Four problems related to engine head gasket failure have been reported for the 1999 Oldsmobile Alero. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Noticed my son's 1999 olds Alero was using excessive antifreeze, took to shop & had to have defective intake gasket replaced as antifreeze was being sucked into the engine. Repair shop reports that they are repairing same problem on 3 gm cars per week in this town of 25,000 people. Cost $ 650 to repair; gm should recall this vehicle & similar models and replace these defective gaskets, we were lucky that we did not ruin the engine on this car. We had to get the car repaired immediately as my son did not have any other vehicle to drive to work while the Alero was being repaired and really could not afford this expensive repair on this car. Repair shop advised that gm is not recalling this part or paying for the repairs even though they are aware of the problem and that it is the fault of a defective gasket and not the car owners fault.
Lower intake gasket failure causes near collision on freeway. While I was driving home on a busy day my coolant light came on and my engine started pulsing strangely. Trying to pull into the emergency lane caused several cars to nearly slam into the back of my car. The problem with the coolant was found to be a common flaw in the lower intake gasket on 3. 4l (3400) gm engines. After investigation, I've found that many people are experiencing this problem yet gm is doing nothing to address it.
Consumer states head gasket was replaced at 50,000 miles.
The oil pan gasket and the intake gasket were replaced failure causing leakage.