I have a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am 3.4L. I've owned this car since 2001 and I have already replaced my intake manifold gasket (under warranty) in 2002. I now have to replace it again! except this time there was a fault in the gasket in the engine as well, which resulted in seized bearings, snapped camshaft, broken and bent valve as well as the caps to the oil and coolant being overheated and not going on properly. I am told this is because of dexcool and the gaskets.

- Vacaville, CA, USA

Near crash. Occasionally the rpms while in gear will raise to 3300 RPM making it almost impossible to stop quickly enough to avoid and accident. I found if I put the car in neutral and turn off the ignition then restart the idle will return back to 650-700 rpms. Now this has been happening for almost a year. I went to Pontiac and they couldn't find a problem... I had a friend who also had a 1999 Grand Am who had the same problem happen with him which cause him to have a single car accident on a wet road. Has anyone else wrote into you about this problem?

- Milpitas, CA, USA

I have a '99 Pontiac Grand Am with 65,000 miles with a defective intake manifold gasket. I understand this is a class action suit issue in Canada and is a common issue in the usa also. GM is not issuing a recall even though there is evidence this is a defective part (or defective because of the dexcool coolant). I spoke with GM and was told this was not a recall item and the car was out of the warranty period. Fortunately, this problem was recognized and remedied prior to ruining the engine. The repair bill was $558.84.

- Ambridge, PA, USA

: the contact stated while driving 60 mph all the lights on the dash failed and the engine stalled. The vehicle was pushed to the side of the road. After the vehicle was restarted, it was taken to the dealership for inspection. They replaced the ignition switch and cylinder, which remedied the problem.

- Bronx, NY, USA

I bought my 1999 Grand Am in Oct' 04. The first 2 mo. Of owning it my alternator went out. A few months later I had to replace my front brakes. Shortly after that my(2nd) alternator and A/C pump went out not to mention the battery too. Oh and not only has the service engine light been on most of the time, a second service engine light came on! I have never known a vehicle to have 2 service engine lights on at the same time!! was this some kind of premonition!? as soon as I got the car back, I went and picked my kids up to go to the fair. We were not even 2 miles out of town yet when my engine started overheating. I had to pull over and wait for quite sometime before I could make it home safely with my children. Now my car that I've spent a lot of money on, not just purchasing the car, but also in parts is currently in the shop for either a blown head gasket or the engine block is damaged. The mechanic told me this is happening to a lot of these specific cars or should I say engine type. Nevertheless, this is costly and very dangerous to everyone who owns one of these lemons!!!! something needs to be done real quick with these problems or the manufacture of these vehicles will be paying for more than just parts!

- Cumberland, WI, USA

I own a 1999 Grand Am SE. Ever since I bought the car in Oct '04 I have been having nothing but problems with it. This past June I had to replace the engine. Leading up to that the car would die at least once a week. I would bring it to the dealer (more like tow it) and I would always be told nothing is wrong. Then yet again it would die. After that the stalling began. I would be driving and the car would shut off. It would usually take up to 10 minutes to turn back on. Once the dealer went "well maybe its your lights, you leave them on." My response was how do I leave on automatic lights? I have had to replace my alternator 3 times and have had to replace my battery twice. It got to the point that once I shut off my car the only way to start it was by taking out the mail relay chip for 2 minutes than replacing it. Than the car would start up. Finally I was on the high way and out of no where you head a loud pop. There went the header, pistons, oil gasket. The engine blew. However it was never a effect of the oil. I was always checking it and getting it changed once ever other month (I commuted a lot). So I got a rebuilt engine put in and the problems went away... or so I thought. Last night I was driving and all of a sudden my car started shaking. It went from a little to a great amount. The muffler is making an odd puff puff noise and the exhaust smells like windshield washer fluid (only was to describe it). I pulled it into my driveway and on went the trac off light and the service engine soon lights. Thank you. Also prior to the new engine my cds would no longer play. I would get the E20 error and the cds would spit out. Another problem is my rear passenger windows have scratches up the middle of them. I can not figure out where the marks are coming from.

- Wappingers Falls, NY, USA

My 99 Pontiac Grand Am started having coolant problems, the vehicle engine temperature would go up and down for a month, finally the vehicle just one day overheated. I had the whole coolant system replaced, ( $600 later). About a week or two after it started to overheat again, before I could bring it back to the mechanic to check it out, the engine blew. I have not been able to replace the engine yet, nor do I know if I will as the vehicle is not worth the cost to repair. I refuse to pay almost 2K to get an engine for something else to go wrong.. I know there is a defect in the coolant system causing the engine to over heat.. my mechanic said my camshaft completely split in half, and he has never seen this before but knows of a few people who have same year make and model that the same thing happened to. It cant be a coincidence.

- Worcester, MA, USA

My car has been leaking antifreeze which can be smelled in the car. No one has been able to determine as of yet where it is coming from. However, shortly after it had been noticed that my car was leaking antifreeze, my alternator went out. When it was pulled out from the engine, it was assumed that it had been on fire. It is felt that the alternator looks like it had been electrocuted. All of the rubber that covers the wires had been completely burned away. Considering that I drive my infant son around in this vehicle, not to mention myself this can not possibly be safe if the vehicle is catching on fire. The car has approximately 68000 miles on it. It also has all types of problems with the locks and the ignition. This is the worst car that I have ever owned in my life, not to mention the most dangerous. I am just waiting for it to burst into flames while I am driving down the street!!!! not to mention, my vehicle has all of the front suspension problems that others have reported. Especially the pulling to various sides without warning and the shaking that happens around 55 to 60 mph. This is just not a safe vehicle at all.

