01 Monte Carlo "the HORROR"

[romeski]

Ok... so I bought this great looking 2001 Chevy Monte Carlo... Everything is great and one morning on my way to class it doesn't start. this car has lik 30000 miles on it. i charge the battery and take it in to the dealer. (cuz i only know where to like put the oil and gas in thats the extent of my knowledge.) They come back nothing is wrong go another week and a half running fine... again it wont start won't even try to turn over... same thing nothing wrong they replace the battery this time... go about a week and the car all of a sudden won't switch gears until it reaches about 5000 rpms..( again i don't know much about cars but i know that is not good) now it is in the shop for the rpm thing, the tire pressure light will not turn off, and the airbag light is now on. I love this car but in 3 weeks i have taken in 3 times. I am so happy i bought an extended warranty that covers practically everything. but i was told that the the airbag and tire pressure light could just be a short, but the rpm thing is the tranny. either way covered by warranty. Does anyone have any idea of what the problems could be or confirm the guess' i have come to?

[Mecha2]

Originally Posted by romeski

Ok... so I bought this great looking 2001 Chevy Monte Carlo... Everything is great and one morning on my way to class it doesn't start. this car has lik 30000 miles on it. i charge the battery and take it in to the dealer. (cuz i only know where to like put the oil and gas in thats the extent of my knowledge.) They come back nothing is wrong go another week and a half running fine... again it wont start won't even try to turn over... same thing nothing wrong they replace the battery this time... go about a week and the car all of a sudden won't switch gears until it reaches about 5000 rpms..( again i don't know much about cars but i know that is not good) now it is in the shop for the rpm thing, the tire pressure light will not turn off, and the airbag light is now on. I love this car but in 3 weeks i have taken in 3 times. I am so happy i bought an extended warranty that covers practically everything. but i was told that the the airbag and tire pressure light could just be a short, but the rpm thing is the tranny. either way covered by warranty. Does anyone have any idea of what the problems could be or confirm the guess' i have come to?

I think you bought a car that has not had any maintenance
done.... possibly an ex-rental car which has been involved
in an accident. Sorry...just my 2 cents.

[amac209]

sounds like an alternator problem to me. a bad alternator can do all kinds of wired things to computers as well as drain the battery. usually all this happens when the diode pack burns out and lots of shops don't take the time to check the diodes for some reason.

[montecarlossfan]

sorry to hear that man, someone didnt take care of this car and must have gotten it into an accident...i've never heard off all this stuff going wrong like this at once, I've had a 2000 SS for 2 years now and it runs like a champ...i've only had to replace a leaky power steering pump

[romeski]

Why do you think it was involved in an accident, i checked with carfax before i bought the car and it was a company car with only one owner never involved in any accident that was reported. They have had my car for 2 days and still have not heard from them, i just want them to fix it right and never have to deal with this bullshit again

[montecarlossfan]

well ususally after a car undergoes an accident stuff gets moved, such as wires etc..depending how serious it is...if its a company car you never know they may have settled an accident w/o reporting it...Anothe rpossibility is how the car was maintained and such...or it could just be a factory mess up

[montecarlossfan]

well ususally after a car undergoes an accident stuff gets moved, such as wires etc..depending how serious it is...if its a company car you never know they may have settled an accident w/o reporting it...Anothe rpossibility is how the car was maintained and such...or it could just be a factory mess up i hvae a 2000 ss and the thing has been awesome and i do drive it i dont baby it...i drive it normally..i dont screech the tires every 5 min but i do drive fast

[romeski]

Got the car back today. They said that they could not duplicate the transmission problem, they could not find anything wrong in the diagnostics, they did however reset the tire pressure and the airbag lights, They think that all i need is a tranny flush. so thats what i'm getting done. If there is something seriously wrong with the tranny it will most likely happen again so until then i'll just wait and drive. Thanks for the suggestions and ideas.

[richtazz]

Have someone check the hub bearings. The ABS sensors are part of the hub bearings and a faulty ABS sensor can cause what you describe. The computer uses info from the vehicle speed and wheel speed sensors to set trans shift points. If the readings from one or more of these sensors is out of range, the computer can get "confused" and not shift at all or shift too late or too soon. The ABS light coming on would also be caused by a bad wheel speed sensor.

