1996 Monte Carlo Z34

[cheryl]

I own a 1996 Monte Carlo Z34. I bought the car (1998) becasue I have had good luck with Chevys and I was excited about the power and comfort. To my dismay, this car spends more time in the shop than it does on the road. Everything under the hood has gone on the vehicle including plugs (changed out 5 times so far), sensors, timing belt, air pumps (3 of them). It has incurred a "Misfire" code 7 times now. When researched, the findings were "misfire from the 6th cylinder". I have been to the chevy dealer on the average once a month since I have owned this vehicle since 1998. The car has 74,100 miles on it. Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with this car, why the misfire code keeps coming on, etc? I have an extended warrenty that is going to run out it about 800 miles. I can not afford the shop visits on this thing after that. Please help!

[DAOlsson]

I feel for you!!! I have a 95 Monte Carlo Z34 and have very low miles yet I am on my 3rd Alternator and have only 39 thousand miles on the car. Various other things have gone wrong also, but after reading your message, I am frightened to think what might happen with mine.

[cheryl]

Hi, thank you for responding. The woes of the Monte Carlo.... One of my many occasions of having the car in the shop for a misfire code, Chevrolet told me that they didn't know what was wrong. Frustrated, I asked to speak with the manager. Before he could give me any song and dance about how sound the car was, I asked him to pull my record as to the amount of times that this car was in the shop. He did and the computer kept scrolling and scrolling and scrolling with shop repairs and dates. He jokingly told me..."Why do you want to get rid of the car?...It's practically brand new." I said, more like "rebuilt". I told him that for the money I spend on that car per month with my car note and all the repairs, I could be driving a Porsche!. The fact of the matter was that my warranty was running out and I could not afford the repairs and "exploratory" shop labor hours. I decided to look for another car. I swore off another Chevy after that (reluctantly, because I still own a 1987 Camaro which has been a lot of fun and a very reliable car). Sure I could beat anyone off the line with the Monte Carlo, or blow their doors off in a heart beat. All they saw was this fast dark green blur leaving them behind in a cloud of dust. They felt they were beat. What they didn't know was that after I faded from their sight, I took a sharp right turn, and made a B-line for the repair shop. With the Monte Carlo, the timing belt went, air pumps, every sensor you can imagine, plugs (every 6 months), ignition switch, trailing arms, etc. Every dealer I went to trade the car in wouldn't give me anything for the car. I couldn't stomach this thing anymore. Nights of driving home holding my breath, white knuckled praying that the "Check Engine" light would not come on had to end. I actually signed it up for a Demolition Derby as a last resort to kill this thing. I had had it! I would rather take the loss and start over than to have the money burn a hole in my pocket each month. Just before the Derby, I went to an Acura dealer. After many negotiations, the dealer gave me 5K as a trade in. I took the money and ran!!!!!!!! I have been relieved and happy ever since. Enroute to dropping off the Monte Carlo and picking up my new car, the "Service Engine Soon" light came on AGAIN. S#&*!!!! I wanted to jerk the wheel into the bridge abutment ahead of me, but composed myself enough to drive into the Chevrolet dealer, have them perform their last "mystery" diagnostic test before waving goodbye, and driving off into the sunset never to be seen in that shop again. Goodbye Monte Carlo…I loved you, and you looked great, but you did not take me to too many nights out on the town. Your were only happiest parked in my driveway or with the men in the repair shop. Somehow in our relationship…I expected more.

[bp787]

i feel your pain. these cars are crap! Funny, I just put my deposit down on a new acura as well...hmmm I think i might have asked you about this in my post below, but... I'll ask in more detail...

Did you ever have this problem... At random times, the monte starts weird, then dies and won't start again for a while( sometimes hours ). At first, the enigne will turn and fire up, but the rpms only go to around 600 where they fluctuate within 200 -300 rpms. If I'm lucky, it will do it about 20 seconds or so, then suddenly rev up to 1500 - 2000 rpms for like 7 - 10 seconds. Then it drops back down to idle at 1000 rpms. Giving it gas does not help... actually makes it alittle worse. A number of times, it didn't settle back into idle. It just died. Then when I try to restart, the engine just cranks, but won't fire up.

I had it towed three times to the shop now, and by the time it gets there, there's no more prob. They have run diagnostics on the car with no prob found. except for the first time. They replaced plugs, wires, and the plenum gasket. Car ran fine for about 3 weeks...then it started again. If ya gots any ideas...I'd love to hear them.

