Oldsmobile Alero

davent

Thanks jpelder...I'll boost the pressure to 34 psi..still a bit icy here so I dont want to go too high. I've slowed down my speed from 75 mph to 70mph on the hwy..a slightly better mileage but....boooooring commute. Are the Bosch platinum spark plugs better than the AC Platinum plugs for the 4 cyl? Anyone know the Bosch P/N for mainly hwy driving? ALso, has anyone removed the snorkel contraption on the air box to improve airflow?

ecarmack

That's exactly it, plus GMS. If I skip all options (spoiler, PCS, etc.), I can get it in the $15k range.

Still looking at the Alero and Vibe though.

jpelder

Sounds like you got it going for a great deal for a GM car. What is GMS?

I tend to like bigger cars, but for some reason I dislike the Intrigue. (I almost went for an Impala) It is a great value, and the 3.5L is very appealing. However, I felt the alero was a better form/function combo plus had a great manual transmission.

ecarmack

Is just the GM employee discount I am getting through my in-laws. It is usually 3% to 4% below invoice. It is supposed to end this year for us, due to the Delphi spin-off from GM.

There is only one manual Alero available in central Indiana right now, and it is about a mile from my house. I want to try the 5 spd Vibe before making my decision, but they are not available yet at the dealers. There are quite a few $18k to $20k automatic Vibes that don't appear to be selling all that quickly.

dtownfb

dindak: Read in this month's Motor Trend that the Bravada will be a Cadillac after 2004. Makes sense. No need for Caddy to develop a mid size SUV.

louie_j

I was the owner of a 2000 Alero GL3 until about 6 days ago. The Alero met it's death as a result of a brake system failure. Upon reaching the intersection with a busy main road, the system failed. The brake pedal went to the floor. No warning lights. No ABS activation. No braking whatsoever. Needless to say, I ended up in the intersection at about 25 MPH. Cranking on the steering wheel to avoid entering traffic at a critical 90 degree angle, the initial impact was at about a 45 degree with the driver's side front corner of the car. The rear of the car then came around to be parallel with the other vehicle (a full size Chevy van). The rear bumper of the van hooked the edge of the drivers door and pulled it open. The resulting hooking of the door caused the car to spin and come to a rest perpendicular to the roadway. Thankfully, I was wearing my seat belt (air bag did not deploy) and was not ejected from the vehicle as it went around.

This was the second brake system failure that had occurred on the vehicle. The first was pulling out of my driveway at 5MPH. This was four months ago. Since it was not a hard failure, there was no way to prove that a problem existed. The only "warning" was that in both cases, the "tire pressure low" light had illuminated. Upon checking the tire pressures, they were found to be correct. The tire pressure warning light had falsely gone on. My guess is a bad wheel speed sensor, since the tire inflation warning system uses the same sensors as the ABS.

Has anyone else had any bogus tire pressure warning lights come on or experience the brake pedal going to the floor? If not, be warned that if the tire pressure light comes on and the tires are okay, a brake failure may be coming.

jpelder

That is a very scary story. Do you know the reason for the failure? It was my understanding that this kind of failure was not possible.

Keep us posted. I know that my alero doesn't have the tire pressure monitor, but has ABS and traction control.

tomcat630

"...Not unless they do away with the Grand Am and move the Alero over to the Pontiac line."

No, the Alero is not going to be "moved over to Pontiac". It's going to die with the current N-body chassis after many years. "Epsilon" is the new GM midsize platform, and it is now coming out in Europe as the Opel Vectra. The 2004 Malibu and 2005 Grand Am will come off of this chassis.

Next summer, the 04 Malibu comes out and then the 2005 GA is next, with a new Saturn. There has been no owrd of how the cars will be styled other than they will be "more modern". So, don't expect a "Chevy/Pontiac Alero"

heng

The car has more than 26K miles on it and the bogus tire pressure light scenario has been happening all along but only now and then.

No problems with the brakes. Its hard to see a connection with the wheel sensors and a failure of the hydraulics (which is what happens when the brake pedal goes to the floor). But I am worried now since my son drives the Alero.

jpelder

I too was skeptical that a sensor could cause a hydraulic failure, which is what that failure sounded like.

