Owner-reported complaints naming the electrical system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the electrical system — wiring, battery, charging, control modules, infotainment and electrical accessories. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 1996 Chevrolet Monte Carlo submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 44 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 44, in the owner's own words
BRAKES DO NOT WORK DURING INCLIMATE WEATHER. LOSES A QUART OF OIL PER 500 MILES. BLOWS BY SMOKE THROUGH EXHAUST WHEN STARTING.
REOCURRING ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. THE CAR HAS NOT BEEN DRIVEN EVEN 100 MILES THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF BECAUSE IT WONT PASS INSPECTION. THE EMISSION SYSTEM HAS GONE OUT. SINCE WE'VE HAD THE CAR WE'VE HAD TO REPLACE THE IGNITION SYSTEM AND THE WINDOWS KEPT GOING OFF TRACK. AS OF NOW THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW WILL NOT GO UP. I CANT AFFORD TO GET IT FIXED SINCE I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH "CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE" AND I'M ON PERMANENT DISABILITY THROUGH SOCIAL SECURITY.
THE FUSE BOX UNDER THE HOOD IS GETTING WET AND KEEPS CORRODING. MY HEADLIGHTS KEEP GOING OUT,HORN,LIGHTER .THEY SHOULD HAVE PUT IT IN A BETTER PLACE.THANK YOU!. *AK
SPARK PLUGS ARE CAUSING VEHICLE TO DRIVE POORLY.*AK
ALTERNATER HAS BEEN REPLACED 3 TIMES. DEFECTIVE ALTERNATER WOULD NOT ALLOW ENGINE TO COOL. *AK CONSUMER STATED ALTERNATOR IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ENGINE, BECAUSE OF ITS LOCATION IT DOES NOT COOL PROPERLY, TO GET THE PART THE ENGINE MUST BE DROPPED, CONSUMER STATED THIS WAS A POOR DESIGN.*SLC
FOUND ODI ID 735734 ON YOUR WEB SITE, WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY RECALL NOT ISSUED?. NO SAFETY DEFECT. *AK
APPEARS DESIGN FLAW IN THE LOCATION OF ALTERNATOR CAUSING FAILURE?*AK
PREMATURE ALTENATOR FAILURE, CAUSED BY ALTENATOR BEING POSITIONED UNDER CAR , WHICH CAUSES IT TO BE OUT OF A "COOLING AIR FLOW" AND TO OVERHEAT/BURN UP,INTERNALLY. PLUS, DUE TO IT'S LOCATION, THE RIGHT FRONT AXLE, AND SUB FRAME HAVE TO BE REMOVED TO REPLACE THE ALTENATOR. ALTENATORS SHOULD NOT FAIL AT THIS MILEAGE. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH SEVERAL OTHER 96-Z-34 OWNERS WHO HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS. CLEARLY A BAD DESIGN BY GM, AND IT PASSES AN UNNEEDED/UNWANTED BURDEN ON TO PEOPLE WHO BUY THEIR PRODUCTS AND HOPE THEM TO BE TROUBLE FREE,. MODERN TECHNOLOGY SHOULD ALLOW THEM TO BUILD A SYSTEM THAT IS MORE DURABLE. I HAVE TWO OTHER VEHICLES, THAT ARE MUCH OLDER THAN THIS CAR THAT ARE MUCH MORE RELIABLE AND LESS COSTLY TO MAINTAIN. THIS POOREST / AND MOST UNRELIABLE OF MONTE CARLO NOW HAS A REPUTATION IN THE MARKET PLACE AND THE RESALE VALUE HAS PLUMMMENTED. THERE SHOULD BE SOME LIABILITY ON GM'S PART.*AK
THIS CAR HAS HAD ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS SINCE IT WAS NEW. IT HAS BEEN IN FOR REPEAT REPAIRS SINCE UNDER WARRANTY. NOW THAT THE WARRANTY IS OVER, GM HAS TAKEN THE POSITION THAT THEY WILL NOT HELP IN THE REPAIRS OF THIS CAR. WHAT HAPPEN TO APPLIED WARRANTIES ON REPAIRS TO CARS. THEY ARE REFUSING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITS WITH THIS CARS FAILURES. I WAS INFORMED BY A DEALERS SERVICE MANAGER, THAT GM KNOWS ABOUT THE PLACEMENT OF THE CAR'S ALTERNATOR ON THE ENGINE AND IT CAUSED SO MANY PROBLEMS THAT GM HAS SINCE RELOCATED THE ALTERNATOR ON LATER MODELS AND THAT SEEMS TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM WITH HAVING TO REPLACE THE ALTERNATOR. IN NOVEMBER 1999, I PAID TO HAVE A PCM REPLACED AND THE TECHNICIAN FORGOT TO REPLACE THE NO KNOCK MODULE IN THE PCM. THIS CAUSED THE CARS SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT TO COME ON AND THE CAR HAD TO BE TAKEN BACK FOR REPAIR AGAIN. THIS MISTAKE CAUSED ME TO GO OUT AND BUY ANOTHER CAR. (TOYOTA).
