Oldsmobile Intrigue

one2one

R/T is a fun car to drive based on my test drive. Feels very powerful from a dead stop and low speeds, unlike the Intrigue. However, once the car gets moving, the Intrigue has the upper hand. The Intrigue feels more nimble at speed than the R/T. If it wasn't for the fact that for a car of its size there's no real leg or head room up front, I would have purchased one. That or the 300M. With times as fast as the Intrigue an ex-Intrigue owner looking for a new ride would be pleased. I was, at least.

krlesch62

Can anyone post the GM part number for the STB?
This part will work for both front & rear correct?
Thanks-
Karl

oldsman01

I'm glad I'm not the only one that realizes what a great value the Intrigue is, even as a base model. Regardless of whether you get the full boat GLS(like I did) or you get an airport rental, you get the wonderful 3.5 liter V6, four wheel disc ABS brakes, 16" alloy wheels, and a good amount of standard equipment. All wrapped in a stylish package. I'd concur that the majority of all Intrigues sold are the GX model as alot that I see do not have foglamps and the fender badge indentifying it as a GL or GLS. And this is also the case with most other cars in this class. So which would you prefer, a base Ingrigue with the above standard goodies or a base Camry with four banger, 15" wheels complete with plastic covers, and rear drum brakes? Did I mention the Olds also has an excellent warranty too.

oldsman01

BTW, I'm now at 13,500 miles and 8 months of ownership of my black on black with gold trim GLS. If it were stolen tomorrow(God I hope I didn't curse myself) I'm not sure what other car would replace it unless I forked over more $$ and got a Cadillac CTS. The more I think about it, there is really very little available in the Intrigue's price range that I would want.

cabowabodude

I am driving my Intrigue from Southern Wisconsin to Florida on Friday of this week. I just had a problem with starting it yesterday. It was not getting any fuel. I had to push the pedal to the floor to get it going, the smell was awful. I know there is a TSB on this. Can someone tell me the number, also has anybody had to pay for this out of pocket? I am over my 36K and will have to pay for this. Does this involve putting in a new part, or resetting the computer? Can this be done by myself? I don't want to get down to Florida and have the car...Crap out on me!

Also does anybody notice, when you are at a stop sign and the wind is blowing from the side. I can feel a draft coming through the bar to open the door. Did anybody else have this problem and what if anything did you do to correct it. Like try some foam or something?

redline65

dindak: I saw the CTS and G35 at the auto show, and I think I'm more impressed with the G35. The wife will be needing a new vehicle at the end of the year, and we may find ourselves at the Infiniti dealer. She definitely preferred the G35 over the CTS. Of course, I can get the CTS with the employee discount (about US$26K for a base CTS).But this is the Intrigue thread so..
My dealer recommended the fuel injector and throttle body cleaning at 36K miles. Has anyone let the dealer do this service, and did it make a difference?

dindak

I think the CTS would be more attractive to men than women. It's a very bold design and woman like softer more gentle things (in general, not all women). How many woman have you seen driving an Escalade? I've seen zero.

mfd37

Talked with the local dealer last week and he said he would have a least one of the final 500. No word yet on price or options, but I'm first on his list. The wife's LSS has 88,000 on it and she's due for a new car next year. She likes mine so much that we are seriously considering making the leap. I just wonder about having 2 cars the same make & model the last year of prodution. I suppose at the end I'd have a complete set of used spare parts for whichever one lasted the longest.

mfd37

Just read an article that the NHTSA has opened an investigation into the headlight dimming problem on 99-01Intrigues. Seems they have received 16 complaints so far. This would be a good time to jump in if you have information to offer. Try this link for specifics.

 http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/defect

I haven't noticed what I would call "dimming" on my 02 GLS, but every now and then I could swear I see just a little flicker. Thanks to you guys, I'm certainly more aware of the possibility.

msw13

Hi Cabowabodude,
Sounds like you need a new fuel filter, can u hear the pump? How many miles on your GX? I have a 99 GL with the 3.8 and 55k miles. I am in So. Cal. Where in So. Wis.?
My bro in law lives in Dodgeville...Let me know if you are still having problems...Mark

swagled

My 2 cents:

If you drive constantly, the flow of gas self-cleans it. I put over 80K on my Mazda before having it cleaned, and I didn't sense any resulting difference. Left it alone again until around 160K, when a mechanic just went ahead and did it w/o asking me, because "it looked really dirty".

