2000 Pontiac Bonneville Engine Problems

Which parts fail

• Engine
  9
• Engine › Gasoline
  4
• Exhaust system › Manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
  4
• Cooling system
  2
• Engine › Gasoline › Belts and associated pulleys
  2
• Cooling system › Fan
  2

Components named in complaints (engine, cooling system, oil leaks, timing chain, exhaust).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  517%
• 25k–50k
  13%
• 50k–75k
  1240%
• 75k–100k
  413%
• 100k–150k
  620%
• 150k+
  27%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2000 Pontiac Bonneville owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

This 2000 Pontiac Bonneville 3.8l with approximately 195K miles was operating normally over the last 72 hours. It had been driven approximately 300 miles between 12/16 and 12/18 @ 12:50 pm the date of the fire.that cold morning (8 degrees f) it was driven 10 miles rt @ 9 am, 20 miles rt between 10:30 and noon, and then sat for approximately 1/2 hour before it was driven 5 miles to a local store by my son. When he arrived at the store/gas station he parked near the pumps and when he shut off engine to go into store, smelled burning smoke from the front of the car. He opened the hood and was greeted by active flames coming from the front of the engine. The fire was subsequently extinguished and the burned part of the engine was the top and front left quarter (facing the vehicle). The anti-freeze reservoir was melted through.

Tl contact owns a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville. While driving at any speed, oil leaked onto the intake exhaust manifold. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign id number 07035, which states that drops of engine oil being deposited on the exhaust manifold through hard braking causes smoke that can ignite into small flames. Once the heat or air conditioning is activated, a burnt oil smell enters the passenger compartment. The failure mileage was 110,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was not able to restart. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer however, an independent mechanic came to review the vehicle was unable to diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

We are trying to find out if anyone knows of problems with GM Pontiac Bonneville's plastic upper exhaust manifold. We own a 2000 Bonneville with 83K mileage. The plastic manifold exploded while trying to start the car. We are trying to resolve this with GM at this time. We learned that this has occurred before with other year bonnevilles.

Consumer parked his vehicle in the garage, approximately 5 to 15 minutes later the vehicle caught fire. Half of consumer's home was destroyed. The next door neighbor alerted the consumer that smoke was coming from the garage. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire. No injuries were reported.

Engine fire experienced by consumer on 2000 Pontiac Bonneville. While driving the consumer's vehicle caught on fire under the hood. The consumer stated that the government investigated the 3.8 liter engines because 44 owners complained of engine fires due to a faulty intake manifold.

While driving the vehicle for half an hour, consumer parked the vehicle in the front of the house and ten minutes later it caught on fire. Flames came from under the hood. Dealer has been notified. Ph

I smelled a burning odor in my Bonneville ssei. The local GM dealer, on the incident date in this form, told me the cause was oil dripping on the exhaust manifold and that it was a fire hazard. Upon further investigation, I found an existing NHTSA action number (ea07008) for the exact problem I am having for the exact 3800 series ii v6 l67 GM engine. There were 2 recalls for cars with this engine, but my Pontiac model was not included (even though it has the exact same engine). The NHTSA campaign id numbers associated with the recalls are 08V118000 & 09V116000. I escalated this problem within GM and they told me to take the vehicle back to the GM dealer for another inspection. The GM dealer verified that my engine is the same as the recalled engine and that I have the same problem. GM refused to fix the problem because my vehicle's VIN wasn't specifically included in the recalls. …

I have had my 2000 Bonneville in the shop several times for various reasons. My radio had to be replaced, my drivers side window stopped working and they replaced the motor, now my passenger side window does not work and needs to be repaired. My trunk leaked and was told the extended warrenty did not cover it and the expense was on me. My air conditioner would blow cold air and then hot air or not blow cold air at all, it was in the shop 2-3 times for that. Now my car hesitates when speeding up and you can feel it jerking into gear when it shifts between 1st and 2nd gear or 2nd and 3rd. For this reason I had my transmission fluid replaced and an additive put in and was told this should take care of the problem. It has not!! My next step is to take it back to the dealership to find the problem. Is there anything I should know about concerning the transmission jerking, recalls,etc..?

2000 Pontiac Bonneville se with 56000 miles. Coolant leak due to defective plenum, Pontiac had replaced throttle body nuts 3 each p/n 011517293, 4 each cooling s, p/n012378254 and 58 each cooling e, p/n012377963, at dealership 10/27/03 with 35499 miles on car under customer satisfaction recall, now at 56000 miles plenum is bad and repair at dealership is estimated at several hundred dollars which the dealer claims that the above repair done 10/27/03 covered the plenum problems and state that current problem not covered. After some research found that a lot of other owners are having the same problems and that the service done 2003 was not a proper repair because some of the parts used to repair the leaking coolant was to add stop leak pellets to the cooling system to patch parts that are clearly defective and should have been replaced.

NHTSA investigations

Engine complaints in other Bonneville years