2000 Pontiac Sunfire SE from North America - Comments

Hey 2001 sunfire here and a hunk of junk. same problems with the ac controls, 1 and 2 are pretty much non functionning while 3 and 4 settings are exacly the same. another little annoyance is my cruise just suddently decided not to work. checked all fuses and some wiring but with no luck. HELP.

P.s. 2001 sunfire for sale, no cruise ;)

Hey guys, I feel your pain. My g/f's 2001 has had problems on and off. Tonight the DS headlight went out. And now the drl's won't work, service light come's on. By now you all know the story. I have sent a few of you e-mails, looking for a solution. Once I have it, I will come back on, and let others know the fix. Hopefully I get a few response with successful fixes, and I can pass that on to others on here. I will also check the harness for the broken blue wire/splice fix.

Thanks for posting guys/girls.

Ugh, I have a 2000 Sunfire and haven't had too many problems with it until recently. The lights are now flickering, which I assume is the wiring harness. Anyone have any idea how to get a recall going?

Also, my check engine light stays on and the "Trac off" light as well, because some sensor for the anti-lock brakes is out and I don't have the $300 to fix it or any $$ to fix the wiring harness or the a/c that hasn't worked for 2 years now or the paint that is pitted and wearing off the roof of the car.

Overall, not a terrible car, but it's starting to show it age... it does have over 120,000 miles on it and has served us well over the past 7 years.

Well I just picked up a 2001 Sunfire. I had it for a week and no problems. Then today I went to get into the car and drive away, and it wouldn't turn over. I had to sit and wait for almost a hour and then it started. I got home and put a new battery in it, and now it still does nothing. Any info would be great. Sounds like a lot of you have had the same problem.

I'm the not so proud owner of a 2000 Sunfire, 2.2 engine, with AC and cruise control.

I'm getting sick of having to replace the multi-function switch (headlight/cruise/turn signal) all the time. I've been driving it for 3-4 years, and I'm officially on my fifth replacement. It's a vicious cycle - I replace it, everything's good for a while, and inevitably my headlights stop working (I turn them on, and only daytime running lights are on)... relegating me to shimming the switch with paper until the switch is far enough forward that the headlights come on. Every time I hope the problem won't occur again, but it inevitably does. Anybody got any ideas what's causing this, or how to prevent it?

Hello to all.

I have a 2000 Sunfire SE 2.2L that I purchased with 66k miles on 9.20.08.

After having for three weeks, I jumped it in to drive to work one morning, the brake light was on, and the car would barely come to a stop!!! Turned out it needed a new brake caliper and new brake line due to a leak of the brake fluid. Fixed that ($250).

Then this morning, I get in it to drive to work, (only had the car back from the shop a total of 3 days!!!) and as I am driving from my parking space all of the lights in my dash (check engine, service with wrench, ABS, check gages) all come on and the headlights and lights in dash dim as I am driving. Also, the gas gage goes all the way from 1/2 tank (where it should be) to 1/4 tank. Then goes back up to 1/2 when idling. When the car idles, all the lights in the dash go off except for the service and check engine lights. WTF!!!

Does anyone have a clue what is going on with my car, how it can be fixed, and how much it might cost! Please help!!! I am a part-time student and I work full-time. I don't have the time or money for any of this crap!!! I am clueless about cars, so I doubt that I could fix this problem myself... any suggestions???

Email me @ datrealdiva04@yahoo.com

I bought my 2002 Pontiac Sunfire SE coupe (manufactured in Lordstown, Ohio) new in April 2002. In October 2002, after 4400 miles, my left rear turn signal quit working. I replaced the bulb and it would work intermittently. Took it to the dealer, they had to replace turn signal socket and lense assembly. Other than that, no problems.

A week ago, I had the standard Sunfire issue of my DRL and low-beams not working, with the clicking in the dashboard and service light coming on. My high-beams did work. I replaced the DRL Relay fuse to no avail ($13.90). My dad took the car to his mechanic, who advised that the headlights were both burnt out. I hadn't noticed any lights out or anything prior to this happening, but I do mostly daytime driving. The mechanic also advised the wiring harness was fine and there were no broken wires. The vehicle was fixed 11-20-08 and the headlights and DRLs are working just fine after the bulb replacement. Total cost, with a serpentine belt (trying to be proactive)and mechanic labor, was $136.00.

I will be sure to update if I have any further problems with the headlights. I am still half-expecting to go out some morning (or heaven forbid, sometime at night) and find out my headlights don't work. Time will tell, I guess.

I have a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire with approx. 95K miles on it. The first problem occurred a few months back when my digital odometer went out. It has never come back on. I had to take my car to a mechanic to get new brake pads, and I mentioned this to him and he said he would have to take the whole dash out to get in there to see the problem. I was in a hurry to get my car back and figured "taking the whole dash out" would mean a bunch of money.

I haven't taken this back to get fixed because it sounds costly. Anyone have an idea of how much it would cost?