However, if the ABS sensor was mistakenly reading that the wheels had locked up, would they not then release the hyrdraulic pressure?

dindak

There are some great 04/05 Grand Am pictures in the new Motor Trend magazine. Car looks awesome IMO. I think they put some Alero in the design and the ribbing and plastic is all gone.

tomcat630

My point was that the current Alero N body/chassis is going away. They won't rebadge it, but will come out with all new Pontiacs

I am sure that GM will use some features that might of been for Olds'. Pontiac is going to be the import figheter division from now on.

louie_j

Glad to see that I'm not the only one that has had the tire inflation light go on. The same wheel speed sensors control the ABS, tire inflation, and traction control.

The hydraulics didn't fail. I went to the body shop today and the pedal is there (firm). My guess is and ABS thing. A wheel sensor probably "freaked out" and told the ABS system that a wheel was locked when it wasn't. Remember, the ABS system will keep lowering line pressure until the wheel unlocks. If the sensor shows that the wheel doesn't unock, it continues to bleed off line pressure. Unfortunately, it will do this to the point that the pedal goes right to the floor. Apparently the ABS servo moves faster than your foot does on the pedal.

idlehans

My sincere thanks to everyone on this board for their help as I considered whether to get my 2002 Alero with a V-6 or a 4 cyl engine, and thanks also for the discussion on engine comparison that followed. I decided to go with the V-6 GL2 and have really enjoyed the thrill of a new car. It drives really beautifully, but I'm sad to report that it only got 17 miles per gallon on its first tank of gas, 18 mpg on its second (and it wasn't all stop and go...at least some of that was highway driving). Is this typical for a car that's not gone through its break-in period yet? I've got about 400 miles on it. The salesman says the mileage will improve significantly once the car is broken in, but I've never heard that before. Is it true, or is it just the salesman trying to placate me for the time being? If the gas mileage doesn't improve, would it make sense for me to take the vehicle back to the dealer to inquire whether maybe the engine isn't tuned optimally or something? Can anyone tell me, is this a real problem, or am I worrying prematurely over nothing?

luxperfval

My 2001 GL2 gets around 20-22 mpg with mostly city highway driving, are you familar with the Merritt Parkway in CT?? Not exactly a freeway, but sometimes I can set the cruise, when I am on an actual freeway for long periods I usually get around 26mpg by driving 74mph.

My milage hasn't really changed much, but I think I know why, during the break in period first 3000 miles I did not drive very hard and experienced 19-23mpg, now I drive much harder (18k miles) and I get around 21-24mpg. So I guess you could say that my milage did actually improve. Let us know your experiences.

I just changed the oil, added a K&N, and upped my tire pressue, I am hoping that this results in a 1-1.5 mpg improvement. I will let all of you know.

luxperfval

I am not 100% sure if it is in my head, but I have noticed a nice increase in passing power with the K&N filter. It seems as though the engine does breathe better. 0-60 feels a tad better as well. I would think that should equate to better fuel economy.

yurakm

You can burn huge amount of gas on some parts of Merrit Parkway, CT route 15. My favorite spot is driving South between exit 59 toward 58. When driving North between exit 66 and 67, also hardly can avoid downshifting.

luxperfval

Yeah I hear that, that area is nice because usually it is difficult for the police to sit on the side of the highway in those areas.

The bad part is that I get off at exit 68, Derby to go to work in Shelton, so normally I miss that section. The Merritt is especially pretty south of the shikorisky bridge. I really like it in the early summer or early fall.

dindak

Although my Intrigue has a completely different engine, I had horrible gas mileage for about 5 tanks of gas before it got better. I now get almost exactly what the car is rated, sometimes even better. Give it time.

yurakm

Derby to Shelton is exit 58/57 to probably exit 53, right? Exit 68 must be a typo?

I live in Hamden, work in New Haven, commuting on city streets. When driving on highways, usually for pleasure, mostly drive North.

