At times the car doesn't crank or start when ignition key is turned to start. On-going issue that occurs at least 4-6 times per month. Unsure why this happens. No repairs have been made. Is there a recall or service bulletin on this issue?
2006 Pontiac Torrent engine complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 50, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 pontiac torrent. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, an unknown odor was present in the vehicle. The contact noticed that there was fire coming from under the glove compartment and the vehicle became engulfed in flames. A police report was filed and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000. The VIN was unavailable.
My blend door actuator has failed and fell off inside of my cab causing my heat to fail inside my cab for both defrost and heat. I live in a cold climate and it's impossible to drive without heat in the winter. The repair technician quoted me 9+ hours of labor to remove my dash, install the new actuator and re-install my dash. It will take three days to repair and cost me $1800 to fix. Apparently, after speaking with the service technician and my local auto shop, this is a common problem with pontiac torrents as I've also read dozens of complaints from people on this site. He said there might be a recall on the part, and I should check. However, after searching my VIN, it does not appear to be a recalled part at this time. I cannot believe this has not been recalled as this is such a costly repair to be made for a faulty part from gm. Please help as this is not does not appear to be an isolated occurrence with pontiac torrents.
I have no heat from the vehicle no matter which setting is used. I have read several articles that this a common problem with the 2006 pontiac torrent and chevy equinox.
Able to take key out of ignition with the car in neutral gear and running. Car was towed to dealership where some work was done, however, when checked with attendant, incident recurred. Car started put car in neutral removed keys from car car continued running, engine did not cut off.
We were taking my children to the circus on 695 west doing 60 MPH when the light showing that the car had overheated and the engine light came on. While doing 60 MPH the car just stops in the on the beltway. We could have been killed. There was no power whatsoever. The windows wouldn't even roll up. This car needs to be recalled. The alternator was replaced and a fuel pump and we got the car back a week later and the same issue happened again except this time we were coming out of the baltimore tunnel praying it didn't stop but it did and had to be towed yet again.
I have had multiple problems with my ignition and it stripping twice within a year. I have also had to change the ignition fuse multiple times within the last three months. The most recent incident happened this morning while driving at about 45 MPH my truck completely shut off. I was lucky to have a bystander get out of their vehicle and push my truck to the side of the road. In the middle of the person moving my vehicle, it automatically started back up. I'm not too sure how or why this has happened. There are no visible warning signals. This happened to me last week as well. Once I start the truck up it runs fine and then just shuts off and after a couple of minutes, it starts back up automatically. This is an extremely dangerous defect. I really hope gm or pontiac looks into this issue... There are multiple complaints with the same issues that I have been having. I believe this is sad that as many complaints that have been issued about this vehicle, that there is not yet a recall on it.
My car keep stalling when I drive it for a while and then it acts like it don't want to go anymore. Later on when I drive it again its ok and picks up like normal. I really was upset that I took it to the mechanic to get check out and he told me that it would be about 3000 to get it fixed.
My sunroof drains clogs repeatedly which causes ankle deep water to puddle inside. I had to have it towed from work last month because it would not accelerate after rain leaked everywhere. In addition I had to bum a ride to work because it wouldn't accelerate due to the fact it was wet from the rain. When this happens the traction light comes on causing my car to lose speed. Although pedal is push all the way down to floor it will not accelerate. I would hate to be traveling on interstate and lose speed during rush hour.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 pontiac torrent. The contact stated while attempting to accelerate the vehicle would not move. The contact also indicated that on several occasions while driving at speeds above 45 MPH the vehicle would suddenly stall. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the defect. The contact also indicated that while operating the heater or air conditioner a mist was coming from the vents leaving a residue inside the cabin. The dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of failure. The contact also indicated that the drivers side heated seat was extremely hot to the touch and a electrical burning odor was present. The defrost malfunctioned which created a visibility hazard. The failure was not diagnosed nor was the vehicle repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 85000.
While driving vehicle at 45mph engine suddenly stopped and steering became difficult. All dash lights still illuminated radio functional. Coasted to side of road, fortunately there were no vehicle behind me at the time of the failure. I tried to restart the vehicle, the engine would not crank. I waited five minutes and then the engine would crank and start. I took it to the chevrolet dealer and was told the security function of the PCM was defective and causing the fuel pump to stop.
Needed to order an entire exhaust kit made for the issue I ran into which seems to be so common, they made a kit to fix it... Cost or repairs $550.
Coolant started leaking into the engine head gaskets blown. Half new engine needed total cost of repair $3,500.
Car will start fine and run between the 1 and 2 section of RPM gauge.after 10-15 min. Of operation car will die suddenly no sputtering and electronics seem to still work (radio, flashers, headlights, dash lights), must coast to side of road before being plowed into. Check engine light came on. Took into local mechanic said the catalytic converter code was on and that they "blew it out", light shut off torrent ran fine for 1 day. Repeated process is of dying is now ongoing, car will either die or stall (feels like a downshift), then blow out a cloud of black smoke and keep running if engine does not die, also RPM's reduce to the 0 - 1 section of gauge rather then the normal 1-2 section like when I bought it. 2 mechanics could not find the problem after checking 2 sensor's, fuel pump and fuse box. Problem still not resolved....
