2000 Pontiac Montana

WELDING AT THE BASE OF THE DRIVER'S SEAT SEPARATED IN MY 2000 PONTIAC MONTANA VAN. THE VEHICLE HAD NO ACCIDENT, EVENT LEADING TO THE FAILURE IS UNKNOWN. BASE OF THE DRIVER'S SEAT IS MOVING WITH THE SEAT, THERE IS A 1/2 INCH GAP ON THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR AT THE WELDING. TOOK THE VEHICLE TO PONTIAC DEALERSHIP WHERE IT HAS BEEN INSPECTED. WHILE THEY COULD NOT GIVE AN EXPLANATION WHAT COULD HAVE CAUSED THE FAILURE, PONTIAC CUSTOMER SERVICE THINKS IT IS NORMAL TO HAVE SUCH A DEFECT IN A 5 YEAR-OLD VEHICLE DUE TO FATIGUE OF METAL...

THE ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM ENGAGED ITSELF WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS UNDERGOING A REGULAR, NON-EMERGENCY STOP. THIS MADE THE STOPPING DISTANCE INCREASE SEVERELY AND COULD HAVE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT BY CAUSING ME TO RUN INTO ANOTHER OBJECT. EVIDENTLY, THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE FOR THE ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM IS DEFECTIVE. I HAVE TEMPORARILY DISCONNECTED THIS CONTROL TO PREVENT THE MALFUNCTION FROM OCCURING AGAIN.

FUEL GAUGE READS FULL WHEN EMPTY AND EMPTY WHEN UNDER 3/4 OF A TANK. MESSAGE CENTER ALARMS TELLING ME THAT I AM OUT OF FUEL BUT WHEN I STOP AT THE GAS STATION IT WILL ONLY HOLD NO MORE THAN FIVE DALLORS. ALSO I HAVE HAD TO HAVE THE BREAK LIGHTS REPLACED SEVREL TIMES. THE REAR MOTORIZED WINDOW ON THE DRIVER SIDE DOES NOT ALWAYS SHUT WHEN PRESSING THE BUTTON. AND ENGINE IS QUICK TO OVERHEAT. ALSO THE PASSANGER SLIDING DOOR DOES NOT ALWAYS LATCH PROPERLY, LOCK AND UNLOCK WHEN BUTTONS PRESSED. THE SAD THING ABOUT IT IS I HAVE ONLY HAD THE VAN FOR JUST UNDER A YEAR. THE VAN IS ONLY FIVE YEARS OLD AND I AM ALREADY HAVING THIS KIND OF PROBLEMS OUT OF IT. NEEDLESS TO SAY I WILL NEVER OWN ANOTHER PONTIAC (GM).

MY ABS SYSTEM ACTIVATES WITHOUT WARNING WHILE AT SLOW SPEEDS AND WHILE BRAKING. THERE ARE NO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS TO JUSTIFY THE ACTIVATION AND NO SERVICE ENGINE OR ABS LIGHTS ILLUMINATE WHEN THIS HAPPENS. WHEN THE ABS SYSTEM ACTIVATES, THE BRAKING DISTANCE INCREASES AND I'VE HAD TO ADJUST MY DRIVING SO I DO NOT HIT ANOTHER VEHICLE OR BRAKE INTO AN INTERSECTION. SINCE THIS BEGAN HAPPENING REGULARLY, I HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO DRIVE MY VEHICLE UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY AND NEVER WITH MY CHILDREN INSIDE. I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR A REPAIR ESTIMATE AND THEY FOUND CORROSION ON THE WHEEL SPEED SENSOR AND JUMPER HARNESS. I REFUSED THE REPAIRS AT THAT TIME DUE TO THE HIGH COST TO REPAIR. IN ADDITION, AT TIMES THE "SERVICE TRACTION SYSTEM" MESSAGE WILL ILLUMINATE ALONG WITH THE ABS AND TRAC OFF LIGHTS. THE ILLUMINATION OF THESE LIGHTS DOES NOT CORRESPOND TO THE ABS BRAKING PROBLEM, SO IT MAY NOT BE DIRECTLY RELATED.

DURING THE SECOND HALF OF 2004 I CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE ABOUT A MONTANA 2000 MINI VAN FUEL SYSTEM PROBLEM. MY VAN HAD BEEN IN THE REPAIR SHOP MANY TIMES DURING THE WARRANTY PERIOD WITH PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE FUEL SYSTEM WIRING. *AK HARNESS TO THE FUEL PUMP TWICE. THEN HAD TO HAVE THE FUEL PUMP REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. ALL OF THE PROBLEM STARTED THE SAME WAY -STALL WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND WOULD NOT RESTART. (NOTE: A STALL ON THE ROAD IS VERY DANGEROUS DUE TO THE POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES). AFTER THE WARRANTY RAN OUT, YET ANOTHER FUEL PUMP WENT OUT IN THE SAME MANNER, EXCEPT THIS TIME, I WAS CHARGED OVER 800 DOLLARS PLUS A TOWING BILL. WHEN I COMPLAINED THAT THIS WAS AN ON-GOING PROBLEM THAT HAD OCCURRED UNDER WARRANTY AND MANY CALLS TO YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER, I WAS TOLD THAT GM WOULD NOT REIMBURSE THE FULL AMOUNT AND TOWING WOULD NOT BE REIMBURSED. I TOLD THE REP AT THAT TIME THAT WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH BUT DID NOT WIN THE BATTLE. TODAY I READ THAT GM WAS RECALLING 330,000 2000-2001 SUBURBAN AND YUKONS FOR STALLING AND NOT STARTING, AND IS RECALLING THEM TO REPLACE THE FUEL PUMP WIRES. I CHECKED THE FUEL SYSTEM UP ON THE 2000 MONTANA AND THE 2000 CHEVEROLET SUBURBAN, AND THEY HAVE THE SAME FUEL PUMP SYSTEM. SO TODAY, I CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ASKED FOR THE REST OF THE REPAIR AMOUNT AND TOWING EXPENSES,AND WAS TOLD THAT MY VEHICLE WAS NOT UNDER THE RECALL.*AK NOW, IF THE SUBURBAN WITH THE SAME PUMP AND FUEL SYSTEM IS RECALLED WHY NOT THE MONTANA? HOW LONG IS GM GOING TO CONTINUE TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY ON THIS FUEL PUMP FUEL SYSTEM PROBLEM? GM SHOULD HAVE PAID THIS BILL IN FULL TO START WITH, MY FAMILY COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED WHEN THE VAN STALLED AS IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL IN THIS SITUATION. IS THERE ANY HELP THAT THE NHTSA COULD PROVIDE?*AK

WHILE DRIVING THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. CONSUMER PULLED OFF THE ROAD , CALLED THE MECHANIC, WHO TOLD THEM TO CHECK THE WATER LEVEL, WHICH WAS FINE , THE ANTIFREEZE LEVEL WAS EMPTY. CONSUMER REFILLED THE ANTIFREEZE AND DROVE TO THE DEALERSHIP, WHO INDICATED THAT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET HAD GONE OUT, AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE. *AK