Oldsmobile Intrigue

mfletouva · November 2002

Thanks.

How did you fix it? I mean, did just putting pressure on it once take of it for good, or did you get it fixed by the dealer? I can't tell right now if that is the problem, but next time I am with someone I'll have them drive, sit in the back seat and try putting pressure on that spot myself. I imagine its something like that...not a big problem but noticeable--I'd love to get it taken care of quick and easily!

buzzard4 · November 2002

Oldsman,

Every state's lemon law is different, but I think the time limits are usually pretty short. If you're thinking of pursuing that course (and I hope you don't have to), you should look into it as soon as possible.

I bought my Intrigue in Maryland, and the law says the problem has to occur within 15 months or 15,000 miles. Other states are more liberal, saying it's within some amount of time after the warranty expires. In most states, the car has to be in for repairs 4 times or out of service for 30 days. Steering and brake problems only require one repair attempt in MD.

I think in past posts you said you're in Tennessee, right? Here's the link to their lemon law site:

http://www.state.tn.us/consumer/lemon.html

When I had my steering problems, it was out of service over 30 days and in for repairs 4 times, but I was over the time and mileage limits in MD. If I were in TN, though, I would have been within the post-warranty time limit.

Good luck.

b4z · November 2002

If you have a buzzing sound that is probably what it is.
i just moved it around with my hand. it would be fine for awhile then start up again.
I think the last 12 months I had the car it didn't buzz.
But the front end was making so much noise that i drove around with the stereo cranked.

sunsession · November 2002

What is the preferred method of removing snow and ice from a car's surface safely? Unfortunately garaging is not possible. I suppose I could get one of those car covers, but until then....Canadian neighbors, I need your expertise. Thanks.

dindak · November 2002

Our cars are garaged but we have brushes in both for when we are on the road. Spend a few extra $$ and get a good soft bristle brush so it minimizes scratching of the paint. I personally try not to brush the car at all, just cleaning / scraping the windows. If there is a lot of snow I take my arm and try and push it off with out getting too close to the paint. The last 2 winters have yielded very little snow in the Toronto area and I hope for the same this year.

white6 · November 2002

Alternator is a Delco... just like what came off. However, this one has a lifetime warranty through O'Reilly's Auto Parts. At least it'll be the last one I have to pay for. I really don't believe the
"re-design" fixed the problem... just band-aided it so they could get you out of the warranty period and, therefore, not their problem. As I said, I think we'll be replacing alternators forever, since GM isn't going to spend any time/resources researching a proper fix for a model/engine that is out of production.

dindak · November 2002

Mine seems to work fine as long as it's not really cold. In extreme cold I get the flicker, otherwise I'm fine. Not a bad idea you have though. I will get mine replaced in February before the warranty runs out and hopefully it will work ok for a few years.

I wonder if there are other brand alternators that work better?

racer_x_9 · November 2002

Try a Shuttsco snow rake. It will not remove ice but works great on snow and will not scratch the finish. You can buy a seperate ice scrapper from them.

http://www.snorake.com/

akitadog · November 2002

My car got rammed up onto the sidewalk late Thursday night and was sitting that way all weekend. Check out post #8129.

I also had to get my car towed on 5 separate occasions because it would not start for me. This happened if I tried to start it after it was recently turned off. The engine would have to cool completely before it would start again.
Turned out to be the fuel pressure regulator. It took 5 tows because no one could reproduce the problem. Finally, I brought the car in on a hot May morning and made it cut out right in the lot.
This, after both crank sensors were replaced on two visits and three visits that left them scratching their heads. The first time it happened left me 400 miles from home!

vcjumper · November 2002

Seems my 3.5L w/75,000 miles uses about a quart every 3,000 miles, a little quicker if I do a lot of high speed 85-95mph cruising. Anyone else?

oldsman01 · November 2002

Transmission is still not shifting properly. Pulled out of subdivision earlier today(engine cold, outside temp about 38 degrees) and got the "slipping clutch" sensation again. I say that because the best way to describe what the car does is the feeling you get when driving a car with a manual and the clutch is going bad. I'll accelerate to pull out and the engine will rev and the car will slowly move forward then there will be a "grabbing" sensation for a moment before the power comes on. It makes the car feel as if it has a turbo that has to spool up before it can go. Also, the 1-2 and 2-3 upshifts still have a delay as I can feel a definite hesitation before the next gear engages and the engine will rev a bit. So I guess first thing next week, the car will be going back in for transmission repair number four.

b4z · November 2002

I had an '85 IROC that would slip when it was cold. It got worse as the months went by.
GM rebuilt it under warranty. Needed new clutch packs, etc.
Turns out there was a TSB on it and lots of them were going out because of too much line pressure or something. The car shifted extremely hard into second.
After the rebuild it was much softer but would still chirp second.

