Automatic Transmission, typical setting for in town?

[Gary W. Graley]

Hello all, just got a new to me 2002 3.4L Alero, my first automatic tranny for a very long time, so I am wondering on the settings.

When driving in town, having it in 3rd is ok? Will it do harm if left there
for extended times/speeds?

On the highway I would move it to D for overdrive.

I know it sounds and is a simple question but I don't know the answer and
don't want to mess up the engine but want to get the best/quickest response
when driving this car.

Thanks in advance,
G2

[BNaylor]

You know it really doesn't make any difference but it is an automatic transmission. Let it do the work for you. Through the PCM module it will know when to shift based on the optimum conditions. The purpose of 4th gear - OD is to help improve fuel economy. Also, you need to be in 4th-OD for the TCC functions to work properly.

I would not keep it in 3rd above speeds of 45 mph and over taching needlessly. Let the OD and torque convertor keep the best economy for you. I leave mine in OD even in city. IMO the 3400 SFI engine is a fairly good responsive engine in most driving conditions without having to manually shift.

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, that helps a great deal.

Now, as I say, I've only had the car a couple of weeks, picked it up on March 30th, so my 30 days grace period is about over.

Started out on a Friday, things went smoothly, come Sunday morning my family
and I were stranded at the Church parking lot, battery flat out dead.
Turned out had a dead cell, they replaced it no worries.

Yesterday I took it in as the front brakes seem to chatter a lot, more than
normal, they replaced all the rotors and brake pads, braking much better now. But on the way home, I heard more road noise than normal and when
trying to turn right, the car wanted to straighten itself out.

So I took it back this morning, needed wheel bearings on the front, they
replaced the left one, and then the right was still making noise so they also
replaced that one as well. I was a little annoyed when they said they noticed
it when they did the brakes, but didn't think it was too bad, can't blame them
for not offering I suppose.

So, all is better tonight, handles well, road noise is down and braking is fine.
But that made me nervous, one thing I didn't check, my fault for not looking
at it, was the coolant tank to see if anything odd was floating around in the
mix, well there are globules of gunk floating around and the opening was also
gunked up...which makes me think there is a possible leak??? There shouldn't be "stuff" floating about in there. So I really hate to go back as the car is
running ok now, but I worry that shortly it will present itself as an expensive
repair and the remaining bit of the 30 days will be past. The car has 47k miles
on it at present, I believe the previous owner kept it stored in a garage and
didn't drive it all that much. Cosmetic wise, it's in pristine shape, but sitting
for long times may have added to the bearing problem, but I'm only guessing
at that. In all my other cars, I've never had to replace a wheel bearing, so the
noise was new to me.

Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated, before I drive back tomorrow and place my worries at the Service desk.
G2

[Gary W. Graley]

Here are some shots of the coolant tank on this 2002 Alero
I'm not sure exactly how to approach the dealership tomorrow concerning this...







My feeling is that they should check why there is oil and correct the leak
but I'm not sure that they will do it for free, it's still within the 30 days since
purchase, so it should be covered, shouldn't it?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,
G2

[BNaylor]

That is not good. You have Dexcool sludge possibly due to air in the system or the Dexcool is the original and plain no good. It should have been changed not later than 5 years or 150K miles, whichever comes first.

A common problem on the 3400 are the LIM gaskets. I had mine replaced with the improved ones for free under warranty back in 2004. My reservoir is perfect and clean. No sludge. Bad LIM gaskets can cause the sludge.

If you bought this from a GM dealer have them check the car records by VIN and see if the gaskets were ever replaced.

[Gary W. Graley]

The car has 47k miles on it now, and I think it sat a lot of the time.
So, you don't think it's oil, but this dexcool stuff then?

I'll take it in tomorrow, of course they'll love me for that, but I think
it should be addressed now, before it causes trouble.

My only worry is, the car seems to run fine right now, so not sure how
to bring this to them and have them do it within this 30 day warranty period.

Thanks for your input, photos were taken with my new point and shoot Canon G7, nice camera, used a flashlight to light up down inside.

