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Bad rotors on 1999 Oldsmobile Alero
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Comments
Other posts show the mirror will be fixed under warranty.
I notices a post asking some question about some after market parts for this car and I wanted to offer some info. I believe this was merich.
What I would like to do is invite everyone to take a look at our growing site full of members and information about the Oldsmobile Alero at
Http://www.alero.org
For merich, I wanted to show you a few things that I did on my alero which you can see on my Mod site,
http://www.geocities.com/darmie.geo/alero/mods.htm
On alero.org you will find a nice selection of links to also include a nice selection of performance parts links that may offer you some more info on what can be purchased.
Also check out http://www.partsforyourcar.com and what Brian has in stock for the Alero. He has been working on setting us up with some good items. Send him some email if you have any questions on what you are looking for. You will even see that I did have a chance to take the car to the track and I was able to offer some numbers with all the mods that have been done, which is located on my mod page. Word of caution though, it was my first time ever at the track but if you minus the reaction
time, it's impressive.
Thanks to all of you and most of the information that I have seen here, I will be updating the web site to include the TSP's and a few other
things that I have seen to helps all our visitors at alero.org.
--
Darmie Rudisill
Ceiba, Puerto Rico
http://www.darmie.com
http://www.alero.org
Also, I read some other messages regarding the mirrors shaking... haven't had that problem. Mine seem to be fine. Hopefully that's an easy fix for all of you!!
Take care and happy driving!!
Moral of the story, check to make sure that the lugs on the side posts of the battery are not too tight on original factory batteries.
Brad
Western Pennsylvania
As a side note I am also having problems with my engine making very loud noises when the car starts! I hate this car!
With warped rotors, the car have no problem braking. I had impression, my Malibu even did brake a bit faster before the rotors were replaced (Malibu have the same brakes and suspension). The only problem at first is vibration / pulsation, and later the brake pads are wearing down too fast.
When the steering wheel started to shudder when braking at highway speeds, I first suspected the rotors, but on a hunch I bought a new tire pressure gauge and checked the tires. Over the months since I had stopped checking them, they had dropped to about 20 PSI, from the normal 30.
I got them back to 30 and the shudder is gone.
This isn't to say there aren't rotor problems out there, but if you have a steering wheel shudder, you may want to start by checking your tires.
28,600 miles on my 99 GLS w/ sports suspension and premium sound and it's been trouble free for me.
I received a letter in the mail about participation in a survey at the Fort Washington Expo Center in PA. They wanted to know about design defects etc. Has anyone else received this that lives in the area?
Don't think I'd purchase another Alero.
have a 1999 Alero four door - sedan.3150 miles.have been unable to get more than city/highway 11 miles to gallon. granted in San Francisco, but I do not go up hills etc.
deealer is giving me hard time.
--anyone else out there-
very mad.
Hey yofa42: are you still out there? Did you ever get your gas pressure gauge fixed?
I now have over 20k miles on my alero and haven't noticed any other problems except that my drivers side window always squeaks when I put it up or down after it has just rained. Does anybody else have this problem? The dealer told me they couldn't replicate the problem and refuse to do anything about it.
I also have just recently had a problem with my rear defroster switch light flickering or failing to even come on. Has any of you noticed this problem?
As a side note to Armor All users, I've noticed that if I use armor all on my dash, for the next few weeks I get a haze on the inside of my windshield. If I wipe it off, it'll reappear within 2-3 days. I stopped using armor all on my dash and no longer get any haze on my windshield.
Weird.
If a rotor becomes overheated, or if the wheel nuts are not tightened in the proper sequence to the correct torque value, the rotor may warp and end up with runout or wobble. Symptoms include a vibration in the vehicle, steering wheel shimmy (if front), and pulsation in the brake pedal, when braking. Usually more noticeable at higher speeds. These symptoms (except the steering shimmy) can also be caused by an out of round rear brake drum. Typical rotor maximum tolerances are:
runout .003" maximum
thickness variation .0005" maximum
or so I've been told......
fuel pump and it is on "national backorder" and have no idea when they will get one.......
Also, if I recall correctly, there is a post about a TSB for drivers side mirror?? Mine shakes slightly at highway speeds. Should I get new rotors even though I haven't had a problem with them yet???? Thanks
aren't available. I suspect that parts should be available in early April, '01.
Since the mirrors are break-away, make sure the mirror housing is fully "nested" to the door.