dindak · November 2002

You need a new transmission. I'd be asking this time.

oldsman01 · November 2002

I hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving. Took a break from the turkey and trimmings for a while. Earlier today when I left the house tranmission again was doing the slipping when it was cold. I swear, it feels like your driving a car with a manual and you haven't completely released the clutch. Engine revs and car slowly moves forward, then the power comes on. All this followed by a 1-2 and 2-3 upshift which is seriously delayed. You can hear the engine freewheel for a moment. It literally feels as if there is maple syrup in the trasmission. Mind you it is cold, but not overly cold(35 degrees) so I don't think this is normal. Anyway, I'vr driven the car in colder weather than this last year and it didn't do that. Oh well, thankful I'm covered under warranty.

deweykloos · November 2002

Have a '98 Intrigue with 65K miles that' been a terrific car. Just found the left brake (stoping) lights on the left are dead--both bulbs. Checked the bulbs and they're still good as is the quality of the wiring and bulb socket.

Check with Olds dealer and was told that it's likely a problem somewhere in my steering column since the brake light wires go though or into it, and they said this would be an expensive ($300-400) repair).

HAS ANYONE OUT THERE EXPERIENCED, OR HEARD OF A PROBLEM LIKE THIS? Your kind input will be very much appreciated.

Dewey

moonshadow · November 2002

Before you get to deep into the column and the airbag goodies , i would take a good look at the brake light switch that rides just above the brake pedal that gets activated when you press the pedal.

These switch go bad some times on all cars. If you have an ohm meter you can unplug the connector and check for resistance.

If you see that it is easy to get at, and can disconnect it from the pedal arm, then it may be easier to check on a bench.

I have sometimes been able to spray some tuner cleaner into the sealed switchs through cracks and work the switch many times to get the dirt out. Rubbing achool works well also, but not as quickly. older car switch were sometimes able to come apart for cleaning . I have not looked at a gm switch lately.

Your ohm meter reading should be less than a couple of ohms otherwise the voltage gets dropped across the switch instaed of the bulbs. Sometimes there is more than one contact in the switch, one for the light and the other for the body module.

If you can not clean it and get a good low resistance reading then a new switch will be necessary. Sometimes brake switches can be hard to get at, if you do go after it , get a good light down there and pay close attention the any spacers and how it unbolts.

Keep in mine that there may be a couple of plugs in the harness from the column to the rear of the car . Sometimes just behind the rear seat accessable from the trunk. Even up under the rear sill where the speakers are. However, if a bad connector was your problem, then i would expect more than just missing brake lights.

Start with the brake switch and keep us posted.

mfletouva · December 2002

I got a call today from GM, asking for a survey about how the GM Card impacted the purchase of my new Intrigue. I had to tell them not really that much since without the huge discounts offered by the dealer and GM I wouldn't have done it, but I told them I appreciated the extra money anyway. They asked me if I picked a more expensive car because of the credits I earned..I said, hey, I picked the ONLY car on the lot!

Also, for those who are intersted, a Boston area GM dealer is advertising a new '02 GX for $18500 (before taxes). MSRP is $24400...not a great deal, since I got my GL w/PCS and Sun and Sound for $18900 (before taxes) from an MSRP of $27032, although $550 of that was GM Card and $400 was College Grad. Anyway, just a price update...

lmacmil · December 2002

My 2000 w/39K miles started really hard this morning for the first time ever. It's in an attached garage so the temp was above freezing. It caught the first time but died (which happens every once a while). 2nd attempt resulted in lots of cranking but didn't start. 3rd attempt it started and died again within a second. It was probably the 5th or 6th start when it finally stayed on and then ran fine like nothing ever happened. We'll see what happens after work when it's been sitting outside in sub-freezing temps all day.

For those of you who have had the crankshaft sensor problem, what kind of symptoms did you experience before concluding the sensor was bad?

dindak · December 2002

Effective Jan 1, the rebates on the Canadian issued GM Card fall to 3% from 5%. I'm not too impressed, but it seems like every loyalty and reward program on the planet is being cut back so I am not surprised either. Since there aren't any better free cards out there with a better program I guess I will keep going with the GM Card.

bkjohnson · December 2002

We're in the market for a second car, and used with power windows and locks, but it doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles. With the saturation of used cars, we're hoping to get a good deal as we did last year on a Tahoe.

Anyhow, a local dealer has two GX Intrigues for sale. One is a 2000 with 55k miles and the other is a 2001 with 49k miles. The 2000 listed price is 14,900 but has an "internet price" of 6,999. The 2001 is listed as 13,065 with an internet price of 9,999. Does this sound right? If you go by blue book standards the prices are about 1,500 below bb, although I've often heard that blue book estimates are high.

