spedometer is stuck all the way to the right. This is the second time. The first time was a couple months ago. I have recently worked on the back brakes/parking brake. The first time the spedometer needle starting working by itself while on the freeway.
 
Does the cable connect to the transmission or somewhere else? I'm assuming the cable might have a lose connection.
 
Does anyone have any insight into this problem?

#117 of 119 Water Pump by jgoodin

Nov 08, 2011 (8:02 am)

I'm trying to help my mom figure out a problem with her engine. The coolant level light keeps popping on and off. She had the radiator replaced a couple of weeks ago. The engine isn't overheating or anything. One of her friends said it could be the water pump is out and not allowing the coolant to circulate through the engine (V-6 3800, 98' Intrigue). Does anyone have any suggestions as to what it the problem could be, or if it is the water pump, how much the replacement costs, etc??

#118 of 119 Re: Water Pump [jgoodin] by kirstie_h HOST

Nov 08, 2011 (10:04 am)

Replying to: jgoodin (Nov 08, 2011 8:02 am)
Wait for other advice, but if the coolant isn't circulating, then the engine would eventually overheat.
 
It COULD be as simple as the coolant sensor being bad. Did you check the coolant "cold fill" level? Is there sufficient coolant in the reservoir?

#119 of 119 Re: Water Pump [kirstie_h] by mick1

Nov 09, 2011 (3:40 pm)

Replying to: kirstie_h (Nov 08, 2011 10:04 am)
U R right. Coolant LEVEL sensor is in the overflow bottle. I had air bubbles after cooling system service, had to add coolant twice to bring to the cold level line on overflow bottle.

Messages Page 12 of 12

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