Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-87
I bought a 1997 Grand AM in January of 2003, 2 months later I heard a scraping noise turned out the tensioner and a. c compressor had to be replaced. One month later the check engine light came on and went off after 2 days, one week later and to this day every dash light had come on at the same time leaving my dash looking like a Christmas
tree. Also there is now a bad leak in the car leaving my carpets soaked and very smelly.
WOW, a lot of problems it sounds like.. I also own a 96' and even with all the problems I had I like it. I don't know if I have enough room to fix some of your problems.1. leaking it comes from the passenger side. lift off the wiper cowling (cover), there should be a air cond. vent there, the cover doesn't cover it enough and the air compressed lines don't hold it tight enough, hence your leak enough rain, and it will follow a path to the drivers side (very pain staking and time consuming to find that out), cover over vent with a flexible piece of plastic (ie. license plate the plastic kind), drill a couple of holes put in screws and silicone around plastic. 2. Window motors this is time consuming, but not all that bad. hold window up with some sort of tape.
Take off inside door coverings, break off the pop rivets on the door, take off the bolts that hold the window on, 10mm wrench or socket, take whole assembly out through the big hole in door, watch and remember how it comes out, (cause assembly is on a spring) put in vice, break the 3 or 4 little rivets, (holding motor on) take off old motor, put in new one replace rivits with little short stove bolts, put whole thing back in replace the big rivits with short nut and bolt (what ever will fit into hole undo tape set window into assembly slot, put nuts back on, drop window till you see the nuts (10mm ones) through two cut out holes on door tighten try the window. As I said alittle time consuming, but worth not getting tagged $500.oo for some one else to do the exact same thing. I hope this works for who ever tries it it took me a total of 4hrs. to do it and it was my first time trying sorry if this is to long.
Hello Back again, for the guy who posted Apr. 12/03 your motor is supposed to move when shifting it releases the tension on it and the transmission that's why there is motor and trans. mounts, that being said watch that there is not to much play in them. the rubber inside wears out quite easily. The guy who posted Apr. 15/03 the steering is hard to turn? It could be low fluid, bad pwr. steering pump, something in the steering column. A lot of people talking about ETS problems and ABS. As far as I know (which is only alittle) your ETS (electronic Tracking control System) and your ABS act as one when ETS is turned on. Ets tells what wheel to give more or less power in crappy driving conditions. It also tells the ABS what pressure to apply to brakes for maximum braking, of course all done by the computer. So if you get the ABS light on you should get the ABS sensors checked out. I also get that check engine light coming on then the ETS aswell nag, The ETS light comes on cause it thinks something is wrong and the ETS shuts down. What I do in that case (cause I had my car checked out fully by the diagnostic machine and no problems)
is disconnect the battery cable for about 5mins. then re-connect, turn on the key, but NOT THE CAR, let the computer read new codes (aprox 30 seconds.) then turn on car it should clear the lights... Same if you put anything new on car that has to do with the computer or engine/transmission. it helps clear the old and wrong codes, a pain in the, but to set your radio again, but believe me worth it. Hope this helps ya's out.
I have a 96 Pontiac Grand Am SE, let me tell you about forking out the cash. I bought my car and within one month I have done all of the following things. I have rebuilt the top end of my motor because my head gasket blew, had the head planed. By the way my dad did this. So all I paid was $80 to have the head planed, and 316.00 for the head gasket kit. My car ran fine. A month later my car would turn on, but in gear would just rev up. Took it to a transmission shop. Just about my whole transmission was replaced. $1,590.00. My car ran good for about 1 month and it was time for the oil to be changed. Changed the oil and found a whole bunch of metal shavings tore into the motor. No point in rebuilding it so I bought a new one. 3 year 100,000 mile warranty on motor came up to 2800.00. My car should be about brand new now. Well it ran good for about 2 months. Just the other day I started my car and pushed on the gas to go it chugged like it was going to die then it ran just fine. Can't figure out what this is? Maybe the fuel filter or I hope not the fuel pump. About every other day my engine light goes off, but the next day it will come back on and at the same time my ETS off light comes on, I don't think there is anything wrong with my car, but would that electronic traction system effect how it runs. This happened to me this morning I pulled out of my driveway and went down the road, car ran just fine. Pulled out onto highway, ran just fine, about 100 feet up the highway my rpms started going way down so I pushed on my gas pedal didn't help finally it just took off. Please give me some answers I am about broke.
Broken grand am girl.