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 pontiac torrent. The contact stated that while entering a garage, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after approximately 5 minutes and the vehicle operated normally. The failure recurred on another occasion when the contact was entering a driveway with the illumination of the check engine warning light. Additionally, the key would sporadically fail to enter the ignition switch. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified and no solution was offered. The failure mileage was 81,900. Updated 4/28/14*cn the dealer stated the ECM needs to be replaced. No repairs have been made.
The car has a tendency to have loss of power or stall while driving. The one particular time that is of great safety concern is when it had loss of power while driving on the highway. The car also won't randomly start and have been stalled in the -30 degrees freezing cold for over an hour on a remote highway. Took it into multiple mechanics, including gm mechanics, and they have no idea what is going on. Had the battery replaced, throttle body cleaned, etc. Called gm, they can car less that the car has a chronic problem. A simple search on pontiac torrents shows there are hundreds of the same issue.
Driving approx. 45 MPH down 4 lane highway in the left lane. Engine stopped and lost all steering & braking control. Able to coast to a ditch on side of the road. Turned the vehicle to off position in ignition switch then attempted to restart vehicle. After 3-4 cranking attempts, car started. Went straight to nearest dealership. Service department stated that there was nothing wrong because the check engine light was not on. Second occasion- driving approx. 25 MPH down 2 lane road. Began to slow down to turn left- engine stopped and lost all steering & braking control. Able to coast to side of the road. Turned the vehicle to off position in ignition switch then attempted to restart vehicle. Car started after several attempts. Went to nearest service store and once again was told that nothing appeared to be wrong because there were no lights on. Takes multiple cranking attempts to start the vehicle on a daily basis. No pattern to when. Could be in the am, pm, middle of the day, hot, cold, warm, raining, snowing, sunny, cloudy.
This torrent stopped at 65 MPH on a triple lane highway when I was in the middle lane. A good samaritan with a truck came up behind me with his flashers on and pushed me to the side of the road. The engine would not crank. After waiting a while the engine would crank and started right up. This has happened 5 times now where it just stops but restarts after a few minutes. I understand a vehicle can break and not run. But a vehicle that is running should never be shut down by the computer when it is capable of running and be putting a driver in danger. If this vehicle is capable of correcting itself in a few minutes to run again for another week before it happens again it should run right through the dangerous shutdown. It is a dangerous flaw that need to be addressed. Rather than shut the car down it could go into a run mode to allow the drive to make it to a safe location. Pontiac knows of this issue and has issued service bulletin on it. This vehicle is too dangerous to drive on a highway.
On november 15, 2013 I was driving my vehicle and smoke started coming from up under the hood. I pulled over and raised the hood and the electrical wires to the electrical box was on fire. I cut off the vehicle and sat for a minute and the automatic starter just kept starting the car by itself. I got in the vehicle and tried to start the vehicle with the key in the ignition and when I stepped on the brake it tried to start without me turning the key over. I got back out the vehicle and it continued to automatically start by itself until the battery ran dead. On november 18, 2013 I had a mechanic look at the vehicle and he stated that the electrical system had burned up.
Blown head gasket.
Purchased vehicle used on 12/06/2006 with 9,968 miles. Replaced entire engine ($5,000) on 03/27/2009 due to issues with the cylinder head gasket (was told the vehicle was no longer under warranty). Mileage at that time was 84,625. In approximately 2009 the passenger side window started going up and down spontaneously. My dog had her head out of the window and it spontaneously closed on her head, restricting her airway. The passenger side door was ripped apart and wiring was replaced. The window worked correctly for about 2 years and then in 2011, the window stopped working entirely. Have had 3 wheel bearings replaced (one twice). In january/february of 2013, the ignition switch and fuse center had to be replaced. Mechanics advised that the fuse center/panel was on "national back order" with no known available date. They repaired it. Total cost paid for that repair was over $335.87. Mileage at that time was 171827 on april 12th the heater stopped working as I was driving. The fan still blows but only cold air. The hoses from the coolant tank heat up when the car is running. Known problem with this make/model. According to similar complaints filed the entire dash will need to be dismantled to fix the blend door/actuator. Known defective part.
Total of 4 occurrences. After accelerating, accelerator pedal became lodged in all-weather floor mat and vehicle continued to accelerate after the operator removed pressure from the accelerator pedal. Unintended, uncontrolled acceleration continued during attempted braking. Continued braking was only marginally effective at reducing vehicle speed. Operator was able to gradually reduce speed through continuous braking although the engine continued to deliver power in opposition. Ultimately, the accelerator pedal released from the floor mat and the driver brought the vehicle to a stop. Prior to the first occurrence, after-market floor mats had been installed for less than 1month and were suspected to be defective as they have narrow, deep "wells" that cross the mat side to side in the region below the pedals rather than along the length. By inspection, it was easily determined that the heel of the accelerator pedal easily became entrapped in those wells. Following the first incident, the floor mats were replaced with ones without the deep horizontal wells. However, 3 additional similar incidents have occurred with those mats. The duration of unintended acceleration was much less because the operator knew to "kick" the pedal loose.
