My 99 Montana (70,030 miles but never a problem) failed on us about 15 miles East of hagerstown md while returning to pittsburgh from ocean city on 7/13/2003. The short story is that the engine failed with little prior warning and had to be replaced. There was a catastrophic failure of the intake manifold gasket, I have it as well as photos. The leaking coolant mixed with the engine oil and the resulting emulsified combination resulted in a ruined engine in a very short time. The engine had new oil because I changed it on 7/5 at 69,000 miles as specified in owner's manual prior to leaving pittsburgh. I still have the old oil in my garage and it is in good condition. I had the van towed 180 miles to my dealer, the power of bowser, so that they could tell me that there's nothing they or GM can do for me. The local GM service rep looked at it on 7/17 and said no goodwill warranty as did the people at Pontiac customer relations. (1-800-pmcares should be 1-800-wesayno). The people GM "empowers" to make these decisions are not technically trained such that they can even understand what happened and yet they make the decision that it's tough luck. I wouldn't be so upset about this situation if I had done something that contributed to the failure of the engine. But, I'm a fanatic, I change my oil every 3K and do all the other stuff that's recommended in the owner's manual. There is no way that a competently designed and manufactured engine should experience the type of failure that the engine in my Montana had. I've had no choice but to have the engine replaced at a cost of $4,100. I just paid it off in May. The fact that GM has internally recognized a problem with the gasket via internal service bulletins and didn't give their customers this information is malpractice as far as I'm concerned. I'd be in jail if I did this in my work. We pursued action with the BBB auto line but, were turned down for an arbitration hearing based on the mileage.

- Elizabeth, PA, USA

Intake manifold leaking coolant into the engine oil on my 3.4 liter engine. After complaining to Pontiac & the BBB, GM offered to pay 50% of the repair cost. Faulty oxygen sensor & leaking fuel pressure regulator oh December 16, 2003. Since original complaint, keyless remote failed on 7/15/03 & seat belt pretensioner failed causing airbag light to go on, July 28, 2003

- Rosemount, MN, USA

Engine: Intake manifold gasket leaking. I followed thru with a complaint to the BBB and to Pontiac's 800 number. I was told I needed to have the van diagnosed at a GM dealer before anything could be done by Pontiac. My dealer quality Pontiac in cocoa, Florida looked at the van and agreed the intake manifold gasket was leaking (November 2002). Quality informed me it would be about $500 to repair. A phone call to Pontiac's 800 # put pressure on the dealer and they performed the work for $100 plus extra for a coolant flush. The total was around $180. Supposedly the work came with a 12 month 12000 mile warranty. I think the van had 58000 miles on it when this work was performed. Looking back I have a feeling it started leaking earlier. Today we have 70500 miles on the van and the check engine light is coming on. The codes indicate that engine cylinder 5 is misfiring. We had new spark plugs put in and will now try new spark plug wires. If that doesn't fix it then we may need to put in new fuel injectors. My complaints to date with this vehicles are: 1. original tires wore out at 24000 miles $500 2. battery died in the first two years. $0 3. drivers side seat belt retractor failed $ 156 - airbag light came on. 4. intake manifold gasket failed $180 5. sliding power door module failed 4 times. $0 6. front brakes drums warped at ~35000 miles $250. Front rotors cut and pads replaced. 7. windshield buzzed from the day we bought it (2 years) and took us threatening the lemon law to get it fixed.

- Merritt Island, FL, USA

At roughly 2K miles, the transmission was replaced. Then again at 28K miles, another replacement. Both were covered under warranty, but I tried to get the local dealer and GM to buy it back since it was untrustworthy for my family. The most my threats could do was get an extended 60K/$0 deductable warranty out of GM. Then at 56.5K miles, the intake manifold gasket problem got me. This also resulted in a water pump replacement.

- Madison, AL, USA

Cracked intake valve

- Grand Blanc, MI, USA

At 54K miles the intake gasket required replacement on a 1999 Pontiac Montana with a 3.4L engine. Had been told that it had been leaking coolant outside the engine block for some time. Local certified mechanic performed gasket repair stating that he has replace many gaskets on the General Motors 3.4L engines. More than he could count. The bolts holding the two pieces of the engine together with the gasket between are finger tight in most cases. I have obtained a presentation from GM powertrain explaining why gaskets leak on the 3.4L engine. Presentation suggests modifications to the gasket and to bolt torque settings. I was told by the above mentioned mechanic that there is a more robust gasket for the repair along revised torque settings for the bolts and suggested application of loctite to the engine bolts to prevent them from backing out.

- Rochester Hills, MI, USA

Complete engine failure and radiator slude on 1999 Pontiac Montana as a result of dex-cool coolant

- Portland, TN, USA

I own a 1999 Pontiac Montana and at 54,000 miles began experiencing loss of oil and coolant. I took to a repair shop and was told that my intake manifold upper and lower gaskets need to be replaced, as well as my thermostat and gasket. Quote $900 for repairs.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

Temperature gauge failed.

- Los Angele, CA, USA