Winnipeg Help

Exhaust Landon stole from you? What about me? B)

Do you guys know if anyone from Winnipeg has the dreaded maifold leak??? After all of the discussion in the trouble shooting section I checked and I'm sure I have it.... . Hopefully if I complain enough to the right dealer they'll at least pay for half.

I believe that Boarder211/Scott had the dreadful leak, but I believe his was a '99 so I dont think it had dealership warranty, but he'd be your best bet to talk to...

Mine's a 2003. I'm sure they fixed that problem by now, so I'm not overly concerned. Please correct me if I'm wrong so I can get it checked while it's still on warranty. :P

Yeah... I had the leak. It was on my 99 at about 76000 km. I first noticed it when my low coolant light starting coming on intermittently, then when changing the oil there was coolant on the oil filter.

I did buy the car used, but bought an extended warranty on the car, so it only cost me $160 to have it all done. Parts would have been $200 I think... an with labour and shop costs it came out to something like $970 to the warranty company... So I'm glad I paid for the warranty.

I had to have it done at McNaught, because the warranty company said I needed to take it there... go figure.

Yeah... if you have any other questions about it Maverick, PM me. I'll do my best.

I just talked with Steve in the service department at Vickar Chev-Olds about the manifold / coolant leak. The problem is less predominent in the newer models but still possible.

He says the reason the leak happens is that the manifold is aluminum while the block is cast. In our climate, the extreme temperature variants cause the metal to expand and contract. The manifold heats up and expands faster than the block causing the leak.

GM has since replaced the gasket with a neoprene style one that handles the expansion and contractions better. He said it afflicts about 10% of the Alero's, some worse than others.

I questioned him further on whether GM would cover it should my car be afflicted with it after my warranty expires. He said that GM has extended the warranty on this problem in the cases that they were involved in, only after authorization from higher up.

Just an FYI. So, if you ask for it and whine, chances aren't bad to get it covered through GM warranty.

I think his answer is partially BS, IMO... becuase too many people from all over the States have the problem too... even guys down in Florida. I'm going to start talking to the dealer out in Portage La Prairie (where I live now) to see what they say.... hopefully if I make my case they'll help out a bit.

Just tell them that you've talked to other Alero owners and dealerships, that you know it's a common problem with this car, and that GM has covered it under warranty in most cases. Never hurts to try dude!!! Go get 'em!

Let us know how things turn out and good luck! :thumbsup:

Yeah I had the manifold start leakin on me as well the dealership wanted 745 before taxes to fix it issed: but just glad that my gf's bro is a mechanic and that it ended up costing me only 540 and change to get it done