Oldsmobile Intrigue: General Care & Maintenance

chrissymustang

where is my PCV valve? I need to change it.

dtownfb

gWhat engine do you have? If it is the 3.5L, take the plastic cover off. The PCV valve is right there. Buy a new one first so you can recognize it.

chrissymustang

I have the 3.8 engine

dtownfb

If you are standing in front of the car, it will be on the left side of the upper intake manifold, which is the black plastic thing. There is a sensor on the left side that is held in place with a little bracket thing. This is the MAP sensor and it must be removed carefully to access the PCV valve, the bracket itself may also have to be removed, Im a little foggy there. But after you pop the MAP sensor off, you should be able to see the PCV valve.

eeyore2

I have a question I just got my 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue from my Mother-in -Law were is the oil filter located under the car is it hard to get to or not? :confuse:

01intrigue

If you search the forum, you'll likely find a lot of info. The oil filter is an internal one, model 8765, and available at Autozone in STP brand for about $4 or $4.29. The FRAM one costs over $8, and is way overpriced. I get oil from Walmart, filter at autozone. Other good deal is if autozone has their oil change special with the STP filter, not the Fram filter. The filter holder cap is black, and shaped like an oil filter, on the back part of the engine, accessible from under the car. If you look from the front, it is just off center to right side, about a foot back of the drain plug. I use an oil filter cap wrench from a 2.8 V-6 Pontiac 6000LE (PF3347 I think), the size is the smaller GM filter size. The cap fits over the filter holder, and screws on flush with the bottom of the car. My oil change process follows, assumes you have 8765 filter, 7 quarts oil, and some blue scot towels or equivalent. Nitrile gloves from Harbor Freight keep hands clean and help reduce burn if oil is too hot. (I have long arms and can change the oil without jacking up the car. If your arms are too short, your results may vary.):
1. Attempt to loosen drain plug (faces front of car 16mm hex). Verify it can be loosened. (You don't want to change filter and then find out you cannot drain the oil!)
2. Using filter wrench on 3/8" socket, attempt to loosen the oil filter assembly. That done, you now know that you can change oil and filter.
3. With oil drain pan nearby, loosen and remove the oil filter. Clean area of oil and dirt, remove old filter (about 2" cylinder), wipe clean with blue scot towel. Put new filter inside the filter cap, and re-install. You simply tighten it til it is tight; no guessing, using the filter wrench. You really cannot do this using bare hand.
4. Now drain the oil from the oil drain plug. Mine works best with 16mm socket. Not sure why GM used metric. Must be a Cadillac thing. Open hood and remove oil fill cap to allow best flow to drain oil.
5. Replace drain plug. Tighten decently. Others may have Torque details.
6. Double check that filter and plug in place.
7. The 3.5 V6 is a 6.5 quart oil change with the filter. Some may take 7 quarts. I usually put in 6-6.5 quarts and check the next day, and add if necessary. If your oil/engine were hot enough, you likely got the engine pretty empty.
8. Start car and let it idle, checking for any drips. Check again next few days to make sure all is tight.
9. take old oil to Advanced AP or some other place that takes used oil.

I change the oil on both our intrigues, and have 25 quarts of used oil in garage to take back soon

Probably more than you needed,
greg

dtownfb

Here's the set of instructions I posted a while ago on changing the oil. It shows all the parts you will need.

http://www.carspace.com/guides/Changing-the-oil-in-Olds-Intrigue-(35L)

The oil filter is a cannister type and sits flush with the base of the engine. Once you buy the replacement oil filter, you understand how it goes together. Let us know if you have any questions.

dirkwork

An older retired lady in my neighborhood had me help sell her '96 Avalon with 95k miles. I was quite surprised to see a vaunted Toyota have so many problems with low millage, contrasting my '00 3.5 Ebay Intrigue where I only had a power steering hose fail and a few bulbs burn out. I have done brake job and changed oil but otherwise its been trouble free car.

Among the Toyota problems: Leaking rack & pinion, engine oil leak (possibly rear valve cover gasket?), CV joint rubber fell off and joint needs replacing.

Factor in the near zero fun to drive factor and crappy handling, I am happy I did not buy the Toyota that some of the experts in the magazines said I should. And on a highway trip in winter w/o AC I got 32-33 mpg pretty easily, high 20's easily on higher speed roads w/ac on. Why buy a small tin can car when you can have a nice car and still get reasonable fuel mileage....

Scott

dtownfb

Among the Toyota problems: Leaking rack & pinion, engine oil leak (possibly rear valve cover gasket?), CV joint rubber fell off and joint needs replacing.

It is a 13 year old vehicle....

You are pretty lucky if that is all the problems you have had with your Intrigue. Read the main Intrigue board to see what others have been experiencing.

jimconno

I have the 98 intrigue since August '98, have burned no oil so far, threw the serpentine belt with the water pump at 120,00kms, had problems with oil leaks (now fixed).
The Delco battery split at connection post. Of note was a whining noise when accelerating, about 150,000 kms, turned out it was the resonator (aluminum part in an otherwise stainless exhaust system) $137.00 to fix. My question now is at 195,00kms (or 120.000 miles) of relatively trouble free driving should I replace the suspension parts (rear), the alternator and is there a timing belt in this 3800 engine that figures in a preventive scenario??
Jimconn

dtownfb

There is no timing belt in the Intrigue. I wouldn't replace the alternator unless you are having issues. My 2000 Intrigue has 167,800 miles on it with the original alternator. As far as the rear suspension, it depends on how long you plan to keep it. 6 months? maybe not; 2 years? definitely yes

filipe

Thanks "dtownfb" I forgot to mention the most important (to me) item. The belt idler is supposedly maintenance free, it gives out at about 150,000 klicks and somehow "Goodrench" (cannot do not will not diagnose it unless you are savvy enough to tell them to replace it. My "90" Olds had this problem (3100 engine) I finally replaced the car with the Intrigue and yes the same item failed. This time I insisted on the replacement of the part rather the vehicle. Rear struts, dealer or??
Thank sagain jimconno

dtownfb

Any private mechanic should be able to replace your rear struts. visit www.gmpartsdirect.com or www.rockauto.com to get an idea of how much the rear strut assembly costs.

chrissymustang

1998 Intrigue 3.8L

My spedometer is stuck all the way to the right. This is the second time. The first time was a couple months ago. I have recently worked on the back brakes/parking brake. The first time the spedometer needle starting working by itself while on the freeway.

Does the cable connect to the transmission or somewhere else? I'm assuming the cable might have a lose connection.

Does anyone have any insight into this problem?

jgoodin

I'm trying to help my mom figure out a problem with her engine. The coolant level light keeps popping on and off. She had the radiator replaced a couple of weeks ago. The engine isn't overheating or anything. One of her friends said it could be the water pump is out and not allowing the coolant to circulate through the engine (V-6 3800, 98' Intrigue). Does anyone have any suggestions as to what it the problem could be, or if it is the water pump, how much the replacement costs, etc??

Kirstie_H

Wait for other advice, but if the coolant isn't circulating, then the engine would eventually overheat.

It COULD be as simple as the coolant sensor being bad. Did you check the coolant "cold fill" level? Is there sufficient coolant in the reservoir?

mick1

U R right. Coolant LEVEL sensor is in the overflow bottle. I had air bubbles after cooling system service, had to add coolant twice to bring to the cold level line on overflow bottle.