1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Z34 from North America - Comments

I had a 97 Z34...nothing, but trouble. There were WAY too many problems with the car to list. My dealer was excellent, though. They were fixing the thing for free a year out of warranty. They helped me negotiate with Chevy and I got a 2001 SS for a much reduced price. This car has performed extremely well.

I bought my 97 Monte last January. It had just over 124,000 miles on it when I purchased it. I had to flush the radiator and clean the engine when I bought it. This was something that I was not to happy about doing seeing I just bought it, but this was to be expected since it has a high amount of miles. Recently I am having a huge problem with the power steering. So far, the only other problem I have with the car is the radio lights. As time goes by, the lights are slowly blowing out on the radio. This makes it rather hard to find the correct buttons in the dark. (Replacing the bulbs include taking off the dash, something I do not have the time to do.) I am not a big fan of not being able to turn off my lights at night. I like to not light up the entire parking lot when I am warming up my car. I did recently find a trick to deal with that; Just simply put the E break on. Knock on wood, but thus far this has been the most dependable car I've yet to own.

Okay, I can tell you guys why the '98 Z34 is more reliable than the '97, by far. The '97s and before have a 3.4 in them. They're known for their problems. But the '98 Z34 and later have a 3.8 V6. I have a Bonneville, and I belong to a forum of over 2800 owners of Bonnies and similar, 3.8L-equipped cars, and I don't embellish one bit when I say that the general consensus on the 3.8L is that it, like the 3.1, is one of the best engines ever made by GM. If you want a Monte, avoid the ones with the 3.4L. You'll be glad you did ;)

I recently acquired a 97 Monte Carlo LS from my parents, I'm taking over payments, it is the most reliable vehicle my family has ever owned. Although, like any other vehicle on the road, time does take its toll. Sometimes a little to fast, at 55000 miles, the gas tank began to leak at the seam that separates the top from the bottom, not very expensive, but a pain to get to. It now has 98,000 miles and I just changed the plugs, whew, you have to take the front 2 motor mounts off and pull the whole engine forward to get to the rear 3. The power moon roof, the motor quit and the only place I can get it is through the dealer, $230.00. The rear struts are shot as well, when rounding a curve with a pothole the whole rear end of the car will literally bounce across the road, will be fixing that very soon. I installed a high-flow cone air filter and was amazed how much it brought it to life, I alos hear a flow master 40 exhaust will add about 40 horsepower and with all flow master exhaust systems a nice tuned sound will be added.

I recently purchased the 97 Monte Carlo Z34 about 3 months ago from the dealership. I love the car, but my gas tank gage doesn't want to work, the battery needed to be replaced in it 2 weeks after I bought it, my windshield wipers don't want to work sometimes, and now when I shut my car off after driving it for a long time it doesn't want to start back up. Couple hours later it'll start back up. What's with that??? I had a diagnostic test done on it and it said everything is fine with it. It's gotta be my imagination why it's not starting up. If anyone knows what this could possibly mean PLEASE email me at grandprixchic_85@hotmail.com I'm starting to think my car was made either on a Friday or Monday.

I'm only 16 and had to buy my own car. I looked at a lot, and ended up picking up a '96 Monte Z34. I was told to expect some repairs, but I never expected this. Within a minute of pulling off the lot, my driver side window stopped half-way up. I then realized my radio antenna doesn't go up a minute later, and then within five minutes of owning the car, it dies, and won't start. So I take it up to the dealer, they say it's the battery, and they put a new one in. It's been about a month, and from time to time my window sticks, and the car takes 2 or 3 times to start. And just yesterday (about 40 days after buying the car), it dies again. I'm thinking it's the alternator. I was anticipating it costing about $150 to install, I have yet to get a quote, but someone on this board said $500+!!! I can't afford that. So, I work my butt off for a year to buy a car that I can't drive, while I watch my friends drive around in their fancy sport cars their parents bought them. Life is so unfair.

I bought a 1997 Monte Carlo this past Feb. Finally got around to driving it in June. Real clean car, got a good deal (one lady owner before me).

I recently noticed it is burning oil. Has anyone else had this problem.

Please email me at nick305@hotmail.com or post comment below.

Thanks

Nick

I bought a 97 Monte Carlo Z34 earlier this year. It is a very hot car and made me home in the worst blizzard in the Midwest in 2005 before I bought new tires and found that the ball joints, tie rod ends, and bearings needed replacing. That was March. In December the timing went out. I love the Monte. I have a 1984 and it has been truly dependable with nearly 250,000 miles on the original motor. The other running gear wore out before the motor. I drive almost 500 miles a week for work and wonder if this Monte will be dependable when it comes out of the shop given the tendencies of high maintenance.

