montana,s two major problems

i've owned a montana for about a year and a half .overall nice features and good gas mileage.it is a 2000 with approx. 114000 kilometers on it.it had 60000 when we purchased it.at about 65000 the transmission would on the rare occasion shift hard thru all gears when starting from a standstill.the problem seemed to happen more often as time went by.i finally took it to Mr. Transmission for their opinion.ofcourse it was the worse case scenario.the tranny had to be totally rebuilt.they showed me the parts and it was very clear that it was damaged and very under engineered.they said G.M. knows it is a crappy tranny but as long as it reaches it's warranty period (60000 kms) they dont care!!!
the second problem is the head gasket. i was warned when i purchased the van that the 3.4 liter engine had gasket problems,so i kept an eye on the coolant bottle and ofcourse the bottle slowly went down over about a year and a half.so i took the precaution of having the intake gaskets replaced to stop the risk of major engine damage!!!
total cost's;canadian
transmission-$2300 (Mr. Transmission-excellent service)
gaskets- $630 (independant garage-excellent service and half the price of our local cold hearted G.M. dealer!!)
one more problem if i may---the paint on the trailing edge of the hood is blistering. G.M. say's to bad-sucker .!!!!!!!!!!!
how many are out there with similar problems????

I believe there is a TSB for paint problems on Montanas

Perhaps someone can help out.

I believe there is a TSB for paint problems on Montanas

Perhaps someone can help out.
sorry ,what is a TSB

Technical Service Bulletin. GM issues these as special instructions to fix common problems. You might be able to contact the dealer to see what TSB's are available for your vehicle, (a lot of dealers won't tell you, some of the good one do however.) You could also search the web, one site is alldata.com , that is a subscription based service similar to having an online repair manual and TSB site all in one.

i called the 1-800 number in the owners manual for complaints.GM says no warranty (110000 km)they deny that there is a problem.(local bodyshop say's he as seen a few with the same problem,in our town of 5000 people)

I had the same paint issue on exact same spot on my 1999 Montana. Dealer offered to pay half of the cost only if I fixed it at their own body shop. I said no thanks and had it done at a body shop for $300. BTW did you know that the hood is made of Aluminium?
You wonder why people get pissed at GM and they lost market share over the years.
I also have a problem with intake manifold gasket. Misery loves company.

I had the same paint issue on exact same spot on my 1999 Montana. Dealer offered to pay half of the cost only if I fixed it at their own body shop. I said no thanks and had it done at a body shop for $300. BTW did you know that the hood is made of Aluminium?
You wonder why people get pissed at GM and they lost market share over the years.
I also have a problem with intake manifold gasket. Misery loves company.
I had a chuckle when I read the part in your post,"I also have a problem with intake manifold gasket." From what I've read on these forums, (just go over to the Chevrolet Venture forum and see for yourself,)it seems that everybody who owns these GM vans has had, is now having, or is starting to show signs of the famous intake gasket leaks. GM should start including a spare intake gasket in the glove box when they sell these vans as long as they keep putting the 3.4 engine in them.

Hood made of aluminum.... I think someone better go put a magnet on their hood.

Keith

Regarding muzzleman's problems, I can only say that I purchased a new 1998 Montana in December of 1998 and put 206,000 miles on the vehicle. I had no head gasket problems, tranny problems, no engine rebuilds, no paint problems (California car); no nothing other than regular TLC. I donated the car to a charity and purchased a new Montana SV6 in November 2004. I changed the tranny fluid regularly at 50,000 miles, used Mobil 1 synthetic oil and kept watch over everything. Worst problem was the air conditioning compressor, that started to 'whine' after about 150,000 miles. I replaced it and while it still continued to whine (reasons never discovered), it performed satisfactorily in the cold air department! Those are the reasons I purchased the new SV6. May it give me the same reliability;)

you lucky man (dlink)

Well I went and checked hood with a magnet and it is true that hood is made of aluminium.
As for the head gasket according to reserch I have done all 3.4 engines produced between 1997 to 2002 are suspect for coolant leak. GM changed to new gasket in 2003.
If you look at the pictures on some posts you can tell the difference in new gasket compared to old gasket. I would say GM tried to save some money when they used the old gasket. They may have saved some money but damaged to their reputation may not have been worth the cost.

A couple of months ago I had the same problem with the head gasket and I took it in to get it fixed. I found out through this forum that GM was honouring a repair for 100 or 150 bucks. This was a goodwill gesture or silent warranty. Orriginally they wanted 900 to do the repair. As soon as I mentioned the warranty they claimed not to be aware of it and they would have to ask the "manager". They called me back in 5 minutes and said I would get the deal. I had 80,000 kms. All of a sudden there was some other problems with the engine namely fuel injector and thermostat. They were going to charge almost 500 for those repairs. I told them to go ahead but I wanted the old parts. When I went in to pick it up there was only a thermostat. The injector was just a wire.
I am convinced that if I did not ask for the parts I would probably have paid for an injector I didn't need.