Oldsmobile Alero

mikey00 · June 2005

You need blower motor resistor part #89018413. It's about $13 from gmpartsdirect.com. My guess is that when the dealer fixed it the first time he just used whatever blower motor resistor that was in stock and it was the older one that fails. It's not too hard to change yourself. It's by the blower motor in the passenger footwell. Remove plastic cover with 9/32 " socket (I think). Remove electrical connector from blower motor resistor board. Remove blower motor resistor board. It is secured by 2 - 7/32" screws (I think). These 2 are a little hard to get out. It will take a small 1/4" drive ratchet set or small box wrench. Reverse the procedure to install the new one.
As far as the intake manifold gasket goes, it went at 5 years, 55,000 miles on my 2000. They all fail at different times but they all do fail. I am surprised you made it to 80,000. I called Oldsmobile Customer Satisfaction (yes they are still there) and they sent me a check for 1/2 of the $1000 repair bill. This amount varies. GM dealer must diagnose problem before they can help. If you still have a genuine Oldsmobile in your area and you have been having your car serviced there, the rep at the satisfaction line will negotiate with the dealer and may even cover 100% of the repair, according to the rep I dealt with. I had mine done at a Pontiac dealer so the satisfaction rep said 50% was it. Local guy only wanted $600 for the intake gasket repair, so the savings is not really that great with the 50% refund when the dealer charges $1000.

jtrujillo86 · June 2005

Hey, at least you got GM to cover at least part of it. When the problem happened on my Malibu, it was $750 out of pocket that I didn't get any help with. I'm actually baffled that, after your warranty was up, they gave you a check :surprise:

- Jeremy

1989wrangler · June 2005

Me again....
I posted a msg concerning my fuel gauge jumping around and the majority or responces mentioned that it was probably my fuel sensor. Sounds good to me but here is a new thing wrong.
The other day I was sitting in my Alero and opened my door and the lights started to blink, the cabin light, milage gauge, radio light, and hazards all started to blink on and off. It lasted about 20 seconds then stopped. then it has continues to happen everytime i open the door.
Question for you guys is, Whats going on? Is it expensive to fix? Also before I replace to fuel sensor for the original problem is it possible that the fuel sensor may be acting up for the same reason all the lights are blinking on and off?
Could really use you help.
I really appreciate you all.
Thank you
Wes

jtrujillo86 · June 2005

First and foremost, let me say: Creepy....

Anyway, one time I had a weird issue with my car where the red 'BRAKE' light and the red seat belt light stayed on even after I shut my car off. I had pulled up on the brake and released my seat belt before I shut the car off, then when I came back to my car about an hour later, both of lights were still on...pretty screwy. It's never happened since then, but I have heard of other people having similar issues to yours and mine, but no fix yet.

Jeremy

isseyvoo · June 2005

Do any of you with the 5 sp. transmission ever find it difficult to shift into 2nd gear? I have an '01 with 20K mostly highway miles on it. (Lately it has become my primary car and has gotten more local driving.) On several occasions, I have been unable on the first try to get a clean shift into 2nd gear. Once when reving the engine pretty high to execute a quick pass on the right, 2nd wouldn't engage at all after several frantic attempts and I was forced to lug it in 3rd to get going. I have been driving standard shift for the last 20 years and have never had this problem before. Are there any known issues with this transmission? Shall I just consider it the nature of the beast, or would you recommend I get it checked out?

expwyman · June 2005

Hi everyone. I have a 2004 Alero GLS (collector's edition, actually), and I saw an XM add-on kit for GM Class II radios. Does anyone know if the radio I have is Class II / XM-ready? I have CD and cassette on mine. I'm guessing it is since one of the options on this car was XM, but my car didn't have it installed. Cheers!

rdeschene · June 2005

Perhaps your gauge cluster is malfunctioning? I have no idea if that's the problem, or how expensive a repair it would be, but this is the point where I would take it into the GM service centre to see what they can tell you.

jtrujillo86 · June 2005

I recently moved FAR from where I used to live and now I am even farther from work. I am making a 60 mile round trip to and from work everyday, all highway. I recently check the MPG that I was getting...33.5 MPG!!! AWESOME! I didn't add anything or do anything too different. Since I am commuting on the highway in the suburbs I have to keep it @ 70 MPH and under. I would say that only about 50 of those miles are city, with the rest being highway. I am so stunned by this because the original window sticker for my car says 29 miles per gallon on the highway. I guess I blew that right outta the water, right? If I added fuel injection cleaner in the next tank and stuck with highway driving, I'm willing to bet I could nearly reach 35 MPG. :P

Jeremy

rdeschene · June 2005

Well we made our last payment on our Alero (3.4L, 2000, bought used in 2001) in May. At 123,000km we gave the car a "treat" with a transmission flush (CDN$160.95), coolant flush (CDN$100.45), replaced the thermostat while they were at it (CDN$162.85, mostly labor) and oil & filter change (CDN$26.38). I put in a new air filter on my own for about CDN$15.