I have had my 96 Pontiac Grand Am for over 2 years now, and I am happy to say that I have few problems with it so far. My most major problem was with the wiring harness to the alternator shorting out. I am also having problems with the ETS and ABS lights coming on at the same time, like some of the other owners who posted. When I was having problems with the alternator harness last year, I told the dealer about the ETS and ABS lights. They thought it was related to the harness. However, those lights came back on within a month. Then this past winter, they didn't come on a single time.
When it got warm again in March, the lights reappeared. Has anyone successfully been able to resolve this problem?
I have a 96 grand am and I just bought it about 8-10 months ago I have had to have front brakes and rotors put on plus a new alternator, but so far that has been it. My check engine light comes on often. The ETS light almost always stays on, and my check oil light stays on even if I have had the oil changed. I just ignore all the glowing lights.
Well, I am in the same sinking boat that your all in! The driver side floor board keeps filling up with water, the driver side window will not roll up right, the radiator has a crack in it and needs to be replaced, and the transmission is slipping (Sounds like it's grinding gears). My 96 just isn't worth the problems that it's presenting. So I am selling this bad investment soon. I would advise you to do the same :)
The bad window motor problem may be something else. My driver side window was not working. When I slammed the door with my hand it was working intermittently. I openen the window control (plastic plate on the door). There was loose connection. I just had to tighten it. The problem went away.
Same problems with my Car
1) ETS and ABS lights both come up and stay that way. This, I think is connected too bad rotor. I had it fixed 18 months ago (rotated it), the problem went away for almost 12 months. Now it shows up again
2) Control Arm bushing is causing the clumping sound when driving over bumps/railroad track/parking lot
3) Changed Alternator once.
I have a 1996 Grand Am. I love the car. It still rides quiet and runs great most days. I love that I don't see rust on this older vehicle except for very small spots, maybe two. I am having one problem though and it usually happens out of the blue. I can be driving all day long and then suddenly when accelerating it seems to want to stall yet never does. My husband believes it has something to do with the ETS sensor confusing the engine. The strange thing is that after getting brand new tires the problem went completely away for two months. It has now started up again and even worse. Does anyone know what this means?
I've had my 96 Grand Am since '96, and had just about everything happen - fuel pumps, alternators, driver window hardware, exhaust system, brakes, control arm,... Beware of the Check Engine Light - I talked to a mechanic about the check engine light which would just stay on - no one could figure out why it was on after everything was checked out. Well, the engine blew within a few months of that light staying on - so, $2800 and a rebuilt engine later, I'm still struggling with repairs within a week of that episode. I did have regular oil changes every 2 months as well as a mechanic's once-over every 2 months, so it wasn't a beater vehicle. The next trip to the mechanic will be for the faulty ABS brakes which grab and squeal intensely when I try to stop, and replacing the exhaust system for the 3rd time - this from someone who loved the car because it was comfortable, pretty quick, and gas efficient.
My 1996 GA has been nothing but problems. No wonder the dealer gave me such a good deal on it!! Same OL' story, ABS/ETS lights run wild. After driving for a few minutes they both come on. If I shut the car off for even a moment and restart they disappear, for a few minutes that is.I've tried resetting the computer, cussing and throwing wrenches, nothing seems to help. I really long for the days of pre computers, a new 57 chevy would be nice!!
Okay, this is really scaring me, I'm about to buy a 1996 grand am se, and it has only 5,000 miles on it, and the owner says that she hasn't had any problems with it. But after reading all of your comments, I/m really having second thoughts about it, can any of you advise me on a decision?
I have a 98 Grand Am Se which I purchased new. I currently have 194,000 miles on it. It has required absolutely nothing from me, but oil changes and a couple sets of brake pads. I still have my factory battery, alt, and ac system. Everything on it has just been perfect. I couldn't imagine any car lasting as long as this one has.
I am the proud owner of a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE, I bought it used approximately 3 and 1/2 years ago, and truly it has been a great car. I handles well in snow, ice, rain, and it looks good too. Recently I have started to have problems, but as a result of high mileage and wear and tear (after all, it is eight years old) it is expected. I have had to replace a power steering hose, alternator belt, muffler clamp, vacuum hose, wheel baring with hub assembly, rotors, all within the last two months. After all that, this car has never left me stranded. No matter what you drive, nothing is 100% perfect, you will have to fix something. I did notice everyone commenting on the driver's side window, which is kind of funny, mine doesn't work either!!
Just bought a 96 Pontiac Grand AM SE with 103,000 mile on it. After drove 20 miles on highway, the Engine CHECK light and ETS OFF light came on. And the engine/transmission start to jerk when accelerating. We were forced to slow down to 50 mile per hour. Anybody know what was wrong? The seller doesn't return our calls.
Thanks.
Tony.