had it with pontiac

[01gpgt01]

i dont care how old the car is ill ***** all day long when u cant make a car any better than all the problems im having at 70000.this is why car companys contiue to make s--t because people keep sayin its acceptable.

Dude, You had two sensors go bad on a freaking 10 year old car. LMAO. you dont think thats Acceptable? You're saying parts are going to fail that have even yet to. How old are you? 16? I vote this for thread of 2010

[deathjunior]

Buy an Impala if you want GM. Impala is the service vehicle for GM and from what I have heard is that they hold up a whole lot better than the rest

You are ill informed, impala is not the only service vehicle first of all, as proof of that my last car was a 1998 buick regal and it was in fact a gm service vehicle. Second grand prix's have an identical drive train, suspension, fuel system, brake system, bolt pattern, interior, stereo, as well as alot of other things to the grand prix unless u get a later model one beyond 2003 and by 2003 gm stopped using it as their service vehicles anyway. So thats completely blown out of the water.

2004-2007 was damage control with more crap vehicles and poopy designs. Enter the 5 year 100,000 mile warranty to try and attract buyers back.
Enter the introduction of the Camaro because they dropped the only affordable sports car GM made (Which became unaffordable).
Now, theyre "The NEW" Gm.. but yet...same poop designs.

Okay tell ya what take 31 grand and you go see if you can buy better than a 426 hp v8 with independent suspension, 4 piston brembo brakes, a comfy interior, with a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty for less, cause thats what you get with the camaro. You can get close for a little less from ford, but the ford gets less hp and crap for gas mileage plus it doesn't look as good. The challenger gets over 70 less hp and it accelerates like crap because it has to much traction control and it cant be shut off. Then go see if you can buy a single import car with that much hp for that price and the only imports that come to mind cost a whole hell of a lot more.

4. Replace Plugs every 75,000 miles.
5. Replace Fuel Filter every 15,000 miles.
6. Do your tune up with plugs, wires, PCV, fuel filter, check/replace fluids, belts, thermostat.
7. Lube your chassis points every oil change.
8. Rotate your tires every 8K miles (Which allows you to spin your hubs and check for noise)

Your going to want to change the spark plugs every 75,000 miles or so anyways its an expendable part. And its not hard to do at all, your making it seem like swapping a plug requires years of experience

And a fuel filter? replacing fluids? belts? these are all expendable and finite parts yet again you speak as if for some reason a they would last significantly longer on a different car which yet again is incorrect. If you hate a car because you can't deal with basic maintenance pay for a bus pass

9. 95-03 3800 Owners replace upper intake manifold, and lower intake seals.
10. any 3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.9L will need dexcool flushed and intake gaskets replaced.
11. 3.4L's are just about a guaranteed Head Gasket Job every 50K, so use the HD fel pro plastic/metal gaskets.
12. Fuel Pumps go out because most people don't change the fuel filter.

Almost everything you have mentioned here is typical maintenance that would be the same on all cars. Tire rotation? really? since when is that a big deal that’s pretty standard on all cars accept I rotate mine every 5000 on the goodyear plan.

Ive owned 3 3800 cars between 95 and 03 all well into their years and none have needed a lower intake seal or an intake manifold

As for the fuel pumps the pumps themselves rarely go out however the sensor is known to fail on many cars not just GM's

14. Transmission flush and filter at 75K miles.
15. 4T60/4T65E transmissions are only good for about 150K miles before they need to be rebuilt. Rebuild at first sign of slippage to reduce chance of further damage.
16. 4L60/4L65E transmissions are close to the same.
17. Eaton Superchargers need to be rebuilt just like turbos at 100K miles.
A transmission flush isn't intelligent to do over 100,000 miles on any car really. This is because flushing it could dislodge pieces of cracked seals and cause leaking. Yet again this is every car

The Eaton will last well over 100 if well taken care of. One of my friends GTP's is sitting at 350,000 miles and its supercharger has never even been touched much less rebuilt.

As for the transmission i believe their was a recall on the overdrive gear. That was the common issue with it. Gear slippage has never been a factor in any of my engines so i don't know where your getting it from

Also a transmission flush past 100,000 miles isn't something id recommend. By that point the gaskets will likely be a little cracked or dried out. A flush will first of all have clean fluid which is all well and good but its thinner than the fluid that was in it so it has a chance to leak. Plus the cracked and dried out gaskets may crack apart due to the flushing process and cause a leak

The key is to catch it in time. You've gotta watch fluid levels, you've gotta turn the radio off at least one day a week, and enjoy the sound of the engine and exhaust.

Listen to the car. Listen closely. It's talking to you. How will you respond?

Every car is like this not just a grand prix. A good car owner takes proper care of the vehicle.

I too had a lemon Pontiac. A 1998 Bonneville. What a total Piece of garbage.
It may have been a nice car, but this one was a rolling lemon. 4 Engines later, it was totalled out by a kid texting on his phone and rear ended me. Thanks alot A-hole.
I don't think there was a part on that car I didn't replace. It was good when I was done, but spent more than the car was worth to do it. The main issue with that car was the dealership F-ups. They "Only fix whats broke" destroyed 2 engines.

This is a very bad situation and it sucks that it has happened to you, but 1 bad car does not make up the entire lineup. Theres a hell of alot of them out there. Don't hate the whole lot for one bad one.

[99prixgt]

Built better and hold up on the test track better.



That puppy must slip like nobodys tomorrow or it has been rebuilt already.



That came from Eaton, not me. Its not only the coupler but the rotors can become pitted (Cavitate) and wear abnormally fast showering your engine with rotor shavings.



Completely different design.
You can have your series II. I'll take the old GN 3.8 for durability and performance.



Bad Dealership. Bad Design, Bad Engine remanufacturing company



You can't fix a bad design on the 60 degree V6's. From what I have been told, they average 1-2 per week only to return a few years later. It doesn't suprise me either as after the dealer fixed mine under warranty, I had to do it again in a couple of years. Odd sealing surfaces that move under expansion and contraction, what do you expect? 3.1's usually have the intake leaks only, and 3.4's just about guaranteed head gaskets. Most places replace them with the cheap gaskets and that's why they fail again. If you do it right, you shouldnt have to re-do head gaskets, but Intake...probably a repeat. 3.8's, the heads are flat, nothing special, cast iron in most cases to an aluminum manifold - gasket design has improved so you have better luck.



It's merely a guide. You can't take it as bible. Sure, you can get more miles out of them, but your in the grey area of part durability. Some cars run forever with nothing. Some are lemons off the line.

My point was to keep an eye on the vehicle and do preventative maintenance so you don't end up with a laundry basket worth of issues.

to much fail to express here

[matt5112]

death, you may be somewhat new here but your post is awesome.

[blueguy]

I agree.

I vote Death for teh next moderator...calling it now.

[rynoman03]

^^ AMEN what part of Missouri are you from Death ? You should join up on KCPMC.net.

[deathjunior]

^^ AMEN what part of Missouri are you from Death ? You should join up on KCPMC.net.

Im from Springfield, and yea i think ill register, its sounds like another cool forum with more people like here who i'm sure i can learn from.

and thanks for the compliments matt and blue

[shawngtp]

I like this learning curve.

[BillBoost37]

This thread cracks me up. "Trans will fail by 100K" LOL I've personally owned a lot of these cars in their high mileage years.

97 Bonneville (supposedly the worst year for the trans) and drove it with mods 12 hours to Ohio to have the trans rebuilt at 176K miles when it was feeling a little sloppy.
97 Regal GS at 180K and sold that, it went well over 200K when the 4th hub stripped.
98 Regal LS made it to 180K before the guy I sold it to destroyed 3rd gear with all kinds of abuse
DDing an 00 Regal GS now with rockers, plog, dp etc...at 172K and the trans feels great. Don't give me **** on this one, the ****in air filter was 6 years old according to the writing on it. Maintenance was like that for the previous owner who bought it at 78K and didn't do jack.

I could type all day about how well these cars can and do take normal driving extremely well. Abusive drive anything and parts will fail.

[SDGTP99]

Funny my alternator has over 125k on it. The only problem ny car has ever had was a leaky intake manifold. All others were caused by nodification. Maybe you just happened to get pooh gp.

[GAFF]

New guy almost has as many thanks as post.

[Bio248]

New guy almost has as many thanks as post.

if everyone was as logical and fluent in intelligence as him we wouldnt have so many angry people hating on the noobs.

[02 WS6 TA]

Man, you are so right. I've had it with Pontiac, too. I'm never buying another new Pontiac.

[Gorecki]

Man, you are so right. I've had it with Pontiac, too. I'm never buying another new Pontiac.

[Pepino]

Man, you are so right. I've had it with Pontiac, too. I'm never buying another new Pontiac.

wow.... finally got that about the 3rd time I read that, damn I'm slow today.

[rampage]

most of my pontiacs have been good i think i just got a bad one but man im just tired of working on this thing.its not only the o2 sesors for everyone who said that.i just replaced the tps thats where the jerking was coming from.now im trying to tackle the abs light and trac control is off.also about 2 months ago my pass window quit working.had to put a new motor in,not fun.i luv this car and hate to trade it in bc i know how good these 3800 are i just think some of the other parts on this car are not the best.thanks to all the peolpe who are helpful on this site.

[Gorecki]

I dunno rampage, seems like every problem you're having is electrical in nature. I just can't help but think it could be something in the chain is cooking components. Realistically most often the most simplistic answer being the correct one, I'd make sure you're not getting unregulated power spikes from the alt/battery which will be hard to find if it's intermittent, and make sure you're grounded well.

[foursixer]

a good car is a car that dont leave you on the side of the road!!!!!! show your car love if it always bring you home, doh matter what!!!!!!

[trickytransam]

All I've gotta ask is why then do GN's break down at the track so much?

Probably because they are cranking up the BOOST without prepping the engine for it.
Bolting on bigger turbos and other stuff.

Just like swapping a pulley on a supercharger and expecting the stock engine to take the abuse.

The only thing Ive seen a GN break were the rear ends. If theyre built correctly, they'll put it down all day long.

[trickytransam]

death, you may be somewhat new here but your post is awesome.

Yea, but opinions are like buttholes. Everyones got one.

Both missing my point completely.