[schmittg]

So yeah, I got my 2005 G6 now for a while, been tired of it and for a while now thinking about trading it in. Well late Saturday night I was driving down the highway when all of a sudden the car starts beeping and the gauges turn off..... Then goes the power steering and traction control... I looked around like whats going on and I see the thermostat is at 260 degrees and redlining...
So I imediately pull over and open the hood... I look at the coolant tank and its not there..... it actually fell off of its two cheap little plastic clips and feel right onto the engine....

After a few seconds of looking at it and seeing it melting against the hot engine, I carefully reach down to pick up the tank and see if its saveable at least till I get home...

Here's the fun part, ... i get it up a few inches and the cap BLOWS off of the tank..... sending all the coolant flying all over.... like a geysur blowing off its steam... I got sprayed from waist up and ended up in the hospital with second degree burns from all of this....

Now as if it wasnt bad enough that the steering would lock up when it wanted, now I'm getting second degree burns from this POS car....

Tomorrow Im going to the local dealership and demanding a new car, or I guess I'll get the lawyer goimng again.....

Anyone else have something similar happen to them??

Greg

 

[Kman]

So yeah, I got my 2005 G6 now for a while, been tired of it and for a while now thinking about trading it in. Well late Saturday night I was driving down the highway when all of a sudden the car starts beeping and the gauges turn off..... Then goes the power steering and traction control... I looked around like whats going on and I see the thermostat is at 260 degrees and redlining...
So I imediately pull over and open the hood... I look at the coolant tank and its not there..... it actually fell off of its two cheap little plastic clips and feel right onto the engine....

After a few seconds of looking at it and seeing it melting against the hot engine, I carefully reach down to pick up the tank and see if its saveable at least till I get home...

Here's the fun part, ... i get it up a few inches and the cap BLOWS off of the tank..... sending all the coolant flying all over.... like a geysur blowing off its steam... I got sprayed from waist up and ended up in the hospital with second degree burns from all of this....

Now as if it wasnt bad enough that the steering would lock up when it wanted, now I'm getting second degree burns from this POS car....

Tomorrow Im going to the local dealership and demanding a new car, or I guess I'll get the lawyer goimng again.....

Anyone else have something similar happen to them??

Greg

Wow, that's the first time I have heard of the coolant tank falling apart. The steering lockup issue is a known problem. I'm sorry to hear you've been injured, but you should never touch anything on a hot engine.

 

[schmittg]

I know not to to take the cap off when its hot cause the coolant is all pressurized.... I've worked on plenty of engines, hot and cold and never had a problem..... I just don't know how the cap literally shot off of the tank.... It's going to be interesting at Pontiac tomorrow..........

dam car!

 

[dragoneye422]

sorry

Nope I never heard of this happing, I have been working on these cars for sometime now and never heard of this.

Hope your ok. How many miles are on the car?

I beleave the car must be service for the exact samething 3 times before they concider it to be a lemon. I do not think they would give you a new car due to this issue. They may pay for it if it is under warrenty.

good luck and let me know what they do plz

 

[dragoneye422]

I know not to to take the cap off when its hot cause the coolant is all pressurized.... I've worked on plenty of engines, hot and cold and never had a problem..... I just don't know how the cap literally shot off of the tank.... It's going to be interesting at Pontiac tomorrow..........

dam car!

you must rember that the resivior is like what you said 260 degrees. that that temp. things can get soft; also you said it fell off on a motor that was extreamly hot.

there is so much pressure under that cap all is acounted for and I belive it could come off. concidering also there is a pressure cap on it.

for the futuer do not remove the cap when hot that is why it is labled all over the place stating this. so getting a perfessional advice may not help you in this case. but good luck!

 

[Bob G]

quote "been tired of it and for a while now thinking about trading it in." unquote. The car is haunted and knew your intentions. (Seriously, sorry about your burns and good luck with the rest-- I just couldn't resist )

 

[bigbengt67]

...After a few seconds of looking at it and seeing it melting against the hot engine, I carefully reach down to pick up the tank...

Sorry man, but you really lacked some common sense there. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your experience and hope it gets resolved.

 

[schmittg]

it had been in for the steering problem 3 times, as well as the rattleing roof everytime.... I had really just gotten used to these problems and wrote them off as normal happenings of the car...
as for the cap though... it is supposed to be a pressure cap, hence... able to stay on the tank even under extreme pressures.... what I really want to know from pontiac is how a tank this vital to the car, s only held on to its mounting bracket by two little plastic clips.... has anyone actually gone and looked at what they used to mount this tank??? I honestly think its a joke compared to the other cars I've had.... usually there would be some sort of metal brace around it or a strap of some sort.... I honestly think i could break the clips off with just my hand....

tomorrow is pontiac day, we'll see what happens .... but no matter what i'm not keeping the car....

my family has been buying from GM since in the 60's.... since 1985 we have bought 7 vechicles..... thats only 3 of us, and the van from 85..... RUNS BETTER then my new 05.... go figure

 

[Carissa249]

complain, call, complain, yell..call BBB...call attorney general...this is what I had to do to get my replacement...it took 2 1/2 months...i wish i was one of the lucky ones who dont have any problems...i know I will NEVER get another GM product...this replacement is my LAST!! If this car has any issues that are serious like my GT I am going after them hard core...we pay good money for these cars to have them take a sh*t on us everytime we turn around!