I've been reading this thread for a while now, and from what I can gather, the Intrigue is ultimately a reliable, fun vehicle to drive. I guess because I've never dealt with internet managers before, I'm sort of leery about the internet pricing option, the pricing seems low to me. I plan on talking with the internet manager but wanted to get your take on it.

vcjumper · December 2002

Those are not unreasonably low, the Intrigue does not keep its value well and the average car buyer does not want to take the chance on an orphan car/motor. With the new car incentives being so good, difficult to sell used cars like the Intrigue get that much tougher for them to sell.

mfletouva · December 2002

Well, those numbers don't make much sense. Why would the 2000 with higher miles have a higher 'listed' price than the 2001 with fewer? Internet pricing for used cars is largely a crock--obviously, you will want to check out the car thoroughly anyway so the dealer doesn't save anything by selling it to you by the internet, unlike a new car internet price. Therefore, view it as just the standard price for the car and treat it like that--I'm sure you will check both of them out carefully, drive them (ask them to let you take one of them home overnight) and then see what you think. I will say, I have yet to have an 'internet' price actually hold up in a real transaction (ohh, sorry, that was a mistake they say!), but sometimes it works out.

b4z · December 2002

Go for the 2001. It has the additional rear wheelwell liners. Really cuts down on the road noise. especially at high speeds or on asphalt that is not smooth.

deweykloos · December 2002

It was 5 days ago that I did the original post, and since then, the brake light on the other side has now gone dead. BTW, the light in the rear window DOES continue to work when I apply the brakes, but there is no light from any of the four brake light bulbs. Even at that, I plan to check the brake light switch as suggested by "moonshadow," and then will schedule a repair if that doesn't pan out.

Dewey

redline65 · December 2002

deweykloos - I experienced a similar problem a long time ago. One of my brake lights went out, but the bulb was still good. Also, one of my blinkers would blink fast and would cause one of the tail lights to go out. Anyways, it quit doing it before I could get it into the shop and it's been working fine ever since.

sunsession · December 2002

Someone in the supermarket parking lot gave me my Christmas gift early in the form of a heavy black line about 10-inches long on my rear fender. Looks as if it was made by one of those protective black rubber bumper inserts rubbing ever so roughly against my white Intrigue. Is there some commonly available solution that will clean it without removing the paint? Thanks.

oldsman01 · December 2002

I'd want to see and drive the cars and run a carfax report before putting anything down. Intrigues aren't paradigms of resale value, but those "internet" prices seem ridiculously low. I've got an 01 Intrigue which I like alot, although the transmission seems to have a problem which the dealers cannot seem to fix. For the price though, you can't hardly find a sedan with thge style, features, and performance of the Intrigue at a similar price.

dindak · December 2002

There is nothing on the road close to the value of an Intrigue. The incentives made it the sweetest deal around. Too bad it's gone.

jg28 · December 2002

will take that scuff out. I've found it quite useful with this new white paint. It can scratch the paint surface if you're not careful just use lots of water.

Someone here asked what the build date of my bro in law's intrigue was. I looked and found that the 2001 was built in Sep of 2000. Has the bad alternator problem.

I was very pleased with the service at my Nissan dealership. It's very close which makes it convenient but hopefully I won't be spending too much time there. I wish I wouldda taken a picture of my Intrigue with her wreath on last year. It looks great on the Maxima this year too but dang sure miss her.

b4z · December 2002

I would recommend polishing compound.
There are different degrees of abrasiveness on compounds with rubbing usually being very harsh.

You will probably have the best luck doing it mechanically rather than by hand. A cheap buffer or polisher from an auto parts sore will provide excellent results.

mfletouva · December 2002

Hello all...

I have been looking at pictures of the '04 Pontiac Grand Prix (presumably the Intrigue would have been somewhat similar) and I have to say I'm not impressed. Even though some of the moldings are gone, to me it still looks awkard and "fake." The problem I have with the current generation GP is that it is too long to have such fake 'sporty' attributes, the same things look better on the Grand Am. The '04 doesn't seem to solve this much, and it also doesn't seem to have too many mechanical changes either. I wonder what they will do with the Regal.

I know its been said many times, but count me as one of those who thinks that the Oldsmobiles look MUCH better than Pontiacs--more natural, smoother, more sophisticated. There is a certain 'stealth' aspect to the Intrigues styling. Everyone who sees it knows its fast but it doesn't need to shout it from the rooftops to get your attention. Oh well...preaching to the choir i guess!

TSchramm · December 2002

My wife nicked the side of another car we had with the black rub strip on her bumber. Two application of regular car wax - Turtle Wax, I beleive, was all it took to get out. I'd try that route before using anything potentially more abbrassive.

TSchramm · December 2002

I continue to be amazed at what a good deal a used Intrigue can be.

