Consumer Complaint Detail
PONTIAC / BONNEVILLE / 1998
0 Injured
0 Death
No Fire
| Components - Details | |
|---|---|
| NHTSA Complaint Number: 003249234 | Incident Date: Nov, 03 2003 |
| Consumer's City: RALEIGH | Consumer's State: NC |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO | Manufacturers Name: General Motors, LLC |
| Model Name: BONNEVILLE | Model Year: 1998 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No | Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No | Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: 1G2HX52K6W4 | Date added to File: May, 25 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Dec, 06 2003 | Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police: No | Purchase Date: Dec, 29 2000 |
| Was Original Owner: No | Anti-lock Brakes: Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 6 | Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed: - | Description of the Complaints: 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 |