 

[schmittg]

well legal producut liability has now taken a great interest in my case and is sending me authorization forms to charge everything medical or for that matter and other expense directly to GM/Pontiac. They are sending people to my house to see first hand the damage and injuries to me. They are getting me a loaner car of my choice if they have to take the car from me (i have fixed it temporarily so i can drive my 5 miles to work and back each day), but they are now finally after going from one department to another, taking interest.... and tomorrow im going to consult a lawyer and see what i should do in a legal sense....

 

[dragoneye422]

:frown: :frown: :frown: :frown: :frown: :frown:
boy, it's sure sounds like we have issuse in here!! lol

"as for the cap though... it is supposed to be a pressure cap, hence... able to stay on the tank even under extreme pressures.... "

(FYI) the pressure cap is a by-pass valve for when it is under extream pressure it will open and relese the pressure so the tank dose not explode!

so I sure hope you have all recipts on everything you did with the car. (as far as oil changes and also if coolent was ever topped off) ((I also hope that you had someone certified that worked on the car and not you.))

if you don't have this you prob. wont have any kind of case.

but I do hope you guys do choose another gm product in the near future.

 

[Scamallite]

x2 on the Pressure Cap clarification above. Its not supposed to stay on under extreme pressure. If it was, they have it screw on instead of one little locking motion.

So GM has agreed to pay your medical bills, but you still want to consult a lawyer? For what? There are plenty of warning regarding high temps and working under the hood. A little more common sense would have told you to step away from the engine bay when the car is that hot.

Whats next? You going to stick your finger in the moving belt?

Having GM deal with stupid lawsuits like you are talking about is another reason why prices are so high. We have to pay their lawyers to prove stupidity.

If the cap would have popped off, shot through the hood, and injured you...then I think you'd have a case. But I think Pontiac has enough safety measures in place (especially warning labels up the ying yang) that you won't have much of a case.

But if you decide to go on in court...good luck against GM's lawyers.

 

[dragoneye422]

x2 on the Pressure Cap clarification above. Its not supposed to stay on under extreme pressure. If it was, they have it screw on instead of one little locking motion.

So GM has agreed to pay your medical bills, but you still want to consult a lawyer? For what? There are plenty of warning regarding high temps and working under the hood. A little more common sense would have told you to step away from the engine bay when the car is that hot.

Whats next? You going to stick your finger in the moving belt?

Having GM deal with stupid lawsuits like you are talking about is another reason why prices are so high. We have to pay their lawyers to prove stupidity.

If the cap would have popped off, shot through the hood, and injured you...then I think you'd have a case. But I think Pontiac has enough safety measures in place (especially warning labels up the ying yang) that you won't have much of a case.

But if you decide to go on in court...good luck against GM's lawyers.

X3 LMMFAO!

I think you got it right on the head!!

I am really sorry but you have to understand the cars symbols are almost idiot proof! I mean what do you do when you see something extreamly hot? touch it to see if it is hot? (or when you see it red hot)

you are going to talk about prob. over 1 year in court! do you really have that much $ were you can spend it? if ya do I will tell you what give me some and I will fix your car and also put a bandaid w/aloe on your wounds! and I would do it for 1/2 the cost!

well I guess gm is going to charge one more dollar per car for this one! to make up the cost! lol

oh well have a good day!!!

 

[schmittg]

i'm not planning on sueing for the actual burns, i believe that the way the tank is attached to the car is the problem. if a simple metal screw or some sort of clip was used to attach the tank to the frame would have been much safer. i had a person from GM/Pontiac's legal out. had him re-attach the tank to it's mounting brackets, and then told him to try and rip it off.... he thought it would be so hard that he pulled really hard and almost pulled the hose off of the bottom of the tank..... thats how EASY it comes off.... he told me off the record that he even agrees that it is... well too cheap.

i can take the whole tank, full (of course i dont play with it unless the car has sat for at least 3 hours) right off of its mount with my thumb and pinkie fingers only.... if thats the little bit of force... no wonder it fell off by itself.