LOST ALL POWER NUMEROUS TIMES IN 1ST FEW MONTHS - DEALER NEVER ABLE TO RECREATE THE PROBLEM. *AK
BALL JOINT AND TIE ROD + FRONT BRAKES REPLACED AT 1ST ALTERNATOR - PARTS CORRODED AND FUSED TOGETHER 75K ON ORIGNIAL TIRES
PLUG WIRE REPLACED AT 35K 50K 71K - LAST TWO CAUSED ALTERNATOR TO BE REPLACED. *AK
REPLACED 2X (BOTH 4,000M AFTER PLUG WIRE REPLACEMENT) - NEEDED NEW BATTERIES. *AK
ENGINE CHECK LIGHT ALWAYS COMING ON, BURNED UP O2 SENSOR, VACCUM LINE BROKE CONTROLLING VENTS, CHARCOAL CANISTER CRACKED, TRANSMISSION SLIPS IF PEDAL IS FLOORED FROM TAKEOFF BETWEEN RST AND 2ND AND WHEN DOWNSHIFTING AFTER BRAKING, ABS FAIL IN WET CONDITONS RESULTING IS EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCE,ALTERNATOR DEFECTIVE AT 63,000 MILES, VEHICLE SKIDS AND LOW TRAC LIGHT COMES ON WHEN BRAKING FREQUENTLY. *AK
THERE ARE MANY THINGS WRONG WITH MY VEHICLE AND NOW THE WARRANTY IS UP AND ITS NOT CHEAP TO REPAIR MAJOR PARTS THAT SHOULDN'T NEED REPAIR AT THIS TIME AND MILEAGE ON THIS VEHICLE(21,287). I LOOKED UP THE LEMON LAW ON MY INTERNET AND MY CAR DEFINITELY QUALIFIES AS A LEMON WHICH IS A SHAME BECAUSE I LOVE MY CAR. I ALREADY HAD REPLACES 3 SPARK PLUGS, 3 CYLINDERS IN THE ENGINE, IGNITION COIL, 3 CD PLAYERS, BRAKES, LEFT TURN SIGNAL. LET'S PUT IT THIS WAY WHEN I WALK INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIR THEY KNOW ME BY FIRST NAME, AND THEN THEY ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG THIS TIME? IT'S VERY EMBARASSING TO HAVE THIS MANY PROBLEMS. IF I COULD AFFORD A LAWYER I WOULD FILE MY CAR AS A LEMON BUT I WOULD GET MY MONEYS WORTH BACK FOR ALL THE PROBLEMS AT 21,287 MILEAGE. AND IT WILL BE 4 YEARS OLD IN OCTOBER\2000. I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO HELP IN SOME SORT OF WAY. I'M VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THE CHEVROLET COMPANY, BECAUSE MY FATHER ONLY WILL DRIVE CHEVROLET VEHICLES AND THAT WHAT HE WANTED ME TO GET AND IT A PROBLEM SINCE DAY 1 OF THE VEHICLE. IT'S A GORGEOUS VEHICLE AND DRIVE BEAUTIFUL WHEN THERES NOT A PROBLEM WITH IT. PLEASE TRY TO HELP ME.
FUEL FILTER FAILED. YH
"PHANTOM HESITATION OCCURS @ ANY SPEED,FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS. IT HAS BEEN "FIXED" TWICE AND STILL OCCURS. AT A LOW SPEED, ENGINE MAY STOP. THAT IS DANGEROUS IN AN INTERSECTION.
WHILE DRIVING ENGINE CHECK LIGHT COMES ON. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER, AND THEY SAID THAT COOLANT WAS LEAKING ON THE SPARK PLUGS. *AK
VEHICLE SUPPOSEDLY HAS 100,000 MILE SPARK PLUGS INSTALLED, BUT SPARK PLUG CABLES FAILED BELOW 60,000 MILES. CONTACTED CHEVROLET AND THEY TOLD ME IT WAS BECAUSE HOW I HAD THEM ROUTED, AND I HAD NEVER MOVED OR TOUCHED THEM SINCE I HAD BOUGHT THE CAR NEW. I WAS REALLY UPSET WITH THEIR EXPLANATION, OR "EXCUSE". AND TO HAVE AN ALTERNATOR GO BAD AT 76,000 MILES, I DON'T THINK SO.
SPARK PLUGS AND WIRES REPLACED NUMEROUS TIMES. ENGINE CHECK LIGHT STAYS ON /ROUGH IDLE AT START/ALOT HARD TO START, AND BRAKES WON'T HOLD IN WET CONDITONS. *AK
COMPLAINED ABOUT TRANSMISSION AT LEAST 10 TIMES, FINALLY FAILED COMPLETELT AND WAS REPAIRED. ENGINE LIGHT ON AT LEAST 15 TIMES, REPLACED INJECTORS, PLUGS, WIRES, O-RINGS, ENGINE GASKET, CAR STILL NOT FIXED.
THERE SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE WHICH IS CAUSING THE CAR NOT TO HOLD A TUNE-UP. AT 38,839 MILES, #3 SPARK PLUG WAS REPLACED - OIL LEAKING PAST PCV VALVE, THE PCV VALVE WAS REPLACED. SHORTLY AFTER #1 AND #2 SPARK PLUGS HAD TO BE REPLACED. *AK
NO SUMMARY
ENGINE CHECK LIGHT HAS CAME ON 5 TIMES. 2 TIMES THE DEALER CLAIMED THAT THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE. 2 TIMES THEY HAVE REPLACED NUMEROUS SPARK PLUGS, AND 2 FUEL PRESSURE REGULATORS HAVE BEEN PUT ON THE CAR. THE GAS GUAGE UNIT HAS BEEN REPLACED BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO REGISTER HOW MUCH GAS WAS IN THE CAR. VEHICLE HAS SPUTTERED WHEN FIRST STARTED AND WHEN GOING DOWN THE ROAD. THE DEALER HAS FIXED THESE PROBLEMS. THE PROGRAM UNIT IN THE CAR HAS BEEN REPLACED BECAUSE OF THE SPUTTERING AND IDLING PROBLEM. THE CAR IS NOW EXPERIENCING HARD STARTS WHEN THE IGNITION HAS TO BE TURNED FOR ABOUT 5-6 SECONDS BEFORE THE CAR WILL CRANK. DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THIS, BUT HAS BEEN UNABLE TO FIX THE PROBLEM. BRAKE SYSTEM FAILED WHEN ROADS ARE WET AN D BRAKE PEDAL HAS TO BE PUSHED TO THE FLOOR FOR THE CAR TO STOP. ON THE OCCASIONS WHEN THE VEHICLE'S CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THE VEHICLE WAS SPUTTERING, THE CODE PO300 APPEARED THE 5 TIMES THAT THE CAR HAS BEEN TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THIS. NUMEROUS SPARK PLUGS AND WIRES HAVE BEEN REPLACED POSSIBLY DUE TO SPUTTERING OF VEHICLE. *AK
WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE WILL SURGE FORWARD AND BACKWARD, WHICH MAY CAUSE LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. DEALER RESTARTED THE COMPUTER AND CHANGED SPARK PLUGS. BEEN TO DEALER 6 TIMES.DEALER CANNOT DETERMINE PROBLEM. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION. *AK
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .