24th Apr 2006, 10:18

Guys.

Before anyone goes out and dumps huge money into their trannys: 1997-2002 Pontiac Bonneville and Grand Prix transmissons have a problem with the pressure solenoid in the transmission that causes them to shift hard, whine, etc etc. This won't always happen every trip or to every owner, but mine started doing it back at 57,000 miles, and I just had the solenoid replaced for 175 bucks round trip by my mechanic. Car runs great now and no transmission replacement necessary.

The problem isn't always as bad as it looks!

3rd May 2006, 15:11

All -

I've owned a Pontiac Grand Prix GT since April 2002, at the time of purchase it had 26,600 miles. It now has 113,000 miles.

The only real problems I've had with it is with the brakes (heavy car, replace brakes often), especially the emergency brake locking up the rear discs and causing them to grind down to nothing. This happened twice in the past 4 years.

I've also replaced the shocks twice, due to the lovely streets in our town.

I have experienced some 'hard' shifting, but that is usually when shifting into reverse - usually a sign of tranny issues. I plan to have it checked soon.

8th May 2006, 17:36

I have a 2001 Grand Prix with about 50,000 miles on it about a year ago my car started shifting hard in town. Highway seemed to function okay. Did a lot of research on this problem myself to find out that it was due to a Pc selenoid and a valve body. Had both replaced car seems to be okay now. Wondering if anybody else had the same problem? And if so did car ever act up again?

2nd Jul 2006, 10:24

I have a 2000 Grand Prix GT with about 84,000 miles on it. Love the car, but in Feb.06 the transmission went out on the highway, and since then I have had two transmissions put in, and solenoid's changed in it, and the internal wiring harness changed, and even a new computer put in.

My problem is that when I put it into drive, it does not go into the proper gear, it's like it is in 3rd gear and then sometimes it reads a code and sometimes it does not read a code. I can sometimes turn the car off, and wait a few minutes and try again, and then it goes into gear with no problem. Does anyone have any idea of what this might be?

6th Jul 2006, 12:46

I posted my review for 1999 GP GT. My car started having hard shifts once it stood in traffic or was running in the city for a long time. I changed tranny fluid= same thing. Right now it is starting to jerk like hell if I try to accelerate hard from the stand still. No way I am paying 2K for a rebuild transmission, hopefully dealer will buy it at least for the wholesale while it runs.

27th Aug 2006, 12:25

I purchased a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP privately after taking it to a mechanic to make sure it had a clean bill of health. 10 days later at the 95,000Km mark the transmission and water pump went. It was a $3000 fix as we opted for a brand new transmission from GM so it would be warrantied for 3 years. It's a nice car, but if I'd found this information prior to my purchase it may have swayed me from buying. Hopefully the worst is over because I really do like the car!

26th Oct 2006, 11:33

I have a grand prix and it has 94,000miles on it. its the 4rd sedan and I push it to 105 mph and it trough a bad shift and I let go of the gas? is that normal or did I push it too much? it was a gift from my bro so very important car to me and its first

12th Dec 2006, 18:57

There is a governor which kicks in at 105. That prevents engine damage. This explains your hard shift... it's really the computer backing the throttle off.

28th Dec 2006, 11:35

I have a 2000 GP GT and it has about 132,000 miles on it. I had an automatic car starter installed in my car (Dec. 2006) and since it has been installed, I am having problems with my electrical system, driver side power window hesitation, shift lock, ignition lock, and sometimes it's even hard to turn off the car! My car did not have any of these problems before the starter was installed... I love my car... is anyone else familiar with these problems due to installations?

6th Jan 2007, 11:26

I have a 2000 Grand Prix with about 77000 miles. Current problem is that the car shifts in a rough manner and just shuts off while stopped at traffic light. Key sometimes hard to remove - very intermittent. Does not start - battery light comes on - very intermittent also. Key did not remove from ignition switch so mechanic "lubed" the linkage between gear shift lever and ignition switch?? Not sure how. Worked fine for about 5 months, but now it will not remove, but this too is intermittent. Battery replaced in May, 2005, ignition switch replaced in July, 2005. Last test on alternator was in May, 2005 and it 'passed'. Any thoughts?

17th Jan 2007, 06:42

I have a 2001 Grand Prix GT with 122000 miles and an automatic transmission, I recently noticed that it doesn't seem to want to go into overdrive, I took it to the GM dealer and they said that they don't know why it isn't shifting into overdrive, but it could be a problem with the clutch or seeing how there isn't any metal in the transmission pan, possibly a clean break within the transmission, and they claim the price to disassemble the current one would rival the cost for a new one. they quoted me $3500 for a new transmission, or they said that they might be able to find a used one and install it for around $1500. is there something else that could cause this problem, that doesn't cost $1500-$3500 to fix? the car seems to shift fine otherwise.

20th Feb 2007, 17:23

I have a 2000 Grand Prix GT with the 3800 and an automatic trans. I have had all kinds of electrical problems with it. My main concern right now is that I can't get the gear shifter out of park. I start the car, put foot on brake, push on button on gear shifter and it will not move out of park. I can hear the clicking in the steering column, but nothing seems to move. I have also had problems trying to get the key out of the ignition after shutting car off. If anybody has any info that will help, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Dave.