I have a 2001 Chevy malibu with a coolant leak?

[WarnerBro4]

Hi, i have a 2001 Chevy malibu. It is used and has about 73k miles on it. I have owned it for about 5-6 months. one day my coolant level light came on, so the next morning i went out and filled it with 50/50 water and dexcool. i am currently in an automotive class and i found it to be odd that my coolant got low. I've been driving it for 3-4 weeks now and the light hasn't come on, but when i left my house this morning there was coolant in the snow on the front drivers side. im only 17 with a part time job and wondering what it might be and how much it would cost to fix it....or if maybe it would be something easy enough to fix myself in my auto class.

 

[Mad Jack]

The GM 60 degree V6 used in this car has a weak spot. They are prone to leak coolant from the lower intake manifold gasket. There is a coolant passage in the lower intake manifold that passes coolant between the cylinder heads. The gasket leaks at this location. Sometimes the leak is external. You will find coolant on the ground beneath the car. However sometimes the leak can be internal. It will leak coolant down the lifter valley and into the crank case. The contaminated oil will coagulate into sludge and make a huge mess.

I have repaired this myself twice. Strangely, they tend to leak more coolant the colder the weather gets.

I would not suggest taking this project on yourself unless you are moderately mechanically inclined. I fixed them myself for about $300. Most of the money went to the gasket kit. You want a complete gasket kit to correctly do the job.

Add at least another $300 - $400 if you must pay a mechanic to do the work for you. Once repaired you should never have a problem with this leak again.

I own 2 GM vehicles with the 60 degree V6. A 1995 and a 2000. I bought both vehicles new. I nearly all of my own repairs. Both engines have about 160,000 miles on them. Neither uses a drop of oil between oil changes. They always start. They always get me where I need to go. Other than this intake manifold problem they are very good engines.