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Olds Intrigue Brake Problem
stanion
Member Posts: 1
I own a 1998 Intrigue with 50,000 miles on it. I
have had Brake "shuddering" problems especially
when braking at high speed. (60 to 70 mph).
It first occurred at 20,000 miles., again at 37000
miles and again at 48000 miles. Each time I was
told to have my rotors turned. I did that twice but
don't believe that is the answer. The dealer tells
me it is normal for the car to perform like that.
I dom't think so. Does anyone have any advice for
me so I can get this problem resolved and not just
have the symptoms relieved for a short time. (80%
of my driving is 500 to 1000 mile trips on the
Interstate) Thanks, Bobb S
have had Brake "shuddering" problems especially
when braking at high speed. (60 to 70 mph).
It first occurred at 20,000 miles., again at 37000
miles and again at 48000 miles. Each time I was
told to have my rotors turned. I did that twice but
don't believe that is the answer. The dealer tells
me it is normal for the car to perform like that.
I dom't think so. Does anyone have any advice for
me so I can get this problem resolved and not just
have the symptoms relieved for a short time. (80%
of my driving is 500 to 1000 mile trips on the
Interstate) Thanks, Bobb S
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
But now at 44K miles the shuddering is back, and I am thinking about an after market rotor. I have heard that the problem is the Autobahn package which is no longer offered. I have a friend who also has a 98 Intrigue but without the Autobahn, and he has had no problems.
Did you have a chance to look at the Intrigue topics over in our Sedans conference? That's the best place to find folks who have recently purchased or are interested in purchasing the current model.
You can easily get a list of all relevant topics by keying Intrigue in to the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page. Here is a link to one of them: Oldsmobile Intrigue III (Topic #3206).
Glancing through the last 60 or so posts, it looks to me like the consensus may be that this problem was specific to the '98s with the autobahn package, and that, as noted in post #5 here, that package has been dropped. But read through the topic yourself to be sure.
Good luck!
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
99 Intrigue owned 10 months and has approx 20500 miles-Rear rotors turned @16000, replaced rotors and pads @18000 miles and fronts were turned @19000 miles. Rear brakes are still noisy and fronts are shuddering are high speed useage.
Life of an Intrigue brake according to some service managers is over @18000 and the lucky ones get 30000 miles.
Neither car had the Autobahn package.
But in general, I think warping of rotors is due to using cheaper parts. I have had rotors warp on a 94 T-Bird (rotors were replace twice, but they both warped) and on a 96 LSS.
Bryan
There is a mention here of the TSB that the Olds rep posted on the Intrigue brakes, but my dealer told me that was for squeaking brakes across all GM intermediates and not specifically for the Intrigue brake pulsation / rotor problem.
As for a recall, I wish they could fix this for good. They just stopped offering the Autobahn package after the first year and deal with the problem customer by customer. After my last fix (rotors and pads) the dealer told me I am on my own, and I have no confidence that the problem will not come back. I am told that my driving habits are causing the problem, but they have been fixing it up until now which does not make sense to me if they really think it is abuse on my part. The car is running beautifully at the moment.
darren@citycom.com
I would like to start a contact list and approach GM with it. The more names the better.
Thanks,
Darren Brandes
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hotline/
You should find a much broader perspective on the relative merits of this car over in our Sedans conference. If you haven't already, why don't you check out Oldsmobile Intrigue IV (Topic #3583) over in Sedans.
Hope this helps.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I should also state that, except for the brakes, the car has been perfect. I have every option on this car and really like it.
I don't know why I have made it this far without more problems. Quite a few of the miles on my car are road miles, but a good percentage are city miles too. One thing I do which the brake shop said may be helping is to let the car creep forward slowly after a stop. I figure this helps keep the hot pads off the same spot on the rotors and helps distribute the heat on the rotor better. I don't know if this helps, but it sure must not have hurt things.
Many posters on this brake forum and the Intrigue
section know of my 2 Intrigue experiences-98GLS and 99GLS.