We're planning to keep the car for several years (I've kept past cars to around 220,000km, so at least another 4 years) so it's probably a worthwhile. We'll never know for sure, maybe it was a waste of 500 bucks. But when I consider the cost of an engine or transmission rebuild and/or payments on a newer car... This is one of the last few years of Oldsmobile production, so I might actually want to keep this car for even longer than that.

Rick D.
Brockville, ON, Canada

rdeschene · June 2005

Highway mileage on the 3.4L V6, with its quite tall gearing (about 2000rpm at 70mph) and in a relatively light car (around 3050kg) is really pretty impressive. I know some Ford Focus owners who get this kind of mileage in the real world, and often even less.

Actually, you have to look pretty far and wide to find cars that actually get 32-34mpg (U.S. gallons) highway or better, and few are as responsive - steering, braking, acceleration, handling.

Rick D.

1989wrangler · July 2005

Hey Guy's I found out what the electrical problem was, the previous owner installed one of those K-mart alarm systems and just didn't wire it correctly. So i pulled it out and the Alero is once again happy.
Could anyone please tell me how to access the Fuel Sending Unit, thanks for all you help

1989wrangler · July 2005

rdeschene · July 2005

Well, according to my Haynes manual at least, you would have to remove the gas cap to depressurize the gas tank, then unfasten the straps on the gas tank so that you can drop the gas tank. The fuel level sending unit appears to be part of a larger module, that also includes the fuel pump and the float. This module is removed from the gas tank from the top, and you would have to then disassemble the module to replace the fuel level sending unit alone.

If you're going to tackle this yourself you will want to have as empty a gas tank as possible as this would be very heavy and unwieldy when even partially full. You'd want to look at this job carefully to be sure you can SAFELY support the weight of the gas tank while you're underneath the car unfastening the straps. You'll definitely want somebody else there "spotting" you.

It would probably be worthwhile to have a shop manual of some kind so you can see the photos of the steps and module disassembly. There's some diagnostic information (i.e. which leads to measure using an ohmeter while moving the float up and down) for the fuel level sensor too.

Good luck,
Rick D.

1989wrangler · July 2005

Hey Guys.... I have the fuel gauge thats jumps around. I was told that it is the sending unit. Is this item it? Fuel Tank Meter Sender/Connector
Thx

rdeschene · July 2005

Was post 2610 supposed to contain a link to the fuel tank meter sender/connector ? I just see the item listed in bold text and there's no link.

Rick D.

rdeschene · July 2005

This is the wife Sue replying; my husband is the one who posted the detailed reply (far better than anything I could've come up with) on steps for replacing the fuel level sending unit. I don't know if the name you've posted is the same part; all I can tell you is that, at least according to our Haynes Repair Manual (for the Malibu, Alero, Cutlass and Grand Am), it's called the fuel level sending unit. Here's the Amazon.com link to that book; if you really want to do this repair yourself, it's something you might want to have on hand: Haynes Repair Manual

hopkins007 · July 2005

Still searching for anyone who's done this before....looking at making this a DIY task this summer.

rdeschene · July 2005

Neither my husband nor I have ever done this, but it is detailed in the Haynes Repair Manual I cited in another reply. It's better to have the book, because it provides photos showing the different steps, along with the instructions. But under "Seats - removal and installation" and "Front seat" it says:

1. At the front of each front seat, remove the two bolts securing the seat tracks to the floor. The plastic covers around the ends of the seat tracks can stay in place. Note: The main airbag module is beneath the carpeting under the right front seat. Refer to the Warning above and disable the airbag system before removing the passenger front seat.
2. Tilt the seat up and toward the instrument panel, unplug any electrical connectors underneath and remove the seat. The front plastic track covers can remain in place while the seat track tabs are lifted out of the slots in the floor.
3. If you want to replace the seat adjuster assembly, or you need to remove the adjuster to remove or replace the carpet, unbolt the adjuster from the seat assembly.
4. Installation is the reverse of removal. Be sure to tighten all bolts securely.

