Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I don't have the $3,000.00 (after tax)to get this replaced... so I'm in a real bind here (have 4 kids)...
Is there antyhing else that I can do?
I wish I would have found this site before I bought the van:
http://www.gm-v6lemons.com
Apparently, there's also a big problem with the lower intake gasket on many of the V-6 GM motors..
I guess there's a lesson to be learned here. It's not likely that I'll purchase another GM, since there are lots of other makers out there backing their products with MUCH better warranties.
Transmission toasted at 35,000 miles... Thanks GM.
Sorry to hear about the transmission though. It's not common at all but nothing is for certain. I would shop around for a transmission. I think the new vans have a 5 year power train warranty as does our 2004 Montana.
There is plastic trim at the back by the hatch, where the two pices meet, I see water dropletts at that seam.
Dan
#PI01362 Water Leak into Jack Compartment with Power Sliding Door - carpet gasket power PSD rear right seal trunk wet - (Sep 12, 2003)
Unfortunately further info is specific to the vehicle's VIN
When I do get the final answer I will post the results as I'm sure others have or will run into this problem.
Thanks again for your suggestion and I am glad to have come across this website, so now I can troubleshoot anf future issues.
Dan
The cure is to get some black sealant and lift the edges of the boot and liberally squeeze the sealant all around underneath the flat edge. I have a Venture 2000, although I did not have the problem per se, it was an issue with this model year.
Clear out the water and check next time it rains or through a car wash. I know some people drilled a drain hole at the bottom of the jack storage compartment as a last resort
flashing but steadily on ... brakes are working fine. Except for light - no noticable symptoms.
Any ideas what might be the cause ?
Thanks in advance!
anyone out there having tranmission problems ... hard shifting between the gears?? Starts out with occasional "it works sometimes and not others:.??? Like to hear from someone.
This was a trip car....no hard driving and almost all highway driving. when we did yse it.
I had another line here, but it was censored by Edmunds since we're not allowed to promote other forums (even ones that don't exist yet)....
Good luck.
My LF lens has a small leak. I ran a bead of gray RTV long the seam that helped. After a day or so of dry the moisture disappears and it doesn't seems to effect the quality of the light. Just doesn't look good.
Or perhaps keep a small flash light in the car and shine it on the darkness sensor as you get to your driveway.
All I have for ideas.
Hope this helps....
from reading i am doing online is it reasonable to think that perhaps this could be related to the intake thing that people have issues with? is there any possibility of getting oldsmobile/dealer to cover under the after warranty assistance or a secret warranty program? if you have any tips on how to present this to the service guy, please help! they have my van, but have not yet begun to do any work on it. :confuse:
As info we also have a Jetta and Suzuki SL7 and both have headlights on all the time as DRL
We're looking at an 03 Montana with about 30K
short of replacing the gasket, is there any type of additive that can slow or stop the deterioration of the gasket?
Thanks
Not aware of any "additive" to slow the deterioration. The new gasket design has reinforced edges at the water passages and the new bolts have thread-lock applied. The later suggests the OE bolts may have loosened over time.
Does the 2003 have a 5 year powertrain or a purchased extended warranty?
build date is 10/02. According to carfax, the warranty is 3/36. Interestingly enough, the van originated in Quebec for it's first 17k miles and then was imported to the US. Very strange since they were telling me it was a one owner vehicle....and from what I can tell this guy has lived in my town all his life. more on this later.
The dealer is about 30 miles away from my home. For whatever reason, they were like "take it home to show your wife, make sure she approves" and I don't have to take it back till Saturday. Nice extended test drive.
My concern is that I smelled coolant when I arrived at home. with 30000 miles on the vehicle, I'm wondering if I can make this work to my advantage. I'm going to take it to my local Pontiac dealer and see if they can diagnose (or probably mis diagnose) the source of the smell. If it turns out to be the gasket, and they will cover it under warranty then Yeah!! And, since the price isn't set in stone yet, I can spin it with the selling dealer to get another 5-800 bucks off the price. Any thoughts on how to approach this?
Back to the van originating in Quebec..is there anything difference between a van sold in Canada and one that is sold in the states?? (emissions, anything?)
the deal
I'm trading a 93 silhouette. It's pretty rough around the edges. tranny is on it's last leg, AC doesn't work (110psi on the low side of the compressor), rotors are warped, dr side front wheel bearing needs replaced, air compressor is gone, mysterious disappearing coolant, leaks oil. 112K miles paid $1900 2 years ago, they offered my $1500
they're asking $13800 for the Montana. Not great, but seems to be consistent with private sellers prices and about anything I've seen on the net for one of the triplets (actually wanted another Silo, but they seem to fetch premium prices)
any advice on how to get them down on their price? I haven't negotiated or even discussed price much yet.
easy cheesy, they looked it over and said they'd replace the lower intake gasket and water pump under warranty, no cost.
