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It's your blower motor resistor. If you search this forum, you'll find that many people have encountered this problem (including us). My husband replaced that part himself, but it was a challenge.
Re: "Last issue was my power steering and antifreeze keeps leaking. Im am feeling the two up once a week. I have tried every brand that says stops leaks but none seem to stop it. "
The latter may be an intake manifold gasket problem ... again, something many other Alero owners (including ourselves) have experienced. Search the forum, and you'll find many references to it. A class action lawsuit has been filed in Canada, but I'm not sure where that's at now: CTV lifts hood on potential problem in some GM cars
hope that helps.
oh by the way my car still gets crap gas mileage like appx 20 mpg in the summer and appx 12 in the winter mostly light city driving. ive replaced all normal maintenence parts and no difference. if you got any info to help me with that please reply
Strange We're still getting around 32 or 33 mpg (highway driving) with our 2000 Alero. I know that things like winter fuel blends and snow tires (ours are on steel rims) can lower fuel efficiency, but for us it only goes down to around 29 mpg (again, highway driving; we haven't kept tabs on our in-town driving, as we do so little of that), which is well ahead of what you're getting.
It smelled like I ran over a plastic bag and from my pontiac I remembered this. So, I took it to my regular mechanic. Told him that I had been watching the temp gauge and it was getting hot too quickly, about halfway. I'd turn on the air and it would smell really bad. Last after idling for about a minute trying to park in my driveway, the car started smoking and most of the anti-freeze ran out. I put some back in today and it leaks at the corner near the seam of the radiator and coolant tank. I also found a bolt sitting at the bottom of the vehicle. Any ideas as to what happened? Anyone have a similar problem? I'm not driving it until I can get a mechanic to look at it. Help!
Thanks for all the prevoius info.
------------------------
My daughters 2000 Alero is having a weird problem. When it is shut off, the oil light and park indicator light (PRNDL) stays on. In addition, there is a whine under the hood that I cannot isolate. It's somewhere near the alternator, and it VERY quiet. This kills the battery if she lets it sit for more than 2 days.
A local mechanic thought it might be the Body Control Module, which I replaced and did absolutely no good.
Any thoughts?
BCM is Body Control Module...and no, I have not yet found it. I replaced the BCM and that did not do the trick.
Send me your address of phone number, if you don't mind! My daughter is gone all next week and come hell of high water, I'm going to find the problem. I'd like to see what you have done, and compare to what I have done. ONE of us will find the problem, and fix both, I betcha.
Kenny (hubbyofiflashforbeer@yahoo.com)
In late November, not even having it for 2 months! It got a severe "rod knock." It sounded like someone was under the hood of my car throwing marbles at it.?. Well i was driving home and the car just died!!!! Luckly I was alreadly coming down my street so I coasted all the way to my drive way.
Then I got a used motor put it in, and the same problem!!! This time I took it right back in, when it started making the noise! Now the motor is running great! but every now and then the Traction Light comes on, when it comes on, my car shifts gears really hard. And when I shut my car off the light turns off but going from park to drive... my car SLAMS into gear. like the whole car shakes from it. Any ideas??
On most vehicles I've purchased most options come in a group if you buy one option you get other ones as well. Is this common with these cars not to have power windows
About a couple of weeks later we started smelling something hot when running on high. Few more weeks pass and we loose the high setting all together. Take it back into the dealership. They tell us that the high setting is controlled by it's own fuse and that the fuse was blown. Next they recommend that we replace the blower motor that was installed because it was overpowering the resister causing the fuse to blow. Again they recommended replacing it with the GM motor. Instead we had them swap out the one that was purchased because they thought that it might have been just a bad one. Pay for the labor, not a GM part so they still charged us labor. Picked up the car and it seemed fine.
Now about a month and a 1/2 after that repair and I'm having the same issues again. No high, fuse blown and if I replace the fuse it smells like the car is going to start on fire. Dealership still is telling us to put the GM blower in because they feel that's the only way to solve our problem and any after market part is junk, or at least that is the vibe I'm getting. I've already put almost $600 into this repair only for them not to really fix the problem and to top it off not put my dash back together correctly. Can I really trust them with any of their advise? If I have them repair the car again to put the GM part in I'm looking at another possible $400 in repair costs.
PLEASE someone give me your advise. I can get both a new blower motor (higher end than what's in there now) and a new resister from the local parts place all for about $100 and a few hours of my time. Should I replace both parts, one part(which one) or have the dealership do the repair?
As far as the blower motor causing a burning smell on high speed because it's a cheap defective part, I can't say for sure, but there is a lot of cheap substandard parts out there from all over the world with dubious quality standards.
If it was me, I would put an ammeter in line with the blower and see what current it draws on high when connected directly to a power source that simulates the voltage available under running conditions (around 14V) or to the wiring in the car itself. If it's pulling more current than the parts & wiring are rated for then you know where the problem lies.
I didn't install anything at all. This was a 10 minute fix for me, and I really don't know much about auto repair. In fact, this was the first time I have taken apart anything in a car at all. The most I have done is replacing spark plugs and changing oil.
I got full color pictures from http://www.bulldogsecurity.com. By clicking on the "Vehicle Wiring Diagrams" link and selecting the year of my Alero in the "Oldsmobile" drop-down link list, I was able to print the pictures to ensure I was going to cut the right wire.
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Here are some instructions that I followed for the easy and no-cost fix:
Pry up the plastic molding from around the Radio/HeaterAC controller and from around the Gear Shifter.
Detach the HeaterAC module from the molding by removing the four 7-mm hex bolts from the back side. Take out the 3 7-mm hex bolts to loosen the Radio.
Put key in ignition & turn to "On" position, apply brake, and shift into "drive" or lower gear.
Turn HeaterAC module to the left, sideways orientation, and pull out the Radio. Disconnect main wiring harness from back center of Radio if there is not enough slack to take the Radio out past the plastic molding. Leave the antenna connected.
Look inside and to the left at the back of the Ignition Cylinder assembly. Locate the THIN YELLOW WIRE which is bundled alongside the thin white and the thin black wire. You may have to stick you hand in and fish a bit to grab this "Thin wire Trio".
DO NOT mess with the main rear/downward ignition wiring harnesses (1 of which contains a Thick Yellow Wire - leave it alone).
Isolate the THIN YELLOW WIRE from the 2 others. As a precaution, RECONNECT the MAIN RADIO WIRE HARNESS, and let the Radio hang to the right side.
Put the key in the ignition, and put the car back in PARK. START THE CAR. CUT THE THIN YELLOW WIRE with the car running. Tape both ends of the cut wire. Place black electrical tape over the "Security" light (less annoying).
Turn off the car engine. Disconnect the Radio main wire harness to Re-Install the Radio, if necessary. You may need to crawl under the passenger-side dash to push the main wire harness back into the radio while holding the Radio from the front.
The rest of the installation is the reverse of removal. YOUR LIFE JUST GOT A LOT BETTER if you want to keep driving this car !!
I didn't install anything at all. This was a 10 minute fix for me, and I really don't know much about auto repair. In fact, this was the first time I have taken apart anything in a car at all. The most I have done is replacing spark plugs and changing oil.
I got full color pictures from http://www.bulldogsecurity.com. By clicking on the "Vehicle Wiring Diagrams" link and selecting the year of my Alero in the "Oldsmobile" drop-down link list, I was able to print the pictures to ensure I was going to cut the right wire.
">link title
Here are some instructions that I followed for the easy and no-cost fix:
Pry up the plastic molding from around the Radio/HeaterAC controller and from around the Gear Shifter.
Detach the HeaterAC module from the molding by removing the four 7-mm hex bolts from the back side. Take out the 3 7-mm hex bolts to loosen the Radio.
Put key in ignition & turn to "On" position, apply brake, and shift into "drive" or lower gear.
Turn HeaterAC module to the left, sideways orientation, and pull out the Radio. Disconnect main wiring harness from back center of Radio if there is not enough slack to take the Radio out past the plastic molding. Leave the antenna connected.
Look inside and to the left at the back of the Ignition Cylinder assembly. Locate the THIN YELLOW WIRE which is bundled alongside the thin white and the thin black wire. You may have to stick you hand in and fish a bit to grab this "Thin wire Trio".
DO NOT mess with the main rear/downward ignition wiring harnesses (1 of which contains a Thick Yellow Wire - leave it alone).
Isolate the THIN YELLOW WIRE from the 2 others. As a precaution, RECONNECT the MAIN RADIO WIRE HARNESS, and let the Radio hang to the right side.
Put the key in the ignition, and put the car back in PARK. START THE CAR. CUT THE THIN YELLOW WIRE with the car running. Tape both ends of the cut wire. Place black electrical tape over the "Security" light (less annoying).
Turn off the car engine. Disconnect the Radio main wire harness to Re-Install the Radio, if necessary. You may need to crawl under the passenger-side dash to push the main wire harness back into the radio while holding the Radio from the front.
The rest of the installation is the reverse of removal. YOUR LIFE JUST GOT A LOT BETTER if you want to keep driving this car !!
At 36,000 miles my 2001 Olds Alero started having passlock starting problems. At first it was every other month and then after 2 years it happened with every other turn of the key. Since I am not the least bit mechanically inclined, I tried any and all procedures suggested on the internet except cutting wires, or installing a new switch. Eight months ago I decided to clean the grooves on my ignition key with a squirt of 3 in 1 oil. THE CAR STARTED RIGHT UP. I did it again for the next 3 days to gain little confidence in the procedure. THE ALERO CONTINUES TO START EVERY TIME
Now once a month I oil the key, push it in and out of the switch slowly a couple times. When starting the car, do not jam the key in quickly and turn. Take your time. It seems to be a very sensitive switch, and needs a little TLC to prevent dirt build up. Try it. A little 3 in 1 oil squirt might save you a $500 repair bill. I told my GM dealer mechanic about this solution. He said "Yeah, it might work"
Other Olds owners have tried this easy solution with favorable results. Try it and see if it works. I would appreciate hearing your results-good or bad. Don't use any special ignition key lubrication from an auto parts store. Just plain old 3 in one oil. Ja .
Hope this helps a little.
Not long after that, the light came back on. This time, we took it to a local mechanic who did a scope and smoke test, but couldn't find the problem. They reset the codes, and for a while the light stayed off, but then came back on again. I took it back today to fix another problem with the blower motor resistor, and they too found that the vent valve solenoid was sticking, so they replaced it. Has anyone else had this experience and so can comment on why this keeps happening? Thanks!
Tom
....RileyOz
:confuse: