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Sedans Pontiac Bonneville Pontiac Bonneville General Maintenance and Repair
2228 messages, Last post on Nov 29, 2009 at 4:40 PM
You are in the Pontiac Bonneville Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
| I seem to have had and resolved an identical transmission problem with my 1995 Chevy Lumina. I have the 3.4 DOHC engine and I believe the same transmission as the Pontiac Bonneville (4T60E or something like that). At around 85,000 miles the car began to shift out of overdrive and go to third at highway speeds (80mph or so) and stay there. The only way to make it shift back to overdrive was to turn the car off then back on. Sometimes that lasted for a few minutes or sometimes for a few days (if it was cold out). I drove it like that for almost 40,000 miles since it didn't happen often and I didn't do much highway driving. However it eventually got worse and would come out of OD at any speed above 50. To make a long story short I got numerous conflicting estimates ranging from a worn valve body, torque converter, wiring harness etc. Finally at 125,000 I gave in and left it at a shop. They tried EVERYTHING to fix it. I got a new valve body, new torque converter, new solenoid, new PRNDL position switch and probably several other things. Nothing worked! Just before throwing in the towel they called some place in Florida that I understand trains mechanics and based on their advice they replaced all the internal transmission seals to stop a possible internal fluid leak. They then removed all of the new parts they had put in and replaced them with my old parts (I didn't want to pay for what didn't fix the problem). Well the seals worked great! I've since driven 10,000 miles including a 1000 mile highway trip at speeds up to 90mph with no problems. Gas mileage and power have improved also. The mechanic was very fair and only charged me $400 total. I wish I had done this sooner. I hope this post helps. | |
| The reason it happens less in the cold may be the fact that the fluid is thicker in the cold so the internal leak is not bad enough for the computer to put the tranny in safe mode(3rd gear). Second, turning off the car and turning it back on resets the computer to the default setting allowing the tranny to operate normally until it detects the low fluid pressure again sending it to safe mode. It makes it seem like it's an electrical problem. Of course this was the problem with MY transmission yours may be different. | |
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Thus is a weird sound / feeling that has started up recently - and now that I have passed warranty , I was hoping for some advice based on past experiences before forking over wads of cash to a dealer. After taking a turn, regular corners and speeds , like in a subdivision etc . . . I get a popping sound and feel from below the floowboards just at the end of strightening out. It gives me the impression that it is something "clicking" or "popping" back into place after being raised out of normal driving position by the lean caused while cornering. Anyone have any ideas . . . . |
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| I had this exact problem on my Tahoe when it was new. It turned out to be an under-torqued body mount (where the frame meets the body). Now, the Bonnie doesn't have a frame per se, but it might be a suspension component is not torqued properly. Have a mechanic check all the mounting bolts; it shouldn't cost too much or take too long. | |
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OK - so I finally took my 2000 Bonneville three days ago in for its "final" repair (this would be repair attempt #9; the 5th by a DIFFERENT Pontiac dealership.) Since this car is now the object implicated in a Lemon Law suite, Pontiac-GMAC was very unforthcoming with both interest in fixing the auto or in giving me any information regarding the auto and what they did to it. (Per Montanafan and jgmilberg I gained extensive knowlege of the KNOWN vibration problems in 2000/2001 large chassis GM cars, including Bonnevilles.) So anyway - all the dealership did was check the tire balance on the hallowed Hunter GSP9700, decide that I had a radial force overage on a front tire exceeding 25 pounds(?) - and that they put the "bad" tire/rim on the rear of the car and recommended replacing the tire - AGAIN!! This would make the 7th new tire on the car since August....I am sick of this crap from the company.....I spent $627 bucks on 4 new Bridgestones in August; and now Pontiac/GM passes the buck back to Firestone. Driving home, the vibration in the car seemed worse (I had to drive over 1.5 hours to my house from this remote dealership) But - strangely - today on my way to work - the car barely vibrated at all....I was very very surprised. According to the GM TSB on this vibration issue, the problem phases in and out on some vehicles so affected. Mine must be one of them. So - I the next step is: I will go to litigation. Somebody somewhere suggested this problem has been remedied in the 2002 models. IF so - I may litigate (via my attorney) for a 2002 model equipped as nicely as my current 2000, which I still love - save for this vibration issue. What I DON'T love is the way Pontiac dealership/service personnel have treated me all along. They have avoided, deceived, cajoled, and outright lied to me about this difficult issue and what can be done to fix it. So that's where I stand with my green metallic Bonnie right now. More later. |
