I looked at all the American cars ( except mopar ) from 1997 - 1999 ..... I figured with the amount that I have to spend that those are the years I would be dealing with for the most part..... and heres what I found on one site ( carcomplaints.com)....Oldsmobile did not do to bad , they had a few intake gasket / plastic manifold issues with the Cutlass and the eighty eight .... and yes I did say plastic manifold! other then that a few complaints on the antitheft device on both models ( cant start the car ) the Cutlass supreme looked good and so did the Achieva and Intrigue , however the Alero did not fair as well for the 1999 model.... a fair amount of complaints on the " antitheft issues " and some on the " intake/gasket issues " the 1997 and 1998 Alero was good though.... also the Sihouette looked decent in 1997/98 , in 1999 they had some problems with the intake gasket again , they listed the 3.1L on that car. the 1997 Aurora had some issues on the intake/ gaskets but the 1998/99 looked good.... and that was it on Oldsmobile..... more to come ! to be continued..........

from what I understand about the intake/gasket issue is a design flaw and the fact that those cooling systems used dexcool antifreeze which would eat away the plastic gasket and either leak into the motor or down the side of the motor ..... and im talking about a major leak that would empty the whole system out in a minute..... there is some other issue with the head gasket/intake gasket design that also mixed the antifreeze into the oil toasting the motor too . it seems that Chevy , olds , Pontiac and Ford had the same problems.

 

Exactly! I managed to find mine right away. Was letting the car warm up 3 years ago (winter morning - fresh snow, LOTS of fresh snow) Came out and started to drive away. Saw a puddle of coolant where the car had been sitting. Stopped and popped the hood. Coolant leaking from the TB gasket and also pooling on top of manifold. Screech! Park. The intake manifold gasket had cracked and there is a plastic bypass tube in the lower part of the intake that had also cracked. BTW, a good tipoff is the smell of coolant coming through the venting of the car. Apparently the 3.8 is susceptible to this. Mine happened at around the 145K mark.

So, Bryan
what kind of car are you looking for and how much you willing to spend?

 

Hi Allen , we are looking to spend no more then $2000.00 on a vehicle , and the type of vehicle im looking for is .... a non junkie one Im possibly looking for a Mercury or a Buick in those years.

 

The Ford Aerostar looks good from 1997-1999 no problems......1997 Probe looked good also and that was the last year it was offered. The Explorer was a problem ... alot of little electrical , tranny , and engine issues in 1997 , 1998/99 is a disaster it seems the 4.0L was a bad motor and these two years had alot of complaints in these catagories like timing chain issues , tranny failures , and electrical problems. The 1997 Taurus had a fair amount of complaints on tranny failures and some electrical problems , and the 1998/99 gets worse with those problems. The 1997 Windstar had no problems , but 1998/99 had a bunch of tranny failures and electrical issues like ....doom light wont shut off / door ajar feature wont shut off.

 

I know your pain. I'm also in the process of looking for a car for my son. The one I am leaning most toward right now is a 96 regency with 87K miles. Around 1600.00 Kind of big but has all the safety things I'm looking for and the price is negotiable. Good luck on your search.

Ford Aerostar? Check it for corrosion issues. Probe - great car if you're looking for a 2 door. Explorer? explore other options. Only one guy I know had a Windstar - it was a great van. Don't know what year it was though.

 

The 1997 Lumina was ok , but 1998/99 started having intake gasket issues also 3.1L The Cavalier seems to be pretty good with only a few repeat problems for all three years ... like being hard to stop ( ABS issue ) and problems starting. The Malibu is doomed , it had a bunch of complaints for all three years about the bad manifold gasket , antitheft device problems ( car wont start ) The 1997-1999 Blazer had some problems , the 97 did not list the gasket problems , but the 98 listed a couple of them 4.3L also had some trouble with the antitheft device along with a fair amount of complaints of the flashers wont shut off and clicks all the time , and a battery drain problem when the ignition is off , and some security light sensor in the steering column.

 

The 1997-1999 Lesabre had a few intake gasket issues . the 1997-1999 Riviera had no problems . the 1997-1999 Park Ave. had no complaints. the 1997-1999 Regal had no complaints. The 1997 Skylark had one complaint and the 1998 had a variety of complaints. The 1997 Century had 1 blown head gasket complaint and the 1998/99 had some intake gasket issues.

 

Don't worry to much about the intake gasket issue. Pretty easy fix on cars. The mini-van is a different story. I was a solid 6-7 hour job full of choice wordswhen I did my wifes old Silhoette.

 

The 1997/98 Cougar had no complaints , the 1999 had some starting problems. The 1997-1999 Sable had a few tranny shifting problems and a couple of starting issues.The 1997-1999 Villager had no problems. the Mountaineer had no problems. The 1997 Grand Marquis had some intake manifold/gasket problems and same with the 1998/99.

