1997 Pontiac Trans Sport: engine knocking or ticking

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Engine, Visibility · 67,950 miles · ME

Engine failure due to leaking intake maifold gasket on 3.4l engine. Engine was meticulously maintained to that point, with all service receipts to prove that fact. No pervious coolant leakage was noted before the problem. Engine began making severe knocking noises while driving in mountains of wyoming. Service tech at laramie gm auto center said that the enging was losing oil pressure and consuming (losing) coolant. Coolant leaked into the intake mainfold through the faulty intake mainfold gasket. I had the repair done, and now 28,000 into the new engine, I am hearing various engine noises again. Will go to new local dealer for analysis. Gm should repay me for this--they will not admit any responsibility for this problem, only offering a discount on a new gm car. I am still paying on this vehicle, because the money that would have gone into payments went toward the new engine at 67,950 miles. Driver's side power window regulator has also failed. $650 estimate to replace it. Numerous other problems with this car--many have been repaired through recalls. The engine issue should be a recall as well, or a class action should be started.

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Brakes, Engine · 39,000 miles · KY

At 51000 miles the 3.4l engine had lower intake gasket failure in which the dex-cool anti freeze dumped into the crankcase mixing with the oil. This only had one warning a couple months earlier as the low coolant light came on and I added 1/2 gallon dex-cool with no signs of leakage. Next time it happened was when my wife was taking daughter to school and temp. Light came on. Van was not driven over 2 miles to dealer, as light went out. Dealer said extreme mixture in both crankcase and radiator. Recommended replace radiator, waterpump, intake gaskets, flush both systems at a cost of 1500 not to be applied toward engine replacement if failure on start up. Dealer had just had van in week before for check engine light and steering recall and found nothing wrong !!!! We traded it in at a loss as I checked into the problem and learned about thousands of other owners with same problems with total engine failures after repairs made. We lost over $3000 equity between what trade value would have been if no problem with engine and letting dealer fix problem after trade. Van had many problems since we bought it new but we always had them fixed and was well maintained. Looked new when we traded with only 50,000 miles. Paint on hood blistered twice, steering / brakes wobbled since new at varyng speeds, always had ticking sound in engine dealer said was "normal", rear seats would jamb up if you tried to remove, wiper arms failed twice, serpentine belt tensioner broke off on engine start up in dec. 2002. Cost $375 with towing, power window switch failed in down position at replacement cost of about $175. Engine under warranty when it had a severe gas smell that nearly caused a fire in about 1999. They kept it a week and never said what the problem was. They had just worked on it for ticking sound. (probably intake gaskets then also). Gm was no help after warranty was up.

Filed Apr 8, 2003 · Engine · 96,634 miles · TN

Vehicle: 1997 pontiac trans sport, VIN [xxx], 96,634 mi. Engine developed severe knock and strong smell of coolant. Took vehicle to franklin pontiac gmc in franklin, tn and was told the intake gaskets had failed and contaminated oil, and that this was not uncommon for this vehicle. Required replacement of lifters, pushrods, intake gaskets, oil and coolant on jan. 17, 2003 for cost of appx. $1,100. Replaced water pump on oct. 18, 2002 for cost of appx. $250. Low coolant light had been coming on intermittently for past several years, with faint smell of coolant, and I filled up radiator reservoir with dexcool thinking it was a normal evaporation through reservoir cap. I have since learned of many other similar intake gasket problems on gm vehicles, and am worried about another gasket failure as well as what unknown damage has occurred to my engine's bearings. *nlm information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Aug 18, 2002 · Steering · MI

I am filing this complaint because, even though we no longer own the vehicle, I understand that you are investigating it. I was lucky that no one was hurt. I had three children in the car, driving them to school, when the steering just gave out while we were in the middle of rush hour traffic; fortunately it was on a city street, so we weren't travelling very fast. I was able to get the vehicle pushed over to the side of the road and out of the way of traffic. The vehicle was taken to a pontiac dealer for repairs, which totalled well over $1000. The dealer said that they were not a aware of any problems like this with the vehicle. Since the vehicle had just passed 60,000 it was noo longer under warranty for this type of problem. We called gm, and they insisted that they were not aware of this type of problem, and confirmed that the repair would not be covered by warranty. They did give us a discount off of the purchase of our next gm car, because of this and all of the other problems we had with the vehicle, includ ing rearseats that did not work properly - they wouldn't stay locked into the floor, and a just a nice little shove from behind would knock them out of the floor. If you are still investigating this, keep at it. I hate to think about what might have happened if I was on the freeway travelling 70 MPH during rush hour and the steering just quit.

Filed Jan 8, 2002 · Engine · CO

Very loud engine knock, leaving the car undrivable. This, according to the gm dealer service department in laramie, wy, has been caused by either a spun bearing/bearing failure or other failure causing lack of oil flow to vital engine parts. I must now ei.