Oldsmobile Intrigue

pat

Steve doesn't live here on the Sedans board. ;-)

Here's what you posted http://www.americanracing.com/wheels/details.asp?wheelid=29&n- ame=Torq-Thrust%20II&style=505&desc=2-piece%20alloy,%20po- lished&section=A

It would have turned into a link by itself if you had included a space between the ... and the http

lmacmil

ab348

The light flicker is not a characteristic of the engine. Other GM makes have it too, while I have not seen any reports of 3.5 Aurora owners having that issue. The only thing that may be a problem is the crank sensor but I'd rather have that than the 3.8 manifold coolant leak. A guy I know had his engine hydro-lock because of that - needed a whole new engine out of warranty. Ouch.

b4z

Please go back and delete 7 of those posts.
I thought I was in for some good reading when I saw there were a dozen new posts.
Thought I was having a flashback to 2000 or something.

rjs200240

Those wheels http://www.americanracing.com/wheels/details.asp?wheelid=29&n- ame=Torq-Thrust%20II&style=505&desc=2-piece%20alloy,%20po- - lished&section=V are for RWD cars. I don't think you'd be able to fit them on the Intrigue. You'd need some sort of hub adaptor or something, and those might make it hard to get the offset right.

That brake kit also fits on Regals, though they aren't mentioned either. One thing you could check is if the caliper part numbers are the same for the Intrigue as they are for the Grand Prix or Regal. I think the Impala/Monte actually have that kit already installed as standard equipment.

Were there any brake options on the Intrigue? I read a thing on a Grand Prix brake upgrade using F-body parts that made it sound like the Intrigue had larger brakes than the GP does. Though, I though they were the same.

pat

I think I took care of all of them?

A quirk of the software here is that if you hit refresh/reload after making a post and before following a link somewhere else, your message will repost. It is very possible that you will not notice that - you just think that your message remains the last one posted.

The way to avoid that is to use the "Recent Msgs" link on the page bar to reload a page in a discussion in which you have posted.

v8lincolnguy

Wow, the pace has really picked up here. Amazing how this thread still remains active. As for 3.5 liter V6 problems, the engine was one thing which had NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER on my 01 Intrigue. The rest of the car could have had something going wrong, but the engine always ran strong.

Dekester, I've seen a few Intrigues with the mast antenna. It may have been an early 98 thing as I know some of the 97 GPs had a mast antenna(even the optioned out GTPs) due to a problem getting a part related to the rear window antenna.

moonshadow

Sorry. I just got back home and saw some references to my multiple posting. Didn't notice before i left this afternoon. As i read on i saw pats explanation.

Thanks Pat for the fix and cleanup. I did have a second browser opened doing some research and came back once in a while, i guess 8, and just hit refresh. Something i will be aware of in the future.

Sorry again for the mess up.

dekester

I'm signed onto the Camry and the Crown Vic/Grand Marquis boards, too and they all have different hosts. Confused? You bet!

Deke

lmacmil

What are you expecting to accomplish? If you can lock the wheels on dry pavement with the current brakes, which I'm sure you can (and then ABS will kick in), "bigger" brakes will not gain you any additional stopping ability. I am assuming your driving habits are typical and you're not running up and down mountains at GVW all day.

dekester

I just want to basically replace the crappy OEM parts with something that will last longer than 19K miles! I had to replace the rear rotors due to severe scoring, the fronts due to warping. I don't drive hard, and rarely ever get the ABS to kick in. I was actually looking at aftermarket rotors and calipers rather than GM parts, since that's what I'm trying to get rid of.

Tire Rack has a lot of choices from affordable to outrageous. I've always looked to upgrade brakes ever since I did my first drum to disc swap on a 70 Road Runner many years ago.

If you've ever spent time driving in New York City, you know you need good brakes! People pulling out whenever they feel like it, changing lanes without looking or signaling, cutting red lights because they don't feel like waiting... I know it's not exclusive to NYC, but nowhere else on such a large scale!

To add to my dream upgrades if I ever move out of New York , a true dual exhaust system... Illegal to do here since you cannot alter the factory exhaust system (i.e. duals, no cats, etc).

Deke

mfletouva

I just noticed that after only a year and 3 months and 13k my right fog light has burned out. Has anyone had to replace a fog light--where do I get a new one? Any chance I can get GM to pick up the tab?

moonshadow

"Any chance I can get GM to pick up the tab? "

Possibly. Here in canada, i was told that the basic bumper to bumper waranty includes all bulbs. Never had the opportunity to try it out and of coarse they told to me about other things that turned out to be lies.