[cheryl]

HI…well Congratulations on the Acura. As for the Monte Carlo, I owned a 1996 Z34 Sport. It was riddled with problems as I have mentioned. As for the starting problems, I often had a Rapid Misfire code. Chevrolet (2 different dealers) were stumped with the problem. Symptoms include: when the car is started it starts really hard like it was ready to take flight, then it would cough, and sometimes stall out. I would try to restart it and the "Service Engine Soon" light would start flashing. I was told not to drive it if the light is flashing because of causing horrific damage (catalytic converter etc.). I towed to car to the shop (multiple times) only for them the say it starts fine and they could not find the problem. Then I had a shock problem. This is extremely odd. The car would start and stall. I would get out of the car and whenever the outside of the vehicle was touched I would get a snapping shock (like static electricity). Believe it or not, the car would then start up again. They found an electrical/starter problem that time. On one of my MANY times when the "Service Engine Soon" came on, I drove it straight to the shop without shutting it off. While leaving it running, I had Chevrolet do a diagnostic test (almost every time I brought it in the shop to see what the code said, Chevrolet charged me $75.00 for a diagnostic fee - without solving any problem). The code said Cylinder 6 Misfire. Chevy did more exploratory searching (on my nickel) and told me that they could not find the problem. Unfortunately this continued happening for way too long, and cost me too much money, stress and time out of work. Since they could not fix THEIR OWN product (given NUMEROUS opportunities), I could not afford to invest my time, energy, and hard earned money. I can get you specific verbage from all my shop receipts if that is helpful to let you know my car's ailments.

[bp787]

Cheryl...

"Symptoms include: when the car is started it starts really hard like it was ready to take flight, then it would cough, and sometimes stall out."

That sounds like the exact problem I'm having, except the service engine light doesn't come on, unless the car dies. When yours coughed, did it rev up to like 1500 rpms for a few seconds? I assume that they never fixed that problem right?

[cheryl]

Normally when it was starting hard, it would rev high...when it coughed it was like a yo-yo: like rev high, then really low rev, then high, then really low. This happened for a couple of seconds.

I went to two Chevrolet dealers and one Dodge dealer (where I purchased the vehicle). No one was able to solve that mystery. All charged me numerous times for trying though! One of the Chevy dealers thought it was solved with changing plugs and wires. That car went though plugs and wires every 6-7 months…it didn't solve the problem.

I mentioned that I also own a Camaro. Everytime the Monte Carlo sat idle (over a weekend etc) while I was driving the Camaro, the next time I started the Monte Carlo, it would happen. I thought that this was the pattern, so if I were going to be driving the Camaro for a couple of days, I would go out and let the Monte Carlo run, at least start it.

This also proved indifferent, because it would happen after just driving the car. What I mean is that I would drive the Monte Carlo to the store, buy my groceries, etc. and when I came out (maybe 1 hr or less), it would happen. It was sooooo frustrating.

Sometimes it would start hard and then just die without any oscillation (high rev, low rev, high rev, low rev). It would start hard and then sound like "boom" and just stop. This would happen within about 3 seconds of starting. It happened fast, then it wouldn't start again or it would start again with the hard start and flashing "Service Engine Soon" light.

I found some documentation about other Z34s having this same problem, and brought it to Chevrolet, they read it, and told me there was nothing wrong with my car. I had a custom exhaust in the car. When I started to get really angry/hot about the whole thing, Chevrolet told me that it was the exhaust system that did it. I told Chevrolet that all these other people didn't have custom exhausts. Then I took the car to an exhaust place, they ran tests on the back pressure etc, and said everything was fine. The problem kept continuing, so I put another exhaust system in, and had it tested, etc. A couple days later, the car STILL did it. Chevrolet then said that they would rip out my new exhaust system for something like $1275.00 and put a stock exhaust system in and MAYBE that would solve the problem. I told Chevrolet that all the other people that had similar problems, misfires, and cylinder problems did not have custom exhausts. Chevrolet said that my car was fine, and the next time it happens bring it in. We did this (towing, shop visits, getting stranded) for a couple of more times. Chevrolet still didn't find any problems. That car had cost me thousands…I had to let it go.

I am sorry you too are having so many problems with the car. It is unfortunate. I even contacted corporate Chevrolet. I have called and written letters. They have not done anything to make amends.

