1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE from North America - Comments

Hi me again,

Just talked to the garage, the car ran fine on the 1st trip out brought it back in and went out 20 minutes later, he fell flat on his face again. All the codes have been fixed and cleared except the quad driver code, and there everything has been changed except the computer (keep in mind that it is a new one) so now they are saying that it had to be bad out of the box. Just wanted to keep you posted on the lack of progress on the Grand Am.

I was lead to believe that the car was in good condition and newly inspected, that all it needed was a tune up, and the brakes bled. The power brake booster is a part of the ABS system and it should not have passed inspection with the brakes not working. All I ask of people is to be honest, but times have changed, honesty is a thing of the past. No, why I'm upset is he went to a lick em and stick em mechanic just to dump the car. So if you think I got such a good deal and shouldn't be complaining than why don't you buy the car. I didn't come on this site to be criticized on my decisions, I came to find out if someone was having the same problems and could shed some light on what we could do to get the car up and running with the least amount of money. Thank you very much for your unwelcome input. And may I add that you would not have made those comments had I been a man, but you new that I was a woman because I called my car (he, him, his) I like the Gran Am, I like the looks of it, I love the way it handles or I wouldn't have bought it, and I would like to get it running and be able to keep it.

To 8:02.

I was the one who previously posted about an $800 car would likely need twice that amount in repairs. I didn't know that you were a woman, and even if it were evident from your post, I wouldn't have changed what I wrote.

I had similar experiences myself with a cheap car. I bought a 13 year old chevy for $1200 and over the course of a year I had to dump almost the same amount again on repairs. This is what happens when you purchase a car at the end of its life cycle.

If your mechanic inspected the vehicle and told you that it was in safe condition, then he is liable for any repairs that need to be made to bring it up to road worthy shape. Keep on his butt and you'll get this issue resolved. Good luck.

I have a 1995 Grand Am SE.

It has 205,000 miles. Yeah...great!

Anyways, I bought it a year and a half ago, and I have had more problems with it than I can count.

The head cracked one day on my way from Minneapolis to Eau Claire, WI. I drove home on three cylinders hahaha. It overheats daily, but then cools down after a while. I have to downshift, and make the water pump work harder in order to cool this car down. The car just last night popped a cooling hose, so it is sitting in my driveway now waiting for me to crawl under it for the 50th time to fix it. But, then the infamous floor leak kicked in, and my carpet got soaked, so at first I drilled holes in the floor, to allow for drainage. This didn't work because they got plugged full of gunk. So what did I do? Ripped all the carpet out. I have no carpet now, and big holes I drilled in the floor, so you can look down between your feet and see the road flying under you. The left turn signal is broken, so you have to turn the signal off yourself instead of the steering doing it for you. Luckily I have power locks that work, and manual windows. This car sucks and I would never EVER recommend anyone to buy one.

News to the ones that made the smart comments about "well the car is this old what did you expect". I too own a 1995 Grand Am Se and guess what it was only two years old when I bought it, and guess what? Yes, I do regular maintenance on it, oil change, lube, etc. Guess what, from the time I bought it, only being two years old, I have had the exact same problems with it from the get go until now that everyone else has had except for the power window problems since mine is manual.

Here is the list and you try and tell me with it starting after only being two years old that it was from lack of maintenance, being an old car, etc.

Trouble getting the driver's side window to roll up manually without fighting with it, $200 on brake work (which okay we'll let that slide as normal upkeep), 3 serpentine belts, belt tensioner pulley, starter, alternator, Solenoid (not sure I spelled that right), a lot of water on the passenger side (no apparent leaks and can't smell anti-freeze and checked for dampness under dash, none, 2 new thermostats because the heat never worked as well as it should, now, I find out that the reason my car keeps overheating etc is because it is either the head gasket or cracked head or both. The lever for the trunk never did work so I have to fight to get the gas door open, the car over heating has done it periodically since I bought it and the check engine light constantly goes on and off starting 3 weeks after I bought it and I have paid 3 different licensed mechanics to hook it up to the little device they used to figure out what codes show up and it always comes back as nothing.

