Consumer Complaint Detail

OLDSMOBILE / 98 / 1998

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 004304905 Incident Date: Aug, 09 2004
Consumer's City: SALINE Consumer's State: MI
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: General Motors, LLC
Model Name: 98 Model Year: 1998
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling:cooling system
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Oct, 24 2004 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: May, 05 2000
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 6 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I own a 1998 olds regency with 62000 miles on it. this car has the standard 3.8 liter v-6 which has been in production for probably 30 years. i noticed recently the coolant reservoir level was slightly down and added coolant to bring it up to level. two weeks later my engine temperature was slightly high so i checked the reservoir level again. the reservoir was dry and i couldn't see any coolant in the radiator. i called the local dealership, added distilled water and got it there. when i arrived there was coolant leaking out of the intake manifold. the dealer informed me the next day they had to replace the upper and lower intake manifolds and gaskets at a cost of $1050. i questioned myself and the service manager how an intake manifold could go bad. he informed that the upper manifold was made of plastic. i talked to the mechanic after the fix. he informed me that the egr nipple that flow exhaust gases into the plastic upper manifold had thermally broke down the plastic and caused the leak. gm's fix was to decrease the size of the nipple in the lower manifold so there was an air gap between the nipple and the plastic upper manifold. this fix would stop heat from being transferred directly to the plastic upper manifold. gm has an engineering problem and they have addressed it by changing the replacement manifolds. no recall has been issued so the total cost is the burden of the owner. i have maintained my car properly and i believe this problem is not my fault. the problem is gm doesn't think it's their fault either.*ak