 

I may need a typing break after this one The 1997-1999 Bonneville 3.8L had a couple of complaints about the intake manifold issue again. The 1997-1999 Grand Am had a bunch of complaints on the manifold/gasket issue 3.1L. The 1997 Grand Prix was ok though which is hard to beleive , because 1998/99 had a bunch of intake complaints on the same 3.8L and the 3.1L. The 1998 especially the 1999 Montana had intake issues 3.4L and 3.1L

ok maybe it wasnt so bad because its the same problem over and over.... ill being doing some more research on mopar and maybe some imports also .... I was surprised that when i did search on that POS Chrysler mini van we had and to my surprise they faired better then half of the ones above I researched so far.

 

yea , I read that it can be done by the owner , just half to remove all the garbage off the top of motor , and you also can get a non-plastic manifold and a better gasket for that motor , dont buy the same stuff that you had on there.... so far looks like Buick is the winner followed closely by Mercury , but i realize that this is only one site , and I wonder how many dont complain not to mention all the idiots listing catagories in there on stuff like.... my rotors are warped or the tires wore out

 

While I won't weigh in on which car you should buy, I can offer the following comments regarding GM V6 intake manifolds and gaskets. You can but OE style replacement lower intake manifold gaskets which are plastic with injection molded rubber seals OR you can buy a redesign (Fel-pro, part number has a T suffix if I remember correctly) which is essentially a metal plate with rubber on the outside. I have done a significant amount of these repairs. I have had the OE style start leaking again in less than a year (both OE and aftermarket OE style) and some last a long time. I have yet to see the metal style begin leaking again. When the lower intake manifold leaks - most leak to the outside of the engine and some leak into the crankcase which contaminates the engine oil. When the engine oil is contaminated, it seems the DEX-Cool does damage to the bearings much faster than standard (green) coolant. That said - if it is caught relatively quick, most engines will run for some time after having a milkshake made without problems. If it is going to wipe out a bearing, the knocking noise seems to show up in pretty short order.
The intake manifold leak also applies to GM V8 engines of that vintage as they use the same junk plastic gasket design.

Some of the plastic upper intake manifolds (air plenum) have a metal EGR tube in them. this was a poor design and the heat from the EGR ruins the seal (the tube is supposed to be cooled with coolant) and they leak water into the manifold (results in burning of coolant). I have actually even seen the plastic of the manifold melted/distorted. You can purchase aftermarket updated manifolds. I believe they are listed with Dorman Products as in their OE Solution line.

Overall the GM V-6 engines are relatively robust and easy/inexpensive to repair. The security problem is usually the ignition switch sensor, which in many of their cars is part of the ignition switch. This is apparent if the security light is blinking at you after leaving the key on for 10 second or so.

Note: I am not employed by, nor endorsing, any above mentioned company. In my past life I was a technician and happened to work on a "few" amount of these.

 

Thanks jackedolds for the info on that , I really appreciate it .... im gonna try and stay away from those motors all together if I can ..... do you know which size motors to stay away from that had the worst problems ? or which car manufacturer had the most problems with that ? ...... better yet , can I change out the dexcool antifreeze and put regular in there cause I happen to own a Cavalier that has that dexcool crap in the radiator and want to get rid of it if I can.

 

In my experience the GM 3.8 L is the most robust of the nineties/early 2000 GM V-6 engines in the cars. I have witnessed over 200k on nearly every engine GM makes, even seen some with 300K or more - the real trick is doing appropriate preventative maintenance (which really is engine/trans specific).

As for changing the coolant...YES. you can absolutely switch from dexcool to green coolant. Be advised that you DO NOT want to mix the green coolant and dexcool so if you are doing this yourself I recommend making sure it is all flushed out very well. I typically use a garden hose, remove the T-stat and thoroughly flush the block and heater core (I do this separate). Once water coming out is clear then you can fill back up with green. Don't forget to wash out overflow reservoir as the cooling system uses this as an expansion tank (which is why it is important to have a cap which works properly for pressure and vacuum). Likely there will be a "mud like" substance inside which requires significant agitation or direct hard spray from hose to remove. Get as much out as you can.

P.s. The ford v-6 (3.8 I think) is known for vacuum leaks causing check engine lamp for lean running. There is technical service bulletins out on this.

Bottom line is that all cars have their issues - Yup...at the risk of being berated or belittled by someone I will repeat - ALL OF THEM. Most issues are not that significant if you are aware of the potential, keep an eye out for them, and repair before catastrophic failure. I would classify the GM intake manifold leak and even manifold melting in this category. If you like the car and are hung up on the leak or manifold problem, buy the car and do the gasket manifold job before you start driving it. Problem solved :-)

 

My 2000 Grand Marquis still has the plastic coolant crossover but my 07 has the aluminum crossover.