2000 Pontiac Grand Prix: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Jun 23, 2012 · Brakes · 156,000 miles · MD

I was pulling out to cross busy four lane. A car coming from righe switched lanes and turned in front of me. I applied brakes smartly but did not apply hard enough to slide or squeal tires. After that I continued about a mile and started to brake for a stop light. Brakes felt as if some air was in system (not fully bled). Next I applied again for another light. Condition worsened. By the time I returned to my residence, about three miles away, I had to use emergeny brake. All fluid was gone from master cylinder reservoir. I placed car on jack, refilled reservoir and pumped brakes, and found that about 2 to 3 inches of brake lines directly under drivers floor, on the sloped part going upward to master cylinder ,were severely corroded and had failed (pin hole). Line above looks new and line below the area looks new. Also the car is very clean and non rusted on bottom. This car has been pampered since we purchased from dealer at 18,000 miles. This is clearly a materials issue as the part that is corroded is in a sloped area which would naturally drain off any moisture that collects. Additionally fuel lines and adjacent to the brake lines are also corroded. I suspect that lines were damaged when originally bent, probably peircing the outer corrosion coating. This should be covered by a recall. I searched for about five minutes on line and found five complaints that exactly duplicate my problem. This failure mode bypasses the safety design of the master cylinder which is designed to keep either front or rear brakes working if the other fails. It is catastrophic and will (or probably has) caused injury or death. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Filed Nov 5, 2003 · Engine, Locks · IL

Main complaint: gm is aware that their gm hydra-matic 4t65-e transmission has a defective part, yet they leave it to consumers to cover the cost of handling the problem. Specifically, my 2000 grand prix gt (with only 64,000 miles on it) started upshifting hard a few days ago from 1st to 2nd gear and I hear metallic grinding noises from underneath the car when shifting from 1st to 2nd while the car is still warming up. Having performed all of the necessary maintenance over the years, I am angered to learn that I will have to fork over approximately $600 to repair a manufacturer's defect on a car that I am still paying for. I've read of other people having to pay significantly more to fix this problem on their cars. Recently, gm repaired a coolant leak at no cost to consumers because it was deemed a defect. I had already experienced "low engine coolant" warnings from my car and was relieved to receive the recall letter offering to fix the problem for free. Of course, that repair took 15 minutes - gm didn't mind picking up the cost for that defect. My current problem will require several hours of transaxle work and gm has conveniently stuck me with the cost of this work. I also wonder why consumers are not being alerted to this problem. Some people may not notice or may choose to ignore the symptoms that I noticed until the other day until they have a catastrophic problem and have to pay thousands to repair their transaxle. It seems irresponsible to me that gm only issued this information as a service bulletin to mechanics. Other minor complaints: my car intermittently had trouble starting around 45000 miles. Two mechanics checked it and found nothing wrong. My kid brother found a loose wire coming from the battery and quickly fixed the problem. Currently, I have lost levels 1-3 of 5 for my heating/cooling fan, my windshield wiper fluid pump has stopped working and the lock on my trunk is inoperable. I'm not careless - these materials should have lasted much longer.

Filed Oct 10, 2003 · Transmission · 42,000 miles · NY

2000 pontiac grand prix gtp has 42,000 miles. We purchased this vehicle new in january of 2000. No sign of transmission failure. Going from a stop loud clanking noise, car jerked 3 or 4 times. 5 minutes later after another stop sign the car did the same thing again. I stopped to a repair station, when I put the car in park it makes an awful grinding noise while idling. The service technician took the car for a drive and said to get it to a gm dealer because the transmission is going. I was told this should not have happened on a car that only has 42,000 miles on it. As I am looking through the consumer affairs complaint data base I am seeing 9 complaints that are quite similar. How many complaints does it take till this transmission problem is recalled? I paid $27,000.00 for my car 3 1/2 years ago and should not have to put $2,000.00 into it already. I purchase new cars simply because of feeling secure knowing that I take care of my cars with regular oil changes and maintenance and would not have to worry about any major repairs. I would like this resolved by gm repairing my vehicle at their expense.

Filed Jun 1, 2003 · Transmission · 60,600 miles · MI

Put car in reverse and did not move. Shut car off and restarted. Put in reverse again, loud clunk, and grinding. Removed pan and drained fluid. Chunks of metal in pan. 60,500 miles.

Filed Aug 14, 2001 · Transmission · PA

Dirve unit made a loud knocking sound twice while accelerating from a stop light. The vehical jerked badly twice, so hard I thought I had been hit in the rear end. If other cars were following behind they could have hit the car because thie jerking was so violent the car had suddenly stopped and then accelerated several times, without any brake light warning. After initial incident, metal grinding and knocking noises from the underside of the vehicle were heard. This metal knocking sound is not a constant noise. Dealer repair is wright pontiac in wexford, pa. After one week of having still not sure what is wrong. Will tear down the power train today to identify exact cause.

Filed Apr 5, 2001 · Brakes · CA

Intermittently when applying brakes in low speed, 20 or less MPH, it causes pedal to lock up, a grinding sound would come from wheels and loss of braking. Vehicle been in / out of dealer shop on four occasions, and problem still occurring.

Filed Feb 27, 2001 · Engine · WA

Vehicle is brand new and engine pistons needed to be replaced. Engine was making a grinding metal to metal noise. When vehicle warmed up it went away. A technical advisor will come to look at vehicle. Dealer was trying to rebuild engine. Consumer wanted a new engine or car.