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Pontiac Bonneville General Maintenance and Repair

2268 messages,  Last post on Jan 25, 2013 at 12:52 PM

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What is this discussion about? Pontiac Bonneville, Sedan

Messages Page 124 of 227

#1228 of 2268 Got rid of your 2000 Bonneville, huh? by giamomj

Dec 19, 2003 (7:03 am)

I have one too. Tomorrow I go to yet ANOTHER Pontiac dealer in hopes of finding out why it makes a droning noise (or hum) at high speeds and 2000+ RPM.
 
I had the vibration problem you had. I went NUTS over it - Pontiac dealers (I went to many) denied the vibration was there or just continually lied to me about it. I eventually had to buy $600+ worth of new tires, and get them continually rebalanced. I finally sued GM and settled out of court.
 
Firestone Corp. eventually got rid of the vibration problem! By just good balance jobs. I think GM dealers are a racket...

#1229 of 2268 Changing Brake Fluid by stickyman

Dec 19, 2003 (8:50 am)

I have a 96 SLE with 78,000miles on it. Dealer is telling me that I need the brake fluid changed.
Is this common and is the cost of $65.00 in line for this type of service? Thanks for the help and guidance.

#1230 of 2268 Water Leak on passenger front sidewall by scylark

Dec 19, 2003 (3:07 pm)

I am seeing water leaking onto my carpet on my 2002 Bonneville. I pulled up the carpet and can see water dripping down the sidewall onto the wiring conduit and onto the floor. I poured water from the hose on the windshield and corner of the car and it did come in. I assume windshield leak. But, has any one experienced this, and can you confirm the windshiled or possibly something else to check?

#1231 of 2268 brake fluid by alcan

Dec 19, 2003 (4:02 pm)

It's about 3 years overdue. Read this:
 
http://www.batauto.com/articles/brkfld.shtml

#1232 of 2268 water leak on passengers floor by jayare627

Dec 20, 2003 (10:56 am)

I had a similar problem with my 1999 GTP turned out to be the gasket seal around the windsheild letting water into the air intake for the heater, it blew my rear speaker due to the water getting into the amp that is located on the passengers side under the dash, however haven't had similar problem with the bonneville i have.

#1233 of 2268 by montanafan

Dec 20, 2003 (12:12 pm)

A possible passenger side water leak could come from the A/C housing drains being blocked. The unit fills up with water then leaks into the car. Have read posts about Grand Prixs with this type of condition. You may want to see if you can find the drain on the firewall of the engine compartment. See if it is clogged.

#1234 of 2268 1997 SE: The repair tally - and GM's reponse: Nothing! by chugoldmill

Dec 20, 2003 (2:10 pm)

Folks new to board so just wanted to exchange repair stories; in particular if you have a 97 Vin K. Being a persistent person, I've tried just about everything I can, short of visiting GM headquarters to get the word out on bad design problems with this car.
 
I have basically had to sink $3,250 worth of repairs into a vehicle with 65,000 miles. Unacceptable!
 
The car was fine until this summer, when it started leaking coolant. Wow it made it five summers without leaking which is an above average failure timeframe I guess comparing the other notes on boards. So we went with the $1100 new intake manifold, luckily the leak was external so the engine was safe.
 
No sooner we replaced the intake as the transmission started slipping all over the place; 3rd and 4th gear. This car has been babied (it's my wife's car, primarily used to pick kids up from school), so it riddles me how the transmission was "abused" but that's what the dealer's mechanic "told" us it "looked like."
 
Too bad for GM because we were also negotiating the sale of an Envoy with their sales staff; unknown to the maitenance dept. So I then took the car to another very reputable transmission shop who basically told us in short order it had to be rebuilt. So another $2,100.
 
I am happy to inform that after $3,200 in repairs this year the car neither leaks coolant, nor the transmission slip. Wow what a deal!
 
So I started making the rounds with GM. I have service receipts from the point of ownership; a case was opened; many letters sent to GM. Nothing, nothing, nothing.
 
Guess with the new global economy these folks just don't give a hoot about even responding in writing to the average consumer.
 
I will never, never, never, never buy another GM - which was just about every car my father owned while I was growing up, and what I have owned so far.
 
Anyone else tried to get a word out of GM on paper, and if so what was their response in writing to the coolant issues?

#1235 of 2268 by montanafan

Dec 20, 2003 (3:45 pm)

I find it hard to believe that you received no acknowledgement for your many letters. Why didn't your extended service plan cover the cost of repairs? Why did your coolant leak cost so much to fix? What did you ask your dealer/GM for?

#1236 of 2268 The Answer: 2000 Bonneville "droning noise (or hum)" by giamomj

Dec 22, 2003 (6:59 am)

Well folks - luck finally went my way with a dealership. After taking a mechanic out for a test run, and pointing out to him the bizarre drone coming from the engine at 2000+ RPM/high speeds - the problem is apparently that the TORQUE CONVERTER is faulty. What a relief to find out after being told by other dealers that "nothing is wrong that [they] could find." The mechanic I went to suspected he might NOT find the problem with the noise (which he said might be due to "age" (ha!), and he was very unsure that the big drop in gas mileage (which is getting worse) were related. But after he hooked the car up to all these gadgets (I was not able to see any of that process, of course) the service manager finally came to me in the waiting room and said "the tech thinks the 2 problems you have are related: your torque converter is faulty and the transmission has to be separated from the engine to fix it." So I take my Bonne back to service on Dec. 29, for what will be a two to three day repair job. Let's hope this is the end of the story! I'll let you good folks know...
 
Can anyone tell me more about torque converters and how this problem would so affect my auto by creating this high speed droning noise and greatly reduce gas mileage??

#1237 of 2268 by alcan

Dec 22, 2003 (1:16 pm)

They work like this:
 
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/torque-converter.htm

Messages Page 124 of 227

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