Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||||
| 040402 | 04/04/2002 | 636485 | Subject regarding wind noise while driving. *tt | 11/08/2002 | |
| 190901 | 09/19/2001 | 626222 | Customers may complain of a water leak at the center of the windshield or from the overhead console. *slc | 12/13/2001 | |
| 191000 | 10/19/2000 | 617657 | Subject regarding concerns of hard starts caused by poor contact to connector seal c305, wiring harness shapes at the radiator core support, the accumulator stud and the transmission bell housing, starter relay branch chase at the serpentin | 03/22/2001 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||||
| 01933 | 01/01/2004 | 01933A | 10007833 | Water leaks at overhead console map. *tt | 07/12/2004 |
| 030857003 | 09/01/2003 | 10004336 | Front carpet wet after extended driving. *tt | 12/02/2003 | |
| 01362 | 11/18/2003 | 10004143 | Water leak into jack compartment with power sliding door. *tt | 11/19/2003 | |
| 020858003 | 06/01/2002 | 634510 | Some customers may comment that road noise can be heard coming from the area behind the front seats. *tt | 10/03/2002 | |
| 020867006 | 06/01/2002 | 634513 | Some customers may comment that there is rust forming around the front or rear portion of the roof. *tt | 10/03/2002 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||||
| 050402 | 04/05/2002 | 636509 | Issue regarding excessive road noise most prevalent in the sliding door areas, left, right or both. *tt | 11/09/2002 | |
| 020864011 | 05/01/2002 | 634619 | Some customers may comment that the power sliding door will reverse on closing or the door will appear closed, but the alarm will come on when the transmission is moved out of park. *tt | 10/03/2002 | |
| 070102 | 01/07/2002 | 629666 | Subject regarding recall 01013 and 01059 power sliding doors. *tt | 04/04/2002 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - HOOD | |||||
| 010851004A | 01/01/2003 | 010851004 | 10000948 | Premature aluminum hood corrosion / blistering. *tt | 04/04/2003 |
| 010851004 | 10/01/2001 | 627616 | Information regarding premature aluminum hood corrosion. *yh | 02/13/2002 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - ROOF AND PILLARS | |||||
| 020867006B | 03/01/2003 | 020867006A | 10001276 | Roof perforation. *tt | 04/25/2003 |
| 020864006A | 12/01/2002 | 020867006 | 10000746 | Roof perforation. *tt | 03/28/2003 |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | ||||||
| SQ00014 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 07/25/2000 | 10/22/2001 | UNEXPECTED OPENING OF SLIDING DOOR | 01V067000 | |
| There is no summary currently available | ||||||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | ||||||
| PE04064 | GENERAL MOTORS CORP. | 09/17/2004 | 12/22/2004 | POWER-SLIDING DOOR | 04V597000 | |
| Subject vehicles are available with an optional power sliding door.the interior handle is oriented in the vertical position in the door panel and lines up at the elbow level when the occupant is seated in the 2nd-row outboard position.if the occupant holds the interior handle in the thumb up position during power-assisted opening, the arm/wrist can be push back with force against the 2nd-row bucket seat or captain's chair seat back creating a risk of injury (other seating configurations have ample seat to door clearance to avoid entrapment of the lower arm).among the 103 total reports, there were 102 alleged injuries including arm/wrist, thumb and shoulder injuries.a count of injuries reveals that 76 injuries were a fractured or a broken arm/wrist requiring an immobilizing cast for four-to-six weeks.all injuries involve the right side power sliding door.the left side power sliding door is on far fewer vehicles, but more importantly, it produces less force.gm notified the agency by letter dated december 21, 2004, that it will recall model year 1997 though early 2005 gm u-van vehicles equipped with a right side power sliding door and with 2nd-row bucket seats or captain chairs (nhtsa recall #04v597).as part of the recall remedy, gm will replace the door handle with a flush mounted handle that will prevent an occupant from grasping the handle with the palm between the handle and door panel (thumb up orientation) and thus eliminate the potential for arm/wrist entrapment.this investigation is closed. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||
| 07/10/2005 | 100200 | 1 | 05/05/2005 |
| Welding at the base of the driver's seat separated in my 2000 pontiac montana van. the vehicle had no accident, event leading to the failure is unknown. base of the driver's seat is moving with the seat, there is a 1/2 inch gap on the bottom of the car at the welding. took the vehicle to pontiac dealership where it has been inspected. while they could not give an explanation what could have caused the failure, pontiac customer service thinks it is normal to have such a defect in a 5 year-old vehicle due to fatigue of metal... | |||
| 07/17/2003 | 49360 | 2 | |
| Problems with transmission and molding strips on sliding doors.*mr a vehicle with only 49360 miles the solenoid went out on the transmission costing $914.04 in repairs. on each sliding door, there was a long black rubber molding strip on the bottom of the door frame that kept falling down in to the door track. the consumer hoped that the dealership can resolve problems with defective vehicles, because it seemed to be a major safety concern and could result in a tragedy. *cb *jb | |||
| 11/15/2002 | 43000 | ||
