MALIBU engine & other problems

On October 30, 1997 I purchased a NEW 1998 Chevrolet Malibu and have been experiencing all sorts of problems with the car. First within three months of purchase the Check Engine light came on, dealership claims there was nothing wrong and reset the codes on the engine, still having that problem. Then the check antifreeze light camoe on, my dealership claimed there was nothing wrong and that I just needed more antifreeze. They refilled the antifreeze, that next morning I left for North Carolina, arrived 1/2 to my destination and the antifreeze light came on again. I took the car to a local Chevrolet dealership and they found that the hose was defective and replaced it.

Now, that the car is out of warrantee they say the problem is antifreeze leaking into my engine, and the engine coolant hose has a leak as well. In talking with two other dealerships "off record" this seems to be a big problem with the Malibu 1998 - 2000. I contacted Chevrolet and they claim that they have not received any complaints, so I asked if they keep a file of the complaints when the public calls regarding this issue I was told NO. While researching and talking "off record" to dealerships service AND parts personnel this is happening frequently, Chevrolet is aware of the problem but does not want to own up to their mistakes as well as several other issues with the Malibu. I am not the only Malibu person having this problem, it seems to be happening a lot according to some dealerships, is there anything I can do to get Chevrolet to fix the car? Is it worth pursuing a class action suit against Chevrolet? What are my options?

Malibu problems

I live in Washington state. I too have been having problems with my 1998 Malibu. I purchased it for my son thinking it would be a reliable car. I usually buy imports but thought we would give chevy a try. Several months after driving the car, the low antifreeze light comes on. I refilled it and the next morning it came on again but there was no appearent leak under the car. I looked at the oil on the dip stick and it was 6 inches above the max fill line. The antifreeze went into the oil. After reveiwing the threads on this sight, I figured it was the intake gasket problem. I bought a manual and the parts. When I went in to purchase the parts, the parts guy just grabbed em off the shelf not looking up the parts numbers. I asked him if he was sure they were correct and he told me he does lots of these gaskets and has them memorized. He grinned as he told me this. This upset me. I tore the engine down and removed the intake gasket. This took me 6 hours. As I was pulling it off, it crumbled in my hand. It appeared to be made out of some type of plastic.
I could see where the water was leakig around it into the engine. The bolts that held the intake on were almost finger tight. As the gasket deteriated, the bolts loosened. The bolts are required to be torqued low because of the plastic gasket design. This appears to compound the problem. As I pulled the new gasket out of the wrapper, it looked identical to the one I pulled out.
Plastic. Eight years later and a known engineering problem and the same plastic gasket. It doesnt appear to have any improvements made to it but I could be wrong. An 8 year neighbor kid was watching me do the repair. He asked me why the gasket wasnt made out of metal. I shrugged my shoulders and stated, not sure. I fealt a little embarressed. I told him it was super plastic. I finished the repair and flused the engine and it runs fine now.
Not sure when the plasic will go out again so we are probably going to sell the car. Somebody mentioned on a previous thread about Japans technoligy after WW2. Most of that technoligy was taught to Japan by Dr Demming.
He taught the Japanese to improve upon improvement.(Kaizeen). And to use the employees ideas on improving efficency on the assembly lines. Basically, most ideas originated from the employees on the floor and the customer. Most of the original technoligy originated in America. Japan knew how to improve it.
That is why they are doing so well. Some American factories are applying the Deming theory with excellent results. The bottom line is, what is being done about this gasket? After reading all the threads, It appears to be an ongoing problem that never goes away. Year after year. I really feel bad about the single moms out there that posted previous theads that have to put up with the high repair costs of trying to keep their car running on fixed incomes.
It is not fair. Not sure what it will take to improve the American car industry but I hope they do something.
My back is so sore right now from changing out that gasket, I need to lay down.

kidzkom...

This is an on-going issue with GM and their DEXCOOL (R) antifreeze. It is garbage. We repair a ton of water pumps, head gaskets, radiators, etc because of that coolant. The stuff distroys anything that your cooling systems works with. But the up side is.... your dog can drink it and he'll live.

Here's some links you should check out. There are several class actions suits in several states that have been lauched because of this crap.

This problem should not be confused with the Buick 3.8L engines that have a problem with the plastic intake manifold itself leaking coolant into an engine just behind the throttle body. Again... GM is playing stupid on this problem too. And George Bush thinks we should trust the big corporations to police themselves huh??

http://www.imcool.com/articles/antifreeze-coolant/CPM-52-DEXArticle-Excerpt.pdf

More related websites concerning GM's DEXCOOL.
http://www.petitiononline.com/GMcnsmrs/petition.html

http://www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool.html

http://flatratetech.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=001216;p=0

http://www.apa.ca/template.asp?DocID=115

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_intake_manifold.html