[bp787]

Just another excuse not to buy American! Makin the switch and never turning back. The only thing good to come out of America in the last 10 years was the Viper. Your problem sounds very similar to mine. Hopefully I can sell it without losing too much

[cheryl]

I wish you luck. I had a difficult time selling it because no dealer wanted to give me much for it...not even Chevrolet. I offered to trade it in to Chevrolet for a used foreign car...and they were wishy washy about the whole thing. Thank heavens that the Honda/Acura dealer gave me 5K for it. I am tickled with my Acura, I must say. I bought the extended warranty with the Acura out of fear of what happened with the Monte Carlo. Even the dealer said I probably didn't need it. I did it anyway so that I could sleep at night. After that Monte Carlo, I was considering driving a bicycle. I wanted to light it on fire. I think could have tried to deal with it better if Chevrolet acknowledged that the cars were faulty, and tried to help or make amends or restitution. Instead they ignored the problems and viewed it as a way to actually MAKE money. Most people work too hard for their money to throw it away on a company that acts juvenile in backing their product. I would be very hard pressed to buy from them in the future. I wish you luck with that car, and feel sorry for all of us going through this unnecessary stress.

[timg]

To the person who started the post- your problems sound like the plug wires need to be replaced. There were some big problems with them in a few years of monte production.

To anyone with a bad idle on the 3.4. What you're describing is bad intake gaskets. The upper and/or lower gaskets tend to break and leak if not put in very carefully. This is a very common problem. What happens is that the car idles very poorly when cold, but once warmed up, the problkem is mysteriously gone. You can replace them yourself for about $20 and an afternoon of your time.

If you have any more problems, check out www.mymonte.com or www.efi-street.com

Tim

[timg]

bad idle can also be caused by faulty O2 sensors or faulty fuel injectors. Both of those tend to have other symptoms such as excess fuel consumption or poor performance at all speeds.

A combination of bad plug wires and bad intake gaskets would cause ses misfire codes AND poor idle.

The cars aren't hard to fix and if maintained properly have very few problems. Unfortunately, most GM techs are clueless as to how the 3.4 works and how to fix common problems. I had a GM dealer look at mine, throw it on a scanner, and even replace parts for a few hours before I just said screw it and took it home. They were very nice about it, but in my experience they have trouble thinking around problems. I was able to fix it myself in under an hour just by thinking about the problem and doing some simple tests.

Tim

[cheryl]

Thank you Tim for your response. Unfortunately with my car, in the 3 years that i owned it, Chevrolet replaced the plugs and wires 4 times. The gaskets were replaced too. Unfortunately so was the O2 sensor, twice. I appreciate your response, and am glad that your car (which looks awesome from the pictures) is responsive to the changes that you have made.

[timg]

man, that's weird. Anyway, enjoy your new car! If mine had ever given me that much trouble it'd be gone too!

Tim

[lddoren]

Hi...I realize that this thread is old but the information posted may be helpful in determining the problem with my 1998 Monte Carlo Z34.

After owning my car for 5 yr 5 months and 140000 miles, overall I have been pleased with my car. No problems other than regular maintenance etc.

However after my car was paid off in Feb 2003, in March, the fuel pump went out (960 bill from the dealership). Thought everything was fine...then in May the Service Engine Light came on...thought I could ignore it until the car started acting like it was going to die the next day. I took it back to the dealer (you know the drill, hook it up to see what is causing the light to come on, etc.) -- the person at the dealership was nice enough to do this for free. Found a blown fuse (the one that controls the MAF sensor, O2 sensors, purge canister solenoid). Replaced the fuse, the service engine light went off, but the MAF still showed a bad reading. The rep was nice enough to tell me that if the light came on again to come back but that might solve the problem. Sure enough two days later the light came back on -- hooked up the computer and MAF, etc showed bad again. Replaced the fuse -- All was well.

So I figured that if I could make it for a while by replacing the fuse I would -- for a week the fuse replacement was every few days -- then I went over a month without a service engine light -- problem must have fixed itself -- WRONG :-)

Last Sat the light came on has stayed on while blowing fuses on a daily basis. I found a person at a mechanic shop (not a dealership) who has 30 years of experience with diagnosing cars. He actually took the time to check out all of the components related to the fuse and my components seem to be fine.

The difference with this time is that when cold starting the car it sputters and coughs like it is going to die (and makes a terrible noise coming from where the air filter is) -- then after the car warms up it runs fine. We are going to continue to try to figure out the problem tomorrow (when I left the shop with a new fuse and no service engine light the car ran for about 3 miles without the light -- then it came back so I am going to go back to have it checked again).

Have 1998 Z34 (3.8 engine) had some of the same issues mentioned in this thread?

TIA

Lisa

[timg]

sounds like you either have a large leak somewhere in your intake system after the MAF or the MAF itself is bad.

Tim