Of local highways I like most the route 8. Especially North of Waterbury to Torrington and Winsted, and than (not highway, just a very good rural road) to Mass Turnpick accross Berkshire County, MA. However, the Merrit is nice too.

I also like the connector CT-40 to exit 10 on I-91. And the stretch of I-91 North of junction with CT-15, between exit 18 and exits 22-23...

luxperfval

You are right it is 58 that I am talking about, I never really go by the dang numbers. I was 10 exits off on my posts. I take the Rt 34 exit, the one that has two one for Derby and one for Orange, I take the Derby one.

I LOVE Rt. 8 north of Waterbury, as Car and Driver said it is one of the best drives in America. Beautiful!!!

Yeah I also like 91 from the Rt 40 connector to 95 in New Haven. I go to QU, so I am always in Hamden, I guess you could say I was a resident there as well until QU booted the Sr. Class. Now I live in Cheshire.

rdeschene

We were driving down the highway from Syracuse to Rochester this weekend, and drove into high speed winds (50-70mph) with driving snow. Pretty bad visibility - 10 car lengths at most - but the car handled the gusting wind well, and with a thin layer of snow on the highway traction was still very good (Michelin Arctric Alpins).

On the drive back home (about 4 hours) the snow had stopped, but the high, gusting winds continued. Again, really good stability in crosswinds - didn't feel like you had to apply much force through the steering wheel to keep on track. Used the horsepower to good advantage to quickly get around slower traffic too. Gotta love that.

A friend of mine with a Corolla was out that weekend and said his engine was literally faltering - like it was being starved for air? I oftentimes things domestics, GMs in particular, are better suited to weather & road conditions in this country - and this is another example.

heng

Was it the weather? I usually do Albany to Buffalo in 4.5 hrs.

Aleros and other sleek sedans do well in cross winds. Also tight suspensions and matched tires contribute a lot also. Minivans and SUVs are terrible.

rdeschene

Just to clarify: we drove to Syracuse Saturday (beautiful spring-like weather that day) and stayed there overnight, then drove from Syracuse to Rochester Sunday morning (that's when we encountered the really nasty weather). Later that afternoon, we headed home, driving from Rochester to southeastern Ontario. Four hours is the normal driving time for that distance. Fortunately, most of the snow had moved out of the area by that time, but it was still quite windy.

Then we got home, and found all kinds of trees and Hydro poles down around town, and lots of debris strewn everywhere. No damage to our home, thankfully . . . but some other folks weren't so lucky.

dindak

Does anyone know if I can get aluminum wheels as an option on the GX sedan? Brochure says you can't, but I have read the 2002 models can be ordered with them.

I am starting to think we will be skipping the SUV / van and going for an Alero. The deals are too good to pass up. Just hope GM will let us out of our current lease next month as I would like to get one ASAP.

ecarmack

I have been looking at GXs with 15 inch alloys. They come in the GX Sport Package, which you actually get a credit for taking.!

jpelder

I ordered my GX with the sport package. Comes with Aluminum wheels, leather wrapped wheel and shifter, and a spoiler for a $150 credit. However, the sport package is only available with the 5 speed manual (a plus in my book!).

Go for it...a great car at an incredible price.

dindak

I guess we shall see what they say. I would be getting an automatic though so perhaps I will have to get the plastic bolt ons. Oh well, they are ok.

They have a deal on up here for a base GX with free auto and power driver seat. Lease rate is 2.4% but I have a coupon from the auto show to get 1% off. Take my Oldsmobile C$2000 credit and it will be a sweet deal. Unfortunately I will have to wait and see when they will let me out of my lease. Right now only May and June up here.

rdeschene

Well, guess which warning light came on today: low tire inflation. Needless to say, after what I'd read here about another poster's ABS going out just after the low tire inflation warning came on, I was a bit anxious. But the brakes continued to work just fine. Turns out our rear driver's side tire was a bit underinflated (about 5 psi). We were surprised the light came on with such a slight difference in tire pressure, but it was tricky weather. We were going through a flash freeze right when this happened, and so maybe the lack of traction influenced the sensor. Anyway, we added air to the tire, reset the panel, and all is well again.

ecarmack

My dealer called and said there was an extra $500 available to those who get the employee/family discount through the end of the month (I believe on all GM divisions). He also said that earlier this month GM started giving an additional $750 rebate on Oldsmobiles if you took the 3yr/36k warranty instead of the 5yr/60k. So that was an additional $1,250 off, which with my other discounts, brought the manual GX to $9,750.

That was too good to pass up. I was also looking at the Vibe, but even if incentives start on the Vibe in the next few months, the price difference was just too great for what I was getting. I was more comfortable driving the Alero than the Vibe anyway, and with already having a minivan, I did not really need the extra utility of a small wagon.

Now, if the Alero can just be somewhere near as reliable as what my Accord has been, and what I'm sure the Vibe would have been. For the money though, I think it is a good chance to take.

skibry1

Its good to hear that the German design,Italian
made Getrag tranny is out there. Back in Nov '99
I was in the market for a new car and was excited
to hear Olds was doing a 4cyl 5spd in the doubleought model. I had no luck finding one in
the west-central IL area.The dealers couldn't or
wouldn't look into other dealers inventory. I test
drove a GX auto and was rather pleased.Those Aleros have nice seats.

dindak

Congrats on the Alero. I too am looking at both Vibe and Alero (among a few others) and the Alero is clearly the better deal by a long shot. Right now I could get C$2000 Olds credit, 1.4% lease for 36 months and 400 liters of free fuel. Add my $1200 GM dollars and it's an amazing deal. Unfortunately GM Canada is only letting people out of leases up to June so I am stuck till at least next month as ours goes to July 31.

ecarmack

Thanks and good luck with your decision. A cheap lease on an Oldsmobile may be the way to go if you can get it. That way you won't have to worry about the decreased resale value.

I got a good enough deal, and I put so many miles on a car, that I am not too concerned about the resale value.

The Vibe is a nice package, but it will be even nicer when GM kicks in the inevitable incentives. But that may take awhile.

dindak

I'm not too worried about re-sale and we may still buy as I can get 0.9% for 60 months. I think with the Ecotec this car has become an excellent alternative to the 4 cyl Accord. Very smooth and nimble handling.

Vibe is nice, but the engine is a bit loud and the lease / finance rate is 4.9%.

Still not sure, but the Alero deals are hard to resist and my mom loves her 99 GL V6.

evandro

I put some of the pictures I took at NAIAS here. I didn't try to compete with marketing pictures, but I'm not proud of the photographic quality of my pictures either.

Anyway, I focused especially on concept models and engines, for I love cut out engines! ;^)

Enjoy!

rdeschene

Well, I'll be honest folks, I just feel like writing about our car for a change of pace.

As some of you might recall, we replaced our Bridgestone's with Michelin Arctic Alpins for the winter. I thought of switching back over to the all-seasons a bit early this year, as I was doing yard work and HIKING down X-country ski trails 1.5weeks ago. Then, fwoomp, we now have more snow accumulation then we've had all winter.

Anyways, it gave me an excuse to drive on slick, icy, snow-covered roads (all features true individually, and in combination, depending on where I was driving). I have to say, I LOVE these tires on ice and slick snow. I can hear other people spinning their wheels here and there, but our car is as solid as a rock on the road.

They actually did quite well in deep snow too.

We did have the "low tire pressure" light come on late last week and, having read a previous post from someone for whom this predicted an ABS system failure, my wife came home cautiously. It was legitimate though, and surprisingly, the pressure difference was only 6-7psi compared to the other tires on the car.

A couple of days later, I found out why. The pressure on the tire was now down to 16psi!!! After I refilled the tire, I looked at the tire to try to figure out WHY it was losing pressure (lose valve stem, leaking valve extender, puncture, etc.) and, sure enough, we had managed to pick up a sheet metal screw.

