head gasket

One of the many head gasket question. I recently acquired a 99 with 3.4 GLS from an original owner with all the service records. The car had 54k and now it has almost 60k. This was an experiment on my side before committing large sum of money on a new GM car. I think I have made a mistake on this but only cost me $5500 so I won’t loose sleep over it. I have been reading the forum and other user comment sites and all seems to have head gasket problem on 3.4 engines. I promised myself in the 80;s that I would never ever buy another GM products after the experience I had with Pontiac 6000 and Cadillac Deville. Plagued with problems on both cars from first month of ownership and of course the GM dealers are at the bottom of the list of quality service.

Did all of you have head gasket changed on your 3.4 and at what mile?
Any of you use regular green antifreeze as some information suggests as Dex-Cool was the primary cause of the accelerated head gasket failure? I have owned Lexus and BMW but I couldn’t believe 5year – 150k interval GM claims on Dex-Cool. I had the Dex-Cool flushed out and put in regular green antifreeze and stick to my usual 2year-25k flush.

‘Speed sensor’, those who had to change the wheel hubs many times, where do you live? Snow-belt or sun-belt?

From the service record my Alero is doing well with the brakes. Receipt noted the brake was overhauled first year of purchase but no other brake work since. All four windows had regulator replaced at large chunk of change in the past two years. I have the usual dashboard problem but everything seems to be in good working order. Right before the purchase, previous owner had taken in for service and one of the item couldn’t be fixed with a note “need more time” to fix auto trunk release not working. I spent about 30 minutes and isolated to the relay and had it fixed recently. Isolating the problem, I found a trace of dried water mark where the fuse box is on the driver side fuse box. Relay responded with a ‘click’ when applied so the contact inside must have corroded preventing the release of the trunk. I read about the water leak and recall but can’t validate where the water can possible come in contact with the fuse box. I have sprayed electrical grease around it so it will have some water resistance effect.

Overall, quality is definitely GM but styling is awesome and the automated light and lock doesn’t coincide with the user/need.

Thanks, and I will probably spend some time here to learn about the car. My family have owned Jeep since 60’s and those who know about Jeeps know how much we love our Jeep regardless of all the repairs we do but I surely don’t hope to do that with the Alero.

2002 Alero GL2 (3.4L) - 38K miles. The most common problem is the lower intake manifold and throttle body gaskets not the head gaskets. However, failure to correct a bad LIM gasket will probably result in blowing a head gasket. We had our LIM gaskets changed out at 30K miles by the Olds dealer under warranty. We had a slight coolant leak at the lower intake manifold gasket.

I recently put on new polished and ported UIM and LIM and a 62mm RSM Racing throttle body. The gaskets put in by the dealer looked good with no visible signs of Dexcool damage. The Dexcool drained out looked good with no visible contamination. Stuff actually looked pretty good so we stayed with it. However, Dexcool after about 5 years doesn't look too good and I would use something like Prestone Extended Life (yellow bottle) which is Dexcool compatible.

We still have the original brake pads and rotors. Still have the original hub/bearings on all four wheels.

Good luck with your Alero.

I purchased my 2002 Alero from a GM dealership with 25K miles on it. They took it in on a trade and they replaced the gasket before I bought it. The replacement gaskets they use are supposed to be 'updated'. I don't how true that is, however.

I've had one hub assembly replaced; the right front. It was covered under warranty. If I recall correctly, that shat the bed some time around 33K miles. I currently have 60K miles on her.

BTW, the green coolant not only corrodes gaskets, but it will also kill your water pump.

- Jeremy

BTW, the green coolant not only corrodes gaskets, but it will also kill your water pump.

- Jeremy

So you think green coolant will do more harm than good. I have always used 2yr-25k interval on all my cars but this is first GM car in almost 20 years so I am just learning about the Dex-Cool and the chemical make up of. I always used the water pump lubricant made by Prestone so that was added after i had the Dex-Cool flused out. I will do more research and may be change it back to Dex-Cool. thanks.

So you think green coolant will do more harm than good. I have always used 2yr-25k interval on all my cars but this is first GM car in almost 20 years so I am just learning about the Dex-Cool and the chemical make up of. I always used the water pump lubricant made by Prestone so that was added after i had the Dex-Cool flused out. I will do more research and may be change it back to Dex-Cool. thanks.

You can use the green stuff made by Prestone but the one called Extended Life in the yellow container. It is safe for all aluminum and gaskets. Prestone EL is 100% Dexcool compatible and is based on the same OAT - Organic Acid Technology.

I don't use it in our Alero but I use it in two of my GM "W" body cars with no problems noted.

I don't use it in our Alero but I use it in two of my GM "W" body cars with no problems noted.

bnaylor3400; looks like you are very resourceful with GM products and mechanical knowledge. I found this online and few others stating the similar on other sites. Ford had the similar “hush-hush repair” on 3.8 and some 5.0 head gasket failure; I know this from personal experience. If this is the case for GM 3.4, others who had failure should have gotten a free repair.

http://www.noln.net/features/feature3.html (http://www.noln.net/features/feature3.html)

“Plus, some lawsuits are claiming that Dex-Cool is at least partially responsible for the string of intake manifold gasket failures on GM vehicles equipped with 3.1L or 3.4L V6 engines. For its part, GM has issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB 03-06-01-010) that entitles some owners of affected vehicles to a free gasket repair. The service bulletin blames the gasket material, not Dex-Cool, for the problem. “

Here is the most recent GM TSB covering the intake gasket issue on the 3.1/3.4L engines:

Engine Oil or Coolant Leak (Install New Intake
Manifold Gasket) # 03-06-01-010B - (10/24/2003)


Engine Oil or Coolant Leak (Install New Intake Manifold Gasket)

2000-2003 Buick Century

2002-2003 Buick Rendezvous

1996 Chevrolet Lumina APV

1997-2003 Chevrolet Venture

1999-2001 Chevrolet Lumina

1999-2003 Chevrolet Malibu, Monte Carlo

2000-2003 Chevrolet Impala

1996-2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette

1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass

1999-2003 Oldsmobile Alero

1996-1999 Pontiac Trans Sport

1999-2003 Pontiac Grand Am, Montana

2000-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix

2001-2003 Pontiac Aztek

with 3.1L or 3.4L V-6 Engine (VINs J, E - RPOs LG8, LA1)

This bulletin is being revised to change the model Information. Please discard Corporate Bulletin Number 03-06-01-O10A (Section 06 - Engine).


Condition

Some owners may comment on an apparent oil or coolant leak. Additionally, the comments may range from spots on the driveway to having to add fluids.

Cause

Intake manifold may be leaking allowing coolant, oil or both to leak from the engine.

Correction

Install a new design intake manifold gasket. The material used in the gasket has been changed in order to improve the sealing qualities of the gasket. When replacing the gasket, the intake manifold bolts must also be replaced and torqued to a revised specification. The new bolts will come with a pre-applied threadlocker on them.

Notice

An oil leak may result if the vertical bolts are not tightened before the diagonal bolts.


Diagonal bolts may require a crows foot to tighten.

Tighten

1. Tighten the vertical lower intake manifold bolts (1) to 7 N.m (62 lb in).

2. Tighten the diagonal lower intake manifold bolts (2) to 7 N.m (62 lb in).

3. Tighten the vertical lower intake manifold bolts (1) to 13 N.m (115 lb in).

4. Tighten the diagonal lower intake manifold bolts (2) to 25 N.m (18 lb ft).

Parts Information

Parts are currently available from GMSPO.