2002 Oldsmobile Alero from North America - Comments

2001 Alero, 5 speed.

Some of the problems I've read on here also apply to the stick-shift models as well. I bought my car used at 70,000 miles and now it's at a little over 100,000.

I am on the 6th wheel bearing now.

I've replaced the same brake caliper twice now. The front brake rotors and pads I've had to replace every couple of months.

The cigarette lighters stopped working.

I also replaced the blower motor, but now it only works in the top three speeds.

If you are having a rear defroster problem however, do not bother replacing!!! It will just burn out again. You have to get to the little black box (underneath the back left panel) and solder the connection, or else when you buy another one it will melt again.

I've had a problem similar (or identical but described differently) to "ABS light keeps coming on" for over a year now. I've read hundreds of threads on dozens of forums, but notice that few people that I could find bother to come back and tell exactly how their problem was resolved. Only how much money they wasted at their GM dealer because the mechanic didn't know....

You find a lot of suggestions about what to check and what it could be and etc., but not so much of "Yeah, I followed Joe Shmoe's advice and found ... I did this to correct it" so here goes."

In my case with a 2001 Buick Century, I usually had service engine soon, ABS, and no-trac lights come on; however, as things got worse, only one or any combination of the lights would come on. Many forums suggested a wiring problem was the cause, but my problem was intermittent and it only really bad after jacking up the car. Sometimes I could go weeks without the lights coming on so I let it go on - afraid of being ripped off at the dealer and too lazy to tackle the wiring harness, because it seems to disappear into large mass of wires at he engine.

All it took to fix the problem was my brother-in-law, who was not afraid to venture into harness land. We found that the wiring was damaged within inches of the connectors at both front wheels. The wiring in the last 24 inches or so of the harness is "protected" (at least GM thought so) in a thick black plastic material (inside the conduit). Near the wheel the black plastic had lost its flexibility and was broken into several sections. Every time the wheel turns or moves up or down, the wiring is flexed, but because of the now broken hard black covering it is forced to bend in the same place, the wires broke. Contact was being made only because the insulation on the wire was holding the broken ends close enough together to complete the circuit – at least most of the time.

All you need is 4 feet of 16 gauge twisted-pair wire, solder, flux, wire strippers, shrink tube, electrical tape, and a flat-head screwdriver. You don't even need the meter that we used to prove the wire was broken. We didn't do this, but you could probably start your car, turn your wheels one direction, reach behind one wheel and wiggle the wire harness. Repeat on the other side after turning wheels in the opposite direction. You will probably cause the service vehicle soon, abs, and no-trac lights to come on, proving you problem is in the wiring and not a bad wheel hub or ABS computer as many have had to find out the hard way.

You could possibly fix it without raising the car, but I suggest you do and that you remove the wheels for easier access. Unplug the connector and open the plastic doohickeys holding the harness in place on the lower arm. Remove the wiring from the conduit (you may have to unwind some electrical tape). By now you can probably find exactly where the wire break is because it will correspond to the place where the now semi-rigid harness is bending and it is likely within 6 inches of the connector. Cut the wire harness close to the connector, but leave enough room to work with the wires still sticking out of the connector. Cut the harness upstream and splice in a new piece. If you need directions for that, you better have someone do it for you. Re-connect the harness and take yourself and 12 friends out to dinner on the money you saved! I'm glad that problem won't be upsetting me any longer and I hope I help one or two people out there. To them, please take the time to come back and share your solutions to your problems with the rest of us, instead of just sharing your problems!

My wife and I purchased a 2001 Alero GLS with the 3.4L engine in 2002. It had about 21,000 on it at the time.

It is now May of 2009 and the car has 81,000 miles on it. Most of those miles are "city" miles (as opposed to "highway" miles) though we have taken it on more than a few long distance (600 - 700 miles, one way) trips. We also live in Las Vegas, NV. where heat can be a problem sometimes.

We have had no major problems - but I am big on preventive maintenance as opposed to driving any car until it breaks and then fix it. We also run Mobil 1 full synthetic oil with a Mobil 1 oil filter.

Today we replaced the front rotors and all the brake pads and had the brake oil flushed - for the first time. Tomorrow (with summer coming on) I am having the thermostat, radiator hoses, and water pump replaced (and, obviously the coolant). It will cost about $400 -- no big deal, much cheaper than an overheated aluminum block engine (which most likely will warp the block or the head and most assuredly blow the head gasket). I will do the water pump and radiator hoses myself and then take it to the mechanic to replace the thermostat (GM found a REAL cute place to stick this, and I'm not going to mess with it). We had the tranny flushed last spring (for the 2nd time) so it should be good till next spring. We have also had to replace the stock tires with better tires. in 7 years 3 window regulators have broken --- it usually happens in the summer months with the car sitting in the sun a lot (with an average daytime temp of 105). Oh, and the emergency brake ratchet broke - so that also had to be repaired.

When on "road trips" we typically exceed 95 mph (if driving and road conditions permit) - no problem.

I know two other people that own an Alero, and they have had nothing but typical maintenance related expense.

For those with the ABS problems -- there is a former post in this forum you should read. The wiring going to the sensor on ABS systems is a class A typical point of failure. If it is not the first thing your mechanic looks at --- get a new mechanic. This is not only an Alero or GM problem -- it is a common problem on many cars. The wires get old and the coating breaks down and cracks -- soon after that you will have problems.

