1998 Pontiac Bonneville

ON NOVEMBER 4, 2003 MY WIFE CONTACTED ME AT LUNCH TIME TO INFORM ME HER CAR WOULD NOT START. AFTER CHECKING THE BATTERY AND STARTER IT WAS DETERMINED THE MOTOR HAD LOCKED UP. WHEN I CONTACTED THE DEALER I FOUND THAT I STILL HAD 1 YEAR LEFT ON MY EXTENDED WARRANTY ALTHOUGH AT 88,000 MILES I WAS 500 MILES OVER THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. THEY INFORMED ME THIS WAS CLASSIC SIGNS OF THE AIR INTAKE MANIFOLD. I PROCEEDED TO REPAIR THE CAR MYSELF. AFTER TAKING THE AIR PLENIUM OFF THE AIR INTAKE MANIFOLD I FOUND THE TOP OF THE AIR INTAKE MANIFOLD FILLED WITH ANTI-FREEZE. APPARENTLY, THE AIR PLENIUM HAD DEVELOPED A CRACK AND ALLOWED THE ANTI-FREEZE INTO THE AIR INTAKE. THIS PERMITTED ANTI-FREEZE TO FILL NUMBER 1 CYLINDER WITH ANTI-FREEZE AND WOULD NOT ALLOW THE PISTON TO TRAVEL TO THE TOP OF THE CYLINDER. AFTER SEARCHING THE INTERNET IT BECAME APPARENT I WAS VERY LUCKY. THERE WERE SEVERAL CASES REPORTED ON LINE WHERE THIS HAPPENED WHILE PEOPLE WERE DRIVING AND CAUSED MAJOR LOWER ENGINE REPAIR SUCH AS SHATTERED RODS AND CRANKSHAFTS. I ALSO NOTICED THERE APPEARS TO BE A LARGE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ON YOUR WEB SITE ON THIS ISSUE. I SENT AN EMAIL TO GENERAL MOTORS VIA THEIR WEB SITE ON THIS ISSUE. IT AMAZES ME THAT THIS PART IS MADE OF A PLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL AND IS MOUNTED TO THE TOP OF THE ENGINE. WITH THE HEATING AND COOLING CYCLES THE ENGINE GOES THROUGH, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THIS PRODUCT WOULD FAIL. FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN ON THE INTERNET AND TALKING TO VARIOUS PART CLERKS IT IS BETWEEN 80,000 MILES AND 100,000 MILES WHEN THIS PRODUCT FAILS. I AM NOT SURE IF THIS IS DESIGNED INTENT BY GM, ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE NOT CHANGED THIS DESIGN THROUGH THE 2003 MODELS. NEEDLESS TO SAY I DID NOT GET A RESPONSE BACK FOR GM. I FELT WITH THIS TYPE OF DEFECT AND THE SAFETY PROBLEM THIS COULD CAUSE IF THIS WERE TO HAVE HAPPENED WHILE TRAVELING DOWN A MAJOR HIGHWAY THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL ON THIS. SINCERELY, WILLIAM J. FITZGERALD. *LA

NOTICED SLOW LOSS OF ENGINE COOLANT (NO OBVIOUS LEAKS) OVER THE MONTH PRIOR TO INCIDENT DATE. ON INCIDENT DATE, ENGINE POPPED, BANGED, AND RAN EXTREMELY ROUGH ON START-UP. I HAD READ ABOUT A PROBLEM WITH THE 3.8 LITER V-6 GM ENGINE, AND BROUGHT VEHICLE TO DEALER. DEALER FOUND WARPED/CRACKED PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD, WHICH WAS REPLACED AT A COST OF OVER $700. PONTIAC/GM WOULD NOT CONSIDER ANY COST SHARING ON THE REPAIR. FAILURE WAS IN AREA OF MANIFOLD/PLENUM WHERE THROTTLE BODY/EGR VALVE MOUNT, AND IS DUE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT BUILD-UP OVER TIME. THIS PROBLEM IS A DESIGN DEFECT (USE OF PLASTIC MANIFOLD VS. METAL IN HIGH TEMPERATURE APPLICATION) ON THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER GM V6 ENGINE TYPES FROM 1995 TO AT LEAST 2002. GM INSTALLS THESE ENGINES IN VARIOUS MODELS OF PONTIACS, BUICKS, OLDSMOBILES, AND I BELIEVE SOME CHEVROLETS. I ESTIMATE THAT GM HAS WELL OVER 1,000,000 OF THESE PROBLEM ENGINES IN VEHICLES, AND THEIR POTENTIAL COST LIABILITY IS IN THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. I DON'T EXPECT THEM TO INITIATE A RECALL WITHOUT GOVERNMENT MANDATE. IN OTHER CASES I HAVE RESEARCHED, THIS PROBLEM HAS APPARENTLY LED TO COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE, AND IN SOME CASES, ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES. *LA

1998 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE, 3.8 LITER V6, 65K MILES WHEN ITS INTAKE MANIFOLD "PLASTIC" GASKET WARPED UNDER NORMAL USE. COOLANT DAMAGED IT WHEN DRAINED INTO ENGINE. GM HAS SEVERAL SERVICE BULLETINS OUT THERE REGARDING THEIR 3.8-LITER V6 AND THIS PROBLEM. THEY KNOW IT'S DEFECTIVE IN THEIR DESIGN, BUT REFUSED TO COVER ANY PERCENTAGE OF REPAIR COST. LUCKILY, THE CAR WAS NOT TRAVELING DOWN THE INTERSTATE AND NO ONE GOT HURT FROM A LOCKED UP OR DESTROYED ENGINE. GM SHOULD RECALL OR OFFER A REPAIR COPY ON THEIR DEFECTIVE DESIGN. SERVICE BULLETIN REPLACES "PLASTIC" PART WITH REDESIGNED ALUMINUM ONE. THEY KNOW ITS A PROBLEM, IT'S TIME THEY MAKE IT RIGHT. *LA

ON SEPTEMBER 19,2003, MY 1998 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE WITH 3800 V6 OVERHEATED(CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND HIGH TEMP ON GAUGES), WOULD NOT RESTART AND WOULD NOT TURN OVER BY STARTER MOTOR. HAD TO TOW INTO SHOP AND HAD COOLING SYSTEM CHECKED. PRESSURE LEAKS WERE DETECTED. THE SHOP MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THAT THE UPPER PLENUM FOR THE INTAKE MANIFOLD, WHICH IS MADE OF PLASTIC, HAD BECOME WARPED WHERE THE EGR VALVE CONNECTS TO THE ENGINE BLOCK. THIS ALLOWED ANTIFREEZE TO FILL UP THE ENGINE CYLINDERS. THE SMALL REPAIR SHOP WHERE MY CAR WAS REPAIRED STATED THAT THEY HAD REPLACED MANY OF THIS PARTICULAR UPPER INTAKE PLENUM FOR THIS PARTICULAR ENGINE. THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER TOLD ME WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS EVEN BEFORE I TOLD HIM THE ENTIRE PROBLEM. *JB

VEHICLE'S INTAKE MANIFOLD IS DEFECTIVE.*MR THE CONSUMER IS DISTURBED ABOUT THE HER VEHICLE NOT BEING ALLOWED IN THE RECALL FOR DEFECTIVE INTAKE MANIFOLDS. WHEN HER VEHICLE IS EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEMS MENTIONED ABOVE. SHE IS NOW REQUESTING TO BE REIMBURSED FOR APPROX $1299.56 TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE AND AVOID LITIGATION. *CB