casandranow · July 2005

I had recently been looking at buying a brand new Cobalt, but instead of putting a lot of my free cash into a car payment and insurance, I've started looking at the used car lots. I came across a 99 Alero, really sharp looking, with about 60k on it. I have yet to drive it, but from the outside it looks to be VERY nice. But I honestly have no clue about the model or even Oldsmobile. Are they very reliable? And up here in the PA winters, could I get around in the snow decently? The pricetage is about $7500 for the 99,l which seems reasonable to me.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

rdeschene · July 2005

Keep in mind that 1999 was the first production year for the Alero, and GM still had a few bugs to work out. You might want to scan through all the postings here. It's a long haul, I know, but it will give you an idea of some of the problems people have experienced on a fairly consistent basis.

Having said that, we own a 2000 Alero GLS, and overall we have been very pleased with it. We've encountered few of the reliability issues other folks have reported. As for getting around in snow, we live in southeastern Ontario, and with the traction control, our Alero handles quite well on snow and in slippery conditions. In the winter, just to err on the side of caution, we switch our BF Goodrich Touring T/A SR4s (which came with the car) with Michelin Arctic Alpins.

Here's an article that gives an overview of the Alero and also addresses reliability issues: 1999-2003 Oldsmobile Alero Full Review

casandranow · July 2005

Thanks for the link! When I get the chance I'll try and pour over the past messages, but in the meantime that page was quite helpful.

mikey00 · July 2005

You didn't mention if it was a 4 or 6 cylinder. If it is a 4, being that it is a 99 it will be the old quad 4. In 2003 Alero changed to the ecotec 4 (same as Cobalt). This is a much smoother more refined engine. But still the quad is good basic transportation. Both get decent gas mileage. If it is a 6, the 6 cylinder is prone to intake manifold gasket failure, about $1000 repair at the dealer. At that mileage and age it should have failed already and the new one should be better. Also 1999 was the first year for the Alero and seemed to have more problems then later years. Brake rotors and losing speeds 1,2 and 3 on the A/C are other common problems.
On the plus side the Alero has good working traction control as standard equipment and as long as you get a good set of winter tires you will have no trouble in snow. I have a 2000 6 cyl. with 56,000 miles and did have all the problems above but still consider this to be a great car.
As you read through the posts you will see there were many others with strut/suspension problems, electrical problems, interior vinyl cracking problems, etc. You can also go over to the GrandAm forum, which is the same car only with the Pontiac name on it.
I am happy with my Alero and I know there are some others here who are also pleased. But when I read the problems many others are having I think it is a more problem prone car and you would be taking a risk with it. Get the Cobalt if you can.

jtrujillo86 · July 2005

They actually changed to the Ecotec in 2002.

Jeremy

hopkins007 · July 2005

Thank you very much for the reply - the Hanyes manual sounds quite promising. When I attempt this, I'll let the group know how I made out.

scoobycar10889 · July 2005

I was wondering if the newer radios (01-04) in aleros would fit/take the place of the older radios in 99-00 aleros.

And also would intrigue rims/tires fit on a 2000 alero?

Thanks for your time

scoobycar10889 · July 2005

Does anyone know where the speakers are with the 8 speaker radio avaible on 2002 aleros are?
i only can find six

pat · July 2005

I hope someone who knows the answer will tell us, but in some vehicles one speaker housing can contain two speakers.

burdawg · July 2005

If I'm not mistaken, it's just like in the Grand Am GT, a woofer near the bottom and a tweeter near the front corner of the window in each front door, and the same on each side enclosure on the rear package shelf.

hamsterhead · July 2005

My parents just got this '99 Olds Alero and are worried about an issue it has. After the ignition is turned off and the key is removed the engine still continues to run for a short time. I found about 5-10 seconds. My mother quotes "it ran for a good 30 seconds" but I think she was overexaggerating. According to her, if you turn the ignition back to on, and then to off again it always shuts off the engine immediately. I don't know if this is true, or a timing coincidence. To me it seems as though this is normal and the engine is just naturally delayed. Does anyone have any input?

maggie6 · July 2005

Hi, there. I have the problem with the security light coming on and the car not starting and waiting the ten minutes for it to reset so I can try again. Several times, it takes three attempts to restart. This is a little inconvenient when you need to get to work, or sit in a hot car with groceries (frozen foods, ice cream, etc), or can't drive off the ferry when it docks. By any chance, did you find a better solution.

