Master Cylinder went out at 50,000 miles. You need a pressure brake bleeder for this, most likely you have to take it to the dealer.
Drivers power window motor went out at about 65,000. Replaced it myself for $50.00.
Eats batteries like crazy. 5 year batteries last about 2.5 years.
Ditto for alternators. Changed 3 "lifetime" alternators.
Transmission went out at 75,000. $2000.00 contribution to mechanics boat fund.
Motor mount is a funky liquid filled design. Failed at about 95,000. Only about $30.00 to replace this, but a real bugger drilling out the old insert.
Fan belt tensioner exploded at about 100,000. This cost about $80.00, but was a real bear to replace. Fortunately, you can take apart the inside of the passenger side fender to access.
One injector went bad at 80,000. (not bad).
Radiator failed at 90,000. The cheap plastic sides of the radiator cracked.
Thermostat bad, still haven't replace it (failed open and I live in Texas).
3 sets of "Lifetime" plug wires.
EGR valve failure at 80,000.
2 fan belts, but these were preventive maintenance kind of things. Screwy design requires undoing the top motor mount to slip belt in.
Right rear drum brakes came apart and had to replace all the springs and wheel cylinder. 60,000 miles.
Multi-function turn signal switch would turn off the headlights for about 5 seconds when you turned on the brights. $80.00 to replace this switch. 75,000 miles. Not too bad.
Tilt wheel has some slop in it. Was able to improve things slightly by taking apart the steering column and bending the hinge pin.
Floor mounted gear selector lockout broke. Had to buy the whole assembly for about $100.00. 95,000 miles.
Gas tank door release cable mounting bracket had to be replaced. 25,000 miles.
Air conditioner compressor is making noise. I expect to replace it soon. 115,000.
This year (1995) is kind of a cross-over year for ODB1 to ODBII. You can't blink out codes using the dash lights like you used to be able to. It also means that you can't use the low cost ODBII code scanners. So you are at the mercy of the dealer unless you want to shell out major $ for a Tech1 scan tool.
Paint has held up very well. Looks like GM got the clear coat problem solved.
Still fun to drive. 3.1 has lots of low end torque and barely breaks a sweat at 90 mph.
Autozone and Advanced Auto Parts will let you use their scanner for free!
They have a tool loan service, usually they don't let their scanners out of their sight, feel free to ask them.
I agree that this car is a piece of crap. I bought my '95 about four years ago, and have had to replace a LOT: windshield, 2 starters, 3 batteries, wheel... the list just keeps going. The siding has had to be re-mounted several times, I finally just gave up and stuck it in the garage last week. This week it stalled on me, so I took it in to a mechanic who replaced a cracked valve in my fuel line. It ran OK for a couple of days, but today it stalled three time while I was idling. This time I took it to a different mechanic for a second opinion. He took one look at it and told me that he never has any luck with Grand Am's -- no matter what he does to fix it, they just break down again. I, of course, am furious. I wish someone would have told me that when I took it to the shop that first time; I would have just saved my money and got a different car.
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