Sorry to hear of all the problems.

I used to work on my own cars more than I do today (though I still poke my head under the hood once a month to check the fluid levels and listen for "little noises" I might want to check into). This car, and my 95 Merc. Grand Marquis have been the most trouble free cars I have owned. The Merc. does have a problematic sensor that controls the EGR valve I have to replace twice a year -- but it's a half hour job and I'm good to go fro 6 months. No big deal.

Compared to the cars of the 70's and 80's -- these cars are much better.

For those with rotor problems, and maybe even the ABS problems -- if your mechanic is replacing a rotor and re-using the wheel bearings (especially if they have over 35,000 miles on them) --- don't go there anymore. For what the inner and outer wheel bearings cost just replace them with the rotor -- I have always done this as a matter of habit. Most of the time bearings with 35,000 miles will be OK -- but why chance it? You REALLY don't want a bearing to seize up on the spindle --

There are a lot of crappy mechanics out there --- lots of them. Finding a good one that is honest is like finding a needle in a haystack. When you do find one -- tell people about them.

Good luck with your Alero in the future. Hope things change for you all.

I purchased my 2001 Alero used in 2004... it had 54,000 miles. The day after I purchased it... no start. My brother took the battery (which was bulging) and had it replaced. The car ran good until a month later. No start in the driveway. I had it towed to the shop, but it started for them and since they couldn't tell what the problem was... I had a tune-up just to be safe. One month later... no start... towed again, started for them again... had an oil change. Since I'm a single mom with no time to spare... gotta get things done while you can.

Two months later... stranded at work. No start. no ride. My mother wouldn't come because she was shredding documents. Nice excuse. Thank god for sisters. Computer sensor was bad, so they say.

Three months later... no start. Towed again. Thank God State Farm reimburses. This time he swore it was the fuel system. Cleaned, flushed...whatever. Swindled into new fuel pump.

Car ran good for 6 months.

Summer... on vacation. Stranded at the Dairy Queen. Car towed 3-4 blocks down street... $65.00! Guy there said "your car is like a baby... baby. Like a childproof bottle top. Push hard down on the key". Funny? Worked that time. He said there's this special security system and the key plays a role.

Car ran good for 6 months. Needed water pump replaced and both windows fell down after closing doors weeks apart from each other. Had to tape them up with black electrical tape till I could find $600 to get them fixed.

Car died while driving. I went over some real bumpy train tracks... that's what I told the mechanic. He said maybe the key bumped out of position, and with the security system and code chip in the key... that may have caused the car to stop. He changed the key and tumbler and claimed to reset security system.

Car was good for a week. No start again... another tow to the mechanic. Just for laughs I had my co worker go outside and shake my car up and down with her weight and attempted to start the car... thinking every time it gets jumped around on top of the flat bed tow truck makes it start for them. It was real funny. Everyone joined in. At this point I was ready to take a bat to it. Fuel pump replaced again.

From what I remembered...they're were 10 tows. the last straw was the fact that I had no more money left and it's hard for a single parent to save anything. I was borrowing money from family and credit cards.

The last thing I remembered was he said the fuel pump was bad again and it had only been 2 months from the last change out. My boyfriend called up there and used his law enforcement voice and said I was being swindled into all these repairs and the car still hasn't been running. The mechanic ended up towing it for free twice since that. The fuel pump was exchanged out (third time). It somehow left my car smelling like gasoline inside. The mechanic said that was just another issue on top of everything else... including a now new transmission leak.

Eventually with advice from another mechanic... even though I loved my Alero... I put thousands of dollars I didn't have into it and I couldn't get from A to B without fear of no starts. It was hampering my needs. It was draining my pockets. It was making me cry and put holes in my wall. I traded it in for a Honda.

Never again will I buy a car without research. I do not trust the American brand. This was one bad American car after another...

Here's hoping the Honda does the trick. Those American Honda workers...

By the way... those bumper stickers that say "Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign." Where is your shirt made? Who made your hi-def TV? What's in your living room? What's on your back?

2002 Olds Alero Electrical System Problems.

I have a 2002 Olds Alero. I purchased this car brand new, and up until the past couple of months this car has really been a good car. Now I'm sure most people will say my problems are because the car is 7 years old, but... it just now reached 50,000 miles, which I consider very low mileage for a 7 year old car.

I have had problems with the brake pads and rotors since I bought the car, but thought maybe that was normal wear and tear. I see now that it is a common problem.

Since about 2 months ago, the car has completely gone down hill. The turn signals only work when they want to, the radio and security lights are staying on after the car is turned off, so I have to disconnect the battery after every use or I will have a dead battery, the doors won’t lock and the best of all…. When I went out to the car this morning, the car was on fire, which was an obvious electrical fire, which was coming from the fuse panel. There is obviously something wrong with the electrical system in this car. After researching, I find that there was a recall for the turn signal back in 2004, which I never got, and that there are tons of people that have had the same problems with their Aleros.

Thank God I was able to keep low mileage on the car, because I feel I would have had these problems long ago if the car had been driven on a regular basis and had achieved 50,000 within the first couple years like most cars. I am lucky that I did get 7 good years out of the car, but it is a shame that unfortunately I will have to get rid of the car with only 50,000 miles on it.

I don’t think I will buy GM again. My sister bought a Toyota Corolla at the same time I purchased mine, and her car has almost 200,000 miles on it and she has had no problems out of her car.