1998 Pontiac Bonneville: sudden loss of power

Filed Aug 22, 2010 · Engine · 129,000 miles · MI

My upper intake manifold leaks engine coolant into the combustion chambers and into the crankcase. The egr tube melts the upper plastic manifold I have had the upper and lower intake replaced for this issue once before with gm parts and it happening again. If it not fixed the coolant can contaminate my oil and lock up my engine when traveling down the road and possibly cause me to crash. If the engine locks up I will lose power steering and braking ability.

Filed Oct 22, 2004 · Engine · 62,000 miles · KS

Sudden catastrophic failure of the intake manifold causing anti-freeze to enter the engine, oil resulting in complete engine failure at 75 MPH. *ak ase certified mechanic replaced engine, intake manifold and peripherals for over $5000. Have possession of original factory intake manifold showing hole in egr area that failed. Ruined engine had to be returned for core fee. Car recently off extended warranty. Gm customer service uncooperative and claims that tsb 010601007a (the federal safety agency item #620835) not published by gm. Gm customer service claims car has not been properly maintained, did not care to have details of oil changes (every 3000 miles) or other service performed as recommended in owner's manual. This is an obvious product failure and is a serious safety issue at higway speeds! When engine locked up, lost all power and had difficulty getting off the highway and onto the shoulder. Very thankful my husband was driving and not me, as I would not have been able to get the car off the highway due to the tremendous strength required to perform that task when there is no power steering! Recently received a safety recall from gm for the gasoline pressure regulator that must have a number of variables happen all at the same time to become an issue. Why is gm not being held accountable for this serious intake manifold problem that appears to be lying in wait for the unsuspecting consumer?

Filed Dec 2, 2002 · Fuel system · MN

Intake manifold failures are a known problem at gm, and nothing is being done about it. My wife was driving home in rush hour traffic, at a speed of apx. 65 MPH, on a four lane highway, in the center lane when the failure occurred. The intake manifold failure causes the engine to stop, and loss of steering and braking then occurres. As she proceeded to try to get the car off of the highway, several cars skidded to stop as the car slowly made it's way off of the highway. It had to be towed to the dealer for repair. I have been informed that general motors is aware of these intake manifolds failing, and that it is a known design defect. They see a lot of 3.8 engines with this problem, and are doing nothing about fixing it for the consumer. My repair cost me a little over a thousand dollars. A lot of times, the entire engine has to be replaced because it is damaged by the catastrophic events that take place when the intake manifolds fail. We are very lucky that she was able to get the car off of the highway, despite the fact that several cars locked up their brakes to avoid collision with this disabled vehicle. We purchased the car new, and maintain it more than is required by the manufacturer. This intake manifold defect should have been investigated a long time ago, as I have traced owners of these vehicles having this problem since 1996, and possibly before. If nothing is done, then surely deaths will occur due to the series of catastrophic events that will occur due to this defective intake manifold, including loss of engine power, steering and braking. Dt

Filed Nov 15, 1998 · Engine · NV

Engine stalls normally when decelerating with loss of power steering and power brakes. Dealer is unable to locate problem. This is potentially dangerous when making turns across on coming traffic as it has stalled on several occassions. Vehicle has to be shut off and put in nuetral before it can be restarted and on two occasions stalled again after restarting. This vehicle is unsafe to be on public roads and gm says there is nothing more that can be done to solve this problem.vehicle has been at courtesy pontiac three times for a total of 17 days of the last 36 days and still has not been resolved.

Filed Apr 21, 1998 · Electrical, Engine · CA

Intermittently while driving the vehicle shuts off, losing power brakes, power steering, etc. The dealer was not able to duplicate the problem. The computer was reprogrammed in february of 98. The problem still exists.

Filed Nov 24, 1997 · Electrical, Engine · PA

While driving vehicle about 10 MPH and sometimes higher speeds, according to consumer, the vehicle just shuts off, losing power and steering power. The engine check light comes on when engine stops. Consumer had taken vehicle to dealer twice they said: the problem is with the fuel pump that's why the engine was not working. *ak consumer states that the fuel pump was not the cause of the problem, possible engine problem.