1999 Pontiac Grand Am: engine failure

Filed Mar 27, 2015 · Engine · 180,678 miles · CA

Hi I've bought a car from car hop the first time it broke n 3 months after I bought it and car hop had it towed to one of there shops and I was told they put a new engine in it 6 months ago car broke down again they wouldn't get it fix so I stopped make n payment on car for 3 months and they call me and asked me if I'd like to start there fresh start program were I'd have a warranty n I'd just have to keep up with my payment but they will fix the car so they put n another engine 4 months after new engine car broke down again now they are telling me I have no warranty and that I will have to pay 700 dollars on top of my 340 payments to get cardiac is there anything I can do I'm a single mom of two kids and this is stressful I've give in car hop 5,000 n payments and they are not being far.

Filed Nov 7, 2014 · Steering · MI · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 pontiac grand am. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the steering wheel seized. The contact crashed and the vehicle became lodged in between two trees, in the front yard of a neighboring home. The vehicle was destroyed. There were no injuries. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Apr 7, 2009 · Engine · CA

I have a 1999 pontiac grand am 3.4l. I've owned this car since 2001 and I have already replaced my intake manifold gasket (under warranty) in 2002. I now have to replace it again! Except this time there was a fault in the gasket in the engine as well, which resulted in seized bearings, snapped camshaft, broken and bent valve as well as the caps to the oil and coolant being overheated and not going on properly. I am told this is because of dexcool and the gaskets.

Filed Nov 1, 2005 · Electrical, Engine · NY

I own a 1999 grand am se. Ever since I bought the car in oct '04 I have been having nothing but problems with it. This past june I had to replace the engine. Leading up to that the car would die at least once a week. I would bring it to the dealer (more like tow it) and I would always be told nothing is wrong. Then yet again it would die. After that the stalling began. I would be driving and the car would shut off. It would usually take up to 10 minutes to turn back on. Once the dealer went "well maybe its your lights, you leave them on." my response was how do I leave on automatic lights? I have had to replace my alternator 3 times and have had to replace my battery twice. It got to the point that once I shut off my car the only way to start it was by taking out the mail relay chip for 2 minutes than replacing it. Than the car would start up. Finally I was on the high way and out of no where you head a loud pop. There went the header, pistons, oil gasket. The engine blew. However it was never a effect of the oil. I was always checking it and getting it changed once ever other month (I commuted a lot). So I got a rebuilt engine put in and the problems went away... Or so I thought. Last night I was driving and all of a sudden my car started shaking. It went from a little to a great amount. The muffler is making an odd puff puff noise and the exhaust smells like windshield washer fluid (only was to describe it). I pulled it into my driveway and on went the trac off light and the service engine soon lights. Thank you. Also prior to the new engine my cds would no longer play. I would get the e20 error and the cds would spit out. Another problem is my rear passenger windows have scratches up the middle of them. I can not figure out where the marks are coming from.

Filed Sep 26, 2005 · Engine · 98,000 miles · MA

My 99 pontiac grand am started having coolant problems, the vehicle engine temperature would go up and down for a month, finally the vehicle just one day overheated. I had the whole coolant system replaced, ( 600.00 later). About a week or two after it started to overheat again, before I could bring it back to the mechanic to check it out, the engine blew. I have not been able to replace the engine yet, nor do I know if I will as the vehicle is not worth the cost to repair. I refuse to pay almost 2k to get an engine for something else to go wrong.. I know there is a defect in the coolant system causing the engine to over heat.. My mechanic said my camshaft completely split in half, and he has never seen this before but knows of a few people who have same year make and model that the same thing happened to. It cant be a coincidence.

Filed Aug 24, 2004 · Engine · 76,000 miles · MD

Low coolant light would come on for a few seconds then shut off. Made sure coolant was full, still kept happening. Stared overheating and no heat. Mechanic looked said there was air in the cooling line so he flushed and refilled, could not see any leaks. Same thing happened again with in a week. By this time my check engine light came on. Went back to mechanic and he then did a number of tests and found that it was the intake manifold gasket leaking. After paying $700.00 to have that fixed got the car back and engine light was still on and using allot of fuel. So took it back again and after extensive testing found that it was my piston rings were bad on the 3rd cylinder and that it would be cheaper to replace the engine than fix the problem. With so many cars with the same problem (not just a few, most of them) I can't believe that pontiac will not back up their products. Pontiac has turned out to be a big disappointment.

Filed Jul 22, 2004 · Engine · 75,884 miles · PA

My 1999 grand am developed a "low coolant" problem. I had added nearly a gallon of the recommended dex-cool in a 50/50 mix with water. On my way to work one morning, the oil light came on. As I was on a highway, it took a minute to get off the road. When I did, I found that there was no measurable oil on the dip-stick. In addition, when I removed the oil cap, I found a thick milky substance on it. I called for a tow truck and the car was towed to a dealership. The engine was blown and the total repair bill came to nearly $5,000.00! I did some research and found that all of the symptoms I had with the car prior to that day were common with the gm 3.4 engine in my car and that many others have had this occur. The intake manifold gasket fails and the antifreeze goes into the engine causing failure. I called pontiac and asked for assistance with the repair bill as it is common knowledge that this is an ongoing problem with several gm engines. They investigated and the service manager at the dealership stated that the reason for the engine failure was that the car was driven with no oil. I may be wrong here, but when antifreeze mixes with oil that is the same as having no oil. I am totally frustrated and now have not only a car payment, but a loan payment for the repair bill. I would burn this car if I thought I could!

Filed Oct 31, 1998 · Engine · MN

Intermittent stalling due to engine failure.