1991 Pontiac Tempest from North America - Comments

I can't tell the mileage for each repair as the odometer never worked since I bought it..

Replaced headlight and interior light switch, as origional one was broken by the garage that certified it..

Gas-line leaked shortly after I bought the car.

Coolant leak in thermostat housing, replaced gasket and thermostat at the same time...

General maintanance (battery, tires, brakes etc..)

Just recently, started to shred serpentine belts, traced the problem to a bent belt-tensioner pulley assembly that was allowing the belt to run out of alignment. Replaced assembly.

One of the biggest weaknesses on this car are the door handles, locks, trunk and hood latches...I've had problems with doors sticking shut occasionally, or not working in cold weather...also, the hood and trunk latches are sometimes hard to open, and require more than normal force to open... these aren't really major problems, just minor inconveniences..

For the number of km's this car has probably driven, it has lived up.

One the the most reliable cars out there.. It has never left me stranded...

The car is fairly quick on the take-off..

A good highway car, it likes to cruise at about 130-140 km/h, although the wind noise at that speed can be almost frightening :-)

The ride is quite firm.. you can feel every bump in the road. Handling is good, especially on slippery snow and ice..

The seats are fairly comfortable... I have driven 10 hours non-stop and hardly felt the need to stop and stretch.

Parts are cheap and easy to find both new and used due to the sheer number or corsicas, tempests, sunbirds, cavaliers, grand-ams which were manufactured during the late 80's to mid 90's... all of which use very standard parts from model to model.. usually the main parts like alternators, starters, wheels, and so on, are the same for different models of chev or pontiac.. These cars are a dream for do-it-yourself mechanics.

I am very happy with this car, I would buy another one without question.

I agree; the Tempest is an awesome car.

I have a 1990, and the thing has 310,000 kms on it, and it still runs great. The 3.1 V6 gets 30 MPG, and has lots of power to spare.

It doesn't use oil, and the only thing I've done to the car since I got it (6 years ago with 189,000 kms) is two alternators and a water pump.

Super reliable.

I have just bought a 91 pontiac tempest in a private deal and very much enjoy the car and the ride it gives.

Was just wondering if any one has had any problems with gas gauge or just problems with not allowing the car to run below 1/2 a tank due to any problems? Any and all information send to Ldragon449@hotmail.com

thank-you.

I have a 91' as well with 192 000 km on it all original drivetrain.

With regards to the gas gauge...yeah, it's a little...wonky.

Mine always displays at least 1/4 tank more than I have, although the fuel pump does pick up the last drops of gas from the inside of the tank. (I've once put in 61.8 Litres of gas after running dry to see just how far I could push it)

The gauge tends to slosh around especially when you're low on gas, It's probably due to a bad capacitor somewhere on the fuel sender line not buffering the voltage change when the fuel inside the tank sloshes and causes the sender to read different fuel levels.

All in all, rock solid car... only problem I had was my front brakes fell off...

To be fair, they were new brake pads, mid range semi-metallic. They were just defective... the pad just sheared right off... not fun when decelerating from the highway.

Car is great to drive, I get ~10L/100km mixed city and highway driving (daily driver) and easily 8L / 100km on the highway at 130kph average.

This car LOVES the highway.

The only downside is that it's front-wheel drive!

1991 Tempest LE 3.1 V6 auto - 175,000km.

I've put 30,000km on this reliable car in a year, and besides regular up keep, only replaced the alternator.

It runs nicely, but was wondering if anyone else had problems with the auto three speed? When it shifts, there's a considerable clunk before the rpms actually drop down to normal.