Grab the mirror and "flex" it, let it "snap back" to allow it to seat. My car mirror was vibrating
after never having done so before, when I left a mall parking lot and I noticed that it was
gaped away from the door. I reached out and pulled and let it snap back and it was fine
after that.
I'm sorry to hear so many of you with brake problems, my car has been performing quite nicely!
Used to be AleroOSV4me.......gotta assemble my own now!
Who do I contact about this? Someone had written that 1-800-olds-4-U was the right number but, its only 6 numbers long (olds-4-u) so it doesn't work. Am I missing something?
a few months back I went in with my '99 alero GLS (not a single problem except this one) complaining about the pulsing in the breaks - turns out there was a 'technical bulletin' or some such at GM and they replaced all rotors and pads under the warranty.
everything is working just great now!
I love to drive my Alero. It's my first car that I bought new, but with only 4000 miles left on the warranty, I'm getting very frustrated with this car. Anybody that lives in PA, can call 1-800-LEMONLAW and they will see if you have a case. It's completely free since they are a "consumer advocate" law firm.
I'll post again next week after my appointment with the dealer. I hope the bulletin # helps. If anyone can get a copy of this bulletin please post the highlights of what it contains!!
My point is this - when they are loose, (maybe some nuts are down to 70 ft/lbs) the brakes pulsate. Once they are torqued up again to spec the pulsation goes. I've bought a good quality torque wrench for the job.
I would recommend that anybody with pulsating brakes should first check their lug nuts and see if they are torqued up correctly. I can't figure out why my lug nuts are working loose though? Maybe somebody here has a suggestion? Could also be the problem with the Alero.
I posted this in the Grand Am topic, but it looks like you folks need this info too.
Arent' all the FWD rotors the same? And most cars come with Alloy wheels today anyway.
If there was a design defect wouldn't GM have fixed it between 1999 and 2001?
They do use different parts for different wieght and configurations.
The Alero and Grand Am are basically the same vehicle, so it makes sense that what is affecting one, is affecting the other.
No, front wheel drive rotors are not all the same, there is different thicknesses, diameters and even metal configruation.
As for the wheels, they may come with alloy wheels, but again, you are assuming that all apples are the same. There are many different alloys for the wheels from Magnesium/titanimum/Aluminum alloys to lesser quality ones. Some alloy wheels have steel inserts in the lug holes, some don't.
Now, the defect and why they haven't fixed it between 99 and 02, the best answer I can give you is $$$$$$. It all boils down to money. It is cheaper for them to warranty only the ones that complain, than it is to dump 2 years worth of stock off the shelf, re-tool and start over. Once the stock of problem parts is depleted, then they will re-tool and correct the problem.
I had to replace the rotors and brake pads on my wife's 99 Lumina because of warpage to the rotors, I opted to replace the rotors with quality aftermarket rotors, because I didn't want to do the job again. The rotors I replaced them with are cut from a solid forged metal, not the stapmed garbage that comes from the factory.
Part of the problem I have noticed with the rotors is that the flange that is bolts to the hub, between the wheel and hub, is a stammped flimsy piece of metal only about 1/8" thick.
Sorry this is long.
Here is the story with these rotors (that I was told by a VERY helpful service manager). Apparently there has been a redesign of the rotors to fix this warpage problem. I don't know what exactly the redesign was nor if it is externly obvious if your rotors are pre- or post-redesign.
The tech bulletin on these rotors came out in Feb. 2000, and my rotors were first replaced in April 2000. The service guy assumes that my April 2000 rotors may have still been the first-design (ie. bad) rotors which hadn't gotten themselves out of their parts system yet. HOPEFULLY my rotors won't have any more problems for the duration of my lease. Even when things get replaced for free it still sucks having to bring the car to the dealer.
Good luck to all, and DO put up a stink if your dealer doesn't do this repair for your for free. Reference the tech bulletin # from post #90 for help.
I'd like some opinions. Would any of you Alero owners agree to this sort of work? And at $67.00/hour for labor, this dealer charges more than the local Lexus/Mercedes dealer.
And they ARE redesigned, I can tell from looking at the rotors when the wheels are off. Plus, even when the car was new, I always felt the brakes were "under powered" for the V6 engine power. The new brakes stop more confidently and my wife will actually drive the car now.
I've seen the deatils of the TSB, in one section it says "in the end, the customer's satisfaction is very important, do whatever it takes." So if your brakes are pulsating because they've warp, and hence the pads wear down prematurely, make the dealer fix it under warranty. If he doesn't, call the GM/Olds customer number and scream bloody murder. You'll get results.