1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT from North America - Comments

Hey its mike, no thank good mine isn't having starter problems. knock on wood. I have too many problems already. I jus looked into it for ya cause I hate seening people get ripped off by shops. unless I don't like ya then I could care less if you get ripped lol. I'm having a problem with security light problem. it comes on here an there an shuts down my fuel injectors for about 10 minutes then it will start. its jus one thing after another with grand ams. what else is wrong with your car besides the starter???

Lazyashere@aol.com.

Mike I feel your pain! I endured all of the problems and maintenance cost for 9 long years. Don't get me wrong, when my car was running I loved it. The only problem was I couldn't go more than 6 months without an issue. I have made several post here in the last few months regarding the final fate of my Grand Am. My Grand Am finally gave out with a cracked cylinder head at 150,000 miles. The owner of the shop that I have used the past several years tried to get me to let him rebuild the top half of the engine, as he said from the looks of things it was in very good shape. My fear was as soon as I drove off the lot the bottom half of the engine would fail, or something else would break down. I now drive a 2007 Saturn VUE, and sleep better at night not worrying about what might break next. When I finally got rid of my Grand Am I went back and added up all of the receipts I had for repairs I almost passed out. I spent over $10,000 in repairs in 9 years. I still can't believe that Pontiac wouldn't do anything to address these repeat problems with this vehicle. Good luck to you all who are still fighting the fight with your Grand Am's.

It seems as if I have had better luck than most with my Grand Am. I had to replae the entire engine at about 60,000 miles because it threw a rod and punched a three inch hole in the engine block. The engine cost me $500 used from a junk yard with almost exactly the same number of miles and I put it in myself so it was not as bad as it could be.

Both rear windows fell down, I just rigged the track so they permanently stay up. Radio goes which ever way it feels like. Display on radio does not work. Rear tail lights burn out every couple months. The fan didn't work on 1-2 and now doesn't work at all. It just kind of starts and stops, running for 20 seconds or so and then kind of loosing power.

It seems everyone is having similar problems, any solutions? I am going out to the garage now to try and track down why the fan will not work, but a little more direction on what the problem may be (is it in the motor? a short?) would be helpful.

Thanks and it sounds like I will be trading this in for a new vehicle as soon as I can before it is too late.

My 99 Grand Am GT is currently in the shop for the blower. It only worked on speeds 3-5 and now all of the speeds are gone, but 5 which is dying also.

I've had to replace brake pads and rotors at least once a year between the front and back.

My clock disappeared out of the blue one day. I can see a little hint of the time if the sun is shining into my car from the right angle.

My gas gauge doesn't work and hasn't for well over a year. I keep track of my miles and that helps determine when I need to fill up.

I think I have about 126,000 on it and I can't imagine the problems I'm going to face in the future if I don't get a new car. Why can't Pontiac step up and fix their problems?!

I love my car other than the above mentioned problems, but I don't know if I would get another Pontiac.

Good luck to all of you!

My wife bought a 99 Grand AM SE (4 door) used back in 2000. Up until 2003 the car ran fine, and still runs fine. It's all the cosmetic plastic that's falling apart.

1. The dash is pealing off starting from the windshield.

2. I've had to replace both door power mirrors. These are made out of cheap plastic.

3. I have replaced all 4 power window regulators. All the motors are fine... the pulley and cable system inside the door that pull the window up and down have small cheap plastic parts that break after years of use. Mind you, we don't have kids so the back windows are NEVER used, but we still had to replace. Each regualtor runs about $120-$140 a piece because you have to buy them WITH the window motors... unless you chance it and go to a junk yard. So far I've become pretty proficent at pulling door panels off and replacing these damn things.

4. Had to replace the light bulbs in the headlights (normal), all the plastic parts inside the headlight fell apart (broke) in my hand.

I will never purchase a car from Pontiac. They parts are cheap and over priced.

Hey, I have a 99 Grand Am GT and the clicking noise that you hear when you put your blinker on keeps on clicking, even if the blinker is off. Do you know what I should do about it, or how much it is going to cost to fix it?

I bought a 2002 Pontiac grand Am in 2004. I've had problems with it from day one. There was the noise from the front end. I was told I needed brakes and rotors. I've been replacing brakes and rotors every year since I've had the car. And it still has the noise. I replaced the alternator in 2005. I replaced the fuel tank in 2006. I then started hearing the famous clicking noise even though my signal isn't on. My hazard lights don't work. My radio/Cd player started doing strange things. My right headlight will be out one day and working the next. Now every time I use my turn signal a puff of smoke comes out. What is going on with these cars?