So yes, in my opinion and the opinion of just about every mechanic I have talked to has said that every exact car they have worked on has had the same exact problems everyone else has listed and then some. Coincidence? I think not. If these same problems have happened to all these people, new or old, car high mileage or low, then it can't be the owners' fault. It is the fault of the manufacturer of the Pontiac Grand Am. Those of you that haven't had all of these problems, consider yourself lucky. You are more than likely in for an expensive ride. If there were only a couple that had these problems, then I would say it was probably the owner's fault, but not with the number of similar complaints. Face it; there should have been a recall.

Yep same thing (1995 Grand Am 3.1L V6 SE) four doors no power windows that sucks. I got if for free but the guy who gave it to me paid $300 with 168,ooo miles on it. I never had those problems what most people have but I do have a major problem. It stays in park, When I put it in Revers it wouldn't move also it wouldn't move from drive. I think its the tranny, I can replace it for $500 paid for free from the same guy. I did get it out of park once and it had a lot of power. It's a free car so no need to complain... Also its my granduation car hahahaha! Cheap Parents!

I recently bought a 1995 Grand Am SE (3.6L) coupe as my first car. I paid only $600 for it with 200K. I have only put $600 more into it, replacing bulbs, brake lines, gas line, drivers side window (new motor and track) and body work. I haven't experienced any problems with the car, except that the odometer runs fast and the gas line, which was repaired easily. I have also noticed that underneath the mat on the drivers side is wet occasionally? Otherwise, I have not run into any problems. I am happy with the car.

Buying a cheap car doesn't always mean lots of money in repairs. When I was going back for my degree, at a university noted for car thefts and break-ins, I purchased a 1979 Pinto with over 180,000 miles on it for $300 to use instead of one of our new cars. I put a valve cover gasket on it (about $10) and drove it for 3 years with absolutely ZERO problems, then sold it for exactly TWICE what I paid for it. I'm currently driving an 8-year-old Grand Am that has had NOTHING but one battery and the front brake pads (which set me back a whopping $17).

I bought my '95 Pontiac Grand Am in the summer of '05. From what I've read, I've been very lucky I guess. I have manual windows. I do have a slight issues getting the driver side window up... but it's not too bad. I do find my passenger side wet after it rains.

Yesterday was the first time I found real issues. My check oil light came on. But was off when I turned the car back on so I thought nothing of it. Well today my oil light came on and my temperature gage went up, not high but went up, but it went right back down to normal temperature within a minute or so.

And I've also now I'm noticing coolant fluid mixed in with the water on my passenger side floor.

My uncle's first thought when he heard I bought it was "oh god" because he's a mechanic. Well he's gone through my car a few times and he says it's actually pretty decent.

Hopefully my issues now aren't too bad though.

OK I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I have 1995 Grand Am GT with the 3.1 with 250,000 Miles. Bought it new in 95. It's been everywhere. I get 25m to the gallon.

I am a mechanic. I check the car every month. and have to do the basic maintenance. The only major repair I have done was I had to replace both wheel bearings. Which set me back $65. each and A arm bushings that was 50 total for both sides.

When I do find something wrong on one side of the car, I replace the other no matter if I it is broke or not. Like brakes, when I change one I replace them all. But I do understand what most of you all are saying. I do a lot of the same repairs you all report.

But what I find out is that the ones that have problems are the ones that don't keep up on the maintenance. Like the overheating. Most people don't change the coolant every year. So what happens is the radiator gets clogged up. And oil let's face it, even I don't sometimes change the oil every 3000 miles sometimes. Oil and coolant is the the life of a car. Brakes too. I say every year a person should make out a routine for there car. Change oil, trans and gas filter plus fluid. And don't forget coolant and brakes every year. And you should have a happy car. LOL..

The problem is that the ones you bought the car off of didn't take care of the car. And you're stuck fixing the problems. What I do is when I buy a used car, I replace everything even if they show that they just done the tuneups. Just to know that it was done. I hope everyone has a great fall.. Good LUCK TO ALL..