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| Sorry to hear of the extent of your experience. I think it's fair to say that most large corporations - let alone small dealerships (esp. those which lack the technical acumen) know how to deal with these types of situations very well. I hope your sitatuion is resolved to your satisfaction. Keep us posted. | |
| Did the dealer try to "move" the tire on the rim? What I mean is to break the tire free from the rim rotate it 90 degrees re-mount it to the rim and balance it. That may be all that you need to even out the "overage". What they mean by overage is a heavy spot in the tire that makes it hard to balance, but if you have a heavy part of the tire in the same place as a heavy part on the rim it means problems with vibration that a simple balance can not get rid of. Another way around it would is to take the dealers repair invoice on to the shop you bought the tires from and have them swap out the "defective" tire with a new one, they should all still be under warranty anyway, right? Never mind the dealer take it to an independent alignment or tire shop have them give the car a good once over and wheel balancing. Explain to them the problem you are having and see what they can do for you. Try to find the place that your local police use to do frame repair and alignments, that is usually the best place to go, at least in my experience. If the private shop fixes the issue take the bill to the dealer and make them reimburse you for the cost of repair that they couldn't do. | |
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Thanks for your ongoing interest and concern. The dealer I just went to last week made it clear that they were NOT interested in telling me anything. The rep at the Service desk told me "everything you need to know is on the repair receipt." End of story. So they basically blew me off - they were aware that this car is up for a Lemon Lawsuit. The Service rep told me GM authorized them for only 2 hours of time - that because it was part of the Lemon Lawsuit, that was all they'd do for me. I got the "bum's rush." I'm really ticked-off at the way I've been treated. Finally really sick of doing anything more about this than go to court. I have an attorney. I have a great case, he says. GM has to pay for him, too. It's a shame. But this is apparently how customers get treated by GM sometimes. It stinks. I've heard other, similar horror stories. As you know, my car has been into the shop at least 9 times in 6 months for this very annoying vibration issue. And I still have the vibration. This could go on forever. I'm tired of it all, now.....one Pontiac-GMAC dealer says one thing; another says something else; one refuses to do this or that; Firestone dealers disagree on this (2 of them I've been to!) and then another tire outfit I went to, well - they say another thing; so then it's more back-and-forth, more *wasted time* for me - and so on and so on. I don't want to [and will not] pay for anything else with regard to this issue. I've had it. I now know, by virtue of all these experiences, that I cannot "make" Pontiac "do" or "re-imburse" me for ANYTHING. I'll I can do is sue under the Lemon Law and hope for the best. Sheesh. On another note: do you know if this vibration problem is "fixed" on 2002 models of Bonnevilles?? |
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I blame GM for making the car the way it is, but I blame the dealerships even more for the ill concern and blaintant disregaurd for your feelings ion the problem. That is where in my opinion GM really lacks in the service, and dealership customer care. GM licences the dealerships as seperate entnties of the company, so they do not have control over any of the customer relations at the dealer, all yo can do is file a complaint with GM and hope it clears up. I did it and it seemed to work, at least when I go in to the dealer for service I get respect, and my truck comes back to me washed and vacuumed every time. I checked GM's online service manual and there are no TSB's for vibration listed at all. I did notice that they have a new rim design, this may be the fix that it needed in the beginning, but that is only speculation. Good luck in court, keep us posted on the progress. |
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Hey Kevin- how have you been- i've been away too long from posting anything- anyway, about 2 weeks ago my wife and I were outside of Atlantic city when i lowered the driver side front window- it went down but then went up about 1/3 and just stayed there- i re-lowered it about 4 or 5 more times and the same thing- stopped about 1/3 up- I also, on ocasion, heard a noise like the window was hitting something when it was completely up - i really didn't give it much thought- just figured maybe the window wasn't lining up properly-cause it didn't do it everytime- WRONG!- called my dealer from the Garden State Parkway on the way home- explained everything to him- brought the car in late that afternoon- needed a new window regulator- somehow, something got bent -and jammed the window from going up-anyway- same thing- they had to overnight the part and i got the car back late the next afternoon- no charge- still under full warranty thank God! just passing on info to anyone else- if you start hearing a cracking or clicking sound when your windows reach the top- be warned- its not normal- have your dealer fix it right away- especially with colder weather coming etc- its no fun when the windows are jammed! Regards to all!!! Chuck |
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