Left it alone again for even 100K more. (Yes this car has 262K on it) Then another mechanic cleaned it, trying to diagnose an engine problem. Well, it wasn't the right fix. The car needed a new ignition control module, because the old one was soiled by water...

So, I think this "cleaning" is just a pad to make money at shops.

One caveat: I believe in only buying well known brand name gas. If you buy the cheapest generic gas in town, it might be worth getting a fuel injection / throttle body cleaning more often.

So, you pay one way, or the other...

b4z

Our friend 6363/1way says that it it might be your crankshaft sensor. This has been a problem for many of us with the 3.5L engine.
Do you have the 3.5L or the 3.8L?

b4z

You should never need to give a fuel injected car gas when starting it up. It only makes matters worse.

redline65

dindak - I think the CTS styling will definitely appeal more to men than women. Funny you should mention the Escalade, my wife loves it. But it's way, way out of our price range. If we go the SUV route we will probably end up in an Envoy SLT. I'm curious to see the Honda Pilot, due later this year.

dindak

Honda Pilot will be a lot like the Toyota Highlander. Less of a real SUV, more of a minivan type SUV. More like the Rendezvous than the Envoy basically. I'm sure it will be nice though.

white6

Fuel doesn't flow through the throttle body... only air. Some vehicles do need them cleaned occasionally. 99+ GM full size trucks w/V-8 have a problem with carbon build-up in the throttle body around the throttle plate... makes it stick. A little WD40 and a rag is all that is needed. I would guess that it depends on the type of EGR system employed on that particular engine.

winter9

Krlesch62:

The part # is 1245-6148 (Buick F-Bar KIT). The part will work in the front and back of an Intrigue, but the front installation requires drilling into the strut towers.

See this link for this type of installation http://www.fastgp.com/GTP_STB_Front.html
The rear just needs a small amount of additional material removed in the STB holes to fit - a 5 minute job with a round file or Dremel.

There is someone out there that makes brackets for the front -eliminating the need for drilling the towers. Or you can fab them yourself. Either way, info is here http://members.aol.com/wizbang250/STB_Bracket_Build.htm

Vcjumper may be fitting the front brackets/STB on soon and should let us know how it goes. There is some concern about clearing the p/s line and the hood.

one2one

From the picture, it looks like shot a of the Intrigue 3.5. The visual clue is from the coolant tank. The 3800 Intrigue engine bay has the coolant tank in the front of the car to the left of the right bank of headlights (when standing in front of the car). I don't know if the tank has been moved up near the strut tower in the other W-bodies. In any case, I'm going to shoot him an email to see if the line gets in the way. I think his brace is $69 well spent.

vcjumper

I tried it without the custom braces and it was too low/was interfering with the PS line and other things. Dunno if his braces will raise it enough.

oldsman01

I've seen alot of women driving Escalades, Women seem to like any kind of big SUV. As for an SUV, my choice would be an Envoy or Bravada. The Escalade is just too big and too expensive. For 50 big ones, I want an STS not a super fancy Tahoe.

cabowabodude

I have a 99Gx with the 3.5 I know you should not give a fuel injection car gas...... However when the car is not starting and it turns over and then dies..... then you try it again and it sounds like it is not getting gas.... well would you sit there and do nothing? Not me I pushed the pedal to the floor and got it to start. So if this happens to you, trust me it WORKED. As far as a fuel filter, the car runs good when started... no hesitation at all, and the car is peppy. When it is started it does not die down the road like you would get with a fuel filter. It has to be the Crankshaft sensor!

