Castrol GTX 5W-30/4649 miles/Olds Alero 3.5L V6

[Shmeefer]

First UOA for the future-wife's car since I took over maintenance. I found out that Blackstone Labs calls you when your UOA is bad

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Engine: GM 3.5L V6 (Oldsmobile Alero)
Miles on Engine: 81,825
Oil: Castrol GTX 5W-30
Miles on Oil: 4,649
Additional Info: Oil was changed immediately after a 250-mile trip. Oil is usually changed at local oil/tire place. No name filter and Castrol GTX are typically used.

Aluminum: 3 (3 – Universal Average)
Chromium: 0 (1)
Iron: 16 (15)
Copper: 10 (14)
Lead: 15 (4)
Tin: 3 (1)
Moly: 18 (44)
Nickel:0 (0)
Manganese: 1 (1)
Silver: 0 (0)
Titanium: 0 (0)
Potassium: 416 (5)
Boron: 3 (41)
Silicon: 12 (15)
Sodium: 60 (10)
Calcium: 1416 (1999)
Magnesium: 9 (201)
Phosphorus: 566 (710)
Zinc: 665 (870)
Barium: 0 (0)

Viscosity: 56
Flashpoint: 400F
Fuel %: Antifreeze %: 0.12
Water %: 0.0
Insolubles: 1.0

Comments: Unfortunately, it appears that your Alero has an antifreeze problem. The potassium and sodium show the antifreeze, while lead shows that it’s starting to affect the bearings. On the bright side, if you had it fixed now, you’d most likely save the engine. Lead is theonly thing that’s really reading out of line. The universal averages column shows typical wear from this type of engine after 4400 miles on the oil. Insolubles are high because of the antifreeze. The TBN reads 2.9, getting low but still active addictive left. Antifreeze makes this a cautionary report.

I had a feeling this is what I'd find out. I start researching the problems with the engine after she made the last payment. I saw a lot of info, mostly on here, about the antifreeze problem. So what's the recommendation? We had hoped to hold onto this car for a while and get her a new one in a 2 or so years. We had also talked about trading it in on a used Civic or something that I felt would be more reliable. Now I'm not sure what to do. The fix is to replace the head and intake gaskets correct? What does that typically run? My research shows that this is a design flaw and it will likely happen again, is that the case? If so, it seems we'd be better off fixing it and then getting rid of the car perhaps armed with some follow-up UOA's that show the problem is solved. Thoughts?

 

[drums57]

TRADE this car ASAP, this is one of the reasons GM is going bankrupt, my choice a TOYOTA CAMRY.

 

[bruce381]

get some GM corvette? stop leak "pills" and try that shorten OCI to 4K max and test again.
maybe only a coolant "weep" and the stop leak may solve it I had a cracked cylinder head that was leaking outside the engine and the "pills" fixed it from when I found it at 100K on out to selling it at 193K.
bruce

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

On one hand, I'm happy that you found the coolant leak with a UOA. On the other, I'm sad to see you'll need to spend $$$ on getting this all fixed.

FWIW, a friend of my really wanted an Alero and puchased a V6 equipped model back in '01. He had so many problems, namely 2 leaking upper-end kits (one under warranty, one not). He ran it for as long as he could and purchased an '05 Tacoma V6 and loves it. He really liked the Alero's styling, but the amount of $$$ out of pocket was too much.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

"had also talked about trading it in on a used Civic"

This is your que. Get out before you spend any more money. Srry about the timing though.

 

[Pablo]

GM

 

[Shmeefer]

On the plus side, the Castrol GTX looks like it is holding up well. Perhaps I should stick with instead of using M1 like I do with my Tundra. Probably moot now anyway.

I talked to future-wife about it and she recalls having to top-off the antifreeze annually since she's had the car. So it probably is a slow, steady leak, which could mean it's been causing this level of bearing wear for the last 50-80k miles. So stopping the leak may not matter, if the damage is already done.

 

[Chris B.]

416ppm potassium is not a slow leak! I had 69ppm in my GM engine and I had to fill the coolent tank monthly as it was leaking internally pretty fast. Yours at 416ppm is a pretty big leak. If you plan to keep the car fix it right and repair the gasket....to bad GM can't seem to get this problem right!

 

[Shmeefer]

She has only needed to fill the coolant tank maybe twice a year. Fixing it seems pointless given the evidence that it's a design flaw and will most likely happen again.

 

[IslaVistaMan]

Get it diagnosed properly. I don't know much about the 3.5L problem, but I've heard it said around here that the FelPro heavy-duty gaskets and the Dormans manifold addresses the 3.8L problems okay.

Ask more questions before you toss in the towel on the car. A new car payment hurts for a long time.

 

[Santo Fontana]

Use the stop leak tablets, shorten the oci to 2k, monitor coolant level, and sell it in a couple years.

 

[mshu7]

If this car is an Alero, it doesn't have a 3.5L V6. It's the old 3.4L pushrod V6 which is famous for the leaky intake manifold gasket. I have the same engine in my '00 Grand Am GT.

I just wanted to point that out so there's no confusion as to what engine we are talking about here.

BTW, the Intrigue came with a 3.5L OHC V6 which was basically a Northstar (Caddy) V8 with a couple cylinders chopped off.

 

[Shmeefer]

You're correct, I mistyped. I had the coolant system pressure tested today to verify the exact source and it was at the Lower Intake Manifold gasket as usual. Wife-to-be doesn't want to get rid of it until after the wedding so we're fixing it and I'm going to hit it with AutoRX after the fix to clean it out. Hopefully it makes it to May and we get out of it reasonably well.

 

[caprice_2nv]

Find out what gaskets will work best for it and get it fixed. These motors can run a long time if coolant leaks are not overlooked. They also seem very tough are far as tie rods, ball joints and transmissions go. The 2nd biggest problem after the intake gaskets is the fuel pump will go if the filter has not been changed on schedule (every 30k miles). My mom got lucky with hers, she changed the factory spark plugs and fuel filter at 120k and has not had a problem, but working at the dealership I see lots of them don't get this lucky.

 

[Shmeefer]

Talked to the mechanic and I'm having him use the latest Fel-Pro gaskets and replace the bolts and use the new torque sequence that GM has issued as part of the fix. Funny thing about the shop owner, he's a bit old school and questioned the prescence of anti-freeze in the oil because he didn't taste it. I'll stick with my lab results.

 

[bxd20]

I could be wrong, but hasn't GM issued REDESIGNED intake manifold gaskets that have metal inserts to prevent this from happening? Before proceeding with Fel Pro I'd look at those. I thought the metal reinforced the shape and made the gasket stay put.