BTW, for any fellow Canucks out there, I got these Michelins at Canadian Tire, and there is a free 5 year Road Hazard warranty. I'm not sure if that's through Michelin or Canadian Tire but, either way, this worked out well for me. And no, I've NEVER experienced damaged to a tire before.

cpwingnut

I have had my Alero GL with a 2.2l engine for over a month now and seem to be getting poor fuel economy. I drive about 60% hwy & 40% cty and am averaging between 11-12 L/100km(20-22mpg). This is well over the 6.9 & 10.1 L/100k(28-41 mpg) advertised by GM. I thought it could be just a break in period thing and that it will get better after a few thousand km.

The engine also seems to idle rough? I can feel the steering wheel vibrate when stopped at a light. The dealership says that there is nothing wrong! Has anyone else had these problems?

Other than that, love the car and also used $2000 coupon and GM points. Much better deal than anything in its class.

junkman2

I have a 2002 Alero with the 2.2L ecotec engine and a manual transmission. I have about 2,000 miles on it and got over 29 mpg on both of my last two tanks of gas. My driving is about a 50/50 mix between town and highway. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the car so far. My only real gripes are the radio buttons (have to press really hard to change stations) and a bit of excessive wind noise on the highway (maybe a bad window seal?). The car is fantastic in the snow, even with the original equipment tires.

coonhound

The Trac Off light came on on my 2000 GL sedan. I've tried operating the parking brake lever and button many times to no avail. Could not locate any associated fuses or relays in the owners manual.

Has anyone else had this problem? What is the fix? The owners manual say's I need to have the vehicle serviced. Well, that's very informative.

coonhound

Well, I drove around a couple of days with the trac off light on, and then because of Easter Sunday and the karma it went off. And now I can turn it off and on properly with the ETS switch. Go figure.

I still think I should take the owners manuals advice and have it checked at the dealer. Especially since it's still under warranty.

cpwingnut

I would just take it in anyway coonhound. Its probably just a bad switch, they can replace it in 15 min (asuming they have the part).

I read a few older messages regarding a restrictor that is easily removed from the airbox to improve flow. I checked my 2002 this weekend and found no obstruction. Perhaps they changed the design for the new 2.2 Ecotec. Has anyone found a modification on their 2.2 yet? Other than a K&N filter there doesn't seem to be any cheap upgrades to give it a bit more pep.

Has anyone seen those commercials for the Tornado Fuel Saver or better yet, ever used one? They say it reduces fuel consumption and boosts horsepower by causing a tornado effect of the incoming air. It Seems really expensive ($70US) for just a simple air tube insert. I am always skeptical of ads I see on TV. I would like to hear if anyone has had success with one. Thanks

coonhound

Since the light went off on it's own and the ETS switch and system were operating properly there were no stored computer codes.

Advise was, drive it and when it comes on again try to get it in the shop with the malfunction.

cpwingnut: There are several post about the rip off widget you mention under after market accessories. I for one have a K&N drop in filter on the 2.4 Alero and an Astro van. The only noticeable difference is more noise under full throttle. The testimonials of more power and fuel mileage are due to the placebo factor. If you spend $50.00 to $60.00 on the device it is going to have some benefit, right, not necesserly so. I will probably return to the paper filters soon.

I have been the worlds biggest sucker of gimmicks and have never found the magic elixir for fuel mileage, HP, and long engine life. I even bought a fuel line magnet. Probably I could better spend the money on charity than helping the purveyors of automobile enhancement devices that that fail to enhance anything.

cpwingnut

Thanks for the insight. I posted a message in the K&N accessories MB you mentioned. Thanks. Maybe someone there has tried the Tornado and can update me before I waste good money.

I hope you can get your Trac Light problem fixed. I guess you are going to have to do a lot of driving to get that light to come back on

coonhound

It's on at the moment and if it is on at startup tomorrow it's back to the dealer 35 miles out in the country, El Reno, Oklahoma.

After returning from the dealer service department it was on then off and operating properly, then on again.

I run the shift lever back and forth, parking brake on an off, punching the ETS switch, none of this affects anything. But with the light off everything seems normal.

cpwingnut: There are some post as to the un-effectivness of the tornado. And when you think about the cost of producing these is about $1.50 to $3.00. If it sounds too good to be true it no doubt is.

After all the money I've spent on this junk I'm becoming a skeptic.

