Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46
I too have a '98 Bonneville; same problem with intake plenum at 216,718 miles: the motor died. Replaced motor with used 63,500 miles, and put a new plenum on as a precaution, but now at 7,979 miles it needs to be repaired again.
Anthony at Gadsden TN.
I also own a 1998 Pontiac Bonneville SE. At 70,000 miles the plenum cracked and hydro locked the engine. Starter was also broken off when trying to start the engine. Luckily I had an extended warranty and most of the cost was covered. Now at 119,00 miles the plenum has cracked again, however I caught it before any more damage could occur. The car has not been repaired yet. There should definitely be a recall, but that's not how GM works. I am through with GM. I just bought my wife a new Honda Accord.
This is unbelievable! I have a 1999 Pontiac Bonneville SE, and the plenum just went -- not a crack, but an actual hole in the plastic manifold where the coolant enters the engine. As a result, I had coolant showering into the engine, and I wound up driving on virtually no coolant. I'm surprised the engine wasn't destroyed and I wasn't killed in the process. The top manifold was replaced at a cost of about $750, and now the mechanics have to replace the lower plastic manifold because it warped from the heat; that's another $200 or so. I've gotten 8-9 years of use out of this car, but I am going to replace it as soon as possible. My next car won't be from General Motors.
I Love!!! my 98 Bonneville. Bought it in 03/99 with 26,k on it. Loved everything about it, as my mother said on the way home "It has more Bells and Whistles on it than my Crown Vic". Plus, for me it was a "GM" a longtime fan. I have 4 kids and did a lot of driving. About 85,000 miles, just after moving to a new town, out of work, just after "9/11", I told my husband it wasn't running right. Let my mom borrow it to take family to DFW airport and it broke down. I was furious when my husband and brother tore it down and found a "Plastic Intake Manifold", with a hole in it and water all in the oil. Then another surprise at the $286 replacement plus new gaskets and such. In 2006 after giving it to my 2nd eldest daughter, she calls from Austin, the cars broke down and there is fuel spilling all over. (she smelled gas 1/4 of a mile from home but thought it was the gas station near by) After having it towed to a dealer and $600 later, the mail fuel line from the tank to the motor had ruptured (apparently at home). They replaced the fuel regulator valve (THE RECALL), the hose and it still would not start. So we drove 2 1/2 hours. and towed it home into the drive, where it still sits today. I still love that car and have asked my husband to fix it again to no avail. He wants to tow it to the junk yard and says the heads are probably cracked and doesn't want to mess with it. It has almost a 170,000 miles on it, the clear coat has started to come off, it has right side fender damage and needs new struts, but I would drive it still. I emailed PONTIAC about the manifold. The email I received was, He was sorry to hear about the problem that I had had twice with the car, but was not aware of any problems or recalls with that model.
My daughter recently found this website and showed me. I'm amazed, and appalled at all the info on the Bonne. I would love to be in on a class action law suit against GM on this issue. I'm embarrassed that Ford has the guts to recall Millions in two separate recalls and GM cannot even own up to one that effects approx. 900,000, if that, most are probably already in the junk yard where mine will soon be.
I know this is more than a comment, but this has been a silent issue for me. You hate to lose something you liked so well.
I had the same problems as all of you above mentioned. It left me stranded on the highway with my children when it was like 100 degrees out. Total cost incurred with engine replacement, rental, hotel, etc was over $2500. Got the car back and a week later, same thing. At least the garage that repaired it stood behind their work and drove the 250 miles to where I was, flatbedded the car back to their shop, replaced the engine again and flatbedded it back. Now I am looking to take it back from PA to SC while possibly towing a trailer. Should I stray away from that and spend the $1500 for a moving van (which will be too big for all my stuff anyway rather than a small trailer) or go ahead and tow the small U-haul trailer?
'98 Bonnie... love the car. Same story as all of yours, 97,000 and the manifold plenum goes out. If you all want a class action suit... count me in.
