Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-105, 106-120, 121-135, 136-150, 151-158
I bought my Grand Am GT in November 2005. Since I have had the turn signal problem where they go out because of the hazard switch, however when I took it to the dealership they said it wasnt on recall. Had my intake gasket replaced. Luckily I have mechanic friends so we did it for a mere 120 for just the price of the gasket. There is actually a new aluminum gasket being made for this which supposedly stops this problem. I also noticed the first 2 fan speeds not working how exactly do you get this fixed? Otherwise its my project car, I love how quick it is compared to other cars its size. I have a 4 door due to my having a child and I still sport it when the babys at home. I'm trying to find out the wheel size to get a new set of rims however I can't find confirming information that they are 5x115mm offset.
I have just picked up a 1999 grand am GT with 220km. I have seen some of the problems on here, hopefully the previous owners have taken care of most of them (advantage of high miles) but the dealer has been good so far. They gave it to me with new pads and rotors, but since then the drivers windows has started to work when it wants, the check engine light has come on, and also the ABS-trac lights. The dealer has agreed to fix all of the above, but well see what else lies down the road. I love the car in general, it goes like a bat out of hell.
Just bought a 99 grand am se 4dr with the 3400 motor 70,000 miles for my daughter. So far we had...
1. power steering leaking (dealer said it was the pressure hoses.. replaced)
2. drivers side window regulator slide tabs broken (in the process of replacing)
3. fan air vents all spinning when fan is turned on high (funniest dam thing you ever seen, you need to witness this to truly appreciate)
4. door cover material seems to be peeling away from window (front driver and passenger)
5. volume control knob will not turn radio up unless you turn the knob r e a l s l o w. (and when you turn it down sometimes it turns up..neat!)
6. ABS TRAC lights come on... and off at will.
7. low coolant light (also interesting)
8.#1 and #2 fan speed (no workiee) looking at buying the resistor pack (thanks for the 411 on this folks!)
9. Mystery oil leak (ooh! goody!)
10. lights burned out in instrument cluster (how romantic!)
11. fuel gauge all over the place!
12. rotors (nothing left to say here that others have not)
There is more.. but I grow tired of complaining. Did I forget to mention we only owned the car for one week (my bad)I will admit this is a bit of a project car for me.. but I mean come-on Pontiac! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THIS PRODUCT, as I am to have to warn others... Do you even care.. or are you too big to be concerned. Look at it this way.. it gives your dealers extra money for repair work... But then... you already know that don't you. Can't imagine why people are buying cars from Japan these days.
I have a 2000 grand am... and recently it has been nothing, but a pain! In the past week, I've had to have someone jump it because it wouldn't start. I also have the security light come on with this happens... as well as service vehicle soon (which seems to be always on) I figured, battery needed replaced. I went to get that done, and they said it was the alternator. I checked out some cheaper places and drove an hour away to save 140 dollars for the alternator. They tested it... its not the alternator and they don't know whats wrong with it. This car is not reliable! I don't know whats wrong. I can't just wake up early everyday to make sure my car is working so I can get to work on time. Does anyone know whats wrong with this?? I keep having to pay the tests fees... which is racking up. Everyone says nothing is wrong. But clearly, a car not starting... has something wrong with it!
I bought a 2000 Grand Am GT with 79,000 miles a year ago from an auction for a darn good deal. When I bought it I put a new Camaro Flomaster exaust system on it, which sounds sick. I drive the car very frequently. I now have 92000 miles on it and it has not been in the shop once, which is a record for being a previous Grand Am owner. The brakes were new, brand new tires, very well taken care of. The previous owner left repair reciepts in the glove compartment, which totaled to over 2000 dollars (brakes, power steering, fuel injectors). After reading this website, I am surprised that was all the repairs that have been done since the previous owner bought the car at very low miles. I have owned 3 generations of Grand Am GTs, my 2000 being by far the best of all. Although the 1997 5 speed was fun, it cost me so much money to repair since the transmission and starter seemed to go out frequently, not to mention the battery, alternator, air compressor, etc.
At any rate, on the 1997 model the air compressor went out, in a bad way, causing my belt to fly apart while on the highway. In the weeks prior to the air compressor failing, there was a grinding noise that came from it. On the 2000 model I own, I am starting to hear the same thing reoccuring, which is a strange metallic vibritating sound when starting the car, kinda like if you put a penny in a beer can and shook it around. BEWARE!!!
FOR ANYONE HAVING THE ANNOYING TURN SIGNAL CLICKING NOISE:
I fixed this problem by removing some extra grease from the copper contacts inside the steering column. Apparently the grease collects metallic particles over time, causing intermittent faulty activation of the contacts/turn signal relay. It took me 10 minutes to clean and have not had it happen since. It involves removing 5 screws and pulling out the turn signal/wiper control mechanism to reveal the copper contacts. Use a Q-tip to remove excess grease (you will notice it is dirty and gritty)
I believe the ticking noise coming from the engine area is from the valves, possibly valve springs losing there mojo or something of that nature. Probably more of an annoyance than a serious problem since it seems to happen to all 1999- 2004 series Grand Am 3.4L's that I have encountered.