The fog lght is probably a #893 and should be available anywhere bulbs are sold

ketch

Well, my 2000 GL got hit yesterday. Due to what must be very good bumpers, the rear one is just scratched and very slight askew. The other guy got his SUV's bumper pushed in. No plans to get this fixed by them as there is little damage to speak of, and nothing I cannot clean up. I will be able to get the scratches out, but any idea how to re-align the bumper? It is off by an eight of an inch at the driver's side and under the tail light, just needing to moved up a small bit. Hardly noticable, but If I can I'd like to know where the bumber/cover bolts, if any, are.

Anyone ever found where these are and how to get to them- thanks, ketch

dtownfb

If the bumper damage is that minor, you may want to take it to a local auto body shop t get an estimate. They may only charge you $50 -$100 to re-align the bumper. Plus they can check to make sure no other damage was done.

lmacmil

Dekester, I don't think your experience is typical. My 2000 has 49K miles with original rotors and pads, no scoring, no warping. Warped rotors are most often caused by over- or unevenly torqued lug nuts. They should always be tightened with a torque wrench and never an impact wrench. Good luck.

dindak

All light bulbs are covered. I had one of my fog lights replaced last year under warranty. If you have an extended warranty, you are likely out of luck though.

rjs200240

The brake upgrade won't necessarily improve braking. And warped rotors can be due to a lot of things like wheel torque and how you brake. I think slow drawn-out stops are worse on rotors than quick stops (though that's purely opinion).

I have often thought a brake upgrade would be cool on the Aurora. I've thought about the 11.5" rears from the STS, or the bigger brakes on the new Bonnie GXP. I thought about them right up until a few weeks ago. I locked up the tires braking from 85 mph down to about 40. I figure if I can kick the ABS in at 85 mph, then what the heck will bigger brakes do? Maybe if I got more/stickier rubber then I'd need more brake, but for now the stock setup is more than adequate.

dindak

Saw to 2003 total sales. Almost 100,000 Aleros which isn't bad, up a touch from last year. Many fleet sales I'm sure. 3 Intrigues delivered in December which I thought was funny. Cars were sitting for a LONG time. Regal and Century sales were dismal this year, GP sales were flat in spite of the new model. Imapalas were the bright spot, up 35%. I'm sure Malibu sales will come up with the new model in 04.

dekester

I fought with GM over the brake issue and they said they would not pay for replacement of "normal wear" parts. With 19K, brakes should not have been necessary!

All oil changes until the end of the warranty were done by the dealer with rotation every second change, so if there was any overtorquing of the lugs, it was by them.... Rears scored because the clips on the pads had loosened/bent and cut their own groove. Not pretty to look at.
I ate $200+ for brakes that should have been covered.

GM actually said that I was causing my car more harm by driving it as little as I did. And they wonder why they don't get too much repeat business? They lost me.

I was looking to upgrade the entire suspension, too, since I might try autocrossing the Trig.....Rode with a friend on a course in his M3 and it was a blast!

Anyway, I've been looking at pics of the 2005 Mustang and I like! Might go back to try Ford again with that one.

Deke

dindak

New mustang is sweet.

Like the cues from the past a lot!

evandro

I just loved the new Mustang too! The interior finally looks world-class, let's wait to know how it feels. I liked the new 500 too. The current 3.0 V6 is already impressive.

dekester

'05 Stang will have an all-new 4.0L V6 putting out 200 horses - rather low IMHO. Five speed auto, too.

The GT will have 300+ HP - before the SVT and Saleen get hold of it!

Deke

redline65

I just hit 60K miles in my '99 GL w/3.5L engine. The car is still running great and I feel very confident it will last me another 3 years. However, there are a couple of noises that have been bothering me. When I'm going at slow speeds over a bumpy road, I keep hearing a rattling coming from the front end. I recently had the ISS lubed and that took care of the popping in the steering, but this rattling persists. If I pull up on the hood it seems like there is a little bit of play, could the hood be bouncing up and down? I don't know what else to check.

