Chevy Malibu intake manifold gasket

[rmente]

This is a common issue on all GM engines 1996 and above



State: PA

I bought a 1998 Buick Century secondhand in 2001. Like all GM vehicles of this era, my vehicle uses Dexcool (no surprise here!). About three years ago, I had the water pump replaced. At that time, I didn't know about the Dexcool issue. Just recently, I had my car in the shop to have a faulty fuel injector replaced (my car has 109,000 miles on it). My mechanic told me that the lower intake manifold seal is leaking the whole way around. I was quoted $600 for the job. I declined the repair because the fuel injector replacement ran me $400. At that point, I went to Google and found out about the Dexcool "issue". Once this seal goes, Dexcool will mix in with my oil and essentially trash my engine.

Texaco and GM MUST be held accountable for their negligence! This is a clear cut case of engineering negligence. It's not fair that we have to pay for their poor engineering practices! No wonder GM, Ford, and Chrysler are experiencing declining sales - more people are buying foreign cars because their quality is far superior to their American counterparts! My mother grew up during WW II and told me that the US made a serious mistake giving Japan our techincal and manufacturing know-how after the war ended when the US assisted them with their post war rebuilding. Sixty some years later the US is paying for their error in judgement.

 

[Zephyr]

ok - just to bring a little sense back to this thread.....

and I can certainly post suppoting info tomorrow from my work puter

GM does have a lot of issues with intake/manifold gaskets in age range late 90's to early 00's, the defect is not actually with the gaskets themselves anyway, the problem is dexcool has a much lower ph than green coolant, when dex is contaminated it very quickly turns acid like and starts eating away at the gaskets, that is the issue.

how ever that does not mean all of the posts here necessarily fall under that "defect umbrella"

if you have dexcool in your vehicle, your cooling system MUST be flushed every 5 years or 100k miles whichever is first- while dexcool is a superior coolant than green, it does NOT last as long, proper maintenance extends the life of your vehicle


another issue with cooling systems- when you replace a cooling system part ie water pump etc- you should at the same time have the cooling system flushed, there are silicates in new coolant that help coat and protect the parts, however they are only in new coolant, they are not present after about 2-4 days of coolant being used, even a drain and fill on the coolant will suffice. if you do not do this it is very common for the part you JUST replace to fail.

the rotor issue- 50k is NOT too low to be replacing brake rotors! especially if you are doing mostly town driving, AND when you replace the rotors, if you want a part that is going to last your best bet is to go American made (that- by the way does include canada and the one or two south american companies) they are more expensive, but they are worth it in the long run. The chinese rotors are junk, we actually will refuse the work if someone insists on the much cheaper chinese rotors, we had to warranty one set 6 times in a year! their metals are just not up to par with the western hemishpere.

we'll pass on a sale in order to not deal in junk

 

[Kreesa]

I've done some research....interesting!!!!!

Southern CA

Just as all of you have experienced, my car have been leaking coolant like crazy! I have a 2001 Malibu with 84,500 miles on it, and I can't keep ANY coolant in it! (Not very fun since I have a little boy that's almost three and expecting another baby. I've already overheated on the freeway...very scary!)
I took it to a private Chevrolet mechanic whom nicely first looked to see if there are any recalls on my car. The only thing he could find was something called a Customer Interest Bulletin. It showed that not only my car, but 40 other GM Models since 96 COULD have an intake maifold problem. He took me outside, lifted the hood of my car, and sure enough..the top and bottom of the engine that are supposed to match up were manufactured crooked!!! The mechanic suggested I contact Chevrolet and the dealership to ask about it because it wasn't specific about the details of who pays to fix it. He also said if I had to pay for it, he could do it for just under $600.
I contacted the dealership...all I got was, "That's not a recall....bye." I contacted Chevrolet next. The woman told me, "Well....that's just sent to Chevy dealerships so incase the problem happens they will know how to fix it. It's a guide. It doesn't really mean that there IS a problem..it's just incase. How did you get it???" Kind of a dead end, but left me very curious since she was so concerned that I had the bulletin.
So that's when I started researching. I refuse to pay $600 to fix a car that's problem isn't from normal wear-and-tear, nor something I did to cause the problem. That's when I found these postings. Then I found something just as interesting....this other website from Consumer Affairs. The first link has MORE complaints similar to all of ours from consumers of Chevy, and the second talks about Lemon Laws and "secret" warranties which sound a lot like the Customer Interest Bulletin I got a hold of and wasn't supposed to have according to Chevrolet. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_chev_malibu.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/lemon_law/secret_warranties.html
I am looking into a class action law suit. I refuse to play this game with Chevrolet and be ripped off so they can make more money. I'm a college student, I work, and I'm a wife/mom...geeez! Never again will I purchase an American made car. My much older Honda never had any problems!!
PLEASE...if anyone wants to help me out with this, I'm going to give it my all. Any advice? Email me! [email protected]
-Karissa