99 olds 88-need info

[Tenfc]

I am new here, and know very little about cars.
My mother has a 1999 Olds 88 -3.8Ltre engine. 80k miles.
4 months ago her car broke down and the repair shop said her coolant was leaking into the engine oil. They made the repairs replacing gaskets and I think the 'intake manifold'? The engine coolant was completely dry and apparrantly the engine had a gallon of fluid in it..(coolant plus oil)
She spent the $1300 bucks for the repair.
Now, 3 1/2 months later the exact same thing happened.
A repair shop told her this is a common thing to happen with this make, model, engine and year. They said they see about 10 a year with this problem.
I know very little about cars, My mother is older, and lives a few hours away from me. Is there anyone who may be able to confirm this information or have any suggestions we can explore? I haven't been able to find any info elsewhere on the internet. Any comments appreciated. Thank you.

[Olds64]

The 3.8 L engines had troubles with overheating. I had a 93 Buick LeSaber with the same engine and I had to replace two water pumps. I would be wary of the shop saying that the engin needs to be rebuilt again, especially if it was only rebuilt a few months ago. If the same thing happened then they probably messed up when rebuilding the engine orignially.

I would suggest you do some reading on line. There is alot of good info out there. When I replaced the water pump the first time I used a remanufactured one and it died. So the second time I used a new one and it worked great.

There is also a phenolic fitting behind the water pump near the intake manifold that wears out and breaks. This will cause the engine to overheat quickly and it sprays coolant all over the place. They made replacement fittings that were made of metal. The fitting has a hose on it, I believe it goes to or comes from the heater core.

[Oldsfan]

The 3800 Series II has been known for intake problems. It's a shame - the Buick 3.8 is a bulletproof motor. GM screwed it up with their plastic intakes and junk intake gaskets. What happens, is, the intake manifolds warp. They are made of plastic and cannot handle the heat of the EGR valve. They warp and leak and allow coolant to enter the combustion chambers. Some of them hydrolock and require motor replacement (more economical to get a Goodwrench motor than to rebuild in shop). Some of them can get away with just manifold replacement. A very few get by with just intake gasket replacement. Our dealership just did intakes on two of these cars within the past two weeks. The first one was a very well maintained, low mileage car owned by an elderly gentleman. He decided to trade it rather than fix it.

So, we know there are issues and your mother experienced them and paid the price. She should have been good for a while. There is something wrong with the fact it needs repair again so soon. There is either a defective part involved, or the shop did a poor job on the labor. Either way, there should be some sort of guarantee and she should not have to pay for a 2nd repair. GM warranty on replacement parts is 12 months or 12,000 miles. If this was done at a GM shop, the whole job should be covered by defective part warranty. Period. If it was done at an independent jobber things are going to get sticky. As far as I know, over the counter, GM will only replace the parts. They will not pay for labor to install them. This is not an unusual practive, but it is unfortunate, as most of the cost of the repair was most likely the labor. If it was not a defective part, then it falls on the shop not doing the job properly. I don't know how you are going to deal with that.

I think I would start by having the shop tell you which dealership the parts were obtained from. Then, with proof of purchase (which the shop most likely isn't going to give you, because they don't want you to know how much profit they made on the parts), you can contact the Service Manager or Fixed Operations Director at the dealership and explain your situation to them and ask them for assistance. Don't expect a whole lot of sympathy, because they are not going to be pleased by the fact that you took the job somewhere else and are now on their doorstep for assistance. More than likely they will want to blame the other shop for improper installation. There is no Oldsmobile Division to contact for assistance. Welcome to the world of orphans. There is probably somewhere else in GM that you could go with this, but I don't know where.

Your other alternative would be to contact the local Better Business Bureau.

I am assuming at this point that the installing shop is claiming not fault on their part.

Paul