[romeski]

Took it in again and now it has had some work on the EGR which i was told has to do with the exhaust or something. but that cost a pretty penny. Also the air bag light was on because apparently something is wrong with my drivers side airbag thats gonna be a 600 dollar fix. owell the price gotta pay to have a nice car

[MissingNo3]

I own a '01 MC LS, my ex owns an '01 MC SS. Both of us have had the air bag issue. Try reacheing under the seat and moving the wires around. Whenever my airbag light comes on it's because of the wire positioing under the seats. Sounds stupid, but that's the fix. I have also had the transmission issue. The trans is a 4T65E it has numerous issues with late shifting, hard shifting, slipping, etc. The valve body was finally replaced in mine. I'm in here today because of a 1404 code on the EGR. I have also had to unplug the cooling fan because of a problem with the temp sending unit. I love the car, but whatta piece. Again, try moving the wires ounder the drivers seat or passenger seat around a little and see if the light doesn't go off. Mine does every time. Also you may want ot buy a ODBII code reader now. From the sounds of it you may need it. Even if you don't know alot about cars it will at least let you know what's going on before you take it to the dealer. AND, you will be able to let them know what you've discovered which will let them at least "think" you may know more.

[mjohnston65]

Originally Posted by MissingNo3

I own a '01 MC LS, my ex owns an '01 MC SS. Both of us have had the air bag issue. Try reacheing under the seat and moving the wires around. Whenever my airbag light comes on it's because of the wire positioing under the seats. Sounds stupid, but that's the fix. I have also had the transmission issue. The trans is a 4T65E it has numerous issues with late shifting, hard shifting, slipping, etc. The valve body was finally replaced in mine. I'm in here today because of a 1404 code on the EGR. I have also had to unplug the cooling fan because of a problem with the temp sending unit. I love the car, but whatta piece. Again, try moving the wires ounder the drivers seat or passenger seat around a little and see if the light doesn't go off. Mine does every time. Also you may want ot buy a ODBII code reader now. From the sounds of it you may need it. Even if you don't know alot about cars it will at least let you know what's going on before you take it to the dealer. AND, you will be able to let them know what you've discovered which will let them at least "think" you may know more.

THe 1404 EGR is actually not an egr problem. A cone in your catalytic converter is coming loose and soon you will lose almost all back pressure. Mine was replaced by GM if done by a dealer and before 100,000 miles. This is under courtesy recall. They will replace your $800 catalytic converter at no charge with approval by GM. I am having the engine temperature gauge die on me then my fan whines until I get a check engine light. I understand that Litigation is ongoing with Dexcool and I have signed on with them but it really seems like an electrical problem. Any luck with the fan problem? It sounds similar to mine?

[CEO Wrench]

Originally Posted by mjohnston65

THe 1404 EGR is actually not an egr problem. A cone in your catalytic converter is coming loose and soon you will lose almost all back pressure. Mine was replaced by GM if done by a dealer and before 100,000 miles. This is under courtesy recall. They will replace your $800 catalytic converter at no charge with approval by GM. I am having the engine temperature gauge die on me then my fan whines until I get a check engine light. I understand that Litigation is ongoing with Dexcool and I have signed on with them but it really seems like an electrical problem. Any luck with the fan problem? It sounds similar to mine?

For whatever it's worth, my advice on the Dexcool is to flush it out completely, flush the heater core, and replace with the regular ethylene glycol mix. The Dexcool seems to be nothing but trouble.

[rhayslip]

Originally Posted by romeski

Ok... so I bought this great looking 2001 Chevy Monte Carlo... Everything is great and one morning on my way to class it doesn't start. this car has lik 30000 miles on it. i charge the battery and take it in to the dealer. (cuz i only know where to like put the oil and gas in thats the extent of my knowledge.) They come back nothing is wrong go another week and a half running fine... again it wont start won't even try to turn over... same thing nothing wrong they replace the battery this time... go about a week and the car all of a sudden won't switch gears until it reaches about 5000 rpms..( again i don't know much about cars but i know that is not good) now it is in the shop for the rpm thing, the tire pressure light will not turn off, and the airbag light is now on. I love this car but in 3 weeks i have taken in 3 times. I am so happy i bought an extended warranty that covers practically everything. but i was told that the the airbag and tire pressure light could just be a short, but the rpm thing is the tranny. either way covered by warranty. Does anyone have any idea of what the problems could be or confirm the guess' i have come to?

Well, I thought I was the only one who had all these problems with the 2001 m.c. I've not had the same as yours, but I have had 3 motors go bad in both windows and the sun roof, blinkers quitting, gas gauge not working, catalytic converter replaced, knocking noise in the front when you turn, gas or hit a bump, and now the muffler.