b4z

It is definetely the crankshaft sensor. Remember that there are actually two sensors.
Mine would crank right up then die. Sometimes i would have to start it 5 times before it would continue running.
Don't let the service department tell you that there are no codes or that they could not duplicate. If they are a large dealership they will have experience with this problem and know what to do.

redline65

cabowabo - I had to have the crankshaft sensor replaced on my '99 GL w/3.5. My car still cranks rough from time to time. But I just hold the key until it starts.

achong

Does anyone know how to remove the cover for the small speaker by the front windows. I need to isolate a rattle inside.

msw13

Achong,
The cover is part of the door panel. A small insert style clip holds the cover to the door frame. Just carefully pull on it and it should come off. Good luck.

cabowabodude

OK so now that I know I need to replace the Crankshaft sensor, How much does this cost, I am over the miles and have to spring for this out of pocket! Also, I thought I would let the room know that I have 60K on my car and had the brakes looked at, they are not even half way down in front. The back breaks are about 1/4 of the way down, seems like I might get 80K out of the original brakes. I do drive "ALOT" of highway miles 200 a day to be exact!

white6

I paid the dealer service dept. $230 to have the crank sensor replaced on my 99 GL. It also still has an intermittant starting problem. Cranks fast but doesn't start immediately... but it always starts. When the crank sensor went, it cranked normal but wouldn't start for a while. It finally set a code in the computer. Had I had the service manual that I now own, I would have replaced it myself. It is under the starter; about a four or five bolt job. Crank sensor can be purchased on-line for about $45. I know what you mean about the brakes. My 99 GL just turned 60K and I did the brakes at about 54K. They really didn't need it, but I needed to rotate the tires and already had the pads, so I replaced them anyway. Original pads still probably had 15-20K left in them. The 3.5 still uses no significant oil between changes (5K per).
I bought a set of two chrome wheels and tires off e-bay and I'm gonna get two more from 4chromewheels.com. Problem is I'll then have two silver wheels and two Goodyear Eagle LS tires (6k on them) that I don't need. If anyone here needs such a thing, you might let me know; I'll sell 'em pretty cheap. My e-mail is cwhitegr@theshop.net

ken1776

This seams to be the most active board regarding this problem, however I am curious if this is a more widespread problem. My Pontiac G.P. has the same problem and I tripped across a post on the Saturn L board with the same problem. Is G.M. hiding something? Has anyone actually found out what the problem is? My car is going back to the dealer on Monday and I won’t accept the responce “we can’t find anything”.

dindak

I have also seen post in other GM car threads with the same problem. I don't think it's an Intrigue specific problem as I'm sure other cars use the same alternator.

oldsman01

have popped up, one actually. The first may pertain to the crankshaft sensor that several have had replaced or it may just be a vapor lock or something. I noticed yesterday when starting the car(engine warm) it didn't take much to crank before it seemed to start, but immediately acted like it was going to die before it got control of itself. This is the first and only time it has done that as this car typically starts the same everytime. Most cars I've owned in the past have what I call "variable starting characteristics" meaning one time you would have to crank it for a few seconds and another it would turn right over. My other problem has been a "creak" in the front suspension. It seems to do it while rebounding from a large dip or bump(like a speed bump). It doesn't make any noise upon impact, but as the front end rebounds upward there is a creak or groan type noise. This is most noticeable on larger bumps and dips. Nothing too major so when in another 1000 miles when the oil is ready to be changed, I'll take it in and have the front end looked at while also having them check the "flicker" again. Speaking of, it has behaved itself lately, but as I have said before it is TOTALLY intermittent and does not seem to be directly affected by any particular load or condition.

ken1776

Is this problem definitely traced to the alternator? It sounds like a lot of people have had that replaced and still have the same problems.