I recently bought a fully loaded red 97 Monte Carlo Z34. I've had it for about 4 months now. I love the car, I bought it from the first owner at 73,000 miles. I have had no major problems with the car so far, Knock on wood, and the CARFAX history report claims the vehicle has had no major work done to it. Although I did just found out that my ABS is not working in the last snow storm... Also the brakes tend to squeak a little after getting hot- (after about 25 miles of driving). Other than that the car has been great. It has great power for a V6, it has recently beaten a V6 mustang and the V6 Accord which I am proud of! The car has a sleek sporty look that tends to make heads turn. And for the parking lights, there is a better trick that I have found other than setting the E-brake: Adjust the switch for the headlights to be set between the parking lights setting and the headlights setting, and the parking lights will come on by themselves without the daytime running lights.

To the guy who just bought a Z34 (Dec. 22 comment), that sounds like a good buy. I have an Olds with the same 3.1L as in your car's slower sibling. It's already as fast as a V6 Accord, and I mean the last generation with 240hp or whatever. Mine has 140. Hmmm. But the guys that always try to race are the ones with 4-cyl Accords. You know the ones, they put a big aluminum wing and fart-can muffler to compensate for the missing cylinders. I can maybe beat the V6s, but I'd love to have that 3.4L just to be sure.

The right side of my 97' Monte Carlo the air conditioning doesn't work, the left side works fine (go figure)

Also once the gas tank goes under a half a tank the gauge fluctuates like crazy, I don't know how much gas I have. Makes me very nervous.

The brakes are also squeaky as heck, the GM dealer told me that I should just slam on the brakes going 60 MPH to make it go away daily (he was serious)

The alternator broke without warning.

Windows get stuck open.

Gas fumes enter the cabin in park.

I have 81,800 miles on it.

I can't wait to get rid of this POS.

I would just like to say that I have owned a 97 monte carlo z34 and have loved the car ever since. The 3.4L engine is great as long as you replace your timing belt before it goes. Really that's the only problem the engine has. I like it better than the 3.1 because it has more power, and the 3.8 seems to drag a little... just my experience.

Has anyone found out the following answer to this problem with the transmission? The following was posted in a previous entry; "The transmission begins periodic episodes involving an odd noise and hard shifting. The Chevy dealership cannot find a problem. The problem subsides when the car is shut down and allowed to "rest" for approximately 5 minutes."

I have a 1997 Monte Carlo Z34 with 160,000 miles on it and recently started to experience the same issue as above. However, now the episode is constant and isn't going away. I would describe the noise as a whinning noise and worsens as you rev it up. Also while driving under this condition and you shift into neutral, the car sort of slams forward slightly as if you were down shifting a standard.

Outside this issue and the having to replace power steering lines, I've had no other major issues. It's been a pleasure to own. It still looks great inside and out and wears well, and rides as good as day one.

Any help regarding the transmission issue would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I purchased a 1997 Z34 new in 97. It has 123,000 miles and has been a sweet ride (black with taupe leather. The only issues I had was the timing belt broke and then broke again, only to find out the dealer who repaired the first belt tightened the bolt too much. So after 6 weeks of fighting with GM and the local dealer to eat the labor/parts, under my 12 month warranty (belt broke in 6 months of first repair it has been fine. Now the newest quirk, is the a/c I have had it charged, but local guy thinks my compressor switch is not working. Of course he wants to tear the car apart to get to it. This has been a very hot summer so a black car no a/c and a passenger window that does not like to go up or down in the heat or those quick summer showers, riding around with no air and the windows rolled up has not been fun. This thing with my passenger window does not like to go up and down when the car is hot, I let it cool off and then the window works. Works fine in the cooler months. I have replaced the circuit breakers (which before I would take the old ones out and put them in the freezer for a few minutes) the window will work, but it still doesn't always work even with new circuit breakers. I guess the motor is the next thing. Now, my computer will not talk to the state emissions computer, so I can't get it inspected yet. I have replaced all the fuze's local GM dealer suggested. Anyone have any suggestions. Thanks.

I have a 1997 Z34, problem is that the engine light. It is blinking and then sometimes it is solid. It seems to be missing while it's shifting, and sometimes when it's just sitting at the stop sign. This happen after a bad heat spell in my state. Now it won't stop it. Any idea what's up, could it be the plug wires???

Thanks

rebecca57@comcast.net.