5th May 2004, 19:34
My mechanic told me the best thing to do was to get that dex-cool stuff out and replace with regular anti-freeze. We had the radiator cleaned I am now using regular anti-freeze without any problems so far. Have driven my van on a family vacation since then without any heating problems... of course I am holding my breath and keeping my fingers crossed just prying for nothing else to break before I can get rid of the hunk of JUNK!!!
28th Jun 2004, 19:02
I too own a 1999 Pontiac Montana, I have loved my van until I stumbled across this site. My coolant light came on at about 40k and it was the intake gasket and was replaced at the local dealer at no cost, there is some kind of "GM one time satisfaction warranty" but they may not cover additional problems, I was fortunate and found a service manager that was honest and wasn't looking to make a "fast buck".I live in Pa and bought it in Ohio and the local dealer still took care of it. I started to notice a "ruff" shifting in my transmission recently and was going to get it fixed and my fuel pump went (51k). We have had some bad gas problems in n/w Pa and I don't know if that had any part in it or not, but a new pump is about 400. I might consider fixing the pump and unloading the van. I too have had all of the little things go bad (broken cup holder, broken rear gate strap, fog lights, air bag light, water in headlight, rear brake light bulb works when it wants to, rear seat belt won't latch, noise in the front right wheel occasional grind when applying brakes.
2nd Jan 2005, 08:34
Hi,
Sorry to hear about all the problems with the 99 Montanas. I bought one used last fall with 82,000 miles on it and left for Florida one hour after buying it. It is now a year plus later and the only problem I have had is that the sliding door was doing the "bounce-back thing". I pushed the rubber trim back into shape and place and lubricated all the moving parts and haven't had any more problems. This van has been from Illinois to Florida twice and to Virginia once with no other problems. The reason I found this site was that the other day the ABS, Brakes and Traction control lights all came on. They went out after a while, but came back on and have stayed on for 2 days now. I am getting ready to pull the wheels off and check things out and thought I would see if there was a history of this problem. I haven't experienced any of the problems that are described in others comments, but will obviously be alert now.
14th Nov 2007, 17:53
On my 99 Montana I also have a coolant problem. The coolant runs out in like a day, every time I fill it up with coolant, the coolant light stays on, the engine smokes, and the coolant leaks out, but the van is very nice, but not that reliable because of the coolant problem, I'm going to trade it for a Chevy Uplander.
21st Jan 2004, 10:43
I had the "low coolant" light come on for my 2000 Montana. I took it into the dealer the next day and I was told that the head gaskets were shot. They would need to be replaced at a cost to me of $1626 + tax and that they would need the van for 2 days. I am shocked that the head gaskets are leaking. The service department manager could not give me a reason as to why the gaskets could be leaking. We have been very diligent in maintaining this van however one thing after another is making this van one of the most expensive cars we've ever had to maintain. I am currently looking around for a second opinion and working from home...sigh.