teo

So the 3.5L DOHC V6 engine seems to have two problem areas: Crankshaft sensors and Alternators...

teo

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specialreports/articles/53154/article.html?id=lin9133

dindak

ken1776 : Yes, it's the alternator, at least it is on the Intrigue. Some people have got a fix, others have not. I'm not sure that GM has a good alternator replacement yet

teo : Unfortunately GM Canada are only letting people out of May and June leases up here. Our Cavalier lease is up in July so I'm hoping next month as I would like to get into something new sooner.

isseyvoo

I had a similar creaking problem when the suspension was rebounding from a dip in the road. The dealership lubed the bushings in the front suspension and it solved the problem. (Granted this was on a Chevy not an Olds, but it may be worth a look since it was such a cheap and easy fix).

cabowabodude

Went to local (small dealer) here in Southeastern Wisconsin. Service manager says he has not herd of "Any problems with crank sensors" and "you would be a fool to change it" he said if I am having problems starting my car....it didn't sound like it would be a crank sensor. He was trying to say it could be a Clogged fuel injecter I said the car runs Great when started and at idle. He said you need 60psi when starting and you may only need 50 or 40psi when running. I then told him....how I did not think that was the problem! He then said I should have my cars computer UPDATED. Has anybody had this done???? Is it worth the 50-60 bucks? He also said it would cost at least 65 bucks to hook the car up to the computer and see if there was any history codes. He says there is a good chance there might not be!

b4z

Mine never showed any codes. I took it in at least 7 times. They refused to replace the crank sensors.
They replaced the fuel regulator, battery twice, yadda yadda yadda.
They also blamed me because they thought i had my foot on the gas when i started it.
Take it to a big dealer who has more experience.
Just posting this message is making my blood pressure go up. Man i am glad i don't have that car anymore.

lmacmil

The glovebox light has to be replaced as part of the glovebox switch assy and it's $10! Lucky for me it's still under warranty.

I'm sure that made economic sense to the product planners and the engineers probably told them it would last the life of the vehicle. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever replaced a glove box light before and I usually keep my cars 10 years.

The dealer also ordered the part to fix my loose shift lever. That seems to be a fairly common problem, doesn't it?

jjpowell2

I was hoping I wouldn't be posting about the headlight-dimming problem again in our 2001 Intrigue GL. We had our 5th alternator exchanged and the problem has returned yet again. GM has now taken this position: "When the air injection pump comes on it draws down power and causes a power decrease to all other systems. This is a "design characteristic" of the Intrigue.". Don't you just love it???

I told them that given a choice between two cars I'd choose the one that was designed to keep the headlights on at night!! I wasn't advised that this defect exsisted. I am confident that the dealer did know that our car had this problem. A consumer couldn't know that the headlights dimmed unless they test drove it at night. Obviously some Intrigues are affected to a greater degree than others as our lights seem to go totally out at times. We have filed all the papers with the Better Business Bureau and are headed toward arbitration within the next couple weeks. I would love to have this car replaced with one that didn't have this problem as I am otherwise a very satisfied customer.

white6

Keep us up to date on your arbitration. I am so sick of manufacturers/dealers that will not stand behind their product and try to brush us off with a "it's designed that way..." b.s. I personally think you would be well-served to get a buy-back on this vehicle, and then move on to a different manufacturer. My 2000 GMC Sierra had a persistant vibration at 62 mph... steering wheel would shake and seats would do the shimmy. I had it in to the dealer 6 times with no satisfaction, so I went the BBB route. Arbitrator found in my favor and GMC had to buy it back; then I went out and purchased a five-year-old Dakota and pocketed the balance. I have had ZERO problems with this little Dakota... NONE. Of course, I'm quite sure you could find plenty of folks that have had nothing but trouble with their Dakota's. Point is, I was able to move on and not waste another minute on that defective vehicle. GMC got downright nasty toward the end... they didn't go down without a fight! They have people on the payroll whose only job is to brow-beat, lie, and even threaten to keep you from seeking arbitration.

cabowabodude

I know what you mean about the head light flickering. Sometimes I would be driving to work and it would happen on the Expressway doing 70mph. You would seem to think, the alternator would be CHARGING the system at that speed. I mean its not like you are just idling! I also had the lights dim when the car was just parked! It has happened to me at different times, speeds, and temperatures. It's not like, I had alot of things on for the alternator to die out! The first time it happened to me, I was tired and thought it was just me. Then it happened to me more often, and sometimes it almost seems like the lights go off for a split second. It really STINKS that GM knows about this and does not want to correct the problem. I am not even sure the problem is the alternator, there has been several people that have gotten them replaced, and it did not do the trick! I'm not sure, if they got another bad alternator, or if that is not the solution. You would think your 2001 would sure have the CORRECT alternator in it!!

Well I won't be able to check in the room for a week. Yes I am driving down to Florida tonight. Yes I will be taking the 99-3.5 GX down there, I will let the room know how the car does. I will be leaving from Southeastern Wisconsin. I may push the car for 18 hours straight! So if your on the interstate and something is flickering at you, it could be a cop or a white intrigue from Wisconsin. I MUST BE NUTS!!!!

lmacmil

My 2000 with 32K miles has never flickered (at least I've never seen it.) Since I've been driving to work in the dark every day for the last 6 months, I assume I would have noticed it.

For those that have the problem, I'm wondering what was the highest mileage before it started.

bakersf

I have a new problem with the car that seems like it came from nowhere. I had my oil changed yesterday. Drove it in the afternoon with no noticable problems. A night a "tick" sound was heard a little. I started it this morning and the oil pressure light was on. And the "tick" has become a loud "Putt-Putt" sound. It also has an awful whine from the engine compartment. What could the oil people done to cause this? Has anyone heard of this? Thanks

redline65

bakersf - did you check your oil level? maybe they didn't tighten the bolt and you are leaking...

dindak

Bring it back ASAP. There are lots of incompetent oil change people around. If any damage has been done, sue them for damage.

oldsman01

Finally got my XM radio installed in my car. Did it myself yesterday and it wasn't too hard. The Intrigue has a neat little power drop under the dash which is prefect for adding something like a cd changer, cell phone, or XM radio. I did go the rf modulator route and was pleasently surprised. The sound quality was still very good, something which I had been concerned about. Sure is neat driving around listening to XM rather than all the garbage on mainstream radio these days.

bakersf

Original Message:
#6351 of 6354 Engine Problem 3.5L 2000 Olds

It is full of oil and no leaks. I took it back to the shop and they said it wasn't there problem. Typical response. I had my neighbor listen to the car and he thinks it is a lifter. He said it would cause the oil to still cirulate, but not at the normal pressure. He also said if they dropped something into the engine it would cause the lifter to move off center. He told me to have the dealer check the oil pan to see what they might find if nothing is sitting in the engine. The cars goes in Monday and I will keep you updated. I hope this is isolated not the start of a worse problem. BTW... to car has 48K miles on it.

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!

b4z

Rode by my old Caddy/Olds dealership and they had 0 intrigues! They had 5 a couple of weeks ago.
They are also down to 1 aurora and 4 bravadas.
0 Aleros too.

I wonder if they have settled with GM or if the extra advertising they have been doing has resulted in sales?

They had a '99 bronzemist lease turn in. Sitting in the back of the lot. It was A GL with leather and had several dents and scratch marks on it.
The leather was filthy.
This car had not been taken care of and I wouldn't even pay $5000 for it.

oscarz2

I have 99GLS w/22K. I've always had the occasional rough start, less frequent in the winter. Still don't know what causes it.

6 months ago car died out of the blue (in a drive thru). It restarted but died a couple of more times before I got it going again by keeping it revved a little after it started. Got it to the dealer and they replaced the crankshaft sensor. Hasn't happened since.