I just noticed the second problem this morning with the daylight running lamps. They come on when I put the car in reverse or drive. This morning, the icon came on and then flashed a few times (and made a sound, like when you're turn signal is being used) and then went away and the "service" icon came on my dashboard.

I looked in my driver's manual and it says, "a flashing DRL light indicates a possible burned-out headlamp, or that the vehicle may need service to repair a stuck DRL relay."

Does anyone know how to know which one it is? And if it's a stuck DRL relay, how much would that be?

I have a 2DR 2000 Sunfire. I have been reading everyone's comments, which are really scary.

I bought my car used over a year ago. Like another owner I have a very basic model; no power anything, and I have not had an issue with it.

The A/C works fine, and when my front and back signals burnt out, I just changed them and they work fine. (knock on wood)

I looked and mine was one of the ones from Mexico. I wonder because it's a basic model is why I am not having any of the issues yet?

Hopefully it stays OK for at least another year while I save money for another vehicle.

I own a 2003 two-door Sunfire, 5 speed, and have had it since it was new. It now has 130,000 miles on it, and the body is in great shape.

I have had the headlight wiring harness problem at least once a year since the day I bought it. The first couple of times, the dealer fixed it, no problem there. The next time it happened, the warranty had expired, of course, and the very same dealer said they had no record of my first two harness problems! So, I took it to Firestone, and they found the problem and fixed it for about $100. I have since tried to fix it myself, and a couple of times still had to take it to the garage.

Around the time the warranty ran out, the fog lights quit, I never bothered to fix them, seems to be the switch itself though. Also around the same time, the check-engine light started coming on. I had two sensors replaced, both times the light went off for about 2 or 3 months. Now, I get it checked, and have them clear the codes when I get it inspected, but the light always comes back on in a week, and stays on until I need to get it inspected again.

Today I had the passenger headlight go out completely, and the lights would click and flash until I turned the headlight (s) on. I pulled out whats left of the harness, and did find one corroded wire, and fixing that made the clicking/flashing thing stop, but there is still a short in the system. I guess I'll be taking it to the garage again, damn I hate this car...

Hi! I purchased a 2000 Pontiac Sunfire back in August of '08. All seemed to be fine until October when the car just wouldn't start. The battery is fine, but I tried having it jumped anyway. The thing is, the battery isn't dead... all my electrical works but the engine just won't turn (when I try to start it the lights that remain on are the "theft" light and the "battery" and "check engine" lights). My grandfather seemed to think that there was a bad connection from the wires on my battery to the other end... my friend thinks it could be a bad wire... now it's starting this problem where it will start, then stall out. The second try it'll start, but shake really bad and the check engine light will stay on...

Any helpful advice would be MUCH appreciated!!

(please email me at inkedsax10@gmail.com)

I have also had the same issue as another poster where the car is "clunky" when braking. I described this to the mechanic and the brakes are just fine... I wish I knew what that was all about...

The other problem I had was some kind of wheel-bearing issue, which seemed to cause other issues. Luckily this was covered by the warranty the dealer threw in (which was a warranty I figured would be worthless).

The last, and only other problem I've had is a leak in the brake line, which caused me to go through brake fluid like crazy till I was able to get it fixed. I found out that my brake lines needed replacing soon, but I know this is just normal wear and tear...

All in all, I should have NEVER traded my Jeep for this car... I was just trying to save on gas!!

I had a Grand Am 1990, that when you stepped on the brakes it died. Sometimes it started, others not. It turned out a modulator on the transmission was bad, and I was told I didn't need it anyway. The guy removed it and I had no more problems. Unfortunately it was wrecked after that.

Now I have a 2000 Pontiac Sunfire that I adore. After reading all of this, I don't know. So far all that has been wrong is it overheats sometimes.

Holy wah! After reading all this, I had to post. I bought my 2000 'Fire in Feb. 2000 with 4 miles on it. To date, it has 115,000 on it and the only problem I've had was the fan switch, about 3 years ago. That's it. Sunroof works fine, stereo works fine, uses NO oil between changes, and I average 25 mpg city and 31 freeway. It needs struts, and I did replace the battery 3 years ago. What a great little car.

OK, so... we are all in the same boat!! 98 Sunfire. A/C is fully charged, but no cold air since I bought this used 3 yrs ago.

Also the brake fluid had to be cleaned as I had no brakes and the pedal went to the floor. Also had to replace the rotors.

Changed the tires and 2 of the stems broke on each wheel, had to get those replaced. I found out that that was a recall.

Then the car started leaking water from the water pump, which then caused a blown head gasket. Also the gasket around the oil well was leaking oil and had to be replaced. I found that the trunk had started to leak sometimes, leaving about 4 inches of water in the trunk. Oh and the paint is coming off from the all over the car. Yes I know it is an old car, 135000 on it now, but it is good on gas ha-ha :) My plan is to fix it up and keep it.