NHTSA Complaint #10164522 — 1995 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE

DRIVING AT 65 MPH. EXHAUST SUDDENLY BEGAN SPEWING COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF WHITE SMOKE, WHICH BLINDED MANY OTHER MOTORISTS MOVING AT THE SAME SPEED. ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING VERY ROUGH. I PULLED OVER AND SHUT IT DOWN. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO MECHANIC, WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED AS A BLOWN HEAD GASKET. HEAD GASKETS WERE CHANGED, AS WERE ALL OTHERS NEEDED TO DO THIS REPAIR. UPON RE-FILLING THE RADIATOR WITH ANTIFREEZE, IT BEGAN LEAKING FROM UNEXPECTED PLACES. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THIS WAS YET ANOTHER CASE OF THE UPPER INTAKE TUNNEL (PLASTIC) HAVING FAILED. I CALLED THE DEALER, AND WAS INFORMED THAT THIS PART HAS BEEN REDESIGNED, AND DUE TO THE HUGE NUMBERS OF THESE NEEDING TO BE MANUFACTURED AND SOLD, THE PRICE HAS BEEN REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY. THE OLD PART HAD TO BE TURNED IN TO THE DEALER AS A 'CORE' ITEM. *NM