burdawg · July 2005

Yes. When this happened on my 99 Grand Am I took it in to a dealer with a service department I trust and had them look at it. As suspected it was the Passlock sensor on the ignition switch. It was about $300 to repair, but I may have had other service done at the same time also, I don't remember now. I do most of my own work but refrain from doing things that I'm not familiar with, and this is one of those areas.

daniel777 · July 2005

My wife drives a 99 alero. The what looks like a low battery light came on. I took the battery out, it needed changed, replaced the battery but the light is still on. Is there someting I need to do to turn this light off or is there another problem?

burdawg · July 2005

It's probably the charging system not working.

moll · August 2005

I am looking at buying a 2002 Alero, and my husband wants to know what kind of mechanical problems it's known for, if they are expensive, and if it's possible to do your own repairs...(he does most of the fixiting around our house and current vehicles)...Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm really impressed with the looks, mileage, and crash test ratings so I'm hoping that nothing to terrible crops up!!! Thanks a bunch!

rdeschene · August 2005

Here's an article that gives an overview of the Alero and also addresses reliability issues: 1999-2004 Oldsmobile Alero Full Review

My husband has done some minor repairs and maintenance to our 2000 Alero, but most of the time we take it to the service centre. We had a Corsica before our Alero, and we have found that there have been more costly repairs with this car (for example, both front wheel bearings and the fuel level sensor have had to be replaced) than with the Corsica. However, we do enjoy our Alero and haven't found the reliability issues to be excessive; they just occur more frequently than they did with our Corsica (which, to be fair, had very few problems, beyond regular maintenance, until the last year we had it). The Haynes Repair Manual is good to have on hand for any do-it-yourself repairs.

shudders · August 2005

i bought my 1999 alero as a new unused vehicle. it is the only vehicle i have owned. it has not left me severely stranded, only recently about 300 miles from home. however, i am on my third transmission, not due to my driving since it is rarely driven. i have the 6 cylinder engine which has a lot of pick-up and is fun to drive, however it is not so driveable right now and i am looking for any suggestions.

the recent problem is that when the car is warmed up, turned off, then turned back on anywhere from 15 min to an hour or so later, it shudders and the "check engine" light comes on and flashes. took it to the same dealership twice where they hooked up the diagnostics machine and saw it missing firing at 2 different cylinders each time. so, we have misfiring at 4 out of 6 cylinders. other than that they could not offer much. took it to a mechanic nearby and he thought the injectors may need replacing.

from a cost stand point and mechanical issues. could it be my spark plug wires and therefore i should just replace those? then try injectors if it doesn't work? any info is greatly appreciated.

casandranow · August 2005

So having taken the heeding of some posts around here, I decided against the 99 Alero for 7500. But still having not found a new car, and not wanting to put a ton of money in, I've found a nice 2000 GL 4cylinder for $6600, but the dealer is willing to knock it down to $6000. I'm thinking, even if I can only get a couple years out of it, for the cash, it's not a bad idea. Right now I'm driving a 94 Chevy S-10 with no a/c and no power anything.

Does anyone think that sounds like a decent deal? I'd like to be able to take the car down to Virgina from here in PA in October for vacation instead of renting like I did this summer for our Boston trip. And I want to make sure it's reliable. It's almost at 60,000 miles, so I'm hoping that some of the issues reported here have already come and gone and been replaced with better parts.

One other thing, the standard CD players on the 2000, are they CD-R/RW compatible or would I have to look into getting a newer Pioneer installed?

rdeschene · August 2005

Re: the CD-player, our Alero is a 2000 GLS 6-cylinder, but I would think the Delco stereo system would be the same. Anyway, ours plays CD-Rs just as well as commercially manufactured CDs.

scoobycar10889 · August 2005

What was the first year that Oldsmobile put the factory alarm system in there aleros?
Thanks

rdeschene · August 2005

Do you mean the Passlock system? (As far as I know, there's no alarm involved, but if something other than the correct key is used, or the ignition tampered with, fuel is disabled and the car won't start.) Our 2000 Alero came with a 1999 owner's manual (we bought ours used), and the Passlock system is mentioned there. The Alero was first introduced in 1999, so I would guess, then, that the Passlock system has been there from the beginning.

