19th Sep 2007, 17:00
I own a 2000 Pontiac Montana. Head gasket went of course and then the gas gauge started to act up. I read full (gas) all the time. I thought this was great. I would never have to fill up. WRONG LOL So off I go to a GM dealership (3 years ago) and after much haggling they fix it as a goodwill.
Now of course it is happening again. So off I go to GM and they laugh at me. They say it is a wear and tear on the vehicle. I say it is a manufacturer defect.
Anyone have the answer?
4th Oct 2007, 15:14
Wow, and now I'm worried!!!
I have a 99 Montana, bought it in 2000, about to finally pay it off.
It has a very slow oil leak, but not onto the ground; I assume it's being burned off.
I have a very slow coolant leak; again nothing on the ground.
I have had to replace an ABS manifold - cost 800.00$ dealer only part.
Paint peeling and bubbling on front of the hood and top of the windshield; haven't fixed that yet, no leaks yet.
I've done all other repairs myself - brakes, switchs, lights, belts, hoses - all standard stuff I would expect to fix myself on a car with 100,000 miles on it.
I rewired the driver side window switch to the passenger side switch when it broke - now both windows go up and down at same time with the passenger switch (a little pain in the neck).
The one fix I have found over the years might help a lot of you people with your electrical problems - My wife found a website while we were stationed in Germany - my passenger side window stopped working, someone on that site said they had the same problem - sorry don't know the site anymore, that's what I was looking for when I found this site, they said to rip up the carpet under the front passenger side floor, there are a bundle of wires there that get corroded due to yet another design flaw of GM, something about the way the A.C. condensate drains down to it and pool's there, cleaned up all the wires, re-spliced if necessary, waterproofed everything - it fixed the window right away, have never had any electrical problems like faulty radio lights, turn signals, crazy horn, crazy gas gauge...etc. This bundle may be the cause of all those problems; wouldn't that be silly.
My problem right now is I recently replaced my drivebelt that had been on there for 40,000 miles; it started to squeal and finally was thrown off. I replaced it with a new one and it was ripped to shred's in 2 weeks; put another one on and it was damaged right away. Finally I noticed the harmonic balancer isn't aligned with the rest of the pulleys; I'm wondering if this is the first sign of the cam bearing going out, which leads to the cam breaking, which leads to the money pit scenario - thank you GM, I'm going to re-align the pulleys somehow to ward off the problem for a while.
I would love to trade it in, but I would feel bad about the dealer sticking the problem with someone else like me.
I would love to join the lawsuit and have the dealer fix these engine problems for all of us. I will end up spending $30,000$ in payments on this lemon, only to have it break on me right when I pay it off.
If anyone has any D.I.Y. advice on how to fix my problem, please let me know because I don't have the money to fix it otherwise.
Thank you all and good luck.
K. Tucson AZ.
14th Oct 2007, 00:51
If there is a class action suit regarding the Pontiac Montana, count me in!
My 2000 PontiCrap has been one repair after another. We bought it used in 2003 with 53,000 miles on it. Within 2 weeks our 1st problems showed up: the master cylinder started leaking, 1/2 the radio lights went out, the air bag module wasn't functioning, and a seat belt pretensioner needed to be replaced. Thank goodness we had purchased the extended warranty. The dealer fixed the master cylinder for free, and the radio lights are still out, but the rest was covered.
Next the EGR valve was replaced.
Then the seatbelt pretensioner was again replaced.
The power window motor was replaced, along with the intake and gaskets.
The fuel level sensor was the next thing to be fixed, along with, that's right, the seatbelt pretensioner!
Replaced the EGR valve again.
Now the van is choking out when trying to start, or it catches and revs. I will hate to find out what it could be this time! The passenger window wasn't working, but has now for some reason started to work again. I won't get a GM product ever again.
26th Oct 2007, 14:49
I have a 2000 Montana Sport and I have nothing good to say about it. Well, lets see where should I start? Lets start with the lights: they collect moisture and the bulbs will blow up. Then there's the power steering: it whines worse than a newborn baby (and the fluid is full). Then the ABS/trac control lights will not go out, and the brakes are new all the way around. Then the radio light went out, so the station is a complete guessing game. Now on to the expensive stuff: transmission shifts hard like its low on fluid, but it was just changed about 5000 miles ago and is still full. Oh, and it only does it sporadically; and now the cooling system is leaking like a seive (and the water pump, radiator, thermostat and hoses are all new). Then I found this site and all my worries are coming true. We have a Pontiac P.O.S. Oh, and the a/c-heater controller only works on high; set on low, it doesn't blow out any air. So guess what? Ford, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Chrysler; one of them will now have all of my business.
1st Sep 2007, 03:18
Another story to add to the long sorry litany. Bought our '97 transport in 2003 with 62k miles on it cash from a dealer for $6k. That was a great deal, was single-owner, but well maintained, really looked and drove like new.
When we bought it was leaking a tiny amount of coolant, was so minuscule decided to wait it out as the repair was quoted at $800+.
Had no other problems with the van, just routine maintenance for 4 great years. Van has wonderful features and really is a pleasure to drive. June 2007 it starts having rear light electrical problems, different lights decide to work and not work, no reliable pattern. Sometimes front directionals and parking lights too.
Well, last day of August the lower intake manifold gasket goes. Luckily my wife was just a few miles from home and made it into the garage. Now 92k miles on it. I figure we are some of the lucky ones as we got 4 great trouble-free years with no extra cash outlay.
Thanks to this site I know the correct solution is to not put one penny into this thing and go get a Japanese minivan. I'll be lucky if someone doesn't charge me to haul the Pontiac away.