Ok so i have a 97 monte with the 3.1. A couple months ago my service engine light came on, so instintively i brought it in. The local shop said it was the catatyltic converter. I didnt think it was much harm so i continued driving it. lately i have been city driving for school and i have been noticing a major drop in fuel economy. I brought it to a local midas and they looked at it. They called me back and told me my lower intake gasket was leaking and giving really rich mixtures into my exhaust causing to clog up and not flow correctly (very common with the 3.1 and 3.4 i guess). They also notified me that the cerpantine belt needed to be replaced, and some bolt near the gasket that was leaking oil would be replaced as well, but those would be free of charge. With grand total of replacing the gasket, flushing my coolant, changing my oil, installing my new cat, and all those other things came to just over $1k. My question is, is my 97 Monte Carlo with 154,000 miles that i bought for 2.5k worth the fix? The car has been very reliable to me minus a bad fuel pressure regulator. I am tight on money and wondering if it will be worth the fix or should i look towards getting another car?

Thanks, Sean

 

Are you losing coolant into the oil?

 

If thats all that wrong with the car, and everything else is strong, then I would fix it. If you know that once you fix those issues, you have a strong running car again, its worth it IMO. Its cheaper to fix this one, then buy another one, and if you were to buy another one, who know what could be wrong with it, you may just buy someone elses problems.

 

Replacing your accessory belt is a piece of cake and you can do that yourself.

The reason I ask about the coolant is because that's a major indicator that your intake gasket is leaking.

A clogged cat will cause your MPGs to go down, and the feel that your power is going away. If that's what the problem is, then I would fix that clogged cat.

 

Yeah the mechanic did say it was leaking coolant into the exhaust, therefore clogging my cat. What i went and did was have them flush the coolant and replace the cat with mine for just over $300. If it's simple enough, me and one of my buddies can probably change the gasket on our own times. The mechanic did say they have replaced them so much they could do it blind folded so hopefully this cat can last long enough for winter to clear up so i can gather up some money for my monte. As far as the new cat goes, the exhaust smells better, but still a lil rich though but overall i could tell it definately runs smoother.