In today's local Dallas paper , there are 5 2000's between $7-10K, 3 '01's from 8,995 to 12,995 (GL and GLX), a '98 w/65K for 6500, 2 low-mile '02's for 13,995 and 15,595 respectively.

While Oldsmobile's poor fortunes have made it one of the fastest depreciating line of cars around, anyone looking for a great value on a used car should definitly be considering the Intrigue. I still consider mine a steal.

sunsession · December 2002

Thanks all for the advice. Will start with the wax, then move on to the compounds if unsuccessful.

beach15 · December 2002

http://community.webshots.com/photo/56801672/56802120oSpZNU

beach15 · December 2002

http://community.webshots.com/photo/56801672/56802059qRyqKc

rjs200240 · December 2002

Hee hee... whitewalls...

The car looks great!

moonshadow · December 2002

Just got back to the internut as my unit died.

Read your recent post and must confess that I misunderstood your first. When you said both lights died, I was thinking one on each side.

However your first post clearly states on the left so I apologize for the posible goose chase I may have sent you on.

If one side worked then the brake light switch probably is not your problem. I am thinking now that you have a bad resistance in a plug or a cut, pinch or wear somewhere in the brake wiring., and it seems to be getting worse.

One might rule out the front of the car as some of your braking lights work, however, today cars "may" send a wire back for each of the three brake lights. You can see this if you remove the liner at the back to expose the plugs of the lamps.

Try following the wiring in the trunk back from the lights to the high mount stop light looking for plugs and or chafing. Unfortunately , mine is in the stupid wing and therefore the wiring would be different.

I would think GM uses the same wiring harness and then probably connects were your window light plugs in and then slides along the trunk lid into the wing.

Remember also that the car has battery rundown protection if your lights were left on or perhaps brake light stick then power is cut to a variety of circuits after 20 minutes or so. Just in case your chasing voltage with a meter with the trunk open and trunk light jerks you around. Hopefully, these lights are not going through some stupid module???

Sorry if I misled you and good luck.

dindak · December 2002

They still make whitewalls?

mfletouva · December 2002

No offense or anything, but OUCH that thing looks awful! Whitewalls?????

LOL...well, to each one's own I guess...the rest of the car looks good!

beach15 · December 2002

You wouldn't believe my shock too, when only in August, it still had the original GY Eagle blackwalls and I drove it non-stop for two weeks. It still had a very sporty look then. However, I couldn't wait till morning, and when we got there late at night, I went out to the garage, flicked on the light, and there sat a snow and salt splattered silver Intrigue, with whitewalls. It took a day to get used to it, and actually looked better after I washed the car, but still not as good as it would have looked without them.

I have to admit though, after a few days, it kind of grew on me, and was a little cool that it stuck out from all the other Intrigue's in town. Even though they're whitewalls, at least it has a new set of Michelins and the Crapyears are in the trash!

mfletouva · December 2002

Funny story...nowadays it seems like every Intrigue stands out cause they aren't any others in town!

dindak · December 2002

Intrigues are very common around west Toronto. They sold well around here. Must be a lot of smart people in the area.

;-)

evandro · December 2002

What do you recommend to keep the leather clean and like new?

TIA

evandro · December 2002

Which model years was it offered in?

TIA

tcjeff1 · December 2002

I understand that GM will not continue making the 3.5L DOHC V-6 engine that I have in my Intrigue - presumably they could be putting it in other GM cars. Is there any inherent problem with this engine or anything in particular I should be on the lookout for??

akitadog · December 2002

Unfortunately, GM won't be transferring the engine to any other vehicles. It's the death of the "Shortstar". The most touted reasons I've heard is that there were production problems, the engine would not be able to meet upcoming emissions standards, and the engine is a little too expensive to build.

However, I think that GM really wants to concentrate on its series of 60 degree V-6 engines. They use less space than the much wider 90 deg. 3.5L, and due to their continuously variable valve-timing, have more and broader power and torque. Also, the engines, coming in different displacements, share a few parts. This cuts down on costs. The Shortstar shared few, if any, with other engines.

These engines are some of the finest I've experienced. I mean, who else can pump out that kind of power (215hp, 230 lb/ft) on regular unleaded? Only the 01-02 Aurora 4.0 outperforms it in this way.

tander · December 2002

Ive heard the 3.5 was discontinued because it tends to leak oil. Anyone having this problem (yet)?

mfletouva · December 2002

5/60k warranty was offered on all Oldsmobiles started in the 2001 model year.

3.5L V6 does not have any inherent problems--it has performed flawlessly in the Intrigues and Aurora's it is installed in. It was not cancelled because it leaks oil (at worst it tends to burn a little more than some others). Its just simple economics that dicated it be cancelled.

So what's up with the new look of the message board? Seems to take longer to load on my computer.

b4z · December 2002

I have noticed that too. Also some of the fonts are smaller.

Oldsmobile Intrigue

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