I just purchased my 95 Grand Am a few months back, and just got done trying to repair it with no luck.

When I bought it, it was overheating to about 220 degrees; not too high, but enough to back it up into the reservoir and make it overflow. I was told it was the water pump so I replaced it. Then I replaced the thermostat and still no luck.

I got tired of playing the guessing game, so I rebuilt the whole top end, head gasket and up. And to my amazement it still overheats! Now could a clogged heater core be my problem? I checked the radiator and it seems to be flowing OK (I did this out of the car with a hose). I am totally confused on what it could be, and quite frankly I am tired of working on it already, but I do like the car. I only bought it for 300 and only put about $100 into it. Any suggestions? You can contact me at durdad04@yahoo.com thanks.

1995 Grand Am, 3100 V6 - Lessons Learned:

Diagnosing spiking temperature/overheating problem. Start the engine when cold, and as the engine starts to come up to temperature, shine a bright light against the side of the coolant reservoir (works better if it's dark outside). If you see air bubbles streaming back into the reservoir at the area where the small hose enters, this is a good indicator of a head gasket leak. The kind where the air under compression in one or possibly more cylinders is forced past a weak spot in the head gasket and into the cooling system. Consider that cooling systems at temperature run at about 17 psi, and cylinder pressure is a minimum of about 150 psi. With this type of leak it is unlikely that you will see any oily residue in the coolant or coolant in the oil. What you will get however is a big slug of air in your cooling system that will cause engine overheating.

You can also identify this by turning the heater and fan on high in the panel position, and when the engine shows it is overheating, the dash vents will be blowing cooler air or the heat will seem to just go away as the engine temp spikes.

If you rev the engine in neutral, it may force the slug of air/overheated coolant through the cooling system, but this is only temporary. The head gasket and possibly even a cracked head that can occur from repeated episodes of overheating will have to be replaced.

1995 Grand AM SE - Fire Wall Corrosion Problems.

After researching all the posts about water on Grand Am floorboards, both passenger and drivers side, I completed a repair of a one inch rust hole through the drivers side floorboard/firewall that was just below and slightly right of where the steering column penetrates the firewall. I just cut and shaped a piece of aluminum sheeting for both the inside and outside of the firewall, RTVed them in place and sprayed over with rust proofing.

That was about a year ago, and my one time problem of submerged carpet after driving in a heavy rain storm was solved.

Now the bad news about where more of you might be headed with all these fire wall corrosion problems. I recently experienced a problem with a binding condition in the steering while making a tight turn to complete a parallel park. When I pulled out of the spot, the steering wheel was off center to the right. I just had new front struts and alignment done, so I immediately thought it was something the shop did. After having it checked out, the problem turns out to be that the firewall has actually rusted through and broke out where the power steering rack mounting bolts go into the drivers side firewall. There does not appear to be any cheap or easy fix for this and the car is now basically UN-DRIVEABLE / TOTALED. New struts, shocks, alignment, rotors, pads last week for nothing!

This whole corrosion problem stems from the poorly positioned weep holes in the cowl that drain water down the firewall right where it flows over such things as the power steering rack mount, boot around the steering column and the poorly sealed seams where the flanged edges of the upper and lower firewall panels come together. Yes they use road salt where I live, but this setup was a disaster in the making from day one.

Do yourself a favor and visually inspect your power steering rack mounts by having someone turn the steering wheel from lock to lock while observing the mounts with the hood up. I'm lucky I didn't die in a fiery crash before finding this mess. Nice work Pontiac!

I bought a 95 Grand Prix, and it has been good. 116,000 miles for $650. Good gas mileage. I have a foreign car too, that has more issues, and uncomfortable to sit in for long periods. The Grand Prix is very comfy, and I enjoy driving it.

Repairs I have made; normal brakes, serpentine belt as a precaution, fluids. I re-filled the A/C with refrigerant that turned the compressor on - and have had A/C ever since. Now the bearing went out on the A/C compressor. That is the biggest problem I have had. New bearings, 27, replacing it, hard.