1998 Pontiac Sunfire

IN MY 98 SUNFIRE GT I HAVE SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH YET I STILL OWN THE CAR. A LITTLE BIT AGO IT SEEMS LIKE MY EXHAUST PIPE FALLS OFF FROM THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD FROM THE FLANGE. WITH CAUSING YOUR CAR TO SOUND LIKE IT WAS A DRAG RACER. WELL I WENT TO PONTIAC AND FIGURED OUT THAT IT WAS GOING TO COST ME A PRETTY PENNY $500 SOME ODD DOLLARS. AND THE FUNNY THING IS THAT THIS HAS NOT JUST HAPPENED TO ME. IT HAS HAPPENED TO A FEW OF MY FRIENDS AS WELL. I DON'T HOW KNOW MANY TIMES YOU HAVE GOTTEN LETTERS ABOUT THE FAULTY EXHAUST FLANGES. *JB

WHEN I BOUGHT THE CAR USED IN OCTOBER OF 2000 IT HAD TO KEEP GOING BACK TO THE DEALER FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS BECAUSE THE ENGINE IN THE CAR KEPT CUTTING OUT WHILE DRIVING AROUND 55-60 MPH. DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. FINALLY AFTER THE 3RD MONTH THEY FOUND THE MAIN COMPUTER WAS BAD. THAT WAS REPLACED. IT RAN FINE UNTIL THE NEXT WINTER. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON & CAR KEPT STALLING WHEN AT STOP SIGNS/LIGHTS. TOOK TO DEALER HAD DIAGNOSTIC RAN WHICH READ FAULTY GAS CAP, TPS SENSOR.... I REPLACED THEM MYSELF. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WENT OUT TILL THE NEXT DAY. TOOK CAR BACK IN FOR DIAGNOSTIC WHICH READ FAULTY GAS CAP, TPS SENSOR,EGR ,COIL PACKS,GAS TANK SENSOR.....HAD DEALER WORK ON IT.... THEY COULD NOT SEE WHY ALL THIS STUFF WAS POPPING UP ....HAD IT ALL REPLACED. REPLACING IT DID NOT WORK. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN ABOUT 2 DAYS LATER!!! I CHECKED CAR OVER & FOUND IF YOU WIGGLED THE MAIN WIRING HARNESS CONNECTIONS THE CAR RAN FINE & ENGINE LIGHT WENT OUT! TOOK TO DEALER TO HAVE WIRING FIXED. THEY TOOK ALL THE WIRING APART & CLEANED EVERYTHING. THEY FOUND NO PROBLEM IN THE WIRING. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON NEXT DAY.TOOK TO DEALER AGAIN FINALLY THEY SAID I NEEDED A NEW BATTERY..... WEATHER WAS NICE AGAIN & HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH CAR.... NOW THAT WINTER IS HERE AGAIN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON AGAIN , DIAGNOSTIC STATED TPS SENSOR WAS BAD... I AGAIN REPLACED IT & CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WENT OUT FOR A COUPLE HOURS & IS BACK ON AGAIN & CAR STALLS WHEN STOPPING & TRYING TO GO ....CAR IS AT DEALER RIGHT NOW AGAIN. THE WHOLE TIME THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON I ALSO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR STALLING.................... HAVE HAD NUMEROUS PROBLEMS FROM 2000 TO NOW & STILL HAVING PROBLEMS. *AK

THE TEMPERATURE GUAGE FLUTTERS FROM TIME TO TIME. THEN IT WILL GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 0.WHEN IT STARTS TO FLUTTER AGAIN THE ENGINE SEEMS TO BE RACING. THE TACH. GUAGE WILL BOUNCE ABOUT 200-300 PRM. I ALSO NOTICED THAT WHEN THE CAR IS IN PARK AND YOU IDLE THE ENGINE UP TO ABOUT 3000 RPM, IT ACTS LIKE THERE IS A REV LIMITER. IT HAS NEVER DONE THAT UNTILL A FEW MONTHS AGO. THE CHECK ENGIN LIGHT HAS NEVER COME ON UNTIL TODAY. I CHANGED PLUGS AND PLUG WIRES AND IT DIDNT HELP AT ALL. *AK

