Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum so forgive me if I have posted this in the wrong thread.

I own a 2003 Monte Carlo SS 3.8 that I bought with 3K, almost new. Anyway, I have always loved Montes' and dreamed of one day owning one. I have had her since 04' and have kept up with maintaince pretty regularlly. The problem is, this car is FAR from enjoyable. If anyone could help guide me as to what to do with some of these problems, I'd greatly appreciate it....

First... BCM trouble? Since day one I havehad issues with things like... no cruise control, locks going on and off, cigarette lighter out (not a fuse issue) and hard shifting. When under warranty the BCM was replaced and reset at least twice. That was AFTER things like the BREAK LIGHT SWITCH & FAN RELAYS were replaced due to false readings from the BCM. So, the long/short of it now is, we learned to "live" with it. BUT.... now I have an engine light. Again, took it back to my local shop (not GM dealer) to find out why light was on... said it was the FAN RELAY, replaced. Light still on. Now I know its the BCM (I think?) causing things to give bad readings.

Car ovheated the other day... didn't drive it, filled back with coolant. Radiator, hoses and everything was fine. Thought it was the water pump. Just showed mech. where water was coming from and he said it was some sort of O ring thing (its leaking from a black L shaped piece of plastic above and behind where the water pump is) that goes out. Said the intake manifold has to be loosend to get at it. What is this part called?

Also, when I had this overheat prob. I popped the red cap and it was full of "mud", black sand like gunk. I had him flush the system but just learned he doesn't have the machine to do it properly. I bought 2 jugs of DEX COOL (not 50/50) and he put that in. I also bought a small jug of the prestone flush that I am assuming he used properly. Since he didn't have the backwash machine, could all this "gunk" have ruined my coolant system causing this "O ring" to fail and leak? Either way, he is replacing it now and when its done I am going to take it to a GM or a place that DOES have the ability to flush the system properly. Is this causing my overheating issues? Obviously, I am keeping up on the water level but will stopping this leak fix this? I ask because I still have to get the BCM replaced again due to above problems.

Should I just have the water pump replaced anyway? Something did make a noise when I first started the car but only twice. It was the sound a bad pump makes when going out but havent heard it since.

About the BCM... why does it keep failing? It WAS replaced and reset before so what gives? Is this an issue with the 3800's?

There are MANY other problems that I have and have been reading most of the posts on this board but for now, Could any of you offer some advice as to what I should do?

Thank you so much for your time.... phillychad

 

Chad
Sorry to hear about all the problems with your 03 SS. I have had mine since new and will be turning 100K miles shortly and except for a few minor problems it has been one of the best reliable cars I have ever owned. I have had to replace those elbows between the manifold. They can be purchased at the local parts store for less than $10 dollars in the help section. If you remove the alternator you can get into where they can be replaced without much problem. I have also replaced a water pump on mine thinking it was leaking and ended up being those elbows. My coolant has always been clean. I think with your body control module it should be properly programmed by the dealer.

 

I have a broken elbow on my 02 coming from the lower intake manifold. I have removed the alternator to access. I just replaced the upper intake a couple days ago thinking that was the problem
Do I have to remove the complete water pump ??