stumped99 · August 2005

I do not have an owners manual and have had this car for about 3 years now. This is a 99 alero V6 2 door, and I am having problems with my security light coming on and killing my engine. It will not let me start my car, it has done this in the past and after the light goes off, about 10 minutes, it would then start, however it is no longer allowing me to start the car. I disconnected the battery thinking that might reset the computer or the security system, however that did not work. Can anyone please advise what maybe causing this and how much it may cost to be fixed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

mikey00 · August 2005

Security light coming on and not allowing the car to start is a common problem on the Alero and its twin the Pontiac Grand Am. The dealer fix to to replace the ignition switch for $300 +. Do a search on "security" here and over at the Grand Am board. You should have lots of hits.

rdeschene · August 2005

Mike has given you a better answer, and I'm not sure if this will help you, but here's what our owner's manual says about the Passlock system:

If the engine stalls and the SECURITY light flashes, wait until the light stops flashing before trying to restart the engine. Remember to release the key from START as soon as the engine starts.

If the engine is running and the SECURITY light comes on, you will be able to restart the engine if you turn the engine off. However, your Passlock system is not working properly and must be serviced by your dealer. Your vehicle is not protected by Passlock at this time. You may also want to check the fuse. See your dealer for service.

scoobycar10889 · August 2005

No sorry im meaning the alarm where the horn beeps and lights blink if the door is opened while locked.

coffeegranny · August 2005

I have a 1999 Alero. I too have had many repairs, most of them relatively inexpensive to date. However the shifting gets VERY jerky at times and the ETS light comes on. At other times it shifts just fine. Am seriously wondering if I need to trade it off. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

vousavec · August 2005

Hi! My cousin has a 99 Alero and he asked me to post this question.
Here is some info on his car:
110k miles
Automatic transmission
4 cylinder (no turbo or special stuff)
front wheel drive (if it matters)

He says that when he is going down the interstate, about 70 mph, his car starts shaking bad and the RPM go up and down, like something is blocked, like the tranny is trying to shift. When he stuck it in Nuetral at 70 mph, the shaking stops...and starts back up as soon as he put it back in gear.

Any thoughts of what this could be? (He just had his tranny flushed, but the shaking was present before that.) Thanks for all comments and suggestions!

squee · August 2005

Hi - I have a 2001 Alero. I have read posts about the grinding noise in the front end - but when you put on new tires it went away. I was told by the dealer that GM put too big of tires on the cars (I have the Goodyear RSAs) that it wasn't hurting anything and just get new tires when I have to. I tried to get them today and the noise didn't go away. I heard the guys at Les Schwab saying "she's got a bigger problem then tires". Has anyone dealt with this? I went to the dealer and got copies of my maintenance records, I have an extended warranty, but this doesn't fall under that. Thanks
:lemon:

rdeschene · August 2005

The Alero, and the related Grand Am and Malibu (all N-body cars), often require front wheel bearing replacements. We had to replace both of our front wheel bearings by the 60,000 mile mark on our Alero V6 and that is not uncommon for this car. I'm not saying it's acceptable, I'm just saying it's common.

I'm surprised at the dealer's comment, I assume this was not from an experienced mechanic, as a grinding noise is common symptom and if it is louder when you turn the wheel one way than another it would be a "classic" front wheel bearing symptom. Especially if this is a new sound or has become worse with time. With our car it got considerably louder over just 200 miles of driving.

I would assume this would be covered under the extended warranty's powertrain section. It would be worthwhile going to a garage that will honor the extended warranty (I'm not sure if it's an indepedent warranty or a GM one that you have), give them the symptoms and see what they say. They pretty much have to do a test drive to diagnose this, I think.

bigfrye · August 2005

I have recently noticed that my 99 V-6 alero's transmission has started to slip only after i go into reverse and put it in drive. It runs fine after you get going, but it is slipping at the start. And it seems that once it gets going it will never do it again unless you put it into reverse and then into drive again. I find it odd. Maybe a gasket is blown out on the valve body?? Does anyone have any ideas? 68000 miles.

isseyvoo · September 2005

Is this a possible explanation for the new sound my '01 Alero 4 cyl. has developed of late? I keep hearing a "pop" sound from up front and down low. It's not regular, and not particularly loud, but noticeable -- and it seems to be only when I am turning to the right at low speeds. I don't feel anything in the wheel - it's just a sporadic noise that's new. I only have 20,500 miles on the car (mostly highway). If so, it's surprising that there could be such a significant problem so soon.

Oldsmobile Alero

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