GOD I LOVE THIS VAN
took it on a 150 mile trek tonight, filled the back up with 4x8 peices of fencing and posts for the back yard. I filled up the gas tank before I left, added a little Lucus fuel system cleaner, and the needle didn't even budge off F(ull).
I had an 02 Odyssey, then an 03 Silhouette, then the [non-permissible content removed] fell out of our personal economy, so we bought the 93 Silhouette for cash. I always relate vehicle discussions back to the Honda, though, as it is perceived as the "ultimate". Loved that van too, don't get me wrong. sure it had 240HP, but you had to rev the hell out of it to really feel it, and it was noisy as hell at 75MPH. Can't say it really was a memorable difference relavtive to the 03 Silo, which we also loved. I really think, if you buy used, maybe even new if you hit the incentives right, you come out ahead by buying a GM (at least the pre 05 non "truck looking vans").
anyway, we'll be signing the papers today (sat)
http://tinypic.com/2nstie
Dirkdaddy
They are so shiney and new its amazing, I have not yet installed but holy cow, my wife was really impressed compared to our sandblasted and sun yellowed old water filled lights this really ought to be a big improvement!
If you have an older van like my '98 and are thinking of replacing the lights, I am ashamed I waited this long, they are that much different and I haven't even installed them yet!
DD
Has anyone had trouble with the front power windows? For the last year the drivers window on my 2000 silo wants to go up crooked. It goes down fine, but it needs help going up. My wife drives the van so I kind of put if off since it was not a serious problem. I finally stopped by a Olds dealer to have them look at it and to my surprise they wanted $600 to fix it!!!!!! They said it needs a new regulator, which is basically the whole inside of the door (not including the inside trim). They said more than likely the only thing wrong is one of the brackets that raises the window is bent, but it could not be repaired. I then stopped by an independent shop that I have used before and they said the same thing, and also there was no aftermarket part for the Olds, however there is one for the Venture and Montana. I have looked on gmpartsdirect and found p/n 10315961 for $271. The olds dealer said this is the wrong part. The p/n I got from the dealer is 16639553, which is $325 on gmpartsdirect. Has anyone had this replaced and have a p/n?
Regular Arms Only
Of interest the items suggest the only difference between the vehicles is a plug. You can read the first ad with this info.
jeff
My issue with the GM lights on my '98 is the hokey way the front side/signal lights are attached. Could they have designed worse system? The little clip that is supposed to hold the bottom to the headlight bracket inevitably comes off with the head inside the bracket and then you have to pry it out and when you get it all reattached, its so loose and floppy you wonder if you have it right, but you actually do, its just GM thinks you only need one nut and little clip to hold the light in position. You won't see Honda doing it this way....maybe it saved $.25 on the assembly line.
They are built in some far-east country, have to look at the box again. Since the GM ones fell apart, this might be a good thing. I had both lenses fall off and the reflective material inside lost its luster from time - even after I had cleaned it out and reglued the lenses. These look like something from a new vehicle, they are so shiney looking.
The guy I got them from however charged $15 each for shipping, which is a fairly large fee but I knew it going in. They were shipped very well, double boxed and foamed into large boxes. He also sent me a 3rd light for a Chevy by accident that I offered to return if he pays MY shipping cost, see what happens there.
DD
Short story, going to festival tomorrow. Almost didn't get to take van although friend flew into town with his son and we'd have 6 of us, 3 in car seats. I had planned this event for about 3 months.
Wife drove home from store today, parked in driveway (some luck there as you're about to discover) and then the transmission lever became totally limp and did not shift the van out of D into any other selection. Well, short and sweet, my van's transmission gear selector cable broke at the attachment point where it goes around the little ball on the transmission selector lever. It would work fine if you held it down on top of the ball, but would come off otherwise. Weird!
Local dealers did not have it "on hand" and we were planning on leaving early in AM to secure a good festival camping spot. Looked at the factory manual at the section for replacing the cable and while it wasn't bad, I didn't want to delay our trip spending 2 hours wrestling with the cable. So, I jury rigged the thing, which is pretty hard to describe but it involved some U channel steel, a bit of welding, a 1.5" screw and two nuts.
I basically sandwiched the ball socket thing on the cable and the transmission lever ball. Sort of like two custom made steel parts from iron fence scraps - that clamped together with a screw, and it had a slot in the middle for the shift cable to go through. It was limited by a steering shaft in the rear and a transmission electrical plug. I whipped something up in about 2.5 hours of futzing around with it, but it will be secure and I can take vacation on time and replace the cable at my leisure.
I am not sure why this broke, perhaps I was a bit rough with it at times. Was made to go together fast on assembly line but no hold up after a few years. I was not happy to have this break, I didn't plan on doing this work tonight!
DD
Dirk