Although I have not had any coolant problems, I did notice an awful amount of gooey DEXCOOL residue taking over my coolant resevoir, in a bad way. I can only imagine what it is doing to the inside of my engine and hoses. I think I will take apart my coolant system and clean out all of the gum before something bad happens.
The suspension will start to squeak when you get near the 100,000 mile mark, which really isn't that bad.
THE GOD FORESAKEN SECURITY PROBLEM
I have been stuck at gas stations and late for work about 5 times in a year because of the 10 minute security fuel cut off. I have not attempted to resolve this issue since it really doesn't happen that much.
I love Grand Am GTs and it hurts to see others suffer costly repairs. Lucky for me my brakes and rotors work great!
Beware of the goop in the overflow tank of your coolent. It is probably a sign that you have a blown head gasket and you have oil getting into your coolent. We just went through that this year and had to replace the head gaskets and all the hoses as they were saturated with oil and deteriating.
I own a 2000 Grand Am GT that is nicely tricked out with custom everything. And I am so happy to know I am not the only one going through crappy car problems by myself. Currently there is a stick propping up my driver side window because some plastic part broke. How much will this cost? I went through the leaking coolant issue, but since I have 18 inch rims and low pro tires I don't and have never come across any brake issues. Someone please tell me there is a recall on this window problem.
I've got a 2000 Grand Am and the ABS, Trac Off, and Service Vehicle Soon lights keep coming on and going off randomly. Anyone know what's causing this?
I have a 2000 Grand Am GT. It was 2 years old when my parents bought it, with about 30k miles on it. I have had it for 5 years now, and in that time all of this has gone wrong:
I have had both driver's side and passenger side window motors to die
The alternator fell off and my wheel locked
The vent in the dashboard broke, so I took it to get the part replaced, the workers pulled up my dashboard and did not put it down and it would be 1300 to replace the entire dash...
The power seat button is now broke and my seat is in the highest position it will go
I've had the brakes replaced three times, tires twice
it guzzles gas horribly.
the lights go off at random times for no reason
and to top it off, tonight my security light was on and i have no idea what that means
16th May 2007, 17:51
I've got a 2000 Grand Am and the ABS, Trac Off, and Service Vehicle Soon lights keep coming on and going off randomly. Anyone know what's causing this?
I'm going through the same thing myself. I have visited about 100 car sites. What I have done so far: replaced both front wheel bearing hubs, replaced ABS computer. I read on some site and I'm getting ready to purchase one. I don't know if it's true or not, is that the ignition module needs replaced and these lights will go out. I have no idea what the module has to do with these 3 lights, but I will try anything.
I am a technician for Subaru, and I just purchased a used '00 Grand GT with 177k. One of my other techs who use to work for GM told me about the problems that everyone seems to be having. I just wanted to give some of you what info I have and hopefully get some answers myself. I am having a problem with my power steering pump whining and hard to turn unless acclerating then the wheel turns fine, but pump still whines. I had to replace the P/S pressure line, and it acts like it has air in the system, but I bled the system out several times to no avail. I know these pumps have been replaced for leaking, but has anyone had to replace the their pump because of this symptom?
No to go on and answer some of your problems.
Clinking noise from dash - Bad headlight multifunction switch. I did see a post here where someone has cleaned the contacts. That is something I am gonna try. I will let you know how this works out. It is definetly worth the try since the part alone is about $125.
ABS & Trac lights - Trac light is on because the ABS light is on. The Traction control uses the ABS system to help control traction by automaticly applying the brakes. When ou have bad wheel sensors the computer doesn't know how fast each wheel is turning to make the correction. Most common cause for the ABS light is front ABS sensors. The unfortuate part to this is that the sensors are built into the front wheel bearing, so you need to replace the bearings. My car has codes for both front sensors. Best thing to do is to have someone scan for codes and that will tell you which sensors have failed.
Service Vehicle light - This is a body code. Usually because there is a problem with the lighting in car. You can have this scanned also to find excatly what is causing this light to come on.
Brake pads and rotors - Sorry, but the only answer to this poor design.
Knocking noise from rear of car by back seat - Rear strut mounts. Metal bushings seperate from rubber mounts and cause these mounts to knock.
You can also google for TSB's (tech service bulletins) to see if GM has found solutions for other problems you are having.
I hope some of this info helps you.
2001 Grand Am SE: Ran out of gas. Poured 2 gallons in... still will not start. Any ideas? The old-school method of spraying a little starter fluid in the carb clearly does not apply here...
My husband and I bought a 2001 Grand AM GT in November 2005. Before we actually purchased it, we had it inspected by someone we know and was not affiliated with the place selling us the car and we were told everything was fine. There was one issue concerning the intake, but we were aware of it and it was to be fixed by the sales guy's mechanic as stated in our contract.