'98 Bonneville, 101,000 miles, plenum cracked, flooded engine with coolant, hydro-locked engine. Total bill with towing, new plenum, new gasket, new spark plugs, and an oil change was $800 to fix.
Intake manifold cracked. Called GM - they will replace the manifold and fuel pressure regulator!!
1998 Bonnie.
14200 miles just put 3rd plenum on. Garage tells me now they use a metal one. $800 to repair. Everything seems to be going bad.
The EGR comes up through our upper intake manifold, right past the seal for the coolant that runs through the manifold. The EGR valve allows for a small amount of exhaust fumes to recirculate through the engine increasing efficiency somehow. However, this rapid change in temperature causes the seal to warp, resulting in coolant being sucked into the engine. There is an aftermarket fix which involves an upper intake manifold that is reinforced to prevent the warping of the seal; this happened to me at around 80k miles.
As far as the brakes are concerned, the front pads wear extremely fast because the rear drums, which should be spring-loaded but aren't, are not doing ANY of the braking. I replaced my fronts 3 or 4 times while the rear brakes looked brand new. The rears are not engaged at all. They are bolted in, but after a few thousand miles of being worn down, they no longer engage. They need to be adjusted every time you get your oil changed to get any use out of them.
I too have the same problem as all of you. I have a 98 Bonnie and today (lucky me) she kicked the bucket. There I am all ready to leave work and go to start my car and there she sits... hydro locked. Luckily my car has made it to 215K miles. I am unsure if the plenum had been fixed previously as this was my in-laws vehicle. I can't believe that this is a major problem with these cars. Why does GM not acknowledge this as a problem?!
I am currently waiting on a phone call from my mechanic to see what the damage is both on my Bonnie and my pocket book. I really like my car and don't want to acquire another payment for a vehicle, but if this is going to be a recurring issue I guess I may just have to bite the bullet and go car shopping. :(
I bought my 1998 Bonneville with 63K miles on it. As I hit 100K (exactly) the engine went with the same problem -- intake manifold cracked, coolant in engine. Had to replace the whole thing with about $2,500 tag.
Funny thing is that few months before that my mechanic tells me he sees lots of metal particles in transmission pan - tells me have just few thousand miles left on it before it goes. So, once the engine had to be replaced, I also replaced transmission.
I was a big fan of Bonneville -- my previous car, 1990 Bonneville had 235K on it (with no major problems and still going) -- when I changed it to 1998 model. Big mistake.
I will never buy GM or any other American-made car again (had 1992 Ford Taurus and 1995 Dodge Intrepid before -- all with major problems).
Seeing hundreds of people complaining of the same problem on various sites, GM has to acknowledge the problem, recall the car, and pay back to these who had to put cash out for GM's incompetent design.
Same as all of you. 121,000 engine blew, coolant all leaked into the engine from a cracked plastic intake manifold. What genius thought that up!! Replaced engine. Same issue with plastic intake manifold now at 178,000. My mechanic says it is very common. I hope I caught it in time. Honda has my business now. We have an Odyssey minivan with 65,000. It has NEVER EVER been to the shop, except for oil and filter changes.
The Dorman replacement UIM's do NOT have the steel sleeve installed, they only come with a smaller EGR pipe that provides an insulating air gap. The Delphi (used to be Rochester) factory replacement UIM's are EXACTLY the same as the originals.
Here's the only real fix (that needs to be used with new elbows and aluminum LIM gaskets). If you can get past this flaw, the 3800 II engine is solid as a rock.
http://www.ineedparts.com/auto-parts/intake-manifolds/gm-intake-manifold-kit-17806.html
READ THIS...
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=1061
My 1998 Bonneville with 205000 miles had to have three upper plenums in the last four years. GM denies any problem with these manifolds. The mechanics told me this has been a problem with these engines since they were redesigned. Should be recalled... but they won't do it!