Also, when I go over a speed bump I get a nice big creaking sound from the rear end. Sounds like the suspension, is this normal? When do most people change out their struts?

dtownfb

rotors: GM had several midsize cars that had rotor problems including the GA, Malibu, L-Sries, Alero, Intrigue. Teh rotors were thinner then in past years which led to the rotors warping. GM was not the only manufacturer that had this problem. I guess making the rotors thinner reduces the weight of the vehicle which aids in fuel economy. From my research it appears that GM changed the rotors in the Intrigue in mid 2000 which explains why some with 2000 Intrigue may not have this problem while others do. And it may have to do with which plant built the car.

dindak: where did you see those numbers for GM? I like looking over the sales numbers for various manufacturers. Tomorrow is the big day for my Olds purchase.

dekester: larger rotors won't help in the stopping distance but thicker aftermarket rotors will definitely last longer. Good luck.

rjs200240

Here's two GMPP kits:
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results.cfm?singlepart=1&partnum- - - ber=pk12456148

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results.cfm?singlepart=1&partnum- ber=12498354

The heat thing is a good point I hadn't though of. 12" rotors would handle heat better, even if they didn't improve your stopping distances due to grip limitations. They should be less prone to warping.

Hey Dindak, what was the 2003 Aurora production? Thanks!

dtownfb, I believe all Intrigues were built in Fairfax, Kansas.

evandro

I was refering to the 3.0 V6 that equips the Taurus and will equip the 500, but updated with electronic throttle. I behaves very similarly to the Intrigue's 3.5, but felt a bit more linear and progressive.

evandro

The creak in the rear is kind of normal. In cooler weather the bushings contract and as the anti-sway bar moves the rubbing is audible. Annoying, but hardly fixable and by no means harmful.

moonshadow

Does this sound like your squeak. I just copied the symptoms.

  Itching Type Noise From Rear of Vehicle (Replace Rear Compartment Lid Adjustment Bolt) #01-08-66-010
"Itching" Type Noise From Rear Of Vehicle (Replace Rear Compartment Lid Adjustment Bolt)
1997-2001 Buick Century, Regal

1997-2001 Cadillac Catera

1998-2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue

1997-2001 Pontiac Grand Prix

Condition
Some customers may comment on an "itching," "chirp" or "squeak" type noise coming from the rear of the vehicle while driving.

Cause
This condition may be caused by metal-to-metal contact between the rear compartment lid height adjustment bolt and the rear compartment lid hinge.

Correction
For ANY "chirp" or "squeak" sound that appears to be coming from the rear compartment, rear seat or rear underbody areas of the vehicle, place a piece of ordinary masking tape, or the equivalent, over the head of both deck lid hinge height adjuster bolts and re-test. If the noise is eliminated, follow the bolt replacement procedure listed below. Note that the deck lid hinge height adjuster bolt "chirp" is often experienced during normal static rear door slam.

cornellpinoy

ketch - Your misaligned bumper may be due to the rear absorber (styrofoam) or the rear impact bar (steel) being damaged. You might want to have a body shop remove the bumper cover (the painted plastic exterior) to see if anything behind was damaged. I inspect damaged cars daily and you'd be surprised how much damage is hidden after the bumper cover bounces back to shape.

redline - In addition to moonshadow's or evandro's posts, I'd also have the rear strut mounts checked/replaced. These are known to fail on the midsize GMs.

dindak

GM sales data is at

http://www.media.gm.com

8878 Auroras sold in 03

dtownfb

Thanks dindak. Looking at the data, GM should have killed the Buick division and kept Oldsmobile.

b4z

The only thing that will cure the rattling is the brake caliper shim kit.

I had it installed in my IMpala and wish I had known about it in the Intrigue.

b4z

Looks like the Intrigue thread made it into Edmund's Top 10 yesterday.
30 new posts.
I think i am having some deja' vu.

dindak

Buick needs some new product yesterday. The Century is a brutal car and the Regal looks pretty old though it is a solid ride. The LaCross is still a year away as Bob canned the Regal that was coming (probably wise given what I saw). Seems like GM is pouring money into Chevy this year so Buick is getting a truck to keep it going till next year I guess. Only bright spot at Buick is the Rendezvous with sales up big.

Oldsmobile would have seen the same fate (of no new product) though I think it may not have lost quite so many sales as the cars were more modern. We will never know for sure though.

rjs200240

Man, I go to that site all the time. I didn't realize they had such specific sales info there. Excellent find, thanks for sharing.

Also, looks like the 8,878 was for 2002. There were 3,161 Aurora's sold in 2003. I wish they broke it up by model year too...

dindak

With the internet and computers, it is the age of too much information!

;-)

racer_x_9

My 99 Intrigue (3.8) just turned 5 years old. It has 48,000 miles and I still love to drive it. So far, the only problems have been:

Got the ISS replaced about a year into ownership, no problems since.