as for the rest of you thinking i was opening the tank and playing with it when this happened.... open up your g6, look at the tank and see the area beneath it..... it fell onto the broze colored tube/pipe (i no longer even care to try and figure out where its from and going to)... but it melted part of the tank. all i simply did at that time was to move it away.... i was going to have a friend come and give me some water till i got it home and could fix it.

anyone who knows the nj area, i was on the turnpike and didnt feel like staying there... the state trooper wanted me off the road....

and for our cap issue.... it opens a valve to release pressure so it WONT shoot off... it doesnt come totally off the tank (or at least not any caps i know...)... the ENTIRE cap shot off so either the pressure over-flow valve failed or well... i dont really know.

we will find out next week when pontiac gives me my FREE replacement (the car's under warrenty....) they made it sound so nice that are willing to fix it for FREE....

the cap says "NEVER OPEN HOT" .... i should have no problem touching a cap with 2 fingers when its hot except for feeling heat in my fingers.... i have opened the hood plenty of times when doing normal routine maintence on the car (and for all you who are going to say "since you did your own maintence don't bother sueing".... im talking about checking battery cables and topping off windshield washer fluid)

so for all of you who think im crazy and stupid for touching a CAP with my fingers .... the cap should not have come off.... espically since there was a nice hole where the fluid came out of....

 

[dragoneye422]

ok

ok dude,

I figured any one who can open a hood should know that the coolent can be extreamly hot! and you should not even touch the cap with your fingers! but oh well cheers :cheers: maybe you will have your way!!

good luck!

 

[Scamallite]

First it pops off by itself...now you say you touched it?

Which one is it?

 

[schmittg]

well moving away from this one now...
i know its been a while...

and as for a clarification,
i went down to the tank, touched the tank and cap... never even got to move it and it flew off... you can even see the mark in the padding on the underside of the hood...

but yeah,

my lawyer doesn't care about that anymore...

now its on to pontiac's neglect.......

alright so it all goes back to approx 4 weeks ago... early august. I had the legal liability rep at my house looking at the car at the very end of july. he told me to get a list of everything together thats wrong with the car and fax it to him.... so i did and on the first friday of the month of august he told me that it'd take two weeks and they'd take my car in and fix everything at a starting point.... well thats fine and dandy... 3 weeks go by and i figure alright its tough to get parts... 4 weeks go by, now im getting mad again... so i had his cell number, call him up....

guess what... he was FIRED!! so I call is supervisor... haven't heard back from her yet... who knows.... but back to my local dealership i go... start going off down there again... the service manager takes me to his office and starts calling up and finding out whats going on... ESA (as he calls is), or the PAR division (from what lil I understand about all these dam departments is they handle all liabiliy for the company).... well since my rep doesnt work for GM anymore and DIDNT finish my paperwork (rightfully so, I'm not mad at him, hell he was fired) my case got marked "RESOLVED" but the letter of release for the dealership was apparently sent to him... but yet never recieved (oh wait... he doesnt work there anymore).... so the dealership is like sorry cant do anything till they work this out....

fine and dandy again... let the lawyer handle it... so I tell the serivce manager i cant get my alarm to work, the keychain is bad and i wanna buy a new one... says he can sell me it but cant pair it to the car as its in liabilty... so i pretty much dont have any alarm... GREAT!!

that was all yesterday (friday)....


now the dam'd luck I have...
one day later... at work all day (830 am to 10pm).... great day at work, made good money... walk to my car... MY DRIVER SIDE WINDOW IS SMASHED IN. Everything in my car... gone... most of which was in the center console... to list a few things... 450$ treo, 225$ cell phone, 300$ ipod, 700$ navi, 150$ radar detector, 100$ pocket knife, and the killer of it all.... in an unmarked bag on the floor i had my laptop... BRAND NEW SONY VIAO UX... 1800$!!!

ALL STOLEN with NO ALARM ever going off cause i was told that it was unfixable at the time because GM/Pontiac screwed up and lost me in the cracks...

.... Tuesday is going to be a VERY interesting DAY at the dealership


If you ask me.... I was promised the car would go in for repairs on August 18th but because the messed up again, I'm again screwed... talk about liability and neglegence.....

any comments anyone..... ohh yeah and they left a nice big dent for me too in the side of the car... which i really dont give a dam about...

 

[schmittg]

oh and they also took my can of lipton ice tea... dam them... i was thirsty

 

[bigbengt67]

The factory alarm wouldn't have gone off when the window was broken, there are no glass or shock sensors in the vehicle. It sounds like you're having a tough time though and I hope you can get through it without blaming everyone but yourself.

 

[mphred]

Sounds like they stole more than the car was worth... Hope you had insurance. Newish vehicle, finance company hopefully made sure you had comprehensive on it. Sotty about your run of bad luck. Hope you have healed up well- cars can, and in your case, SHOULD be replaced.