This is an issue with the actuator that moves the flap in the heater/AC case. This causes the heat not to be released into the car, just cold air. This issue is all over the internet with several people having the same issue. I believe that gm needs to see this issue as a fault of the part. The repair for this unit requires complete removal of the dash board. I have gotten quotes from 900-1500 to repair this part and they do not say that its not going to happen again.
April 15th, 2010 our ignition wouldn't kick over. It would take more than three times to kick over. I tried conditioning the spark plug and it didn't help. (we just lived with the problem) june 2011 we had our first electrical problem with the car. The radio was the first to go in may. Then in july our A/C stopped working, and all we had left was our heat. We were able to fix the A/C, but it didn't last very long. We then lost A/C again and our radio started working in august(2011). Shortly after the radio started working we lost heat. Now we have only the radio that works. We cannot see anything because of the heat not working. The visibility is completely horrible! I have researched this issue and found that it would cost us 1,500 dollars to fix it. I can't afford that! We haven't had the car two years yet and it's stating to break down! This is a serious issue!!!
During the summer, the air conditioning on our 2006 pontiac torrent started acting up. We could only run the car's air conditioner for a few minutes before it would start blowing out warm air. We found that if we turned it off for a while, then turned it back on, it would work for a while longer, then we would have to repeat the process. Now that cooler temperatures are here, we have found that the heater is blowing out cold air. We took it to a repair shop to see what was wrong with it and was told that it was the blend door, which is a common problem with the torrent. Cost: $1200, as it would be a good eight hour job to replace the necessary part. Since the cost was so high, we took it to another place and was given the same verdict, but the repair cost was substantially less - $750, which is still a lot for a part that costs less than $100. We don't have the money to have this part replaced right now because we just dished out $551 to have the catalytic converter replaced, so we are looking into a portable heater until we can afford to have the repairs done. The blend door should be recalled and taken care of by the manufacturer. Our family of five (the youngest being nine years old) has been bundling up every time we get into the car, but are worried about when the temperature gets colder and the windows start frosting over. This part, in particular, is extremely dangerous to be without during the winter, due to inadequate visibility from windows that cannot be defrosted. Definitely a safety issue that should be addressed by the manufacturer!!!
The heater stopped working on my 2006 pontiac torrent, cold air comes out of the vents regardless of the setting. I live in michigan where it is essential to be able to use the defrost and the heater. We contacted the dealer and were told that it would cost a minimum of $1200 dollars to fix and 8-10 hours of labor, the actual part is under $100. The delaership even said that this is a typical problem on the torrents and that they have fixed many of them. The warranty doesn't cover it once the vehicle has gone over the mileage allotted by the manufacturer however I don't feel that this should be a factor for the heater as the number of miles driven does not affect the heating/cooling system. I don't feel that I should be responsible for replacing a plastic part and paying for labor especially since this seems to be a common defect in the torrent. Additionally and most importantly this is a huge safety issues since you need to see out your windshield to drive. Gm needs to make this right by having a recall on this part!
2006 pontiac torrent april 17,2007 the resistor for daytime running lights replaced, now it is defective again. Also the baffle plate in the heater blower is defective . In order for it to be replaced for the car to have heat, the dashboard has to be taken apart , a $1200 bill.
My 2006 pontiac torrent has 28,100 miles. I was driving the vehicle and tried to turn the defroster on for the windshield when all I got was cold air. It did not give a warning at all. I investigated online and found that there are a lot of people with the same issue. It seems that the temperature door has broken inside the dash which makes it impossible to defrost the windshield which I feel is a major safety hazard to my family and I. The part to replace is under $100 but the labor makes the entire repair over $800. I really feel that a temperature door is something to do with a part defect than wear and tear. The vehicle is hardly driven and as a former gm employee, I purchased the vehicle expecting the best quality from my former employer. Please help me because in these hard times, the regular consumer does not have that type of money to spend on those type of vehicle defects. Thanks
I own a 2006 pontiac torrent which heat went out about a month ago. Several diagnostic assessments were done on my vehicle and all three came up with same diagnostic. I was told that something was wrong with the blend box and it would cost $1000 or more to be repaired. I also contacted gm and they refused to assist me. I did research online and found out that there were numerous complaints with the same problem on 2006 pontiac torrents. I would like to know why this vehicle is not on the recall list due to safety issues. When you're driving in fog or bad weather the fogger does not work due to heater not working which is a problem because it obstructs your view and cause you not to be able to drive safely which could mean increased accidents as well as deaths.
I own a 2006 pontiac torrent which the heat stopped working about a month or so ago. I was driving one day and turned my heater on and noticed that it was blowing cold air. My car was diagnosed and was told that it would cost $1000 or more to repair. I have been driving around with no heat and cannot use my defrost due to heat failure which obstructs my vision when driving. This vehicle should have been a recall due to the vast amount of people with the same problem. I would like to know if my vehicle can be returned for full refund in order to get one with less severe heating problems.
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