I'VE BEEN HAVING MULTIPLE PROBLEMS WITH MY 1998 PONTIAC SUNFIRE GT. LAST MONTH I HAD A FUEL INJECTOR AND WATER HOSE GO BAD AND NEED REPLACED. THE SUCTION HOSE PUMP FOR THE AC WAS LEAKING AND HAD TO BE REPLACED WITHIN THE PAST 3 WEEKS. IN THE SAME TIME PERIOD, THE COMPRESSOR STARTED LEAKING. I'VE HAD 2 DIFFERENT COMPRESSORS PUT IN, AND BOTH HAVE LEAKED STILL. THE 3RD COMPRESSOR IS BEING INSTALLED TODAY, SO WE'LL SEE WHETHER IT LEAKS TOO. A COMPRESSOR SHOULD REALLY LAST LONGER THAN 5 YEARS, AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE 3 COMPRESSORS IN A WEEK TRYING TO FIND ONE THAT DOESN'T LEAK. THERE'S ALSO A CRACK IN THE WELDING THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED OR IT WILL START LEAKING. ONE OF THE FAN PARTS WENT BAD, SO NOW LEVEL 1 ON THE FAN ADJUSTMENT DOESN'T WORK. THIS SEEMS LIKE ALOT OF PROBLEMS IN A SHORT TIMEFRAME, ESPECIALLY WITH 3 PROBLEMS BEING FOR THE AIR CONDITIONING. I'VE CONTACTED THE PONTIAC CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT, AND THEY CONTACTED A DEALERSHIP WHO SAID THAT PROBLEMS SHOULD BE EXPECTED AFTER 5 YEARS. GUESS I THOUGHT THEY WOULD BUILD A BETTER CAR. SO FAR, I'M OUT $1900 AND HAVEN'T HAD THE FAN OR THE WELDING CRACK FIXED YET. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELP THAT COULD BE OFFERED. *AK

MARCH 24, 2003 DEAR SIRS, I RECENTLY HAD A WATER PUMP FAILURE ON MY 1998 SUNFIRE CONVERTIBLE. THE CAR HAS HAD A NOISE FROM THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE FOR ABOUT A YEAR, I THOUGHT IT WAS AN ALTERNATOR BEARING. THE CAR HAS BEEN IN A GM DEALER TWICE IN THAT TIME FOR OIL CHANGES AND OF ALL THE THINGS THE DEALER HAS TRIED TO SELL ME THEY NEVER SAID ANYTHING WAS WRONG WITH THE WATER PUMP. ON THE NIGHT OF FRIDAY, MARCH 14TH THE CAR BEGAN LEAKING ANTIFREEZE AND THE NOISE INCREASED. I LIVE IN SOUTH LYON, MI AND THE CLOSEST PONTIAC DEALER IS WALDECKER IN BRIGHTON. I ATTEMPTED TO TELEPHONE WALDECKER SEVERAL TIMES ON SATURDAY, MARCH 15TH, BUT DID NOT CONNECT, BECAUSE OF A DEAD PHONE LINE AT WALDECKER. I THOUGHT WALDECKER WENT OUT OF BUSINESS, SINCE IT IS AN OLDSMOBILE DEALER ALSO. I LATER FOUND, FROM THE WALDECKER SERVICE MANAGER ([XXX]) AND THE RECEPTIONIST, THAT THEY WERE IN FACT HAVING PHONE PROBLEMS FOR SEVERAL DAYS. WITH NO OTHER PONTIAC DEALERS IN THE AREA, I REFILLED THE RADIATOR AND TOOK THE CAR TO WALKERS GARAGE, THE CLOSEST AUTO REPAIR. THE BILL CAME TO $700 PARTS AND LABOR, I ASKED WALDECKER AND THEY SAID IT WAS A FAIR PRICE. HAVING TO TAKE THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD OFF, ACCESS THROUGH THE FRONT COVER OF THE ENGINE, GEAR DRIVE OFF THE TIMING CHAIN AND THE LOCATION ABOVE THE CV JOINT IS A POOR DESIGN FOR A SERVICEABLE PART. VEHICLE DESCRIPTION, 1998 SUNFIRE CONVERTIBLE, CURRENTLY: 42,000 MILES VIN# [XXX], 2.4 LITER DOHC ENGINE. I CALLED THE PONTIAC 1-800 NUMBER AND A REPRESENTATIVE TOLD ME THE WARRANTY WAS 3 YEARS / 36,000 MILES AND THE WORK WAS NOT PERFORMED BY A PONTIAC DEALER, SO I HAD NO RECOURSE. I EXPLAIN TO NO AVAIL WHY THE WORK WAS NOT DONE AT A PONTIAC DEALER. I AM HOPING YOU WILL RECONSIDER THIS. ENCLOSED IS THE BILL. PLEASE CONTACT ME EVEN IF THIS CLAIM IS REJECTED. I EXPECT BETTER FROM THE NUMBER 1 AUTOMATE COMPANY IN THE WORLD. SINCERELY, [XXX] , [XXX] PHONE: [XXX] *NLM INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR