1997 Buick rivera... driving down highway-hole worn into high pressure freon discharge hose-freon sprayed throughout engine compartment and onto drive belts-belt broke and wrapped around harmonic balancer - broke teeth and crank sensor- engine died immediately-loss of power steering, braking, etc., dead car hard to control - towed to GM dealer - dealer replaced all parts ($900) - GM mechanics and service manager all agreed to Buick design flaw - steel manifold for freon hoses is formed in such a way to cause freon hoses to rub against each other and eventually wear a hole into freon hose. - I kept part - called dealer to complain- they referred me to Buick customer service- they said they could do nothing as no recalls nor service bulletins had been issued on the matter - I asked for information as to how many of these incidents had occurred - or how many of this freon manifold replacements have been sold - or if there had been a redesign to correct this part - they would furnish me with none of this requested information.

- Ponca City, OK, USA

1997 Buick Riviera with 3800 engine has a plastic intake manifold that degrades and leaks coolant into the engine and causes hydrolock, thereby rendering the vehicle useless. This can happen anywhere at anytime and leave you stranded and is an ongoing problem with this engine type. GM issued a service bulletin on this problem in July of 2001 (tsb 01-06-01-007A) and the dealership service people that I have talked to have indicated that this is a known and ongoing problem with this type of engine. I have contacted the customer assistance folks at GM and I am having no satisfaction with them whatsoever. They claim that the age of the vehicle and the fact that there is no service record on file with a dealer play a big part in how they look at each individual case. I have done some research on this problem and have discovered that this is a larger problem than GM would want to admit to, see website www.GM-V6lemons.com. I feel that a recall should have been issued on this problem and if enough people take their complaints to th NHTSA then maybe something can be done.

- Troy, MI, USA