1999 Pontiac Montana from North America - Comments

1999 Pontiac Montana I bought it used it had about 67,000 miles on it and I loved it. Thank god I bought the extended warranty when I purchased the van for an extra $1500 I thought it would be a waist of money, but my wife talked me into it. After about 6 months the driver side window stopped working and the Low fluid level light came on and it started using fluid. I scheduled and appointment with the garage and they fixed both problems under warranty and they told me that the window was a $1500 job and the Intake gaskets was a $2000 dollar job $50 deductible so I was happy and not my warranty paid for it's self and then the warranty expired and the passenger side window stopped working 95000 miles and at 100,000 miles the intake gasket went out again same symptoms as before and should have traded it in right then, but no I trust GM not anymore 105,000 miles cam broke the guy miss diagnosed and cost me $300 when he replaced the oil pump I drove home oil light came on again and I towed it back to him he let it sit and then I found another mechanic an he took off the intake to find the cam was broke so now I still owe $4000 dollars on a lawn ornament because no one will buy it and I don't have the $2000 to install a new cam. Come on GM everyone knows that this is your fault you need to bight the bullet and save your reputation and fix these pieces of junk.

We purchased our 2001 Montana in 2001 used with 30,000 miles on it. We have not had nearly the same problems as most of the other people have (knock on wood!) But today, I was out with my kids, about 1 mile from home and all of a sudden I start to hear this REALLY loud noise coming from the passenger side of the van. I thought it might be a tire, so I immediately pulled over to take a look. All four tires are good to go. So I get back in and head back down the road, as soon as I got above 30MPH, the noise came back again. It was almost like something was rattling around where the tires are! Has anyone else had this problem? I never ride the brakes, haven't had much problem with transmission. Completely confused as to what this can be. I just had new brakes back in October along with 2 new tires and new tie rods. Could a broken wheel bearing make this noise? Other than this current issue, we have had problems with leaky windows... which then corrode the inside metal of the van causing some major dripping and interior rust stains. Have had windshield replaced and now need to do rear window. Rear wiper died. Front passenger door creaks loudly when opened, usually scaring the unwary passenger. Sometimes it is hard to change gears (from reverse to drive) We are hoping to buy a new van sometime in 2008. :) My husband's car must come first though because it has more issues than mine does.

Get me in on that class action suit too, I am sure I can find something else wrong with my van!

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.

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?

Wow! I thought I was alone in my issues with my 1998 Montana!! At 102K it starting acting odd one day... dying and overheating? I took it to Goodyear * (sorry, but yeah, my first big mistake!!) they looked at it and said that the thermostat was bad along with a few other things, but didn't have time to fix it that day, but it'd be okay to drive till the next morning. NOT so!! Driving it that evening on the highway we heard a big bam, it died and the oil pressure light came on! You guessed it.. the oil pump went out and broke the engine. So $4,000 later it's fixed! Since that time it's been fine except for the coooling system! The therostat consistently goes bad and I've forever had issues with it getting hot!! Now the rear shocks are out. $$$$$$$!

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.

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.

This is an update to my entry about 98 Pontiac Transport on Aug 1, 2007. Since my writing we just became afraid to drive it as we watched the SES light come on, the temp. gauge rise on small hills or at 40 mph. Not only did we expect to get stuck suddenly in the middle of an intersection, we wondered if it just might start on fire, or blow up! We decided to buy a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX, our first new vehicle in 36 years. We were teriibly embarrased to bring Pontiac for trade in, and at the last minute almost didn't bring it. After a brief appraisal while we sat sort of self-humiliated in the dealership office, the salesperson gently tried to tell us they didn't want it at all. However, we managed to get $600 for it. We had purchased it for $8500. out the door price, and unfortunately after dealer repairs of $3300,and only 5800 miles we had to pay another $3300, only to get a list of needed repairs to those areas already done. The body, tires, A/C and interior were in good shape, but it was starting to have a problem accelerating after a stop, and steering was bad even after repairs. So it is gone, and I will throw away piles of comments I printed from internet about its terrible history, the Dex cool coolant and everyone's misery. I hope that a class action lawsuit will someday proceed. I hope no one buys mine (except for parts) but we figured even if we donated it or sent it for salvage it would end up at some auto auction. It would be good only for a well trained Pontiac mechanic who can spend every month fixing something on it. I won't forget all those who still suffer from this vehicle, and probably will check this site from time to time.

