leaking coolant in my oldsmobile

[bb88]

have a 2000 olsmobile car..it has run 83,000 miles,,i am the 3rd owner and have hardly used it for not more than 200 miles...the problem is with the coolant..it seems to be leaking and i have to put the coolant in every 5 miles i drive it...there is an indication in my car showing it needs to be serviced...What seems to be the problem coz my car is not overheating.?

[BNaylor]

Welcome to AF.

It would be helpful to post your engine size?

[GTP Dad]

Welcome to AF!!

If you are losing that much coolant then you have a problem. You don't say what engine you have which would be helpful. If you have a 4 cyl. then look in the area of the water pump. The water pump on the 2.4 is on the back of the engine. If it is a V-6 check the oil to see if there is water in the crankcase. The oil may look like chocolate milk. If it does, don't drive it until you get the lower intake gaskets replaced or you will damage the engine. The next place to check is the drain for the heater core. If you are losing fluid at that rate you should see water leaking from that area. The heater core can crack and leak out through this drain and you may never see or smell it. Finally, have you done any work on the car lately? There is a possibility that there is air in the system and you are just replacing it with coolant. That will only occur if you have had coolant system service recently.

[bb88]

my car has 6 cylinder

[BNaylor]

I would agree with GTP Dad that you need to look into the possibility of bad intake manifold gaskets which is a common problem on the 3400 SFI engines. Also, the throttle body gasket should be replaced since the throttle body has coolant circulating in it for proper warm up and emissions control. So if you do not see any visible cooling system leaks on the outside then the coolant is being consumed internally via the intake system.

[PotIsYourFriend]

Originally Posted by bb88

have a 2000 olsmobile car..it has run 83,000 miles,,i am the 3rd owner and have hardly used it for not more than 200 miles...the problem is with the coolant..it seems to be leaking and i have to put the coolant in every 5 miles i drive it...there is an indication in my car showing it needs to be serviced...What seems to be the problem coz my car is not overheating.?

I hope you can return it...

[bb88]

I posted this query few days bak..I took the car to the mechanic,and i paid 1600$..Now when I picked up the car it showed service engine soon light turned on even while i was driving..I asked and he said tht the computer will take time to adjust ,drive it for 2 days and it will be gone....I drove it tht day and now tht light hasn't gone even when I am driving and also the car gets heated up..When my car was having leaking coolant problem ,the car did not heat up even then..and now after the servicing is done it is quite different....I have paid 5700 $ already for buying the car..Can u tell what to do..I heard carmax buy cars but would they buy such car ,also if I sell it to any other dealer with such problems How much money do u think he would pay....One more thing we bought this car from an individual seller ,so its like we can even ask the dealer to buy it...I do not wish to trade in for the car as I would like to wait for sometime before buying another car...Kindly tell me what's the problem now and any guidance on further step....

[BNaylor]

What work was done for $1600? What is the temperature gauge reading now?

On the SES light take it back to the mechanic and inform him of the problem. It should be scanned to see what is causing the SES light.

[GTP Dad]

Bob is absolutely right! If the car didn't have a light on before the repair it shouldn't be on now. Take it back to the mechanic and have him correct the issue. Also $1600 is a lot of money for repairs. You could have had a used engine for less. I too would like to know what the mechanic did for that amount of money.

[PotIsYourFriend]

Originally Posted by bb88

I posted this query few days bak..I took the car to the mechanic,and i paid 1600$..Now when I picked up the car it showed service engine soon light turned on even while i was driving..I asked and he said tht the computer will take time to adjust ,drive it for 2 days and it will be gone....I drove it tht day and now tht light hasn't gone even when I am driving and also the car gets heated up..When my car was having leaking coolant problem ,the car did not heat up even then..and now after the servicing is done it is quite different....I have paid 5700 $ already for buying the car..Can u tell what to do..I heard carmax buy cars but would they buy such car ,also if I sell it to any other dealer with such problems How much money do u think he would pay....One more thing we bought this car from an individual seller ,so its like we can even ask the dealer to buy it...I do not wish to trade in for the car as I would like to wait for sometime before buying another car...Kindly tell me what's the problem now and any guidance on further step....

