coolant, brakes, car starter

[kevin231]

ok, in the past couple months my car is getting really really annoying. When i start my car it sounds like i've over started it, it only does it like once a day and when i take it to the dealership it never does it. Next problem my coolant has thick brown chunks in it, smells normal looks like oil is mixed in with it though. The other thing when i come to a stop my back brakes grind but when i take it to the dealership the claim nothing it wrong with it. I've taken this car back more that 20 times in the last two years of owning it. its brand new ive put 40 000km on it and im getting sick of it, is there anything we can do if were unsatisfied with out vehicle.

[eaglesrealm]

The coolant/oil problem sounds like your intake gasket and this could be doing severe damage to your engine. You should have this looked at immediately to verify. GM has since redesigned the gasket to be more robust, however, you and millions like us have the old gasket that is prone to leakage. This leakage allows the coolant and oil to mix...letting the coolant slowly eat away at your engine. I would drive it as little as possible and have this checked now.

As for the grinding, is it a distinctively metal sound? Does it only happen when actively braking? Could be rotors and/or pads that are toast. If it happens when you arent braking at low speeds, and doesnt sound "as metallic" in nature, could be the wheel/tire problem if you still have the stock Goodyear RSA tires.

[eaglesrealm]

Ooops, forget the part about the RSA's, just noticed you specifically said during braking in the rear. Still could be worn/warped rotors, worn pads, etc. All stuff your dealer should have picked up on though, so could still be something else.

[kevin231]

if thats the case, i've had this problem since 20 000km ago, and i still have it. whats going to happen if its my gasket, what type of damage could i be looking at

[Gimli]

Is it possible someone mixed in regular green coolant with your DexCool while filling it up? That could be your problem.

As far as brakes go it sounds to me like it's time for new pads. It's also normal to have a scratching sound the first few times you apply the brakes when it's wet/humid out. It's rust forming up on the rotors and being scraped off by the pads.

If you don't like your car after two years and 40k km you can sell it and buy another.

[CelticSkyhawk]

Kevin, what you're describing sounds familiar. When I bought my car at 27k miles, I had the grinding sound in the right rear anytime I braked. It was in the shop 6 times for that alone before it disappeared mysteriously well after a trip to the shop. In my experience, they replaced the brake pads, rotors, calipers, and even the hub the wheel mounts to. I was told they replaced every possible part that could be making a noise in that section of my car. Like I said, it disappeared mysteriously and I haven't heard it for 30,000 miles.

The coolant problem you mentioned is severe. If you have "clumps" or "chunks" in your coolant, get it to a shop immediately, even if you go to a different dealership than you've already been to. Those chunks could definitely destroy your engine or radiator. Have you noticed you're losing coolant? I just got mine out of the shop tonight for this problem (second time I've had it), where I kept losing coolant and began smelling burning coolant while going down the road. My water pump was leaking and so was my intake manifold gasket. If this is going on and coolant is getting into your oil like mine was, its possible your oil is getting into your coolant as well.

If you bought this car brand new and you're in the States, look up lemon laws on the internet for your car. Your Better Business Bureau may have information for you. In most cases, if you've taken your car to the shop more than three times for the same problem, you can begin procedure to have it declared as a "lemon" in which GM will replace the car. If you bought it used as I did, you're out of luck in most states. I certainly hope you have better luck. I still have another year and a half before I'll manage to break even as a trade-in. I don't think all Grand Ams are bad, a lot of people here really enjoy them and have few problems. I love driving my car, it's probably one of the most enjoyable cars I've driven. Unfortunately, a few of us out there got bad cars, and in my case, it was totalled before I bought it and I had no idea. Carfax showed nothing, the dealership claims to know nothing and I only noticed after I was rear-ended and the Estimator noted it had been wrecked before.

Either way, get it to a shop quickly, and hope you have a warranty still in effect.