24th Aug 2004, 11:26

I have a 2000 Monte Carlo SS. I love the car--had to have one. I have a little over 55,000 miles and just had to replace the transmission. It was slipping 3rd and 4th gears. My local Chevy dealer told me they could not guarantee that they could fix it. They said they thought there was a crack, but they could not find it and suggested that I go with a "new" (rebuilt) one for $2800. I contacted GM Cares and specifically asked if there were any known problems with these transmissions and was told no. I see now (too late) that this was in error. A friend of mine bought a 2003 Monte Carlo SS and had trouble with the transmission right off the lot. Did the same exact thing. They replaced his, under his warranty. After this little go round with GM, I'm going to have to think long and hard before I go with another GM product. Sorry to know that such a great car has a known problem that GM is unwilling to acknowledge.

12th Nov 2004, 10:11

I own a 2000 Monte Carlo SS and my transmission also had to be overhauled and I know at least 2 other people who have had the same problem.

10th Jun 2005, 12:32

I own a 2001 Monte Carlo SS and I have just began to notice that my transmission will shift hard even if I am not going fast. It only does it a few times a week, but it is beginning to happen more often. I have noticed it makes a strange zinging sound when it is shifting hard. The car only has 50,000 miles on it.

27th Oct 2005, 22:13

About the transmission shifting hard. It's called a pressure control solenoid. It is pulse width modulated by the power-train control module. When the solenoid goes bad, it will create full line pressure, which causes a hard shift, and a whine noise. The solenoid is inside the trans, so it must be replaced by removing the side cover. This takes "about" 4 to 5 hours.

The solenoid itself is pretty cheap, but it's not something you could really do yourself as you must support the engine, and remove the lower support cradle. After the repairs, an Alignment is needed to re-center the steering wheel... Good news is after the solenoid is replaced, they seem to stay fixed ;-)

2nd Nov 2005, 19:03

I have an automatic 2001 SS with 80,000 miles. I just took my car to the shop, due to the RPM's zinging away, but the car is only going 30mph. It is like the car is not shifting when it is suppose too. The shop is saying that it is not the transmission (hard for me to believe). That it is possible engine problems? So far they cannot tell me what is wrong. When I figure out what wrong and how much I will post an update. Thanks to everyone's comments it helps.

5th Nov 2005, 12:13

It's hard to say about the engine reving up and only going 30 mph. In some cases, the converter may be plugged, this will feel like the engine is not working, or you are towing a house... It will also cause misfires as the back pressure will un-seat the EGR valve and cause a lean condition. What kind of shop did you go to? Was it a dealer? The PCM will store any codes the trans or engine will have. If the trans is slipping, I would bet there's a code stored. The converter usually sets a p0300, p0420,p1404 etc... Most independent shops can read codes, but it depends on there scan tool on how detailed the info will be... Keep us posted.

22nd Nov 2005, 10:06

I have a 2001 Monte Carlo SS with 52,000 miles and the transmission won't shift into 3rd gear. It happened a few days ago. I had no warning the transmission was going to tear up. There was no mechanical noises and the engine light came on when it tried to shift from second to third. First and second gears work fine. I drove the car home slowly and parked it. A local transmission repair shop thinks it is a bad solenoid, like mentioned in an above post. He quoted $300-400 for the repair.

The only other problems I have had with the car is the steering wheel popping from when it was new. It happens when the car is going over small bumps and changing surfaces. It never does it on a smooth road. One dealer said they found no problem with the steering, but they did not take the car for a test drive. Another local dealer said the steering shaft slips where it enters the power steering box. They said GM told them to put grease on the steering shaft to temporarily fix the problem. There was no permanent fix, it was designed incorrectly to begin with. The steering has remained tight and responsive even though it has over 50,000 miles on it. The only major problem I have with the poping is I know it will hurt the resale value when I trade or sell it.

21st May 2006, 10:52

I have a 2006 Monte Carlo with a remote start problem. I need too be within ten yards in order for it to work. That goes for the power door remote to. HELP.

17th Aug 2006, 10:39

I have a 2000 Monte Carlo SS, and it has been acting up extremely bad. I can't drive it over 35 mph before my check engine light starts to flash at me, and my car starts to shake uncontrollably. I have had a lot of work done to it already and it still has not fixed the problem. I've changed the fuel pressure regulator, fuel filter, spark plugs and lines, catalytic converter was checked, and mass air censer was replaced, and fuel pressure was also checked, and I yet have to find out what the problem is. If anyone has any ideas on what it could possibly be, please let me know.

23rd Aug 2006, 20:43

I just bought a used car 2001 Monte Carlo. My traction control is automatically on when I turn on the car... or atleast I think it is. And when I go to turn sharp, it makes a noise then I press the traction off button and it turns off. But today the service traction light and ABS light turned on.

Also when you are idling at a stoplight, it is going about 700 rpm, but it shakes the car up a little sometimes and the rpm jumps up to 800. Could just be me being nervous, but if you could let me know that would be great.

~Lydia~

12th Feb 2007, 08:07

2001 Monte Carlo LS. About 9 months ago we had to replace the head gaskets at 55000 miles. The gaskets are plastic and my repair man said that they are likely to fail again. He said the Corvette has the same problem and he has had both Monte Carlos and Corvettes in his shop. After the repair we had to take it back twice to bleed air from the coolant system. This week we have the car in the shop again. The check engine light came on and my husband said the car seemed to jump. We are waiting to hear back from the repair shop. We'll never buy a GM again. Hello Honda.