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Comments
virginia
Has anyone else experinced this problem. Dealer says he has never heard of this (yeah right!). Pontiac has refused to review the problem unless it comes from the dealer who wants $'s to look at it and diagnose.
Do I have to replace the bulb holder? What does that cost?
Here is my issue. Last Thursday I was driving home from work and the low collant light came on, however the car was not running hot just a tad above normal. On my way home I stopped and bought some collant. The next morning I went out to start up my car and it started fine. I went back outside about 10 min later to put the collant in and it was no longer running. Thinking nothing of it i popped the hood and proceeded to put in the collant. Well i must not of read the container because it was the sort of collant that you have to mix with water so it came out pretty thick...too late i had already put in half a bottle. So then I decided to fill up the collant reservour with water. OK now i go to start the car and almost started but then stopped i try again sort of the same thing. Now it is Wednesday and my car wont start...I seriously doubt that it is the battery and a friend thinks it is the fuel pump.....any thoughts? If it is the fuel pump does anyone know where it is located?
The fuel pump is in the fuel tank.
Did you ever get it to start after this incident?
Also, if you knew you had a problem with coolant loss, why would you start the engine then walk away from it for 10 minutes? Even an idling engine with no or seriously low coolant can burn up in 10 minutes.
It's not a big deal if you didn't mix the coolant before hand as long as you are able to get the proper amount of water in also. It will mix in the cooling system, the resevoir not withstanding.
210K miles is a lot of miles for a Grand Am, especially if it's a quad 4 engine. Do you have any idea what repairs have been done on it?
It was not leaking when I was putting the coolant in.
I figured that since the engine was not running hot the previous day...just a tad over normal then it would be OK to start it up in the morning eventhough the low coolant light came on...bad idea
It almost started twice...it sounded like it was going to start then nothing.
A few months back I had a seal replaced that was cracked...it was a seal that went to the water pump. i was loosing coolant then. After that was fixed all was well until now. The only other major thing that i had done to it was to the transmission.
I always keep up to date on oil changes, have tune-ups and have it looked at if there is any indication that something is going wrong. I am sort of worried this time because i do not want to spend a lot of money
It had 75000 miles on it had NO problems out of it
I liked that car.
BUT going to work one morning at 3:30 AM I just got on the X-way
got up to 70mph and a drunk driver hit me in the driver side rear tire
and rould the car 3x and landed upside down.
and walked away from it.
Gearr
Gearr
It first sounded like a lifter stuck but I don't believe that is the case since I can drive the car 30 minutes to work and at idle it's still ticking. I recently have replaced the motor mount, timing chain and guides, and water pump. I don't believe that the noise is coming from the timing chain area.
I think the noise is the power steering pump failing since the noise goes away when pressure is on system. I replaced the rack about 3 years ago.
What's your thoughts?
Thanks,
Michael
Eddie
Gearr
Got a slight problem with my 98 GT. Lots of slack in the steering. This is the first front wheel-drive car with rack-con-pinion that I have owned. My guess was either the gear box or coupler. Where are they or do they even exist? I don't think the rack has an issue, the car steers fine (plains out nicely at about 90). If there is a coupler or gear box, how do I get to them? I popped off the left front wheel today to take a look under the brake boaster, oh god it looks tight. Does someone have an idea of were the slack could be?
2 years ago I bought my son a 1996 grand am. I worked with the owner and she drove that car back and forth to work for several years, so I thought I was getting a good deal. The car only had 89K miles on it when we bought it. Since we've had that stupid car, here's what we've had to fix/replace:
Radiator
Everything oil related
Battery
Front and Rear Brakes
Fuel Pump
Starter
Air conditioner and heater
Wiper motor
Door locks
Front wheel bearings
Timing Belt
Steering and Suspension
And that's all I can remember. The car leaks, drips, rumbles, sputters, bucks, won't start half the time - we've put over $4000 worth of repair into it, and today it wouldn't start. So frustrating. Anyone thinking of buying a grand am - run like the wind. I can't speak for all of them, but the one we got is a money pit and a piece of junk. I'll never buy another Pontiac.
We had a 95 and went 135K easily, but not without some repairs like you mention.
ok...for all of you with huge, expensive engine problems...here's my story: (maybe it'll help)
i have a 99 Grand Am SE. i had my car parked for a couple of months over the summer and when i started driving it again i had major problems with over heating, delayed starts, etc. was told it was a head gasket problem. got them replaced ($500), overheating and other problems still kept happening, more money, time, and work wasted. Turns out the head job wasn't done right, had the guy redo it right. After that same [non-permissible content removed] different day. Finally, about a month ago i blow a rod.
Totally pisses me off, i said screw it, opted to go with a remanufactured engine and get rid of my POS engine. the engine had a little over 171k. Now it sounds and runs beautifully. It cost me 2k but to me was well worth it. Everything with my car looks good it was just the engine that was a problem.
now with the new engine my Service Engine Soon light came on, couldn't be the engine it's brand new. Went to the engine guy, checked the code, it's an O2 sensor going bad, the engine was also seemingly hesitating on cold starts and seemed to lose power on acceleration from a stop, he told me that it may be that my fuel injectors are dirty and need to be professionally cleaned (about $60), well i changed my O2 sensor ($70) and no engine light, no hesitation on acceleration, so i think the O2 was the cause of the new engine problems. But i'm keeping the fuel injector cleaning in mind.
Hope this helped some of you. Fixing up a car is better than buying a new car. That's just me.
The lesson here is that major repairs to a high mileage engine usually aren't worth much - the final outcome which was to replace the engine with a rebuilt was the best choice from the start, depending of course on other factors, such as overall condition of the car, age of the rest of the drivertrain, etc.
Thanks
Ryan
I own a 2001 GT, silver, and noticed a crack about 5 inches long on front bumper near the fog light on driver side. Is there some sort of quick fix I could do myself, just so it doesnt get bigger or crack all the way through?