Six problems related to coolant leaking have been reported for the 2000 Oldsmobile Alero. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2000 Oldsmobile Alero based on all problems reported for the 2000 Alero.
On March 3, 2005 my 2000 Oldsmobile Alero gl v6/3. 4l would not start. On March 4, 2005, all 3 distributor coils were replaced as well as all 6 spark plugs. The car worked fine until March 7, 2005 when while driving the car for about 10 minutes, the car shut down. It coasted to the side of the road and I could not get it to start again. In both instances the car seems to try to start but is unsuccessful. In my online research, this appears to be a very common problem with no known resolution for other owners of the Alero. Additionally, after the window fell into the driver side door, on October 19, 2004, I had the mechanism for the driver side window replaced. In December 2004, the same window failed to work at all. I have not had it fixed again. The water pump was replaced after a sudden coolant leak completely depleting the system in November 2003, and the same situation occured again requiring the water pump to be replaced again in February 2005, a little over a year later. One of the cigarette lighters stopped working in June 2004. The service engine light, tire pressure light, and coolant light come on intermittently with no apparent problem. The interior dome light is touch and go, meaning if I touch the case, it may or may not go on or off. The front brake system has been replaced more times than I can count on my one hand in the nearly 3 years that I have owned it. The signal lights would stop functioning and buzz hideously until I pressed the hazard button. Water has collected in the front passenger floorboard and in the trunk from seal failure. The engine seems to burn oil quickly.
At approximately 40,000 miles after having had the oil changed, my coolant light came on. When I took it to be checked (even though the fluids were all checked as part of the oil change), it was low. This happened each time I had the oil changed in the winter. Finally, in November I was told that it was a leak in the intake gasket.
My 2000 Alero has just over 50000 miles on it. I was just told that I had to have the intake gasket replaced. The car has been leaking coolant for months. Oldsmobile needs to take responsibility for this problem since it seems to be happening to a lot of their vehicles.
It is known that with gm's 3100 and 3400 engines the coolant eats away at the head gasket causing corrosion and leakage of coolant. Why should the consumer be responsible for the cost of fixing this problem when gm is aware of it but does nothing about it.
The gaskets on the Alero engine are not compatible with the type of materials used on the engine causing them to leak very early in life. If coolant leaks into the engine it could cause damage and potential hazard while driving.
While driving 55mph vehicle will shut off, and will be hard to start back up. Dealer notified. Consumer was also informed that the intake was leaking coolant.