Hello from North Georgia

jokerl90 · 12-08-2013, 08:51 PM

Hello all!
I'm Mike, 55 years old, truck driver (not long haul).
I just bought a 2001 Alero, 1-owner with 87000 miles on it. No accidents that I know of. Ran a Carfax on it and it was all clean
Car is very tight, runs well. From it's condition I think it was garage kept.
It does not have the passlock, just plain keys. The used car dealer said it never had that, I'm not sure if he was correct. I almost didn't go look at it over the passlock feature, glad it been bypassed or was not installed.
Hope I won't be asking too many questions here! lol I have been mining for info here since last Friday when I found the car.
I do have one question, if it's allowed for this thread, been reading alot about the limg and head gasket's failing on this motor. Is there a certain mileage range I can look for that to happen, or is it just a roll of the dice?
Here's some pic's

03glgold · 12-08-2013, 09:24 PM

Nice car...from everything i have gathered throughout when others have had it there isnt a specific time some have went as early as around 25k miles to people having near 200k and never needing it done...as far as passlock they all came with it, it doesn't use a chipped key it is just very picky about all the teeth on the key matching up well

sleepyalero · 12-08-2013, 10:24 PM

Clean car! Welcome.

As for the LIMG issue.... I will tell you this. Im the second owner on mine (uncle owned it since new) and I bought the car from him with 127k miles on it. The car never needed the limg changed when he owned it. I took it all the way up to 180k miles then changed them out because I got ported manifolds. But the car didnt need new gaskets before I upgraded. Honestly.... its really hit or miss on the LIMG. I wouldnt worry about it until it happens. Like I saod... my car went 180k miles and they were still good.

xXManwhoreXx · 12-09-2013, 03:37 AM

Afaik the issue was resolved midway through 01... but idk may be talking out my ass

jokerl90 · 12-09-2013, 11:34 PM

Thanks for the replies!

billytheman1188 · 12-09-2013, 11:59 PM

Welcome to the site! Always nice to see new members here because we don't have many. The LIMG issue happened to me around 55k on my first one. The car looks great...lucky you....you don't have snow/salt down there. Happy modding!

MMGT1 · 12-10-2013, 01:48 AM

Is a nice clean car! Even if it does go, don't fret. I can do one myself in 3.5 hours now...lol Lots of info and good guys here. Welcome to the club!! Don't see many that are a clean slate anymore, you can have a lot of fun with that thing and surprise a few with it if you get the modding bug!

jokerl90 · 12-10-2013, 09:00 AM

It does seem to have been well taken care of. Only found two issues so far, and they are minor. The fog lights don't work and the dome light does not work. Will be getting into that this weekend, have already found great info here about this.
It's possible the limg has already been taken care of at some point (crosses fingers lol). Hopefully xXManwhoreXx is correct.
The car is paid for so doing repairs is not that big of a deal to me.
Your either going to have shop bills or car payments+full coverage insurance. Shop bills are "every once in a while" (hopefully), while car payments are every single damn month! lol
I had a thought about just getting the head gaskets and limg done before they go out just for the peace of mind and to get it done on my terms.

sleepyalero · 12-10-2013, 11:50 AM

No sense in changing if its not needed.

billytheman1188 · 12-10-2013, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepyalero

No sense in changing if its not needed.

Not a bad idea though. When one of them goes he mau be on the side of the road paying for a tow

tw0123 · 12-10-2013, 07:26 PM

I was under the impression that GM didn't correct the limg issue until 2003... there is a good chance it will give you plenty of warning symptoms before all hell breaks.looze needing a tow... keep an eye on it during regular maintenance and you should be able to catch it before any serious damage is done... as Paul said, it can be done quickly once you know your way around these motors and parts are reasonably priced... unless you do what i did and start modding the motor once mine went... then it starts to add up hahaha

Welcome and enjoy the party!!

billytheman1188 · 12-10-2013, 09:20 PM

^ true. I should know better seeing as how i had my limg go and HG...i sounded like a noob

That01Olds · 12-13-2013, 11:57 PM

Welcome to the forum and clean looking Alero.

jokerl90 · 12-14-2013, 09:09 AM

Thanks all!
The problem with the dome light was just a switch out of position, finally took a minute to look at it. Odd thing about the dome light, the map lights are facing the rear seat. I'm thinking this is backwards???? lol
When I bought my 92 Ranger, a mechanic (very good one) advised me to disconnect the battery for a few hours to "clear" the computer so it could get used to my driving habits and grade of gas I was using. Would my Alero benefit from this? btw, I'm using non-enthnol regular grade gas.

MMGT1 · 12-14-2013, 10:12 AM

You can clear codes under the hood if there are any stored. Pull the PCM ign and PCM Bat fuses. Turn ign to on position and after a few seconds you will hear chimes from inside the car. Turn ignition to the off position, re-install fuses and codes, if any, will be cleared. It is good to do this then in a few days scan for codes to see if there are any. If there are any codes they would be "current" and not "stored" codes. Good tip for identifying any current issues the PCM or BCM may be picking up on

To reset your PCM, disconnect both positive and negative battery terminals. Then touch them together, this will completely drain the system of power and reset fuel trims. Then your car will learn the fuel trims of the gas you use. There are no adaptive pressure table in this platform. The 4L, 6L and 8L series transmissions do, but not these 4T series of transmissions