1999 Pontiac Grand Am

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS THE ENGINE OVERHEATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP FOR INSPECTION. THE MECHANIC DETERMINED THE ENGINE'S HIGH PERFORMANCE ADDITIVE CAUSED CORROSION TO THE ALUMINUM CYLINDER HEAD. THE CYLINDER HEAD WAS REPLACED WHICH CORRECTED THE PROBLEM. UPDATED 3/28/2006 - THE WATER PUMP FAILED. THE BATTERY AND BRAKES FAILED. THE COOLANT LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER DETERMINED THAT THE ANTIFREEZE HAD CONGEALED AND NEEDED TO BE FLUSHED AND REPLACED. THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLIGHT WENT OUT. THE DRIVER SIDE WINDOW REGULATOR BROKE. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED A LOUD POP FROM THE GARAGE WAS HEARD WHILE IN THE HOUSE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP. THE PASSENGER SIDE FRONT COIL SPRING HAD BROKEN. THE FRONT COIL SPRING AND BOTH FRONT STRUTS WERE REPLACED. ALSO, THE TIRES ON THE VEHICLE WERE REPLACED A YEAR AND A HALF AGO. THE AIR MUST BE REFILLED IN THE TIRES EVERY 4-6 WEEKS. THE TIRE DEALERSHIP STATED IN ORDER TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM THE ENTIRE WHEEL ASSEMBLY WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED. UPDATED 3/20/2006 - *NM

WHILE DRIVING TO WORK, MY INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET ON MY 1999 GRAND AM WAS TOTALLY DISSOLVED. I HAD IT TOWED TO A SHOP WHICH THE MECHANIC STATED WITH THE DEX-COOL IN THIS YEAR VEHICLE GM HAVE HAD PROBLEMS, WITH THE DEX-COOL EATING THE GASKETS AND WATER PUMP. I HAVE GONE THROUGH 2 WATER PUMPS ALREADY, AND NOW MY INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET HAD TO BE REPLACED AT A CHARGE OF $700.00. *JB

STARTED WITH WARNING LIGHTS ON DASH COMING ON AND OFF INTERMITTENTLY, TOOK TO LOCAL GARAGE AND THEY PUT IT ON THE COMPUTER BUT NOTHING SHOWED UP. HUSBAND BOUGHT NEW BATTERY AND NEW ALTERNATOR. DID NOT HAVE THE PROBLEM FOR THREE MONTHS AND THAN I WAS COMING HOME FROM WORK AND ONE BY ONE THE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON, SPEEDOMETER, GAS GAUGE, ODOMETER, ETC...WENT TO 0 AND THE CAR JUST STOPS. THIS HAPPENS IN THE SPAN OF APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES. FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED I WAS IN THE OUTSIDE LANE OF A 4 LANE HIGHWAY. FORTUNATELY TRAFFIC WAS LIGHT AND NO ONE HIT ME. CAR WOULD NOT START AGAIN. TRUCK DRIVER PULLED HIS TRUCK BEHIND ME WITH FLASHERS UNTIL WE COULD GET MY CAR ACROSS TRAFFIC AND SAFELY TO THE SHOULDER. THIS HAPPENED 9/9/2005. TOOK MY CAR TO LOCAL GMC REPAIR SHOP AND THEY SAID IT WAS A FUSE BOX THAT WAS CORRODED DUE TO A LEAK AND REPLACED IT. RECOMMENDED THAT I HAVE MY CAR CHECKED FOR LEAKS WHICH I DID AND THERE WAS NONE WHICH AT THE TIME I THOUGHT WAS ODD BUT MY CAR SEEMED TO BE BETTER. 12/9/2005 SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN ONLY THIS TIME WHEN IT STARTED I WORKED MY WAY TO THE SHOULDER PRIOR TO MY CAR STOPPING. TOOK BACK TO SAME GARAGE, THEY PUT IT ON THE COMPUTER AND COULD NOT FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG SO THEY CALLED THE COMPANY FOR GUIDANCE. FIRST THEY THOUGHT IT WAS THE IGNITION SWITCH, REPLACED THIS BUT DID NOT STOP THE DRAIN ON MY BATTERY. THAN THEY THOUGHT IT WAS THE ONE SIDE OF THE MIDDLE FUSE BOX BUT AFTER REPLACING IT, DISCOVERED THAT WAS NOT IT, THAN THEY REPLACED MY INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER. IN THE MEANTIME I WENT ON LINE AND DISCOVERED THAT I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN AND THAT IT APPEARED TO BE A DEFECT IN THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM BUT GMC IS NOT RECEPTIVE TO ACKNOWLEDGING THE PROBLEM. I WROTE THEM A LETTER AND THEY CALLED AND SAID I HAD TO LOG MY COMPLAINT WITH YOU. I HAVE THE FIRST FUSE BOX THAT WAS REPLACED BUT THEY DID NOT GIVE ME THE OLD PARTS THE SECOND TIME. I DID GET THE REPAIR SHEET WITH CODES AND COMMENTS. *JB

I OWN A 1999 PONTIAC GRAND AM WITH 80,000 MILES, THAT I BOUGHT NEW. ABOUT A MONTH AGO (JAN. 2006), THE GAS GAUGE FAILED. THE NEEDLE DROPPED TO EMPTY (WHEN THE CAR TANK WAS FULL). NOW I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH GAS IS IN MY TANK, OR WHEN IT WILL RUN OUT LEAVING ME STRANDED. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID IT WOULD COST $400 TO REPAIR. I CALLED PONTIAC DIVISION ABOUT THEM FIXING IT, AND THEY SAID IT WAS NOT ON THEIR RECALL LIST! I SAID I'VE OWNED CARS FOR OVER 45 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER HAD A GAS GAUGE FAIL! THEY SAID I SHOULD PAY TO HAVE IT REPAIRED AND IF THEY EVER DECIDE TO RECALL IT, THEY WOULD GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK. WELL, I'M A RETIRED DISABLED VETERAN AND CAN'T AFFORD $400 FOR A STUPID GAS GAUGE...SO NOW I GET IT FILLED UP EVERY DAY! *JB

WHERE TO START, .BOUGHT 1999 GRAND AM GT IN AUGUST OF 2002 AND ITHAS BEEN DOWNHILL EVER SINCE. REPLACED THE ALTERNATOR TWICE, HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET PROBLEM, WHICH WAS REPLACED, BUT STILL LED TO THE DEMISE OF MY ENGINE, CAUSING CAMSHAFT TO SNAP IN HALF. THOUGHT THE TROUBLE WAS OVER WITH THE REBUILT ENGINE THAT WAS PUT IN, BUT THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. THE WINDOW REGULATOR BROKE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SNOWSTORM ,CAUSING ME TO DRIVE WITH NO DRIVERSIDE WINDOW. WITH THE NEW REGULATOR I ASSUMED THAT THE WINDOW WOULD STOP SQUEAKING, WHICH DID NOT. I ASSUMED THE SCRATCHES ON WINDOWS WERE JUST FROM ME-SAND OR SOME OTHER ABRASIVE MATERIAL IN THE WINDOW TRACKS--AFTER REVIEWING OTHER COMPLAINTS I DISCOVERED I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM. HAVE EXPERIENCED VARIOUS ISSUES WITH THE NO TRAC/ABS LIGHTS, REPLACED THE WATERPUMP, DONE BRAKES 4 TIMES IN 4 YEARS, FRONT HEADLIGHTS ARE MILKY AND MAKE IT HARD TO SEE AT NIGHT. HAVE REPLACED THE STARTER 4 TIMES IN JUST THE PAST 2 YEARS. NEEDLESS TO SAY AFTER READING ALL COMPLAINTS I FEEL MUCH BETTER KNOWING THAT IT IS NOT JUST ME, OR MY CAR, BUT ALL PONTIACS. BOUGHT THE CAR FOR $10000, HAVE PUT OVER $5000 WORTH OF WORK INTO IT. WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER PONTIAC. *AK

TURN SIGNALS MALFUNCTION/INOPERABLE. 1ST REPLACEMENT (DEFECTIVE): MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH FAILED AT 31,825 MILES 2ND REPLACEMENT (DEFECTIVE): MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH FAILED AT 79,287 MILES ***PLEASE NOTE: GM'S SPECIAL POLICY #04098 WILL ONLY COVER REPLACEMENT OF THE HAZARD WARNING SWITCH. THE PART THAT HAS FAILED MULTIPLE TIMES IS THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH (PART #22676853). THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS AND GM IS NOT COVERING THE REPLACEMENT OF THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH! THE FAILURE OF THE TURN SIGNALS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION! *JB

AFTER ABOUT 100,000 MILES, I WAS TOLD THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET ON MY PONTIAC GM 1999 GRAND AM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED (COOLANT WAS LEAKING AND AFTER INVESTIGATION I SAW THAT THE DEXCOOL COOLANT WAS TO BLAME FOR WEARING OF THIS INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET). OF COURSE, MY VEHICLE IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY, AND GM WILL NOT COVER IT. IF I DIDN'T PAY (OR HAVE ) THE $1000 TO FIX THIS, I WAS PROBABLY GOING TO RUIN MY ENGINE. SO, I NEEDED TO SAVE UP, AND I AM AFRAID THAT WHEN I TAKE MY CAR IN TOMORROW FOR REPAIRS, THEY WILL TELL ME THE ENGINE WILL HAVE PROBLEMS. THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THIS ISSUES WITH THE DELCO INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET. THIS WAS THE FIRST VEHICLE I PURCHASED AS NEW, AND EVEN THOUGH I WORK FOR THE AMERICAN AUTO INDUSTRY, THIS IS DETERRING ME FROM BUYING FROM GM AGAIN. I WOULD APPRECIATE THEM TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR A DEFECT THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. *NM

REPLACEMENT OF THE FOLLOWING PARTS ON 99 PONTIAC GRAND AM, R&R FUEL STRAINER & FILTER/FUEL FILTER/FUEL PUMP/FUEL INJECTION/WATER PUMP/ECM/2BRAKE JOBS/THERMOSTAT/ALSO I AM HAVING PROBLEMS WITH COOLANT SYSTEM OVERHEATING/ LOSS OF COOLANT/ FOG WINDOW/ SMELL OF COOLANT/ LOSS OF POWER/ LOW COOLANT CONTINUALLY I HAVE TO ADD COOLANT EVERY WEEK. *NM