Some that worked in the old carburetor days.
Vapor injection increased mileage but was not good for long engine life.
Fuel pressure regulator with electric fuel pump kept the fuel level lower in the bowl resulting in a little better fuel mileage.
Mothballs in the fuel line increased fuel mileage.
Driving with a vacuum gauge worked then and does today with modern technology.
Most have a bad side effect like modern prescription medicine, where the side effects are worse than the original ailment.

coonhound

Finally: A computer code showed the O2 sensor. Dealer replaced the O2 sensor and so far so good.

Reportedly the traction control shuts down for fault codes.

18,000 miles is not very far for an O2 sensor, but sitting in the waiting room with other GM owners, I discovered I don't have any problems.

drdabbles

Hello all,
First, the O2 sensor. These sensors are rather picky, and sensative, especially to shock, etc. This basically means that a large pothole, or mucking around with the air lines _can_ damage the sensor. I haven't seen it too often, but it does happen. Usually when people start moving hoses around (ie: to replace air filters, etc.)
As far as the tornado device, don't bother. This device simply spins the air in the air lines. Once the air hits a bend, kink, bump, or bulge in the air hose, it becomes turbulent again. Understand that the air will be turbulent always...that's just something you have to face.
I have replaced my air filter with the K&N on my '99 Alero, and have found that it gives a bit more noise when at WOT. I have noticed also that when revving the engine, the throttle seems to react a little quicker...not much...but a little.
The best solution to fuel economy it to use cruise control, and try not to drive too much over 75MPH (usually around 2500RPM on the 4Cyl. Good luck!

drdabbles

Now to post my own question...

What is the largest throttle body that can be placed on the 4Cyl. '99 Olds Alero? I know that you can stuff a 62mm. one on the 6Cyl, and I would assume that it would NEVER work on the 4Cyl. Anybody replaced their throttle body? Any difference?

I'm also wondering how much I should expect to pay for a high(er) flow exhaust system. From what I have heard, the stock system is _very_ restrictive, and it kinda sounds...lame. I want my car to sound nice, as it sails past people on the highway.

And lastly...WHEN WILL SOMEBODY BE MAKING A MOD CHIP FOR THE ALERO?!?!?!

Email me back at tom@ceisystems.com

cpwingnut

I have looked all over for an exhaust system for my 2.2L ecotec. It seems hard to find performance parts for any Alero, nevermind one with a new engine!! I read a post that someone bought a Borla system for their Alero. I went to the Borla site and could only find a listing for a system for the V6. None of the others (dynomax, flowmaster, etc.) had any listings for any Aleros.

That seems strange because it seems that it is quite a popular car these days. Maybe companies are leary of investing in R&D for a company that will be stopping production soon? Hopefully they will catch up soon. Let me know if you get any good info.

dtownfb

Please don't take this the wrong way but why would a company spend money to develop performance parts for a car that will not be around in 2 years?

It's bad enough that some GM repair places say they won't service Aleros eventhough GM has assured owners that they will.

The other option you have is to look for performance parts for similar Alero cars like the Grand AM, Malibu, Saturn L-Series. You may find that they share some of the same parts.

cpwingnut

That was my thought too, but even though they are discontinuing the car, its in its fourth model year and will be around for two more. Most other manufacturers redesign their models evey 4-6 years anyway, so even though Olds will stop making them, they are no different than any other car. Plus they are very popular now(moreso now because of the great deals on Alero) so i'm sure there is a market out there for parts. I'll just have to keep searching i guess.

Its not like I'm looking for a bolt on supercharger or anything major that requires a lot of r&d. Just a simple bolt-on Cat-back exhaust. I'm not sure if the exhaust routing is the same between the vehicles you mentioned. If I have to I could get a custom exhaust shop to do the job, I just wanted a bolt on system I could do myself. Its more fun when you can upgrade the car yourself.

Its the same thing with the chip and other engine upgrades. Just because they wont be making the Alero, They surely will continue to put the 2.2 in other cars. They didn't develop it to discontinue it 2 years later. I think they already use it in Saturn models so I will look there for parts for now. Thanks for your suggestions.