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Pontiac Bonneville Engine And Engine Cooling Exhaust System Manifold/header/muffler/tail Pipe Safety Report | Nov 10, 2003
Reported on Nov 10, 2003
| 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 | |
| Make: | Pontiac |
| Model: | Bonneville |
| Manufactured by: | General Motors LLC |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Was a crash reported? | N |
| Was an injury reported? | 0 person(s) were injured. |
| Was a death reported? | 0 person(s) died. |
| Was a fire reported? | N |
| Location: | HOPKINTON MA |
| Vehicle Identification Number (VIN): | |
| Mileage: | 72500 miles. |
| Speed: | 0 MPH |
| Number of cylinders: | 6 |
| Vehicle type: | FWD |
| Vehicle fuel: | GAS Fuel injection. |
| Was a police report filed? | N |
| Tire size: | |
| Dealer name and location: | LONG AUTOMOTIVE FRAMINGHAM MA 01701 |
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