1999 Pontiac Montana from North America - Comments

Sorry to anyone who bought a Transport. We bought our 97 a few years ago from a dealer in town. 3 days after getting the van the van would not start. After 4 trips to the dealer and 2 new alternators later the van was great. We had a few minor problems, but nothing my husband could not fix. Then last summer while he was in Iraq, I was on the interstate doing 70 with 5 kids, the camshaft broke. When he got back home we took it into a machine shop who rebuilt the engine for 1800. Now the brake lights don't work, the radio lights on the steering wheel are out, and the cruise doesn't work. Find out that it is the turn signal switch (turn signals still work fine). So all of my electrical problems are from one switch. To replace that switch it is 250.00. I love the van, but not all the work that has gone into it.

I am trying to find a solution to a hard shifting problem on a 2000 Pontiac Montana. It too is intermittent. It seems like it is electrical and could be the Iginition Control Module per 2 other comments. Is this true?

Have 82,000 miles on it and it seems to be using a little bit of coolant, however it is not in the engine. It too uses a little oil.. Now I am concerned with the manifold gaskets causing the cam shaft to fail..

Glad/sad to see I'm not alone! I've got a 2000 Montana.

Just got done with major front end and brake overhaul ($1200), where the mechanic pointed out the manifold leak. The mechanic told me this problem was very common with this motor, but once fixed, it stays fixed.

Took it into another shop a month ago, they said water pump (belt was making noise too... so it could have been), but still leaking antifreeze pretty bad.

Now I'm biting on the gasket replacement. I haven't been told of contaminated oil or antifreeze... so I HOPE TO GOD I'm not up for imminent cam failure!

$4k for a new motor? I'm thinking $4k for a down payment on a Honda! (they were hard to come by, and commanded a premium back in 2000)

Most of my other complaints are same as been posted... ABS/trac light on.. blah blah.

Here's a new one though... anyone ever have the front fender interfere with the door (and hence creased the fender) because "the wind whipped the door open and bent the hinge"?

That happened about 1 month after the dealer repaired the very same fender after an accident. Coincidence or no? But they wouldn't budge on it. It was an insurance claim, so I couldn't dispute the charge, and the insurance company wouldn't step in because the dealer wasn't their recommendation.

A buddy of mine had a Trailblazer and had something similar happen... and was given the same "wind" story.

We have 1998 Transport. We have had the airbag light problem, and just this week, the engine is running really rough...I'm hoping that it just needs new plugs and wires. It's like it missing on two cylinders. I'm also wondering if it is the coil packs. Has anybody had to replace those?

So far, we haven't had the problems a lot of people have had, however, the van has 117,000 miles on it and after reading the comments on this website, I'm wondering that when I get it fixed, get what I can out of it and get rid of it.

I have a 2000 Montana and have had all of the same problems as everyone else. Replaced intake gasket twice in the last year, had the head reworked on one of those adventures. Replaced both front hub bearings, an inner tie rod end, and the electrical is another issue all together. With all of the money we have sent in the last year alone we could have put a good down payment on a Toyota. Now as I look for help with the oil pressure sending unit, I find out about the problems with the crank and cams breaking. I am now SURE that I own a piece of junk. If that class action suit comes about count me in. I am going to find a Toyota.

Yesterday after searching for a site to help me with a problem with the oil pressure sending unit on my 2000 Montana I found this site. I added my comments to the growing list before me. I then went out changed the unit, and went to work. Half way to work the motor spun a bearing. If anyone is going to buy one of these money pits, save your self the headache and just flush your money down the toilet. It is a whole lot easier.

Merry Christmas GM!!! Add me to the list of 2001 Montana intake gaskets leaks!!!Bah, Humbug!!!

I have a 2001 Pontiac Montana. We also have had the same gaskets replaced. Has anyone had their van's horn start going off for no reason? This has happened a few times now. Any help would be appreciated.

We own a 1998 Pontiac Montana. We have also had many, many problems. We have had to replace the water pump, air-conditioner compressor, left front hub bearing and tie rod, the rear head gasket, and 12 months later the front head gasket. We are also plagued with little annoying problems like the lights on the radio sometimes going out, the temp gauge sometime going out, etc, etc. If we had known that we could come up with an extra $5000+ in repairs while making payments on this beast, we would have just purchased a foreign-made vehicle.

Currently the vehicle is unusable in the garage until we decide if we are going to fix it again or buy something else.

This site has been extremely helpful to me. I was contemplating buying a 1999 Pontiac Montana Minivan, with approximately 117,000 miles, for $3,850.00. I test drove it today, and I kind of liked it, and was struggling with and juggling finances in my mind as to how I could afford to get it. I came on line tonight to see what I could find out about it. I've read every single one of your comments. Now I will, with complete self-assurance and certainty, tell the dealer who is waiting to hear back from me, "Thanks, but no thanks!" No, actually I'll tell him, "NO WAY!"

Thank you all for your input! And thanks, too, to the creators and maintainers of this site! I'm just going to stick with my 1990 Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup, which I've been driving without any unusual problems since 1992. I'm a single mom, putting my daughter through college. No way could I possibly afford the repair bills you all have mentioned about this faulty GM product. I do hope you find a way to get that class action suit through!

Thank you for making this decision quite clear for me.

I was actually looking for a do-it-yourself repair website when I stumbled upon this one. It is absolutely horrifying to know that more people have had the same problems as we have had with our 2002 Montana.

We bought it used 2 years ago and it had approximately 72,000 miles on it. About 3 months after, we started having problems with it overheating. Low and behold! Blown heads! Since we also have no money, and did not purchase the extended warranty, we were told it would cost us about $2,500 to fix. We took it back to the dealer we bought it from and after much hassle, they agreed to fix the problem at cost. So, geez, it only cost us $1,900 instead.

The van started leaking antifreeze and overheating on and off again for the last 1 1/2 years. We just replaced the intake manifold gaskets and the mechanic said that whoever did the previous work on the heads "did not do a very good job." Well, at least he is honest!! This cost us another $800. Now, I read these comments and it really frightens me to know that the engine is going to seize at any time.

I am sick to death of dealing with the problems and emotional stress over this van!!! When a person buys something, you invest your hard earned money thinking you are buying a great product that HAD a great reputation! There has to be something that can be done! Seriously!! There has to be someone we all can voice our opinions to. I don't care about money, I just want them to make it right.

It's only fair.

I wish I had seen this website earlier. I have a 2003 Pontiac Montana w/70,000 miles and am in the process of replacing my wheel bearing for the 6th time. We have had to replace the front right one 3 times and are replacing the rear bearing for the third time as we speak. I went on-line to see if I could find out why they keep going bad and found this site. After the third time I took it to the dealer and they said that they know they are having a problem with the bearings and all new vehicles are warrantied for life, but there is nothing they can do for the old ones. 2003 doesn't seem that old to me.

Not only do I have one of these beauties, but two. The second one was just purchased for parts because the first one is falling apart. The first Pontiac transport montana was purchased for 2000.00 used with over 100,000 miles on it. I have owned it for six months and have had the following problems:

radio and dash lights intermittent, door locks lock when they feel like it, transmission lines breaking, now the engine head gaskets just blew.

I just bought a second one for 500.00 with 130,000 miles and then found this web site. Boy am I stupid, what was I thinking? I cannot believe that with all of the problems (same problems) that GM cannot be held responsible for the repairs. This is the normal crap that we as consumers have had to put up with from these big corporate companies. I am sure that they pay big bucks for big shot lawyers to keep a grip on this problem and that is not fair.

I will never buy a GM product again and I hope others will do the same.

Disgusted and peeved in NY.

Here you go. This is the website to register for your class action lawsuit against GM. I like you have replaced my engine twice due to a faulty Manifold Gasket. I have also replace the wiper motor both front bearings. I have also replaced both power door motors and the back power widow motor. I have replaced the fuel pump, Air con compressor the door lock switch on the driver side. And now my engine light is on for no reason and my fuel gauge does not work I have to use the odometer to gauge myself. My van is a 2002 Pontiac Montana with 150k. I have called GM and they have told me that this is pretyy much my problem and they will do nothing to help me out. I WILL NEVER BUY GM AGAIN. I am also tell everyone I cannot to buy any gm cars as word of mouth is the best weapon. The sad part is GM does nothing about this and wonders why they are going bankrupt.

Http://www.gmclassaction.ca/

I have owned my 2000 Montana for about 3 yrs now and have only had 1 major problem. The power sliding door module went out and the cost of that from the dealership was $1400...since then it hasn't acted up at all. Had the rear wiper motor go out, but I replaced that. Had the water pump and thermostat replaced just because it has 90k on it. The blower motor resister that controls your fan speeds went out, but I could replace that. My only concern right now is this loud ticking noise that has started a few weeks ago. I have read a lot of these comments and it scares me that my camshaft could break or the intake manifold gaskets need replaced. I have since changed the oil and added Marvin's Mystery Oil to the engine and the ticking went away, but soon after it came back. Don't know to get it looked at right away or try to get rid of the van before serious problems occur? Thanks for the comments though... they are very helpful!!!