Began to see coolant pooling on the intake manifold assembly, took the vehicle in to find that the intake manifold gasket needed to be replaced. Should have been a warranty item. Did not damage engine, I was lucky and spotted the situation early.

- St. Albert, 00, USA

The consumer stated the intake manifold gasket failed without warning. As a result the transmission fluid and oil began to mix together, which caused the engine to stall. Please provide additional information.

- Sheboygan, WI, USA

Coolant leaked from gasket into engine degrading oil and resulted in extensive damage and cost. The downgrading began with this event. Il pump eventually clogged resulting in low oil pressure & repaired again. Eventually, engine self destructed, while on freeway, loosing power steering and power brakes resulting in near accident while exiting freeway. Then had to rent a Chrysler van to escape oncoming hurricane frances. This is more expense and aggrivation. All because of a faulty gasket leaking coolant into engine. This looks like neglegent design on gms part resulting in a catastrophic failure which could have resulted in death.

- Merritt Island, FL, USA

The following letter (combined message forum posting & letter to GM of mine) represents the main points in my complaint involving an intake gasket manifold leak in our 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette which we've since repaired for approximately $900: After recently writing a lengthy complaint letter to Oldsmobile customer service (explaining how I was trying a GM product for the first time after being dissatisfied with Chrysler products for the past 10 years) and after 2 weeks of phone tag with 2 GM customer service reps I was finally told that because I wasn't the original owner, bought it with relatively high mileage (50K mi) and didn't have an extended warranty GM is not going to assist with the repair of my intake manifold gasket problem. I summarized by saying, "so, you're saying that GM doesn't care what 2nd owners of GM vehicles think about GM" you don't care that I won't buy another GM product?" the rep. Responded "that's your choice." He went on to say "we don't know how the previous owner maintained the vehicle...." and I responded saying "there are tsb's out there on this problem, over 1500 people who've signed an online petition and GM dealer service techs who immediately point out the problem to owners who go in for totally unrelated service; you can't tell me that GM doesn't know this is a product defect." He didn't respond. My vehicle is now consuming about 16 oz. Of coolant every 150 miles driven. The rep. Said I shouldn't be driving it at all; easy to say if you could afford to go out and replace it or repair it; not a very good option for our family now. An extensive web search on ??olds Silhouette and intake manifold leak?" has produced many stories of exactly the same problem with other owners of this vehicle in the same year. I request that this problem be repaired free of charge as soon as possible to avoid further damage to engine components.

- Okemos, MI, USA

Faulty intake manifold on 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette has caused an engine failure. This failure occurred while my pregnant wife (3 days past due) was driving our 5 yr old son home from the dentist. She was driving 40 mph on a high traffic road when the engine failed! this sudden engine failure could have caused a serious accident.

- Madison, AL, USA

Faulty intake gasket on 98 Oldsmobile Silhouette (same as Chevrolet Venture). Engine V6 3400. 78000 miles.

- Savage, MN, USA

Our 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette has 45000 miles and needs a new $5000 engine. It has been maintained according to the manufacturer's instructions and the engine has been destroyed by a intake manifold gasket leak which allows corrosive dexcool coolant to leach into the engine. There are many other victims of this flaw, and details of the problem are available at: www.cartrackers.com/forums/live/yourlemon/231.html www.petitiononline.com/gmcnsmrs/petition.html www.geocities.com/gm_intake/ www.GM-V6lemons.com/

- Vienna, VA, USA

Vehicle has an odor and heater was not working. Oil and antifreeze mixed together. Took to dealer, and dealer indicated had a blown head gasket. Odor could probable be antifreeze.

- Anna, OH, USA

Engine stops and goes dead. When this happens there are no brakes, no steering, the vehicle goes dead with no indication, no matter what speed when driving. The dealer had replaced the fuel injection system along with a variety of replacement to several other parts. After arriving back home in less than one week, the engine was dead again. (occurred approximately seven or eight times on the way. The dealer cannot duplicate the problem.

- Brunswick, OH, USA