2000 Malibu Lower Intakes Leaking

[adirondack54]

Help! I am new to this site and anyone who can point me in the right direction I'd be most appreciative.

I bought a 2000 Chevy Malibu in March 2002 from a Chevy dealership in upstate NY where I live - it had 28,321 miles.

As of today 12/24/03, the car has 47,757 miles on it.

Just had a winterization check a few weeks ago at a dealership. They found a cracked serpentine belt, advised I needed a fuel filter and lower intakes leaking.

I took care of the belt and fuel filter - I guess that's standard maintenance but the lower intakes leaking??? They gave me an estimate
of $545 to fix this problem. Yikes!!!

The guy at the garage where I took my care to replace the belt and fuel filter put a sealer near the area of the leak. He says the dealership where I bought the car should fix this problem even though my warranty expired like 9 months ago. He says this problem (lower intakes leaking) is happening a lot and has seen a number of these cars with the same problem.

Can someone tell me exactly how long I can wait to get this problem fixed before I run into problems? I dont have the $ now to fix this problem. Also, do you think the dealership where I bought the car should fix this problem either for no charge or at least meet me half way with the cost???

I always had pretty old cars before I bought the Malibu. I was hoping with a new car I wouldnt run into the type of expenses the older cars gave me. It sucks to have to make car payments and still have a
major problem on my hands. Any advice???

Many thanks and Happy Holidays.

Kevin

[crzydmnd72]

My 99 with 92k miles is down at the moment. I ran a compression check today, one cylinder is only at 90psi so its kinda looking like I have a blown head gasket. I will be tearing it apart in the next day or so. All my coolant went into my oil but I caught it in time I think. It was still starting and running good when I babied it home. Good luck with yours and I don't think I would wait too long to get it fixed.

[99ssconv]

you should have bought a extended warranty. why should the dealer pay to fix your car? you put 20,000 miles on it and then have someone else perform the maintance, maybe if you let the dealer service your vehicle they would be more inclined to goodwill your problem.

[pwrnxs]

Originally Posted by adirondack54

...I was hoping with a new car I wouldnt run into the type of expenses the older cars gave me....

Unfortunately, like many others, you now realize you picked the wrong new car. Malibu's have several known problems and this is one of them. But it's not a recall item, so it is not covered if your car is out of warranty.

The upper and lower intake manifold gaskets need to be replaced with a newer redesigned piece. The prices from GM parts direct are:

Upper - 12481317 - $6.24
Lower - 88984183 - $30.46

It's just nuts and bolts under there and as you can see, if you're capable, it's definitely worth your time to do it yourself.

[gr8gatzby]

anyone know if the 02's are afflicted with this malady?

[joshzr2]

I would get it fixed ASAP. If not, you could leak out all of your coolant once it gets really bad and then you risk overheating and causing serious damage