PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

1997 Pontiac Bonneville SE V-6 3800, 167,000 miles.

#1. Check oil light stays on for 30 seconds to a minute, after every start up, warm or cold.
Oil Pressure is up, and good and stays in normal range.

#2. Brake Light comes on during hard stopping, feel a rumble in the pedal.

#3. Check engine light came on code P1870 , is it TCC?

#4. Vehicle surges at 50-65 mph, flat or uphill , load or no load.

#5. fuel gauge stuck on full.

Things I have done so far:
Changed oil and filter.
New MAP Sensor
New O2 sensor (pre-cat)
extracted one quart of trans fluid from filler tube and added Lucas to the trans.

things I want to do soon:
Full trans flush and filter.
Spark Plugs and Wires
fuel filter
Coil packs

I need some suggestions????
I need to keep this car for 2 more years.....posting.php?mode=post&f=19#

palmtech wrote:1997 Pontiac Bonneville SE V-6 3800, 167,000 miles.
#3. Check engine light came on code P1870 , is it TCC?
#4. Vehicle surges at 50-65 mph, flat or uphill , load or no load.
#5. fuel gauge stuck on full.

#3: I get P1870 maybe once every month or two. It's slipping in the torque converter. Unless you feel like rebuilding or replacing your trans, you can reset it and ignore it. It can happen to you completely normally if you do a lot of uphill driving. Technically it should reset itself after something like 20 trips without slippage, but I find it's easier to just reset it with a cheap OBDII codereader.

#4: Surging, probably also related to your torque converter slipping, locking, and unlocking. If it's not terribly bad you can ignore it, or you can do a trans rebuild or replace. I'd personally wait for the trans to totally crap out. Mine's been going just fine for more than four years after I started getting P1870 every now and then.

#5: Worn off feeler tips on the fuel level sensor in the fuel pump in the fuel tank. There's a how-to video on YouTube by Hans on the GM wiring harness you can get for under $40, pull the fuel pump from the tank, remove the worn fuel level sensor, and replace it with the part from the GM harness. I did it on my wife's 2001 Grand Prix. It took about an hour. Try to do it with the tank close to empty to avoid spilling fuel in your trunk. Have lots of paper towels and rags around and don't make any sparks.

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it!
Just Bought it 1 month ago...
I have currently put 3 quarts of Lucas into the trans, and it has helped out greatly...
I also changed the Plugs, wires, and both O2 sensor's and the MAP sensor.
Idle, performance and shifting is smoother, and nicer....I have 168,000 miles and would like to see at least 225,000 then I am going to start my SSEI Rebuild Project.

As you're a 97, I'm pretty sure you need to drop the fuel tank to access the fuel pump. The 2000+ guys and the Grand Prix owners can access theirs from the trunk. This makes it quite a bit bigger job for your 97. It's not impossible to do, it's just a bigger than an hour job, and I'd imagine it would be a lot easier with a lift. You can of course replace the entire fuel sending unit, but the problem is really the wiper fingers on the level sensor, and the entire unit is over $500 at a dealer. The harness that you can cannibalize for the level sensor is around $40.
View through Hans' 3-part video starting here: http://youtu.be/-7cY_IPCVfI

Then decide if it's worth dropping the tank to do it yourself. (Again, easier if the tank is close to empty.)

#1. Check oil light stays on for 30 seconds to a minute, after every start up, warm or cold.
Oil Pressure is up, and good and stays in normal range.

Possible bad oil pressure sending unit. Threads in right above oil filter with electrical connection on it.

#2. Brake Light comes on during hard stopping, feel a rumble in the pedal.

Check brake fluid level.

#3. Check engine light came on code P1870 , is it TCC?

What Bugsi said.

#4. Vehicle surges at 50-65 mph, flat or uphill , load or no load.

New plugs and wires. See TECHINFO at the top and check your coils. May be a weak or bad one.

#5. fuel gauge stuck on full.

What Bugsi said.

Andrew (Harofreak00) is buying those harness things with the fuel level sensor thing for around $14 on eBay. (I'll find the link.)

-Regarding surging, also consider removing and scrub-a-dub-dubbing the throttle body with a nylon bristle brush and a can of carb/choke cleaner. Be careful with the MAF sensor and the screen-thing. And Matt's suggestion of plugs and wires is excellent too. The number one cause of misfiring in these engines is plugs/wires. While surging isn't necessarily misfiring, they can have similar symptoms and the fix is cheap enough to DIY to rule it out.

-If your brake fluid is low, then you should additionally consider the possibility of a leak somewhere (typically at a caliper or wheel cylinder) or of possible master cylinder failure. These are typical standard repair items of any car. It could also just be low without a leak, so just top up and keep an eye on it.

Check your brakes. They could be shot if you have rumbling when applied, the fluid level goes down when your pads get worn.

palmtech wrote:1997 Pontiac Bonneville SE V-6 3800, 167,000 miles.

4. Vehicle surges at 50-65 mph, flat or uphill , load or no load.

Change the fuel filter.

Ok, 3 qts. Of lucas added to the trans. Removed 1 qt. A week, then added a qt. Of lucas. Did that for three weeks in a row. ( trans never felt better and p1870 code is now gone for now. )


Changed out plugs, wires, o2 sensors, map sensor.
Cleaned throttle body.
Added a true cold air intake as suggested in this forum.
Running lucas in each tank full of gas.
Bled all the brakes ( had that original green oem gm brake fluid in it, brakes themselves were good condition, now completely flushed with dot 3.

Oh, I also read up on and fixed the ground wire under the drivers side carpet, what a wierd thing to do for gm??

Now I only have 3 things left to do.
Drop my tank, install new fuel pump/ sendinding unit.
New fuel filter.
New oil pressure sensor.

Thank you all for your input and advice, most appreciated.

As soon as I am complete with this bonneville, I am going to give it to the wife, and buy me a 1997 SSEI....

I have a 1997 Bonneville and I have had zero problems with it its the 40th year anniversary SSE and it works great. I had to change a water pump and serpentine belt while I was changing the pump. I wasn't aware that I had to unbolt the motor mount and lift the engine with a jack to get the serpentine belt under the motor mounts for installation but nothing big.