Re: GM V6 engine warning - true sad story (long)

Allan: If you have the 3.4L V6 engine in your LeSabre, you should be concerned. If you have the 3.8L V6, you should have received a recall letter. I do not know of other GM engines that have as much problem with the intake gasket as the 3.1L and 3.4L engines. But I'm no expert on this. You should do a search on the web if you have a V8. No, the lower intake gasket is not visible. That is why it costs so much to replace.

Very sad story indeed. I can't believe that GM isn't offering some goodwill help with this!! Especially since the problem you are having seems to be a unusually pervasive one. I wish you the best of luck.

"DL" wrote

I would be concerned if my Lesabre had a 3.4 v-6 engine in it too, as I don't believe the Lesabre in that year had anything in it but the 3.8.

What do you mean by "the lower intake gasket is not visible"? You can easily see the gasket in the area where the leak occurs. That's one of easy ways to diagnose the leak, look at the gasket and see if it's tracking dex-cool.

Ian

So you didn't check your coolant for 40,000 miles?

And usually, when the vehicle is low on coolant, the temp sensor wont give a reading. Something you notice when you look at your gauges.

A majority of cars do have slow coolant leaks. It does very from car to car. And some cars have a perfect tight system. So thats a reason you should check it atleast once a week to a month.

And im not sure how far you can get with GM. Because you are out of warranty, and the bulletin isn't really considered a recall.

If i was you. I would look in the papers for an engine. I prob can find one from 200-500 bucks. Ebay sometimes has collision shops selling them. Get a mechanic to install it for less then a 1000.

That's a bad idea. If you block payment to the shop, they'll just slap a mechanic's lien on the car and take it. They can then either auction it, or more likely just sell it for what they've got in it dollar wise, which would likely be a lot less than it's worth.

JazzMan

Where do you live ? may be you can do my car too.

Infuriating isn't it! I don't see myself buying another GM for a long time. After having spent $18,900 for a used 1999 Montana back in 2000 (More than I have ever paid for a brand new vehicle) GM feels I don't matter since I didn't purchase it new. My wife has owned GM's for the 28 years she has been driving, but no more after this if I have anything to say about it. IF I would have caught the coolant level dropping at the 1st instant it started happening and brought it in to the dealership I could have had the lower intake manifold gasket replaced under warranty, assuming of course the garage would have diagnosed the problem correctly (doubtful). I first added Dexcool at about 37k miles and NEVER had a drop on the garage floor until this last winter at aprox 62k miles? Immediately diagnosed and fixed for $653US. I feel fortunate that oil contamination doesn't seem to have happened in my case.

It is my "mission" to spread the word to as many people as possible to catch as many of these 2003 and older 3.4 liter cars that are still under warranty. I have caught one so I figure I am even. For every other one from here on out....I win! My only hope is that I have the van long enough to be reimbursed for my repair when this thing turns into a recall! Fight the good fight. Good luck!

self-destruct

I don't remember which of the 2 agencies you mentioned that I filed with, but I did get on the big petition and sent e-mails to the local newspaper and 3 local TV stations. I had one interview on TV. The GM dealership I bought the thing from mentioned that if there was a recall I might receive a coupon good for money off another GM purchase, which I replied "even if it was for 5 grand, it would be worthless to me because I wouldn't buy one of these **itboxes again!" Cash talks and BS walks. I don't think the new car sales manager was too impressed. I bought 3 cars from him and I don't see it happening again. Oh well, thanks for the reply and keep on kickin' and scratchin'!

Don't you mean "gaskets"? At least Honda knows how to make a decent engine. GM knows, but their accountants won't let them.

maybe in their street cars, but not in Formula 1.

Of course its a bad idea. What else would you expect from someone who suggests getting a Honduh?

:-p

IF Honda knows how, then why don't they build one? Anything you have to rev to 7500 RPM in daily driving doesn't qualify as a "decent engine."

do you really believe this?

"Brad Clarke" wrote

Not at the moment, but they dominated Formula One a few years back. It could happen again fairly quickly.

Ian

Hopefully, GM will one day WAKE UP and start taking care of its customers. | You have to question the wisdom of a company when it is willing to give | $4000 incentive to sell a vehicle but unwilling to spend a single penny to | retain a faithful customer. Furthermore, given the extent of the problem, | any responsible company would have recalled these engines already | | TRUE story but SAD to see a great company seeking its own destruction. |

The above is such a wise and true statement.

MAke it a new discussion thread?

GM agrees with you. They put Honda V-6's in the Saturn SUV.

"GRL" wrote

They did? What year was that?

Ian