I was told I needed a new MAF sensor ( Three of them were changed because they kept getting a bad signal), a new EGR as well as a Crank shaft sensor so I paid for all this to a tune of $1500.00 only to be finally told My gasket was bad on the intake manifold. I mean really? Come on didn't these guys go to school or something to learn how to Identify and repair these problems? and why don't they let you know that they have these problems up front? I found out because the mechanic let it slip and when I went to asking more questions about the problem they quickly clammed up and denied saying any thing about it. just said I had to bring the truck in for more Diagnostic test which by the way I would have had to pay for at $75.00 for the test and 145.00 an hour for them to set around like a bunch of monkeys scratching themselves when they knew what the problem was all along. They said if it was an intake manifold gasket it could cost me as little as $900.00 to repair but there was no guarantee.Now I find out it could cost me up to almost $5000.00. if I do it myself and do it right the first time It wont cost that much. Why don't they go back to making cars the way they used to... you know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that actually ran and didn't give you any problems. I mean didn't the US Government just give them a crap load of money? for what? to make more crap that we as the consumers have to pay out of our pockets to fix ourselves?
Update from Aug 25, 2011: Update...... I spent $109.69 and bought an intake manifoild gasket part # MS980023T ( make sure you ask for this part and that is the one they give you) as well as the plastic upper intake manifoild part # 615182 ( $114.95) and replaced them both. took a friend and I about 5 hours. no more water in the oil and no more oil in the water. Truck runs great now. see this is what it means to fix things right the first time. had I taken it to the shop they where going to charge me up to $5000.00. and no they were not forth coming with helpful information. Also if you have a check engine light coming on and you check and get the codes P0101(which is your Mass airflow sensor and P0404 which is your EGR valve after you have fixed the intake manifold gasket then replace your distributer with a new one. If you get both of these codes together then your engine timing is beyond what the computer can deal with. and seeing as how the engine has to be set to dead center #1 before you can set the timing and no there is no room for a hickup. it's either dead on or it wont crank and if your disributor is worn out and sloppy then this will give you bad codes and cause the engine to have a bad tappit sound at 4000 rpms. For those of you out there who think I am sitting there reving the crap out of the engin ( which isn't so bad of an Ideal when I stop and think about it), I'm not. So dont email me chastising me, because 4000 rpm is passing/pulling with a load.
I bought the truck with 60,000 mi. on it. I drove it for maybe half a year or so, and my low coolant light came on. I instinctively added coolant, and a month later it came on once again. So i took it to a shop and they said, "We've seen this before and know how to fix it". They replaced my intake gasket. It worked for a year and now its back to leaking again. I have to add at least a jug and a half each month to the cooling system. Please help??
Vehicle Slowly leaks coolant. I also think it is burning or slowly leaking oil.Could Be water pump or intake manifold gasket, Waiting For A recall That will Probably not Happen. The Truck Only Has 56,00 miles. No Wonder People are Buying Foreign autos.
I noticed when I test drove the vehicle that the low coolant light came on. I should have had the dealer check it, but since I am somewhat mechanical I just added coolant and bought the vehicle. I have had the nagging thought that I should have questioned the dealer about it but I was familiar with the dealer and the people that previously owned it so I bought it anyway. Drove vehicle for a time and coolant light came on again. It was low on coolant. No spots on floor, no coolant smells, no nothing. Checked the oil. No evidence of coolant in oil. Now it has done it again and I am getting smell. Checked service bulletins. There is one out for this problem so GM is aware of this happening on other vehicles. With this low of miles you would think they would step up and admit there is a problem and help the consumer that is still buying American made vehicles. I am p_ _ _ _ _. I quit driving Gm for awhile and went to Ford but their stuff was even worse. I paid good money for this vehicle. It had low miles, excellant shape so I thought I was being a good shopper. I would not expect to have to replace intake gaskets on a vehicle with 49,000 miles on it. After all, their advertising promotes reliability and longevity. I am like everyone else in America. Making payments on a vehicle that should not have any major repairs til it is paid for or 100,000 miles. Now to be facing $700.00 or better to repair this piece of _ _ _ _ hurts.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I was told I needed a new MAF sensor ( Three of them were changed because they kept getting a bad signal), a new EGR as well as a Crank shaft sensor so I paid for all this to a tune of $1500.00 only to be finally told My gasket was bad on the intake manifold. I mean really? Come on didn't these guys go to school or something to learn how to Identify and repair these problems? and why don't they let you know that they have these problems up front? I found out because the mechanic let it slip and when I went to asking more questions about the problem they quickly clammed up and denied saying any thing about it. just said I had to bring the truck in for more Diagnostic test which by the way I would have had to pay for at $75.00 for the test and 145.00 an hour for them to set around like a bunch of monkeys scratching themselves when they knew what the problem was all along. They said if it was an intake manifold gasket it could cost me as little as $900.00 to repair but there was no guarantee.Now I find out it could cost me up to almost $5000.00. if I do it myself and do it right the first time It wont cost that much. Why don't they go back to making cars the way they used to... you know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that actually ran and didn't give you any problems. I mean didn't the US Government just give them a crap load of money? for what? to make more crap that we as the consumers have to pay out of our pockets to fix ourselves?
Update from Aug 25, 2011: Update...... I spent $109.69 and bought an intake manifoild gasket part # MS980023T ( make sure you ask for this part and that is the one they give you) as well as the plastic upper intake manifoild part # 615182 ( $114.95) and replaced them both. took a friend and I about 5 hours. no more water in the oil and no more oil in the water. Truck runs great now. see this is what it means to fix things right the first time. had I taken it to the shop they where going to charge me up to $5000.00. and no they were not forth coming with helpful information. Also if you have a check engine light coming on and you check and get the codes P0101(which is your Mass airflow sensor and P0404 which is your EGR valve after you have fixed the intake manifold gasket then replace your distributer with a new one. If you get both of these codes together then your engine timing is beyond what the computer can deal with. and seeing as how the engine has to be set to dead center #1 before you can set the timing and no there is no room for a hickup. it's either dead on or it wont crank and if your disributor is worn out and sloppy then this will give you bad codes and cause the engine to have a bad tappit sound at 4000 rpms. For those of you out there who think I am sitting there reving the crap out of the engin ( which isn't so bad of an Ideal when I stop and think about it), I'm not. So dont email me chastising me, because 4000 rpm is passing/pulling with a load.
- mcalhoun, Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada