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Pontiac Montana

1485 messages,  Last post on Feb 15, 2013 at 1:58 PM

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What is this discussion about? Pontiac Trans Sport, Pontiac Montana, Van

Messages Page 119 of 149

#1181 of 1485 Finally had it - here's our bad news on Montana quality by dptiger

Feb 07, 2006 (8:54 am)

Indeed it's been a tough life as a Pontiac Montana.
 
Purchased new May 2001.
  November 2001 - The first snowfall I discovered the tires and whole traction ability of the Montana was horrible! It just so happened that I had to travel up a small hill right past my dealer and it took me almost 10 minutes to get up with the tires spinning on the thin film of snow.
 
I went into the dealer immediately to complain that my UPGRADED equip package that was to have inclued tires for better snow and wet traction must have been missed - but they, and GM several times refused any fault. I continue to have great difficulty in low (or high) snow conditions - even with good Michelins on this Montana EX (Extended model.)
 
  The front right wheel bearing went at 76000km - expensive replacement.
 
**The front wipers would colide every so often with the right wiper becoming bent at the top 5 inches, requiring replacement. The Dealers says nothing wrong with the wiper motor. This has continued almost every year, including yesterday - which has finally prompted me to submit some opinions on our fair "home grown" GM product and lack of support and service. Upon today's visit to the dealer they say these vehicles (even current models) are prone to this problem and all they can do is re-adjust the timing of the motor sensor - for a fee of course!
 
The rear wiper spray has never really worked correctly - poor spray and often clogged.
 
  Evidence of the poor, disolving head gasket was evident with the coolant level reducing and the low coolant light displaying. This began around 90,000km and I didn't discover/hear about the gasket issue until neat 110,000km - which of course was beyond basic warranty. Why in the world would I want to keep a vehicle past the basic warranty period - hmmm...had my '91 Jeep Laredo for 9 years! - with no trouble - only the front Ujoints went finally at 240,000km!
 
The front hood has been bubbling with corrosion since ~100,000km, now to the point where all the paint is off all the way across 2-3 inches deep on the underside and a few spots on the top side, all showing a nice contrasting light grey alloy! Apparently this is not covered by the corrosion warranty to 160,000km as the hood is an aluminium alloy and will not perforate ALL the way through to a hole - therefore it is not covered! - right. But we can pay $700-1,000 to fix it ourselves!
 
The driver seat heater stopped working after ~120,000km.
 
~120,000km the Air Bag light would come on and remain on. We were advised the air bags would not deploy in this state and had to pay $100 to have this serviced.
 
~125,000km the Keyless remotes stopped working - no resolution yet.
 
The air conditioning went at ~150,000km and will cost over $1,000 but they can't guarantee it will work afterwards!
 
Did I say the traction is absolutely terrible in thin, slushy snow?
 
Overall the comfort, usability and design of the Montana is good.
 
The overall quality and and GM's lack of support to stand behind their product is extremely poor. When will they get the message - before it's too late? After last week's GM news for the quarter - maybe it IS late?
 
  Why would I ever consider a GM product again?

#1182 of 1485 Re: Montana Thunder.. quite possibly the BEST around [vanman1] by montanathunder

Feb 07, 2006 (8:31 pm)

Replying to: vanman1 (Feb 05, 2006 8:31 pm)
I did tires (Michelin Harmonys around 50,000km and brakes at 43,000km) and off warranty (so from 60,000-present.. 95,000km) just a driver-side tie rod and alignment which was a whopping $190.00. I'm going to assume that its time for brakes again, in addition to spark plugs/wires, and maybe an induction/fuel injector purge & new fuel filter. However, that is all routine maintenance as with any vehicle. It is a VERY tough call on whether to keep it or give it back and get something brand spankin new. I know that a few things NEED to be fixed though: passenger side seat heater, lights burnt out on bottom left corner of HVAC control panel, and lights burnt out around half of tachometer on gauge cluster. (extended warranty would pay for itself in just those three repairs)
 
In response to the person with traction problems? are you kidding me?... If the traction like is coming on alot.. well perhaps you should lift your foot off the gas. Also, you have Michelin tires on it? I do too.. NO complaints at all.. AND I'm driving the van in the winter with the 16" chrome rims on it. I can relate about the seat heaters though:S

#1183 of 1485 Re: power window switch montana 2001 [dalrd] by regine149

Feb 10, 2006 (8:07 pm)

Replying to: dalrd (May 24, 2005 6:55 am)
dalrd,
I don't know if you still use this website, but I have the exact same problem with my 2001 Pontiac montana. The passenger side quit working some time ago, and since I rarely have passengers in the front, I put off fixing it. Now the unthinkable has happened.... the driver's side has gone as well, and my window is stuck down.
I'm wondering if you replaced the switch yourself, and how much the part cost. Also wondering the best place to pick one up...
 
Cheers!
Regine

#1184 of 1485 dave95 by dave95

Mar 01, 2006 (2:56 pm)

I'm currently in Germany and have a 2000 Montana, which cut out on my wife one day. The van didn't start and I towed it home to fix. I discovered the wire harness underneath on the left side had a slight corrosion problem so I cleaned it out and added silicone grease to seal out moisture. I've visited this sight after the transmission would shift hard and learned of all sorts of problems ya'll have had and I just want to give some helpful info. to anyone who could use this fix for the fuel pump. I read a woman had paid to have this repaired three times. I feel the honest mechanic in the states is rare and it might have been the same problem. I took two days to think through the electronics of this vehicle and wouldn't except that the pump could go out so soon.
 
I also baby the trans through the shifting when it gets hot to prevent that hard shift. The codes match up to my Haynes manual and it is internal on the transmission (transaxle). It's cold weather season here so as long as we don't drive very long distances and abuse the trans all is well. We will be going to Texas this summer so I'm thinking this will cause that transmission to go, excess heat won't dissipate quick. But this problem has been around for a year and a half now. I'm getting my money out of it first.
 
I've had the wiper blade clash, the driver window drag, air bag light, service engine light (with the trans hick-up) and now the PWR STR system is starting to leak.
I've only got just over 40,000 miles and I think that all the electronics that are supposed to help the mechanics troubleshoot and repair our problems quickly are the very things causing the problems.
Just remember, you only need: fuel, air and electricity to keep a vehicle running.
But with all these problems, I check out the van, pull a fuse or disconnect a harness or a fuse, jiggle a cable and the lights go out over time.
Try it and buy a Haynes manual to save some money.

#1185 of 1485 Trouble Starting by gvanzant1

Mar 08, 2006 (1:27 pm)

I have a 2005 Montana that has recently been giving me some trouble in starting. It starts every time (I guess I should count my blessings ), but sometimes we have to keep it in the "start" mode for a few seconds before it actually catches. Even then, it sputters or coughs when first running. Yesterday, the dealer said nothing was wrong. Not accepting that, I took it to a shop for a tune-up, thinking this sputtering/coughing was due to buildup on the spark plugs. The shop said there was definitely something wrong and it shouldn't be driven until fixed. Well, back to the dealer, where (glory be !) it acted up for the service rep. He then said it was some type of relay that kicks in to keep the starter from burning out and doesn't hurt the vehicle at all - in fact protects it (starter). Considering the vehicle only has 21,000 miles, this seems strange that a starter relay would already be kicking in. Has anyone out there heard of this problem? Am I looking at early starter burnout because this relay is already kicking in?

#1186 of 1485 2002 Venture WB DVD Remote Missing by slowmo2

Mar 21, 2006 (4:02 pm)

I just bought a 2002 Venture WB that has all four of the wireless headphones, but is missing the dvd remote. While dvds can be played and stopped without the remote, none of the other features are available. I believe the remote is the small triangular shaped one, and might have been made by Audiovox. Could any of you fine readers look at the remote in your 01-02 GM minivan and find a GM part number? It may be inside the battery cover. I know they can sometimes be found on Ebay, but I have searched it exhaustively and will have to wait for several days to see if one gets listed. I have also tried to Google it with no luck. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

#1187 of 1485 1999 Montana Hard shifting problems by bergman14

Mar 25, 2006 (6:46 pm)

I started to have problems with van shifting hard after becoming warm. Also noticed a very small water leak from lower intake manifold. Once I replaced the intake manifold gaskets the shifting problems stopped. I believe the temperature sensor for engine caused the transmission to be shifted hard.
 
I hope this information is helpful to others with the same hard shifting problems. I also replaced the thermostat and all the spark plugs and wires. This was done because of them being hard to access. The van runs as good as new.
 
 

#1188 of 1485 Re: Serious Coolant Leak [gmfornow] by cal240

Apr 04, 2006 (10:24 am)

Replying to: gmfornow (May 03, 2002 1:49 pm)
I have the same problem with my 2000 Montana. Loss of coolant and cold AM valve tick. Dealer says Head Gasket replace at $1500Cdn. Probably more if gunk found. Van has 69,800 km .
 
Did the dealer contact GM for participation or did you go direct? Do you have a name? Thanks for any input.

#1189 of 1485 wheel question by vanman1

Apr 04, 2006 (6:03 pm)

We have a 2005 Montana Sport. It's been a great van and I love the white lettering on the wheels but now there is some white coming out on the tires where black should be.
 
Has anyone been able to fix this or touch them up and if so, what did you use? Thx.

#1190 of 1485 Re: 1999 Montana Hard shifting problems [bergman14] by mark1968

Apr 04, 2006 (6:13 pm)

Replying to: bergman14 (Mar 25, 2006 6:46 pm)
I have a 2000 Montana that has had all the same problems that yours had-the bad news is the intake & trans problems ARE NOT related-the usual cause of the shift problem when warm is the shift solenoid, which is easily repaired at your dealer for arount $400-$500-this should correct your problem

Messages Page 119 of 149

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