2003 Buick Rendezvous Safe to keep driving until I can Fix?

CALCORTS

MEMBER
2003 BUICK RENDEZVOUS

Engine problem
2003 Buick Rendezvous All Wheel Drive Automatic 102000 miles

I noticed at the start of December that my car was getting hotter than usual on a long drive, just over the half way mark, and checked the coolant level. The coolant reservoir was low, so we added the recommended dex-cool coolant and continued on with no more issues. After driving the car another 2,000 I added more coolant to the reservoir. There is a little bit of leakage on the floor of my garage (about the size of a quarter a day), but it looks dark and more like oil than coolant. I had the oil changed in mid-December. I have been checking the level of the oil and transmission fluid and they are just fine. The car seams to be getting hotter than normal when idling, but never more than half way to hot. Other than that I have no issues, the drive drives really smooth and sounds quite. I have seen a lot of posts about issues with the intake manifold on the Buick cars, could that be my problem?

If I keep driving the car to and from work (30 miles a day) making sure that it has fluids and does not over heat, what are the chances of doing more damage. I can't get it into the shop until next week.

3 Replies

MATTI5475

MEMBER
20 POSTS

Hard to say! My car showed no real signs until the engine let loose and began to knock. Where is the coolant going? Is the oil milky? Does it blow white smoke? Google buick rendezvous problems and you will see that the intake gasket on these suck. They have a site going now that you can sign a petition to recall the intake on these. My engine guy told me to go with a new gasket they came out with. Part number fel ms98003t. The set cost 118.15 . Motor I put in was used it had 42k on it. From what I hear the gaskets start to go at around 80k, so for 118 plus another 227 for labor I went for the new set. He said 800 for the job with the engine in the car. Hope this helps you, I really don`t think anyone deserves what I got.

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Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 AT 7:46 PM

CALCORTS

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4 POSTS

If I keep driving the car to and from work (30 miles a day) making sure that it has fluids and does not over heat, what are the chances of doing more damage. I can't get it into the shop until next week.[/Quote]

hard to say! My car showed no real signs until the engine let loose and began to knock. Where is the coolant going? Is the oil milky? Does it blow white smoke? Google buick rendezvous problems and you will see that the intake gasket on these suck. They have a site going now that you can sign a petition to recall the intake on these. My engine guy told me to go with a new gasket they came out with. Part number fel ms98003t. The set cost 118.15 . Motor I put in was used it had 42k on it. From what I hear the gaskets start to go at around 80k, so for 118 plus another 227 for labor I went for the new set. He said 800 for the job with the engine in the car. Hope this helps you, I really don`t think anyone deserves what I got.[/Quote]

I don't know where the coolant is going. The oil does not look milky and I have not had any white smoke. Anything else to check?

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Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 AT 10:07 PM

DENNYP

MECHANIC
1,823 POSTS

If it is the intake gaskets leaking, they can go at random. There is a possibility of hydrolocking the engine, or damaging the bearings. Have it checked out ASAP.

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Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 AT 6:59 PM