Was it having the problems from the get-go? If so you should've called the seller and told him to give you your money back or you were going to sue him ..

I'm also curious as to what this guy fixed for 1600..

[bb88]

here are the details of what the mechanic did....
Coolant leak Diagnostic Lbr -- 22.00
Tracer Engine coolant dye --- 5.99

Miscellaneous shop supplies --- 15.00
New water pump ------------24.99

water outlet gasket ----------- 1.99
upper radiation hose dayco dynaflex molded rad -- 14.99
lower radiator hose
taylor mag cor wires bwd lifetime mag wire se

r & r radiator hose both
r & r thermostat
r & r water pump
+ A/C interferes add
+ where pwr strg interferes add
autolite dbl platinum autolite double platinum

r & r spark plug wire set included : test wires
R & R spark plugs
+ A/C interferes add
+ Cruise control interferes add
+ where pwr strg interferes add
stant super stat thermostat

intake gasket set (fa)
fel pro valve cover gasket

replace intake/intake gasket
gumout engine flush lbr
1 gal engine flush - gumout


flush and fill labour
12 oz cool rite quick kleen
tracer engine coolant dye
tracer engine oil dye # tp 3090-601
stant original equipment thermostat
pennzoil conventional oil change
1 qt bulk 5 w 30 pennzoil
proline oil filter
pel prp manfold gasket s
preston dex-cool antifreeze

the total was 1800 $ and with some discount I don't know which he the total was 1600 $...


yesterday when we took the car he used his computer for reading and said its not showing any reading so it means there is no problem otherwise there should be any code shown..after the reading was nothing with the computer he showed tht service engine light soon has gone..then as we started again it came so tht guy says tht you should drive it for the reading to come..the reading which he said was some p00 ..we searched on internet but there is no reading as p00.....

answering the other question put by someone -----
the time when we bought the car from the individual owner it did not show leaking coolant light..just low tire pressure,within 2 days of driving it..tht guy told us you can adjust the reading in the car for the low tire pressure...

[biv343]

Sounds like he had a boat payment to make. That's an awful lot of cash for a intake gasket, hoses, tune up and oil change.

As far as the service engine light goes, I'd take it back to him and not leave until he figures out why the light is coming on. A P0XXX code is powertrain - the ECM is detecting something wrong. I'm guessing he has a code scanner, so he should be able to read and clear the codes. Its possible something didn't get hooked back up correctly after he did his work.

I also hope you asked for your old parts so you can make sure he actually replaced everything you were charged for. Something sounds shady here.

[GTP Dad]

There are several issues with the repairs. First, you got hosed on the price. Second, it only says 1qt of oil. He should have changed the oil due to coolant in the crank case. I suspect you have a bad O2 sensor due to the fact that there was coolant burning from the bad intake gaskets. If the light is on go to an Autozone and have it scanned. I think this mechanic is giving you the run around. If there is a code it should come up and it could be something very simple to repair. Once you get the code post it hear and we can help put you in the right direction.

[BNaylor]

Yeah, I agree Lynn. Ripped off big time. This Alero is only worth around $5800 NADA average retail. Even with the discount the $1600 paid is over 30% of the value of the car.

But this is not the only Alero horror story. I recall we have alot more so this member is not alone.

[PotIsYourFriend]

Originally Posted by bb88

here are the details of what the mechanic did....

answering the other question put by someone -----
the time when we bought the car from the individual owner it did not show leaking coolant light..just low tire pressure,within 2 days of driving it..tht guy told us you can adjust the reading in the car for the low tire pressure...

All you have to do is reset the computer for the light to go out or add coolant.. And it will stay out for awhile.. Did the guy mention to you about any leaks or having to add coolant to the radiator alot? If not chances are he knew about it and didn't tell you before you bought the car.. In civil court you'd win easily..