While driving 70 MPH consumer proceeded to accelerate. Vehicle lost power completely stalling out. Intake manifold gasket leaked and coolant mixed in with the engine oil. Consumer was aware of other complaints in conjunction with this engine.
Pontiac Trans Sport loss of power problems
11 of the 971 owner complaints about the Pontiac Trans Sport describe sudden loss of power, most of them for the 1997 model year.
- owner complaints
- 11
- worst model year
- 1997
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
- 19983
- 19975
- 19941
- 19932
Often reported together
What owners say
Since having the rack/pinion steering replaced twice (once before the recall and once after), I have again noticed difficulty pulling out of parking spaces turning left or right (hard to turn the wheel/loss of power steering?), especially, in cold weather. As you straighten wheel and start driving, problem seems to resolve itself. Went to dealer who thought it could not possibly be the rack so therefore replaced the power steering pump in early november. The failure happened again today.
Overheating on highway, caused vehicle to shut down to 3 cylinders. Caused a major power loss. Cracked head due to cooling problems.
My 1997 pontiac transport only has 54000 miles on it and the engine intake manifold has gone up on it. After looking into it I have found this is a common problem with gm cars and trucks with a 3.4l engine. There seems to be a faulty design to the gasket. I have taken care of this van doing all maintenance on schedule. Gm will do nothing to fix this problem even though they are well aware of this happening. They have even issued a service bulletin to dealers on how to diagnose the problem quickly (tsb#02-06-01-014). When the gasket goes there is a loss of power in the engine or stalling making it hard to steer and break.
Seat belts:every seat belt in this vehicle has become "non-functioning" between 7/01/97 and present. Seat belt retractors not working, and the locking mechanism at sudden stops does not function, making each seatbelt in this vehicle useless and endangering passengers. Dealership has been contacted several times, and denies they have any responsibility for repairs. Manufacturer claims there are no "open" recalls on this vehicle, although they cannot verify if the recalls listed have in fact ever been completed. Alternator:have had major alternator/battery problems, several replacements to the alternator, low voltage and gradual loss of power, unsteady voltage meter...have had the fuseable link replaced several times, continues to be a problem.
Loss of power steering during wet conditions. Other conditions noise for belt and battery light on.
Serpentine belt fails causing loss of power steering assist when driving in wet weather.
Design of vehicle resulted in there being no splash guard to protect the steering belt from road spray resulting in temporary loss of power steering when belt slips off.
Loss of power steering when driving in rain.
Pgr valve causes engine to shut off while traveling, which results in loss of power braking and steering.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Pontiac Trans Sport loss of power
Which Pontiac Trans Sport years have sudden loss of power problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1997 (5 complaints), 1998 (3 complaints) and 1993 (2 complaints).
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