| There have been many problems, most notable recently when the driver's side sliding door feel off at 45000 miles. gm won't pay, it's not "under warranty". this door has had continual problems with hitting the front door upon closing. repair was supposed to have been made but obviously ineffectual due to evidence of chipped paint at the site where dors collide. could this have precipitated the door falling off? supposedly their was an adjustment made, could this adjustment been made incorrectly to damage the door? i feel it is unacceptable that this door has fallen off my car at 45000 miles. | |||
| 08/02/2001 | 29885 | 7 | 12/30/1999 |
| Problems with paint, gaskets, brakes and cooling system. *mr there was a hissing noise which had come from the tire area due to misalignment, low coolant light had come on, the gaskets ,oil pump and drive o-ring were replaced, the brake pedal had gone to the floor while stopped at a light which happened more than twice and seemed as if they weren't going to work at all and had to pump the pedal to bring the pedal back enough to allow stopping. there was an incident where the consumer had to activate the emergency brake to avoid an accident. the warning light never had come on. the master cylinder was replaced, the front brake pads, resurfaced rotors, cleaned and adjusted rear brakes. other problems are as followed: the trim on the driver side windshield had come apart, the handle on the back latch had come off, and both turn signal bulbs needed to be replaced. *scc *jb | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||
| 09/20/2008 | 1 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2000 pontiac montana. the contact received a recall notice regarding the door handles on her vehicle. she was experiencing issues with the locks on the rear driver's side doors because they could not be opened from inside the passenger compartment. nhtsa campaign id number 04v597000 (latches/locks/linkages:doors) was similar to the failures the contact was experiencing; however, the manufacturer stated that they would not repair the defect under this recall because the failure was not involved with the previous recall that was issued. the current mileage is 116000. updated 02-18-09 the sliding door didnot open from the inside. updated 02/18/09. *jb | |||
| 04/07/2008 | 120000 | 20 | 08/01/2007 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2000 pontiac montana. the contact stated that her daughter's leg became trapped on the rear sliding passenger door. the door is supposed to retract when an object is blocking the sensor. the contact also stated that the driver side door locks on its own. the dealer was notified, but would not provide a free diagnosis. the contact feels that the manufacturer should pay for the repair costs because she is making payments on the vehicle. the current mileage was 150,000 and failure mileage was 120,000. | |||
| 02/01/2008 | 50000 | 4 | 09/10/2003 |
| I have 3 children, one disabled. i should have known from day 1 when the manual sliding door broke two weeks after purchase. almost killed my disabled child when it sprang open on him. dealer, said he broke it, a child with full body muscle disorders who can't lift a brick. now we have had unending problems with the engine, coolant levels, the car smells like burnt plastic often, times when i went to start it, nothing happened. now i am told that the engine will seize soon. interesting since i always changed the fluids on time and i have only owned it for 5 years. both side doors do not work, automatic works sometimes, manual comes off the track. one of the rear passenger seats does not fold properly. the car often feels as though it has bad gas jerking back and forth while driving it. i am afraid, i have three kids in the car usually. i need a car and now with no money and no ability to buy a new one, i am told that the car will seize if i do not spend $4000 to replace the engine. i am getting a second opinion but from what i am reading, it seems feudal. shame on gm!! why wasn't this car recalled??? this is a van, a family car!!! you want to kill children???? i am writing my congressman and the better business bureau. this car should have been taken out of circulation until the problems were ironed out. if something happens to my children, i will make it my personal crusade to shut down all gm plants. the amount of money i put into this car is ridiculous when i had a 20 year old volvo that is still running. shame on america! this is why our industries are failing and we must turn to foreign countries. so i have a car that i do not know what to do with. i seriously have no money to replace the engine nor buy a new car. i have children in 3 different schools the oldest needing therapies each day that i must drive him to. what am i to do? *tr | |||
| 06/25/2007 | 98751 | 1 | 11/01/2005 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2000 pontiac montana. as the passenger side sliding door was closing, a child reached into the vehicle to press the button to open the sliding door. however, the sliding door continued to close and smashed the child's right hand. the child's hand sustained cuts and bruises. the contact had to restart the vehicle and press the button to release the door. the dealer has not inspected the vehicle. the current and failure mileages were 98,751. | |||
| 05/16/2006 | 1 | ||
| Power sliding door needs a tremendous amount of pressure to reverse closing and could cause serious harm. fuel level indicator moves up and down randomly once the tank gets below 1/3. pressure control solenoid failing after 65000 miles causing very hard up-shifting after transmission warms up. *nm | |||
| 11/11/2005 | 60000 | 1 | 11/22/1999 |
| After two recalls from gm over several months. dealer avoids repairs. right elec. sliding door recalled for hazardous inside handle. could brake fingers. no correction was been attempted. dealer avoids ordering parts so replacement can't take place. *nm | |||
| 01/08/2005 | 88852 | 2 | 03/07/2001 |
| The door comes unlatched from the pontiac montana mini vans w/o power slider also. subsequently my van door passanger side came open slamming off half on the road and then remained attached to the top but the track wheel snapped off, making it inpossible to put on with out tools and the muscles to even lift it. *ak | |||
| 09/30/2004 | 48000 | 1 | 05/01/2004 |
| The power sliding door closed unexpectedly bruising the passenger. the door was unable to open immediately when the owner pressed the button. the manufacturer was contacted and is aware of the problem. *jb the consumer stated that he pushed the button to close the door and it closed on his wifes leg. the consumer requests that the doors include a safety device that stops when contact is made. *tc | |||
| 07/15/2003 | 1 | 08/20/2001 | |
| I read of your investigation in automotive news. my 12 yr old daughter's wrist was broken last summer while attempting to open the door of our 2000 montana. she grabbed the handle from inside and as the door moved open it bent her wrist backward. it didn't stop, despite the resistance. it was broken in the growth plate and did not require a cast but was splinted for 2 weeks. *jb pe04064.pco | |||
| 06/24/2003 | 23800 | 1 | 02/09/2000 |
| The left front pretensioner was open and had to be replaced. the air bag light stayed on, which was caused by the faulty seat belt tensioner. *ts. also the power sliding door did not return when it was opened | |||
| Automatic sliding door has sensor that failed to respond if occupant was not clear of closing. this allowed door to continuously close even with pressure applied by owner. please describe details. *ak | |||
| 1 | |||
| Consumer states that the sliding door on driver side keeps coming open, will not latch. dealer contacted , can not identify problem.*jb | |||
| 01/06/2002 | 1 | 01/01/2000 | |
| Consumer's hand got caught in the handle of the sliding door, causing consumer's wrist to twist and break. once the door has started to open there is no way to stop it from opening. dealer and manufacturer have been notified. *ak pe04064.pco | |||
| 07/01/2001 | |||
| Electronic door inside of vehicle opened and closed intermittently. dealership was aware of problem.*ak | |||
| 09/04/2001 | 1 | ||
| The child inadverntly hit the button to close the door and was close to the door when it closed and caught her upper arm | |||
| 09/01/2001 | |||
| While putting child in backseat sliding passenger door closed on consumer, and did not open as it should. instead it pinned her between door and frame of vehicle. on 20 oct0ber 2001 while driving 70 mph same sliding door opened. both recalls on sliding door had been done prior to this. consumer took vehicle back to dealer 3 times after recall repairs were done, unable to remedy problem. *ak | |||
| 07/01/2001 | 2 | 03/01/2000 | |
| My three year old daughter was starting to enter our minivan as the power sliding door was closing. she reached in to stop the door and reverse it (by pressing the interior button)and the door closed on her hand and shut. an adult had to come and open the door before her hand could be freed. the door is supposed to reverse when resistance is encountered. i have tried to stop the door and the amount of resistance it takes to stop this door would bruise my arm and definately crush her hand or any other body part including her head. luckily only one side of her hand was stuck and severely bruised and now swolen and bruised across her knuckles and down her hand. the power of this door exceeds any power brought about by a garage door and they seem to have higher safetly standards than a minivan which is geared toward familes with children. i brought this to pontiac's attention and received no explanation or answers. i think there should be a beam, as in garage doors, or an adjustment to the resistance needed to reverse the door before more serious accidents occur.*ak | |||
| 06/08/2001 | 4 | ||
| Recall 01v067000 repairs were done. soon after sliding door would open up on its own. vehicle taken to dealer 4 times, could not remedy. consumer currently had more problems with sliding door than prior to recall being preformed.*ak consumer states sliding door continues to open while in motion, vehicle is currently at dealer for consideration in a vehicle buy back. *slc | |||
| 06/06/2001 | |||
| Recall 01v067000 on sliding door performed. currently, door does not open automatically. consumer had to put setting for door to manual. dealer stated recall was done. *ak | |||
| 03/17/2001 | 1 | 04/17/2000 | |
| When consumer purchased vehicle he was told that rear sliding power door would stop closing quickly if he were to hold it. his wife was in door way when consumer accidently closed it, and wife was pinned by door. consumer was unable to stop door.*ak consumer's wife was bruised very badly. *slc | |||
| 05/01/2000 | 1 | ||
| Consumer complaint is against design of the power sliding door. a child would not be capable of stopping door from closing because child could not use enough pressure to stop door. *consumer did receive notification for a recall, stating that door can automatically open while in operation. consumer is taking vehicle in for repairs. however ,this is a separate issue.*ak the sliding door closes very forcefully and the consumer was concerned ablout the potential danger of the door. *yh | |||