Hey everyone, just thought I pass on some advice to those of you who've posted here. I'm a owner of a 1999 Grand Am GT and have had most of the same problems as you. So here it goes...

First, and most importantly, GM vehicles (especially the Grand Am) use Dex-Cool engine coolant. Flush that stuff out as soon as you can and put the regular green stuff into your engine. Dex-Cool corrodes your head gaskets and will eventually cause coolant to leak into your engine, mixing with the engine oil (bad enough) while your engine overheats because all the coolant is now in the engine. GM says Dex-Cool lets you drive longer without replacing coolant, when in reality the longer you drive with Dex-Cool, the more time it has to corrode your engine. Normally you would flush your coolant every 50-60,000 miles or so, but GM says Dex-Cool allows you to go 100,000+ miles! I almost had to get new heads because of this problem. Luckily my small town mechanic new a guy at a machine shop who was able to fix up my existing heads like new. If your mechanic tells you that you should really use Dex-Cool anyway, don't listen to him and insist he put the regular green stuff in. It cools your engine just as good as Dex-Cool would without all the bad side effects. There is absolutely NO advantage to using Dex-Cool and I can't stress this enough. GM keeps putting it in their vehicles because of the problems it causes. Most people will either get a new car because the damage is so great or spend a ton of money on the costly repairs. Either way GM will make money because a lot of people will take their car to the dealership for these kind of repairs, and since their already at the GM dealership when the mechanic tells them the extent of the damage, they're more likely to get a new GM car.

Replacing window regulators are a part of life with GM vehicles (not just the Grand Ams). Don't buy a replacement from the dealer as not only do they rip you off, but it will eventually break down again. Score one off eBay--yes, you can find new parts on eBay!

I also had a problem with my fan blower only working on 3-5 but not 1 & 2. Turned out to be a relay that needed replacement. Check that out and see if it works for you too. Mine's been blowing perfectly on 1-5 now that I had the relay fixed.

The fuel gauge will be an expensive fix. You'll have to replace the entire fuel pump (between $500-600 depending on labor) as the mechanism for measuring the remaining fuel is built into the fuel pump and can't be replaced separately.

Dash peeling from the windshield is actually common for GM vehicles, but this is due more to heat warping the material. Try to keep your window cracked during hot days to keep it from getting worse. Your only other choice is to replace the entire dash.

The clicking sound you hear even when your blinker is not on will cost you around $200. The whole turn signal unit needs to be replaced.

And finally, for any other strange electrical problems you'll probably need to get your whole wire harness replaced. This will be expensive too (at the very least $400), so decide for yourself if it's worth it or if you'd rather get a new car.

The last poster's comments regarding the use of Dex-cool coolant was dead on the money. I am a former, and not so proud owner of a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am. I had to have my lower intake manifold gasket replaced at 60,000 miles due to my car overheating. I took my car to the Pontiac dealership where I purchased the car for the repairs. Not once was it mentioned that the gasket was corroded due to the Dex-cool coolant. I hadn't had my coolant flushed yet as the owners manual for my vehicle said this didn't need to be performed until 100,000 miles.

Well exactly 60,000 miles later I had the exact same problem. This time I took my car to a locally owned repair shop that was family owned and had an owner who would be thorough and honest with the customer. He gave me a very long explanation on how bad Dex-cool coolant is for your engine, etc. He said that he has at least 1-2 vehicles a week in for repairs due to the Dexcool coolant. He advised me that I replace not only the lower intake manifold gasket, but all of the hoses, etc. for the cooling system where the sludge from the Dex-cool had built up. He also indicated to me that there was an aftermarket gasket set that was made specifically to address this issue. He said Pontiac knew that there was a better gasket available, but chose not to use it as they make more money with repeat failures. This more robust gasket set cost little more than the factory gasket being used by Pontiac. Once all of my repairs were completed the owner of the shop recommended that if you continue to use Dex-cool coolant you flush the system and replace the coolant every 15,000-20,000 miles. I would as the last poster mentioned make the change to a regular green coolant.

After the second lower intake repair in the lifetime of my vehicle I contacted Pontiac to see what they had to say. They didn't think it was unusual to have this type of failure twice in the lifetime of a vehicle. This shouldn't happen once in the lifetime of a vehicle in my opinion.

Well needles to say after all of this and the expense at 120,000 miles to replace the lower intake manifold gasket and cooling system hoses my car finally overheated and died at 150,000 miles due to a cracked head. This was a blessing as I could finally stop putting money into this awful money pit!

Good luck to those of you who are still fighting the fight!