From that time frame and today, we have had to replace the battery (not really a big deal), have had a new security module put in because of the light coming on and our car not starting. (If we had known the trick - waiting 10 minutes etc., in April 2006 we never would have had it replaced). It was not covered under our warranty and cost more than $500 to replace.
A short time later, the light came back on anyway. The car would not start at random times and again we would have to sit and waste 10 minutes. I have brought the car back to the place we had it fixed at and have paid them more money on many occasions to fix it. My father even helped me out once by having the car brought to another mechanic where he lived and more money was spent to fix this problem. It still causes issues every now and then. One of those things we have to live with I guess.
Our ABS, Traction, and Service Vehicle lights come on anytime they feel like, especially if I am backing up. We have had that looked at a few times and the bearings were repaired twice, still happens.
Recently the car began to make a weird jerking when driving, brought the car in again and it turns out one of our sensor wires was broken (lady said it could have been due to a mouse chewing it - uh yeah right. It probably occurred when someone was trying to fix the other electrical issues). In any case, we paid to have that fixed.
Then a week later, my husband does a U-turn and the steering wheel seizes. Not only was power steering gone, but so was manual. We were stuck in the damn road with cars coming right at us. We both had to turn the wheel to get the car going the other way so that we could get out of the road and call for a tow. That cost to fix (turns out the pump cracked) was over $500.
So, we have spent over $2000 (and this in not including the fact that we have a very expensive warranty that only covers a few things after a $200 deductible) in repairs since owning this damn car and we are still suffering through the same issues - nothing has really been fixed at all. And, we still have to replace our breaks.
Oh, one more thing, apparently this car only takes certain tires that are NEVER on sale. So, it cost us over $700 to buy the tires and have them installed. This was only done in April of this year.
I put some blame on the mechanics, but most of my blame lies with GM. This is the worst car I have ever had and we have had some lousy cars. I am stuck with the damn thing for 3 more years too. I take solace, however, that others are experiencing the same issues and that it's not just ours.
Oh, if anyone has any other suggestions for the ABS, Traction, and Service Vehicle lights coming on - besides a light being burned out or a bearing needing replacing - that would be great.
2001 Grand Am 148k miles.
Amazing. I can't believe I found this page while searching for the ABS / Trac Off / Service Vehicle issue. Since it's dark out right now, I was unable to check the daytime running lights, but I'll be looking into that...
As for issues I've had:
- Rotors... I replace them every other brake job I do.
- Fuel pump replaced. $700 rip off.
- Power Steering whines and loses a little fluid every week
- Security light and car failed to start. Replaced for $150 at private garage
- Blower motor resistor assembly (only highest level worked) Replaced once with OEM and again with knock off I found on eBay that has lasted for about 2 years now. I just checked and eBay has an AC/Delco for 17 bucks as of this posting!
- Weird creaking noise from passenger side front. Not quite a shock sound. Kind of plasticky rattle sound.
Good day to all! As a fellow grand-am owner I can feel your pain, I am a Truck and Coach Technician and I still can't believe how poorly this car is built. I have had problems with several things and can't believe non of them are covered by a recall.
Starting (both with security issues and non security issues)
factory tires are death traps after a year
constant ABS/traction control problems
drivers side window regulator
alternator
egr valve sticks
tail light assembly rotten
power steering
emission control
windscreen cracks on the first warm day of the summer
intake manifold
transmission randomly lost shift point pressure values, so it would shift from 2nd to 3rd and then shift back to 2nd.
This transmission fault was funny because I was driving by a mister transmission when it happened so I pulled in to get them to scan it (they do it free).
So they guy took my car in the shop and came out a few minutes later and told me I had a blown seal in the tranny and it would cost $3500 to replace it and it would not have a days warranty... to get a warranty put of MR T you need to do a re-build which was $4500.
So I kindly to the guy to get my car out of his shop ASAP and I will be on my way. Got it on a scanner and re-set the shift reference points and it has worked fine ever since.
SO STAY AWAY FROM MR TRANSMISSION!
I am sure the list can go on and on, but this is just a list of problems I have had on my own car, if I was not able to do the work myself I could not afford to drive this car!
-------------------------- sorry about the rant.
I good thing to buy if you own a grand am is a simple scan tool. You can get one for about $80 and you can then check codes yourself. I think the dealer charges something like $50 to scan and you need to drive there too.
If you use it twice you have saved yourself some money... you will find that most of the service vehicle soon light faults are small and you don't need to go to a shop to get them fixed.
My service vehicle light came on a week ago because the seal on my gas cap is worn.
I have also had problems with my egr valve sticking after a long trip on the highway. The valve would stick open for a few seconds turning on the check engine light... this only happens when I drive for 3 hours or more so I am not going to worry about it... once I get home I clear the code and it won't come on until I go on another 3 hour drive.
Needles to say I will never own another GM passenger car, the trucks lines are great.