| 02/12/2001 | |||
| Power door would intermittently or not at all open from both sides. vehicle been into dealershop, and problem still reoccurring. please feel free to provide any further details on this matter . *ak | |||
| 02/01/2000 | |||
| Once the automatic sliding door is activated it can only be stopped by a button, no amount of pressure will stop the door from closing. the manual states that the amount of pressure will have to increase as it gets closer to the closing point, but we (service guy) and myself could not stop after an inch of movement. have tried this on other montana's with the same result. since no force can stop this door, people or things could get caught. looking for it to operate like an elevator door esentially. when enough force is applied the door stops or reverses. there is an override in the car to disable the automatic door, but then it is so dificult to open manually that it is not a desireable situation. | |||
| 02/01/2000 | |||
| Once the automatic sliding door is activated it can only be stopped by a button, no amount of pressure will stop the door from closing. the manual states that the amount of pressure will have to increase as it gets closer to the closing point, but we (service guy) and myself could not stop after an inch of movement. have tried this on other montana's with the same result. since no force can stop this door, people or things could get caught. looking for it to operate like an elevator door esentially. when enough force is applied the door stops or reverses. there is an override in the car to disable the automatic door, but then it is so dificult to open manually that it is not a desireable situation. *ak | |||
| 09/30/1999 | 100 | 09/01/1999 | |
| Passenger side power sliding door does not close all the time. it has a failure rate of about 30% of the time. vehicle has been back to the dealer six times, and neither gm or dealer can fix it. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR - HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS | |||
| 05/17/2001 | |||
| Driver' s side sliding door flew open and off tracks. dealer has been notified.*ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE - SUPPORT DEVICE | |||
| 08/08/2005 | 37182 | 6 | 01/07/2000 |
| New march 2000. van always receives regular maintenance. the following is a history of repairs: 4/00 windshield wipers would not return to closed position - dealer fixed. 12/03 (37,179 mi) tps sensor breaking down causing idle to surge - dealer replaced throttle position sensor, completed reprogram ($255.14) 12/03 (37,182 mi) air bag light coming on - dealer replaced right front seat belt buckle under warranty (labor $134.51). 12/27/03 (37,555 mi) was in collision (other vehicle pulled out in front of me as i was coming down small overpass, he was cited). my van sustained $4,500 in front end damages, his car was totaled. my air bags did not deploy. no one injured. 5/04 (40,983 mi) rear hatch would not stay up - dealer replaced both hatch props ($258.73) 7/04 (43,437 mi) van was shifting hard, would not pick up speed correctly. dealer replaced pressure control solenoid, flushed transmission and replaced front brake pads and machined rotors ($986.48). 12/04 (48,284 mi) van would not start on several occasions. known independent repair shop replaced battery, checked oil leak. ($114.90). 4/05 (51,646 mi) low coolant light /check engine light coming on. same independent repair shop replaced intake gaskets, thermostat, spark plugs and filter, and oil pump shaft 0-ring. corrected air bag light ($791.03) 6/05 purchased new tires and were told needed all new tie rods. we went on vacation july 9, 2005 (ohio to virginia and back). concerned that the van shook terribly when applying the brakes on long downgrades through wv and va. we were towing nothing. the very next day, after returning home, the van would not start consistently. 7/05 (56,533 mi) told that the computer crashed. same independent repair shop replaced ecm, crank sensor, ign module and machined front rotors which if you remember were just done in july of 2004 ($982.02). after researching the track record of pontiac montana, have found that many consumers having the same problems. *nm | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS | |||
| 12/26/2003 | 68000 | 1 | 05/14/2002 |
| Driver side rear strut/shock mount, part of the inner wheelhouse assy., rusted at a weld and cracked in both directions, not sure when it happened but it has been like that for a long time. the crack is rusted all the way down the crack in both directions until the ripped part starts where the part finally failed. then it ripped out driving down the road. van has never been wrecked. took it to the gm dealership they said it was a defective part, body shop that fixed it said the same thing. after three months and many phone calls to the dealer (s) we have finally got it to the point where they are calling it a product liability . took a gm rep. to take the time to come and see it. originally they did not bother since they were originally calling it a warranty issue and were blowing us off. the general manager at the dealership has been very helpful however. after he looked at it he reopened the case , but they dont seam to be very helpful at the customer service number that is supposed to be organizing this whole thing. and no one there returns phone calls. i have taken a lot of high quality digital pictures, and still have the part. *nm | |||