3.4 trouble spots

[leroBob]

New to the Alero nad am just curious if their ae any trouble spots on the 3.4?

Have you replaced the intake gasket yet? If not, it'll start leaking. Some go before 20k, mine went around 60k. It'll happen though, just to warn you. There were a lot of threads about it. I think the diagnostic is still here.
A lot 3.4's need a good long crank to start. (hehe) It's usually the fuel pump. Turn the key to on for a few seconds to prime it before you start if that happens. There's a thread about that too.
Those are the only really common problems I can think of...

[leroBob]

my 99's got 26000 no leak yet but i naoticed the starter thing thanks for thanxs for the input.

i got a clogged injector a while back

mine has 90k and no probs yet!...

The only problem I have w/mine is wrecking it too many times. Other than that only problem is but starting it up. And I'm at 47K!!!!!!!!!

Keep an eye on the "hub bearing problem." They like to go out up front. You'll hear a nice kind of "howl" coming from a front wheel. The easy way to check for these is to jack up the front of the car. With the wheels still on, try and wriggle the wheel pushing and pulling on the top and bottom, almost like you were trying to wriggle it off the hub. Do you feel a little play in there? If so, you most likely have a bad wheel bearing. Fun times.
Also had to replace steering intermediate shaft like 3 or 4 times. I noticed when sitting still and engine running that when I turned the wheel back and forth real quick, not all the way just you were swerving a little on the road, that I feel and hear it "knocking." I know you will always feel something in there, but mine was really bad.
Lower intake gasket as mentioned before.
Turn signals cutting out. This is a factory recall that a dealership has to fix free. It has to do with faulty soldering in the Hazard Light switch.
That's all I can think of now. I think I've gotten the lemon out of the bunch. Of course I've put 98000 miles on my '01 since February of '01 so that could be it too.

[keytonic]

Water pump. Not sure if this is a common problem but the dealer said they've had to replace a few.

I just replace my left hub...c/of my accident. So I guess I have no future worries w/that for a while.

just hit 60K and no problems yet

i had both wheel hub/bearings replaced, Throttle body positioning sensor, Power steering pump, and now its running rough again so ill keep you up to date.

No major problems yet at 45,000 miles. But as far as the hub / bearing, the wheel sensor can go out, also. It's all one sealed assembly. You'll know if the wheel sensor goes bad if your service vehicle soon, ABS, and trac-off lights come on. It's a $115 part from advance auto. That's the biggest thing that has happened to me.

[AleroHawk]

Got 35,000+ miles on mine. So far: Broken driver side window (fixed), Broken fuel gauge (fixed), Broken sun roof motor (fixed), Clogged fuel filter (fixed), Middle section of air dam under the front bumper ripped off by wind I'm guessing (bolted back on then ripped off again, speeding in the tripple digits doesn't help, not fixed)Passenger side dash comming up (not covered under extended warranty, not fixed). Waiting for the next fault.... but hey, I love my Alero.

I just went to the dealership cause my car was very doggish and here is what is wrong

Spark plug wires are bad
Ignition Coil

and yes sad but true my manifold gasket is leaking coolant and oil........................................

Originally posted by 99ALERO@Dec 1 2003, 11:49 AM
I just went to the dealership cause my car was very doggish and here is what is wrong

Spark plug wires are bad
Ignition Coil

and yes sad but true my manifold gasket is leaking coolant and oil........................................

That's exactly what I had fixed on mine last time it was in. I'm guessing yours is a 99 and not under warranty anymore? Call GM (the # in your manual) and ask them to pay for half of it. They key is telling them that you've had all or most of your servicing done at the dealer. They like to see that you've fixed the same problem before, but tell them you know that this is a known problem, and you know you're just lucky that it took this long.

[vulgar]

Originally posted by Zerocool@Nov 24 2003, 10:24 AM

Also had to replace steering intermediate shaft like 3 or 4 times. I noticed when sitting still and engine running that when I turned the wheel back and forth real quick, not all the way just you were swerving a little on the road, that I feel and hear it "knocking." I know you will always feel something in there, but mine was really bad.

yeah ive got a very noticeablre thumping noise as well...Youre saying its the steering intermediate shaft...I brought this proble to the dealerships attention a bnch of fuggin times and those mofo's never found shyt.

at least i now know what it is

[aLeRogrL21]

Being a female that works at an Oldsmobile and Pontiac Dealership, I see all the service repair orders for any vehicle that comes in and I also own an alero. The most common problems are: wheel/hub bearings, brake pads and rotors going out of style in a short amount of time, hard starts and the lower intake manifold.

[brim]

so she knows it all for the most part hehe


me, i haven't had any major work done (yet)

My brakes are still poop, from day one the squeak never went away when coming going from crawl to stop, just a creak, creak, squeak, squeak, squeak, stop

also, after checkin up on my coolant a ways back, with gunk on the seal and the coolant a dark brown color, I'll be flushing it out and more than likely replacing the intake

I'd do it myself with the right instructions, I know a guy on GAGT that did it for somethin between $100-200 by himself

I can't stand paying for labor =p, I'm cheap

Originally posted by misslindseysue+Dec 1 2003, 11:06 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (misslindseysue @ Dec 1 2003, 11:06 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-99ALERO@Dec 1 2003, 11:49 AM
I just went to the dealership cause my car was very doggish and here is what is wrong

Spark plug wires are bad
Ignition Coil

and yes sad but true my manifold gasket is leaking coolant and oil........................................

That's exactly what I had fixed on mine last time it was in. I'm guessing yours is a 99 and not under warranty anymore? Call GM (the # in your manual) and ask them to pay for half of it. They key is telling them that you've had all or most of your servicing done at the dealer. They like to see that you've fixed the same problem before, but tell them you know that this is a known problem, and you know you're just lucky that it took this long. [/b][/quote]
would they really pay for half of it?

They have paid for at least half for more than one person on here... GM wouldn't pay for mine, but I finally talked to a nice girl who explained that they would have paid for it if I had been getting it serviced at the dealer, and had that same problem before. She understood that I moved away for college, and even said that she didn't get her car serviced at a dealer, but that's the way it works. I was lucky and the dealership goodwilled half of it for me, since my grandpa (who bought the car) has a good relationship with them.
So just pretend that any work you didn't have done at a (preferrably the same) dealer didn't happen. It would also help if you say, took it in for an oil change and had the dealer's mechanic take a quick look at your stained block and diagnosed the problem.
You can try the dealer goodwill route too, 'cause that'll save you a ton of money. When they goodwill, they have to bill it as warranty work, so it's less labor and no markup on parts. My half was around $200 for the gasket change, then there was the almost $300 for wires and coil, but now they'll warranty the coil and wires.