Oldsmobile / Silhouette / 1998
1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette problems
Owners have filed 225 complaints about the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette with NHTSA. Engine and engine cooling accounts for 16% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of exterior lighting at 15.6%.
Complaints225
Crashes7
Fires0
Injuries19
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Engine and engine cooling 16.0% · 36
Exterior lighting 15.6% · 35
Structure 7.6% · 17
Steering 6.7% · 15
Service brakes, hydraulic 6.7% · 15
Latches/locks/linkages 6.7% · 15
Electrical system 5.3% · 12
Power train 5.3% · 12
Severity
Of those complaints, 7 describe a crash and 19 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 6 model years of the Oldsmobile Silhouette in this data, 1998 draws the most complaints of any of them.
Filing volume has held steady, 7 in the last three years against 7 in the three before.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 78,500 miles.
In owners' own words
I have just found out that my olds Silhouette has a coolant leak in the intake manifold withh only 50000 miles on the odometer. To my discuss I was informed that this is a very common and "predictable" failer. I hope that it has not caused any further damage to my engine. It would have been in the least a reasonable action on behalf of gm to give owners of their vehicles a heads up on this all to common defect. Engine and engine cooling · reported at 50,000 miles
Dt: contact took vehicle to a service dealer for routine maintenance and they replaced the lower intake manifold to stop the coolant leak. The consumer stated vehicle was still leaking gasoline and coolant. The consumer did not want to have this problem repaired at the time of the routine visit. The consumer stated the service dealer had to keep the vehicle for about a month. Engine and engine cooling · reported at 121,000 miles
When driving thru puddles during rain, water splashes on the serpentine accessory drive belt , causing the power steering pump pulley to slip and loss of steering control. The service manager a the dealership where I bought the van said there was no way to tighten the belt. This has happened four times and luckely the speed has been slow and the steering came back after a few seconds. Engine and engine cooling
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…