Had the Reveal Molding replaced on the front doors.

Fog lamp had to be replaced about a month out of original warranty but dealer replaced N/C as goodwill. (I have all my maintenance done at the dealer).

Upper leaking plenum was replaced, out of warranty ($600) but had extended warranty and paid nothing.

Outside Temp Sensor replaced and trunk struts also replaced under extended warranty.

I still have the original pads and rotors (40% left at 45,000 miles).

Just replaced the tires with Michelin Hydroedge which give a great ride.

No regrets about the Intrigue so far. With another 2 years left on the extended warranty I will keep the car at least that much longer.

Hope everyone's Intrigue is as good to them as mine has been to me.

winter9

My 02 fog lights went out (both sides). Dealer replaced both under warranty (bulbs burnt out). They checked upstream and found no electrical problems. Even though I use them a lot, I expected them to last more than 2 yrs, 24k miles. My wifes 99 Trigue fog lights are used a lot also and have lasted 70k miles and still going strong. Go figure!

indrgb

Does anyone know why they dropped the CD changer after the 2000 model? I've seen pics on e-bay of the trunk mounted 12-disc changer. Could one be added?

focus

To add a cd changer, make sure that your head unit has an rca input in the back, either that or the cd changer can transmitted its signal via radio frequency (if it doens't specify, then it can't)

taycron

GM is recalling some cars due to steering problems..

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040112/bs_nm/au- tos_gm_recall_dc_3

sda

I wish the GM recall also addressed the ISS issue. My 00 Intrigue had problems with the ISS (whose Intrigue doesn't?), and now my 01 Aurora is making the same unwelcome familiar noises. Dealer wants $140 to lube. Ugh.

moonshadow

At least eight people will have to get in an accident before GM does anything with it. LOL

Having a steering shaft that needs lubrication as periodic maintenance is something i have never had to do on any car,... ever.

Another, thats normal. Well it doesn't make it right. Crappy design is normal for GM.

Oh well, another reason why Gm will never be on my short list again.

sda

If the ISS needs periodic lubing, why not put an old fashioned zert fitting (lube nipple frequently found on moving suspension pieces)on it? It then can be serviced with a simple grease gun and not have to be taken apart to lube it. I am really getting a tremendous dislike for all the maintenance free 'sealed' systems on cars. More and more they end up failing on a routine basis, and the owner is out of major $$. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box. Mr Goodwrench wants my Visa card, again.

dindak

I'm hoping I only have to do 1 more lube in the life of the car. I had one done under warranty a year ago and all is still well. Complain as I could about the prospect, I have not spent a dime on the car in 4 years and 77K out side of oil changes and tire rotations. If I have to spend a couple of hundred on a lube job in a couple of years so be it. It's better than a timing belt change or a blown transmission.

dekester

Taking the Trig to my mechanic on Saturday for the State inspection, a Mobil 1 oil change and cooling system flush. Do you need to remind guys nowadays what a "power flush" is? No one seems to remember splicing the hose fitting in the heater line and actually completely flushing the system out!

Now, should I spend the extra and have it refilled with DexCool (which I'll probably have to bring with me) or use the Prestone/whatever like all my other cars ever needed?

Inspection is $35, oil change is $34, God knows what the flush will run me.

Have about 5000 miles on the Avids, so next change I'll have them rotated.

Deke

evandro

FWIW, when I got my used Intrigue, as I do with all used cars I get, I flushed all major fluids, including the coolant. The power flush with regular antifreeze was $70 and with Dexcool, $100, which I chose.

indrgb

If your GM vehicle has dexcool in it (most '96 models and later) don't even consider putting anything but dexcool back in it. I have heard several horror stories from mechanics and parts guys about the regular stuff gelling up like peanut butter. One guy said he flushed it 4 times and then put regular prestone in it and it still gelled. However, you don't need to buy the more expensive GM brand. There are several other dexcool type brands. The owner's manual in the 96 GMC truck I had said that Texaco Havoline brand of Dexcool was approved by GM.

lmacmil

I've got my 2nd tire leak (Avid Tourings with only 7k miles on them) in the last couple of months. The first was fixed (they didn't say what the problem was, I'm assuming valve stem) and I'll be taking the car in tonight to Discount Tire to look at the new leak. Wondering if it could be wheel related, either corrosion on the rim or porosity. Anyone had any leaks attributed to wheel issues?