Well my fiance bought a 99 Grand Am SE last year. Nothing but problems.

We have almost all of the most common problems, but we have a new problem that we can't seem to figure out... We can start the car fine and it will run for a little bit, but when you lay on the gas a little bit it bucks and dies. We let the car warm up and tried to drive it around the block. It did the same thing, and after a little while of driving it, it will drive fine. But this shouldn't be happening considering the temp gauge works fine and it runs at about 220 and we let it warm up to that.

We recently replaced the battery connection, fuel filter and checked the coil packs. My father is a master mechanic and he is puzzled. Has anyone had this problem and found an answer?

I think the answer to your problem is that it's a 1999 Grand Am.

That being said I haven't heard of this issue with any previous reports. I guess this is a new issue we can add to the list. Good luck isolating the problem! I feel your pain!

Hi everybody, I have Pontiac Grand AM GT 1999 and I'm pretty happy with it, but I had some problems too.

I bought the car in 2002 with 43,000 miles now I have 149,000 miles on it. If I don't count regular maintenance (oil, pads) I had some issues with it, but I bought extended warranty for 50,000 miles/ $1000 and it was worth it. In that time Pontiac fixed:

coolant pump, alternator, coolant leak and mainly not working 6th cylinder ($ 1,200 repair). After that I had coolant leaking again and new coolant reservoir so I replaced Dex-cool with Peak and no problems since. I replaced rotors 2x, serpentine belt 2x, power steering hoses (because one broke), 2x dead battery. Last week they replaced front engine mount and in and outer tie? rods and oil pan (my fault I drove over nasty big stone on unpaved road) and radio (knob problem 112,000).

Today the car stopped in front of the intersection don't know what's wrong yet. It sounds like a lot of problems, but I drive the car a lot (sometimes 1000 over the weekend), take it even on dirt and stone roads and I'm still very happy with it. I'm a girl, like how it looks and drives and I think it's still cheaper to repair it that buy a new car. This is the first time the car just stopped like that (149,000 miles) so we'll see... Marci.

I also own a 1999 Pontiac Grand AM SE. This car is terrible. I bought it in 2006 with 140,000 miles on it and I expected to run in to some problems, but this is ridiculous. I have replaced: both hub bearings, tie rod ends, sway bar, brakes twice. Now I have the popping noise when I turn the wheels so I will be taking it to the mechanic AGAIN tomorrow. The volume on the radio is erratic, there is no LED for the radio (fuse is fine) so I have no idea what station it's on. The fan blower levels 1, 2 & 3 do not work. The blinkers make noise even after I turn them off (wtf?), the gas gage is crazy it goes back and forth and I never know how much gas is really in it, I have a leaky water pump. My ABS & TRAC OFF lights stay on as do my check engine and change oil lights. I am going to have to get rid of this car quickly!

I've had my 99 Grand Am GT for just over a year and a half. It had 127000 on it for $3400, then two months after that I was hit on my front drivers side, there was over $3200 in damage, but the car still ran like a champ.

Now I have over 160000 miles on it, and I've had to completely replace all the pads/rotors, had my right window fall when I was driving 60, which scared the crap outta me and almost put me in the ditch.

I also had 2 control arms bent, and replaced, and now in the mist of winter my power steering pump is going, so it sucks using all your strength to turn on icy roads.

I had the blinker sound problem, which mysteriously stopped on its own, and my Dexcool hasn't disappeared in a while, so I think whatever takes it has changed appetites.

My car also overheats when in vigourous city driving, or while it's sitting in idle for too long, but I found if I go over 35 mph, it cools down to normal, though it looks as though it's my lower intake gasket that's leaking.

There's a bunch of things going wrong on this car, but I'm willing to replace the power steering pump if it'll last to 200000 miles. I wouldn't give it anything over, and doubt it'll last that long.

Good luck with your piece of crap =)

I've owned my 99 Grand Am GT now for 5 years. Bought it from my step mom. I've had the same problems that other people have had. Just recently having to fix my intake manifold and my water pump. Its the second water pump I've had to put in. I have having problems with my ABS. Goes off on its own whenever if feels like. I have a shortage in my dash so I can't see how many miles I have on my car, how fast I'm going, how much gas I have, or if my car is over heating or not. The fan only works on setting from 3-5 and has been like that for over a year now. Both my windows are broke. My driver side window is stuck shut. The window motor was replaced back in '03. The sunroof motor has been bad since the car was basiclly brand new. Now it is stuck open, and it will probably be a few days till the motor decides to work again. I'm looking forward to getting a new car in the next few months and not having to worry about it breaking down every 6 months.