The brakes are not durable nor reliable; and offers Mr Goodwrench a beautiful way to screw Intrigue owners... GM bought my 98 back after 26k miles....steering problems, tire vibrations, forever brake problems and replace of rotors and pads, and front end rattles.
The 99 GLS 3.5 in many ways mirrors the 98s aches and pains. We are at 35k miles with front end noise/rattle, totally screwed up brakes, flickering lights, and a terribly noisy car. The 3.5 is fun to have around; but overall the car is of little value with some very expensive long term repairs seen on the horizion.....
Having owned some 43+cars starting with a 35 Ford with mechanical brakes; I feel qualified to comment on poor quality and the bilking of the public in offering a car called Intrigue with brakes only fit for a Cushman motor scooter.
Having the Olds service people tell us our driving habits are questionable is comparable to the butterfly ballot in West Palm...
Other than some short comings on fit and finish compared to my previous 90 Accord, I'm quite pleased with the car. The flickering lights problem is caused by a faulty alternator (arcing brushes they tell me), but GM technical has developed a new alternator with a capacitor to correct this. It only seems to happen in cold weather about -10C or colder. The noisy front end, yes its there on rough ice or pavement. On smooth surfaces, the car is very quiet and smooth riding. The noisy sound is similiar to what you might expect if you were pulling an empty utility trailer. Yes, I could wish the above noise problem weren't there but oddly, the car always seems pretty solid. The ABS and traction control work quite well. Re: brakes, I'm at 24000 km and the brakes seem fine although in recent weeks, I've been hearing a light squeal when first touching the brake pedal. Hopefully this is much too early to be concerned. I look forward to responses to my comments.
One last thing, make sure that your lugnuts on the wheels are only torqued to 100 lbs as is specified in the owners manual. These rotors are very sensitive to over torquing and that can also cause this problem. One of mine was overtorqued, and they said it contributed to the problem. After that, I made sure that that never happened again.
Of course,the front pads have at least 10K miles left so they advised to wait to replace the rotors/pads.
The Old customer service re said there wasn't anything they could do.
How are other owners getting replacement rotors out of warranty?
If I have to pay, I may as well just look for another brand rotor. My mechanic has recommended Bend ix / or Brembo(if available)
I'd appreciate any comments from Edmunds or Oldsmobile.
The rotors on the intrigue are comparable in size and thickness to other cars in the Intrigue's weight class, although they could be better for the Intrigue's price class.
More often than not, rotor warping (the pulsation you feel) is caused by a mechanic improperly torquing the wheels in place. This usually shows up a few thousand miles after the wheels were done.
Someone was complaining for months on this forum about his Intrigue rotors repeatedly warping, and then he took his other car to the same dealership for wheel service and found it developed warping soon afterward. That was a pretty strong indication the service department was the cause of the problem. Of course they will blame it on poor quality parts and happily charge you for new rotors (which they will probably also ruin).
Our mechanic had told us all about the proper torquing with this car...he said whenever we went to have new tires put on to tell the mechanic about the problems that can occur with the rotors. In fact, since we needed two front tires, our mechanic ordered the tires and put them on himself for us - that way we KNOW they were put on right.
We trust our mechanic implicitly...you've no idea how good these guys have been to us over the years. They are a family business and worked out of their backyard garage in my neighborhood where I grew up....the father ran the business. He got more and more successful and rented a garage of his own and does a wonderful business. Without a doubt they would not ever lie/cheat us...trust me on that.
A question for you guys.....do aftermarket rotors come with any kind of guarantee?
I have driven about 70-80% "around town". Since this is my only car, anywhere I go is in it.
I prefer to work on it myself, to reduce the possiblity that dealers/mechanics can screw it up... err, I mean, have an accident. So, when rotating the tires or whatever, I tighten the lug nuts on the wheels just about as much as I can by hand. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but there was talk about over-tightening may cause problems.
many people running the wrenches are clueless and since its set to max to remove the nuts, it stays that way when they go back on.