- Waterford, MI, USA

I had to replace the tensioner soon after that the engine went. I have two friends with same problem. I have a 99 Pontiac Grand Am. Currently my car is in the shop. The car just hit 100K miles. Also the shop where my car is being fix notice that there was coolant leaking into the engine.

- Fridley, MN, USA

Recall repair refund request. The engine coolant low light had illuminated and the heater was not blowing hot air. The intake manifold gasket was malfunctioning and needed to be replaced. The consumer and her baby suffered anti-freeze poisoning. The consumer requested a full refund.

- Borger, TX, USA

My 1999 Grand Am developed a "low coolant" problem. I had added nearly a gallon of the recommended dex-cool in a 50/50 mix with water. On my way to work one morning, the oil light came on. As I was on a highway, it took a minute to get off the road. When I did, I found that there was no measurable oil on the dip-stick. In addition, when I removed the oil cap, I found a thick milky substance on it. I called for a tow truck and the car was towed to a dealership. The engine was blown and the total repair bill came to nearly $5,000! I did some research and found that all of the symptoms I had with the car prior to that day were common with the GM 3.4 engine in my car and that many others have had this occur. The intake manifold gasket fails and the antifreeze goes into the engine causing failure. I called Pontiac and asked for assistance with the repair bill as it is common knowledge that this is an ongoing problem with several GM engines. They investigated and the service manager at the dealership stated that the reason for the engine failure was that the car was driven with no oil. I may be wrong here, but when antifreeze mixes with oil that is the same as having no oil. I am totally frustrated and now have not only a car payment, but a loan payment for the repair bill. I would burn this car if I thought I could!

- Dawson, PA, USA

I have a 1999 Grand Am with 47,000 miles. It started to over heat took it to a Pontiac dealer to have it looked at. It was the intake manifold that needed repaired. The bill ended up at $825.77. Pontiac and GM has known about the problem. Contacted GM to see if they were going to do anything about they told us our car was to old and had to many miles. Got on line was able to find other people with the same problem with less miles than my car. A lot of unhappy people with Pontiac. Found out there is a service bulletin out.

- Morrow, OH, USA

Intake manifold gasket leaking oil. (lower/upper) - this has been replaced 3 times to date and the problem is continuing. It was replaced on 3/13/01 at 21,494 miles; 6/10/02 at 31,339 miles; 10/27/03 at 41,549 miles; and now at 48,400 and was just replaced for the 4th time this February 2004.

- Morrisivlle, PA, USA

Engine hesistates violently when accelerating from rest. Simultaneously all of the gauges go to maximum value and return to real values quickly (much like at engine start-up). Hesistation ceases and car performs as normal. This problem has occurred about 6 times over 5 years. The total lack of engine power is unnerving and has lead to one near mmiss accident while trying to complete a left turn ahead of uncoming traffic as engine hesistaed and nearly stalled.

- Encino, CA, USA

Major car repair on engine.

- Marietta, OH, USA

The vehicle overheated and was taken to the dealer. The mechanic determined the head gaskets were faulty and needed to be replaced.

- Janesville, WI, USA

Consumer states that vehicle would shut off without warning. Dealer notified.

- Roswell, NM, USA

Consumer states that the manifold gasket was leaking coolant, which in turn caused the engine to overheat. Currently, engine has shutdown completely and needs to be replaced.

- Havasu City, AZ, USA

1999 Pontiac Grand Am 2.4 L auto severe brake failure---replacement of pads 8 times, rotors 3 times and calipers 2 times in 80,000 miles. Brakes occasionally lock up and make loud grinding and squealing noises steering shudders and vehicle pulls to left.. participating Pontiac dealer failed to fix this problem since purchase at 11,000 miles. Under warranty replacement it has had 6 door panels due to peeling leather on top of panel, 5 gear shifters due to dealers improper installation, 2 factory cd/radio failures, 1 rack and pinion unit, 2 front strut assemblies due to knocking noise from front of car (went bad after 10,000 miles use), problem with hesitation at idle-cold start(unsuccessfully diagnosed by dealer) carpet loose in trunk around latch assembly(too short for trunk and was hot glued to back wall of car by dealer instead of replacement). Turn signals still occasionally fail to work(dealer said they worked just fine) battery connection in factory battery broke loose spilling corrosive battery acid all over around battery tray area. All four wheel covers have been replaced because of "pie pan" noise when you hit a bump (new ones did not fix problem). After warranty was up Pontiac' care hotline or the dealer could "care " less that after dozens of trips for repairs the dealer still didn't fix the car while it was still under warranty. Since then, besides the unrepaired items on my car, the alternator went bad at 60,000 miles ($120), glass in interior rear view mirror broke while adjusting, both outside rear view mirrors have broke off in two different automatic car washes (held into door by a stud mounted into 1/4 inch of plastic in the mirror). And the ignition switch failed at 75,000 miles($300). Fog lights and backup lights have water condensation in them shorting out bulbs. Surprisingly, this car is "babied",but by in my description you sure couldn't tell it.

- Foster, KY, USA

Intake gasket failed at 78,000, two weeks later it failed again. Two and one half months later the crankshaft failed to due deterioration of bearings caused by leaking of antifreeze in the engine.

- Auburn Hills, MI, USA