engine problem
8.4
pretty badTypical Repair Cost:
$1,751.00
Average Mileage:
87,401 miles
Number of complaints:
18 complaints
Most common solutions:
- replace lower intake manifold gasket (6 reports)
- had to replace the engine (3 reports)
- GM should have alerted owners to this potential problem (2 reports)
- gm should recall and fix them (2 reports)
- not sure (2 reports)
- you have to replace the intake, mfg. defect (2 reports)
Helpful Websites About 1999 Pontiac Montana intake manifold gasket failure
2007Jun 01
Montana Extended Van 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 120,000 miles
Yet another complaint about the 1999 Pontiac Montana Van. I purchased mine about 2 years ago and have had numerous problems. The latest and worst problem is my lower intake manifold gasket. I haven't replaced it yet but will in the near future unless I can sell it before then. I have been noticing an antifreeze smell for a while now but have not been able to locate the leak. I know it is going somewhere because I am having to add antifreeze every few days. I have also been noticing an oily film in my coolant reservoir even after changing my coolant. After reading this website I am confident that it is my lower intake manifold gasket. Add me to the list for the class action lawsuit. This is wrong what they are doing to us! They shouldn't be able to get away with this!
2007Jan 20
Montana 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 130,000 miles
I have a 1999 Pontiac Montana and I think its cursed!! I had the lower intake repaired
last year, and now this year I had the lower intake fixed again and I have to replace both heads that are leaking too!! The total cost between last year and this year totals
around $4,000 dollars. Between what I paid for the piece of crap and all the repairs I have done, I could be driving a fairly new dependable car. Pontiac is losing customers because of their lack of attention to this problem. I wanted a montana for a long time and I was so excited to get one, now I wish someone has only warned me first. I have always loved pontiacs but I have to say that I will never own a pontiac again, I will be a loyal ford customer now!
2006Sep 14
Montana Extended 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 140,000 miles
I have a 1999 Pontiac Montana that had the annoying intake gasket problem. I managed to run mine to 140,000 miles until the antifreeze poured down the side of the block and the motor overheated. It started leaking antifreeze about 100,000 miles but I am not going to take the engine out and rebuild the top half with that many miles on it. So I ran it till it couldn't run anymore. I bought a crate motor and put it in myself for 2000 dollars which includes all brand new sensors. Before I put it in, I discarded the original junk plastic intake gasket and bought a new aftermarket metal gasket which is by far superior. Also I thought the torque specs were kind of loose for the intake manifold bolts, so I increased the torque values x2 when I tightened the bolts. I now have 40,000 miles on my new motor and it runs a lot better.
2007Nov 03
Montana EX 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 80,000 miles
I'm really upset that this happened. I was driving and over a period of time, the low coolant light came on. This happened for a couple weeks and which time I would continue putting more antifreeze into the coolant chamber. I ended up putting some stop leak in my radiator to stop the leak. The gasket must have went out without my knowledge and allowed the stop leak into the motor which gummed up the motor and caused the motor to freeze.
2007Sep 24
(reported on)Montana 3.4L
- Automatic transmission
- 80,000 miles
Pontiac really goofed on this design. After reading some of the complaints of other GM victims, I don't feel quite "so all alone" now. I've read several whom mentioned their interest in a class action suit. Count me in. Owning a Pontiac is one of the best reasons I know of for have a second auto for backup. Apparently, GM is not known for customer satisfaction. There now, I still have a pain in the - er- wallet but I feel some better.......
2007Apr 02
(reported on)Montana 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 125,000 miles
Pontiac customer service was no help at all because the car was not covered by warranty. I really wonder why the 3.4L V6 engine was not recalled. It has had a history of intake manifold gasket failure, one that is surely a bigger safety issue than the door knob that received a recall notice. Very disappointed in Pontiac's lack of interest in this problem. Blogs like these can be a lifesaver!
2007Mar 17
(reported on)Montana 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 40,000 miles
This seems to be a chronic problem that eventually will damage the motor severely. In our case an intake manifold leak began at 40,000 miles. A moderate amount of antifreeze began to leak. When we contacted our dealer we were told sorry it is out of warranty and will cost anywhere from 1000 to 1200 dollars to fix because the whole motor had to be pulled in order to reach and change the intake manifold. I fortunately had a friend, who was a former GM mechanic, he told me this was a very common problem with these particular engines. His suggestion was not to change the intake manifold gaskets until the leak became much worse than it was at the time. Along with this he told me GM had a specific radiator and engine stopleak especially used for this problem. I went to GM and bought a package of 8 tablets, made of a vegetable combination, and added this to my radiator. This seemed to seal the leak significantly. I nursed the vehicle along adding these stopleak tablets every 15 to 20 thousand miles, whenever the leak would reappear. Finally at 98,000 miles I had to have the intake manifold gaskets replaced when finally the stopleak would do no good. I had to add more stopleak after about 20,000 miles again after this repair. Now at 130,000 miles the engine has basically locked up. It is kind of a shame because it seems like it would have never lasted this long if I hadn't been monitoring and nursing along a , what seems to be, defective engine to begin with. I can't help but feel that this leakage finally ruined the engine and GM knew about the problem and could have solved it with a recall and repair that should have actually fixed the problem.
2007Mar 14
(reported on)Montana Base 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 75,000 miles
I have owned this vehicle since new. Always well maintained and never abused. First time this happened was at 75K miles... had it repaired via a Pontiac dealer for ~$800. Now at 110K miles it has it is leaking beyond the point to drive it! i cannot beleave that I need to spend another $800 or more now to have this GM known issue for a second time! Where is the Class Action Suit!!!
2007Mar 09
(reported on)Montana 3.4L V6
- Automatic transmission
- 121,000 miles
Add me to the list... 3 years of smelling leaking A/F (gave up on dexicool a while ago), took it to dealer for a "free oil change" and they told me that the leak I could not find was the intake gasket. Very happy to have found this website - will pursue the issue of a class action suit. In the meantime I will research procedure to replace gaskets myself and save about $700!!!
2006Jun 25
(reported on)Montana EXT
- 78,000 miles
Motor intake gasket failed with no warning. Engine overheated and warped heads. Installed new motor because used motors were under such demand that you cannot find a good one. I am a relatively experienced person from a mechanical standpoint and this thing still got me. I check my oil weekly and my radiator fluid on a monthly basis. No symptoms until it went out. I would love to get involved in some form of class action due to the volume of this problem. GM should be held accountable for yet another piece of junk. This problem would nailed Mr. Goodwrench himself. I had no warning. $4500 and all I have is a new motor and a junk van.
2006Jun 28
(reported on)Montana
- 87,000 miles
the failure caused corrosion in my engine which ruined the engine and only thing to do is to buy a new engine or used engine, because a company that knows there is a problem won't do a recall probably because it cost too much to fix the problem so they don't back their product. I want to find out information about class action lawsuit so if anybody knows of any please let me know rjdyke@comcast.net
2007Jan 20
(reported on)Montana V6
- Automatic transmission
- 50,000 miles
This problem was fixed about 3 years ago, and now the part is going again and GM said they wouldn't cover it because the van is too old! It's a defective part! They should recall and fix them properly!!!!
2006Oct 30
(reported on)Montana
- Automatic transmission
- 60,000 miles
Went to the dealership after calling PontiacCares to get 50% off of the $800 bill to replace intake gasket. Antifreeze was going too fast to keep up. 18 months later it is leaking again and Pontiac tells me it is only warrantied for 12 months. I talked to a 'Good' mechanic this time and he said he does a lot of them and replaces the gasket with an aftermarket gasket that has a steel inside. He also replaces the plug seal nearby that he told me was leaking. He charged about $460 for the repair, by the way. To make things worse, I called the dealership and they did not replace the plug because it didn't seem to be leaking, but it was RIGHT there and takes 2 seconds to replace. I am so done with dealerships and have not had one good repair experience yet (except at a Honda dealership).
2006Jul 21
(reported on)Montana EX
- 83,225 miles
there seems to be no end to the overheating problems in this car. had to replace the lower intake manifold gasket.
2004Jul 15
(reported on)Montana
- 54,000 miles
Replaced upper intake gasket (aka head gasket). GM Service Rep stated this is a very common repair for 3.4L and 3.1L GM engines. He suggested that a private shop perform the repairs as Dealership cost for the repair is excessive.
Private shop mechanic stated that he can make a living from repairing the GM head gaskets.
Found presentation from GM Powertrain stating the excessive frequency of head gasket failures. The presentation suggests solutions to the problem that include a thicker gasket, and increased torque on the bolts that hold the head on the engine.
2003Apr 11
(reported on)Montana ES
- 60,000 miles
I have had two GM mechanics tell me (off the record of course) that they cannot keep intakes on the shelf because so many of these intakes are cracking. Pontiac sort of admits the problem on the Bonnevilles but not on the Montana. It doesn't matter that the motor is the same. What really gripes me is the dealer I have purchased two brand new vehicles from did not back up their product. I will not be purchasing another vehicle from Heritage Automotive.
2003Jul 28
(reported on)Montana
- 70,000 miles
On our return trip from vacation (2 1/2 hrs from home) our engine light came on. There was no smoke or overheating yet. However, when we checked the coolant it was all gone. We did not know where it went. After another hr., the temperature gauge started into the red, we pulled over again and the engine stopped. The intake manifold gasket failed allowing coolant to mix with oil in the engine causing total engine failure. We had to tow or van to an authorized GM garage. GM has not given us any help yet with the $4,100 we spent to get a new engine. We currently are trying the BBB route. However, several attorneys in Kansas City and San Fransisco are gathering information for a class action lawsuit. If you had this specific repair done on your GM vehicle (yrs. 1995-2000) they need to know your story. To be continued.
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
2007Apr 01
Montana Extended Van 3.4L V6
Hey guys I have good news for at least some of us anyways. I was doing some research about this lower intake manifold gasket problem and it turns out that there is a settlement being offered from GM. It not much but anything is better than nothing. There are certain conditions for you to qualify. To see if you qualify go to this link: go to (http://www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool.html#faq_1). Unfortunately they can't help me but maybe they can help you. You need to hurry though because time is limited.
Frank F.
Longview, TX, USA
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