G2

[Gary W. Graley]

Well, went to the dealership this morning, they checked the records, and claim
the intakes were replaced just prior to my buying the car and that the
brown gunk is from GM sealant pellets that they dropped into the tank
and that it will slowly disperse and go away...of course that would be well
after my last few days of the 30 day warranty period is up, any one know
if the GM pellets produce such a brownish look??? Or is it some smoke being blown at me?
Thanks,
G2

[BNaylor]

I don't see why they used the sealant tabs if the revised LIM gasket was used. It is common practice for GM dealers to do this since a GM TSB addressed the issue but I don't recall whether that should be done with the improved LIM gaskets.

[Gary W. Graley]

I can't say for sure, but I worry that they just said these things to appease me, as there are only 10 days left of warranty and then it's fully my problem.

But, I think that before winter sets in, I'll have the coolant flushed out and
set and see how it goes.

Right now, the car runs great, love the look, ride and feel of it quite a lot, but
whether that will comfort me with future repairs, I am not sure, I've been
reading many things regarding the required upkeep on these cars.

I know upkeep is a necessary evil, but these seem to be more problematic
I'm just trying to switch to a more optimistic mind and hope my car doesn't
run that path.

47k miles
New battery
new Rotors
new brake pads
new left and right front wheel bearings
new rear speaker
new fog lamps

some are minor, but this will be my starting point and see how I go
from this new slate, hopefully the chalk can remain in the box for a while.

Thanks for you help and thoughts though!
G2

[jr6078]

Gary,

Sounds like the things you've had to have replaced so far are pretty normal routine maintenance items with possible exception to the axle (wheel) bearings, especially considering the mileage and age, which are both typically right at the point where the normal maintenance items start to really start needing attention.

I've also had to replace most of these items on my own '99 that now has 121,000+ miles on it. I bought it with 87K on it, and I still love it. It's a good car for the most part and doesn't necessarily require any more (or less) maintenance than or have any more (or less) problems than a lot of other vehicles out there.

The main thing I've found is to identify the items that you see on this forum as being primary concerns with the Alero model and keep an eye on them on your car.

Good luck and enjoy your new ride!

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, that's how I'm approaching this thing, keeping a good thought.
Starting from square one and keeping an eye on things and doing a bit
more preventive maintanence than I used to, and should have!

G2

[Gary W. Graley]

Just a quick update, the ride is a blast, of course coming from the 4 cylinder
world the v6 is way quicker ride, I'll have to be very careful about getting tickets

It rides great, I just have to put the other stuff behind me and look forward
and keep on the preventive side of things and I think I'll be set,
G2

[db21]

Given you need to drain the coolant system to replace the LIM gaskets it doesn't make any sense to me why there would be the stop-leak pellents in the coolant after the gaskets were changed. They would have replaced the coolant with nice clean stuff.

I had the same brown gunk in my resevoir prior to changing out the gaskets...that is how it started...then I got coolant into the engine - check for white gunk around valves, look in oil cap. Then it led to a cracked head gasket...

Don't want to worry you, but look around the site, the LIM gasket is probably the most notorious problem with those engines...there are a number of class action suits agains GM for it.

Point being, I'd get to the bottom of the problem now while you have a chance, tough to do in the honeymoon phase of getting a new car, but better prudance now will pay for itself in the long run.

[Gary W. Graley]

Good idea, I think I'll take it back and ask them straight out why they would do that.
Personally, I think they figured they did enough to get it back into shape
but man, if the engine goes, yikes, I really don't need that in a few thousand
miles...
It just seemed too pat that they changed out the LIM gaskets "the day before I took possesion" I mean, if they changed the brakes and noticed the
bearings were bad, but since I didn't call them on it at the time, they didn't
change them, they are not going out of their way to fix obvious things, but
I know it's a business, but that seemed quite odd when I did bring it back the
very next day and they said, yeah, we noticed that, ??? I think putting the
rotors on brought the bad bearings into a real noticable range, when I was turning
right, the growl was quite loud and if I let go of the steering wheel it would
pull back straight very strongly.

I have until the 30th of this month, not many days, but maybe enough to get
them to flush it out, and watch to see if anything else gunks up!

Thanks for the reminder!
G2

[Gary W. Graley]

Well, I just went outside with a flash light to see if I could tell if anything
had been done, and I did find what looks like a fresh bead of RTV around
the top valve covers, so something happened recently.

But I'm going to go back and ask them to flush out the system, the tank
looks even worse now, heavy gunk!

I looked in the oil opening hole and what little I could see looked ok
no water floating on the oil...

G2