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.

Update on my 2000 Ponticrap. It has started choking out, and the heat only works all the way to the right. Any movement of the heat control gives you cold air. The dealer called today, and I need: a master air flow sensor, O2 sensor, thermomter, and maybe a catalytic convertor. There was one more thing, but I was in such shock at the repairs needed I can't remember what it was. Class action suit anyone?

I have a 1999 Montana, 2 times have had to have the intake manifold gaskets done. Ordered brand new and drove 105,000 miles, always used Mobil one oil and filters, changed dex cool 2 times, flushed trans 2x. Now I'm at the airport yesterday and wife calls me. Sudden burst of steam at stop light, she immed pulls into a station. Have it towed home for $90 and will be home tomorrow to find out the issue. Brother looked and said coolant was pouring off the rear of engine, Dealer said sounds like head gasket. I was hoping, and still do hope, it was a hose. Dealer said head gasket can be sudden and behave like that with coolant spraying on manifold. I only wish the car would have caught fire, then we at least could have claimed it and bought something else. What to do now, spend $1,100 on a van that with leather, extended and pretty worn is worth double or if I'm lucky 2.5 times the repair? Don't think so.

I only hope the 3.5L in my rendezpoop doesn't do the same thing. You would hope after 8 years they would bullet proof the engine.

I am a loyal gm guy, but this sucks and leaves me broke at the worst time. Well maybe I'll find the hose blew at the rear or the cross over hose.

I have a 1997 Montana transport, and I thought it was a good vehicle, until the electrical system went haywire. The rear window works when it feels like it, the radio display doesn't read properly, the daytime running lights and instrument panel lights stay on when the car is turned off, and the engine also stays on when the car is supposed to be shut off. That's crazy; I pull the key out and the car is still running.

I've spent too much money on this van. Bought it for 7000 5 years ago, and over that time I've spent about 4000, most of that being in the past month. And GM, stupid, they shouldn't be allowed to service vehicles, let alone sell them.

I bought a 1999 Pontiac Transport Van 3 years ago. Was working great until about 3 months ago. It's not shifting properly, driver and passenger power windows don't work, radio display not displaying correctly. Then coolant light always on and leaking coolant somewhere. Yesterday driving down a busy street, oil light comes on, I stop at gas station add some oil, and barely made it to my husbands work, it is sounding like a diesel tractor. I'm sure after reading all these comments, it's probably a broke cam shaft. Just great... Merry Christmas to me!

Dec 26 2007

Another transport catastrophe. As I sit here and read these listings my van is sitting in the driveway with the intake off. I was looking here to find a way to fix a bypass line. good news for me (laugh) intake gaskets are shot!!! and I'm scared to death wondering if I should go ahead and replace the head gaskets while its apart?? I also have problems with the tail lights, you hit the brakes and the turn signals and the backup lights come on as well, I have a water leak that finds its way through the interior light, the brakes squeak, the headlights have fallen apart, the a/c works sometimes, and its overheating. I have already replaced the tie rod ends, fixed five coolant leaks, thermostat, fans, fan fuses, window switches, brakes and rotors twice, and god only knows what else. I have owned numerous cars and trucks of all kinds and one other minivan that probably has a million miles on it and still running (guess what?) it's a dodge. Gm will never get my business again, and count me in for the class action lawsuit!!!

Stranded Again

DJ.

I have a 1999 Pont Montana (3.4L) and I have noticed a fluctuation in the speedometer and at the same time it feels as though I have a miss, or transmission problem. I scanned the car and found no codes. I also notice a rough shifting at low speeds (especially when just idling along it will shift roughly). I replaced the EPC about 3 K ago because it shifted hard, and that took care of it. Has anyone else had this prob? lgfarmer@earthlink.net.