california newbie
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california newbie
ouch-was excited about this 96 bonneville purchased for my niece-nice ride looks etc-went out the other day-turned key-extremely loud explosion-settled down -looked under hood-whole thing in the middle blown to smithereens-found out from looking at your website it is the upper intake exhaust manifold-i have no clue how extensive damage is-dont know if drivable even-waiting for friend mechanic to have a look-but geez-called pontiac and they said my vin wasnt on recall list-any ideas-like class actions-or if this car would even be worth fixing??thanks much-never in my wildest dreams did i think a car could explode like that and it sure does suck-thanks much for any ideas-california newbie-maybe oldie soon-trav
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sounds like the FPR leaked and WHAM goes the intake.....
welcome.....the car is most def. not driveable
one member had that happen to there car at the GM dealer and it caught on fire....GM settled with them tho
welcome.....the car is most def. not driveable
one member had that happen to there car at the GM dealer and it caught on fire....GM settled with them tho
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96 models were not part of the recall... I have heard of various 96 GM models with the 3800 series II L36 engine doing this as the FPR was leaking...
The fix is to replace the upper intake and FPR, and thats if the nylon fuel lines or the rail have not been damaged..
Almost forgot, these cars also were updated with a newer program to help avoid backfires in the intake..
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The fix is to replace the upper intake and FPR, and thats if the nylon fuel lines or the rail have not been damaged..
Almost forgot, these cars also were updated with a newer program to help avoid backfires in the intake..
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ok i am a woman who doesnt know that much about it all-so i gather it is the fuel-regulator-that leaked???-thanks much and why would it leak to the point of explosion-something wrong with up keep of car or just a freak accident type thing-thanks again
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Originally Posted by trav
ok i am a woman who doesnt know that much about it all-so i gather it is the fuel-regulator-that leaked???-thanks much and why would it leak to the point of explosion-something wrong with up keep of car or just a freak accident type thing-thanks again
The Fuel Pressure Regulator is Vacume controled, the vacume comes from the intake, there is a rubber T fitting that runs to the Fuel pressure regulator, when the Fuel Pressure Regulator leaks internally the engine can inhale fuel, its aso possible that the pressure in the rail can get through a bad FPR and into the intake... all it takes is one good backfire and BOOM there goes the intake...
Some of the later models, 97-98 I think were recalled for a new Fuel pressure regulator and and Updated program for the computer( Powertrain Control Module ), what this did was helped avoid any intake backfires... I have yet to hear of a 95 3800 II having this problem... I have heard of a few 96'* that did this... And like Pat said, one of our members lost his car due to the leaky Fuel Pressure Regulator.... His did the same and went BOOM... He had it towed to the dealership and thold them what happened, and that they would need to push the car into the bay as the intake went through an explosion... They went out there later and hit the key, then car caught fire at that point and the rest is history...
Do you have a few pics of the damage...
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it is a 96 bonneville-we bought it used from a very nice guy who seemed to keep it up really well-we called pontiac and they said there wasnt a recall on the vin number although there WAS a recall on 96 bonnevilles about the explosion problem-ours wasnt on the list and i dont know why-maybe we should tow it to a pontiac dealer and see if we get the same results-some help as the car catches on fire there instead of here-well gee-i really liked this car-excellant exterior and interior condition-the car is still in the driveway so i can post some pictures tomorrow-our mechanic friend still hasnt had time to look at it but i think he will really appreciate your website and help as i do-thanks again-trav
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From: Fitchburg Ma _ToastedRice_
it might be worth taking it to the dealer and if nothing else, argue with them that the car is basically identical to a 97 where the same problem is covered under a recall... if the dealer isnt willing to work with you, i bet you could get into contact with GM and get if fixed if not for free, at a discount.. if im correct, it is about a 500 dollar repair as you stand right now.
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thanks-i wanted to post photos of the damage but i am waiting until the mechanic friend comes-at least i know from your help here that i will NOT turn the key until it is at a dealers-i dont want a car fire next.if the fix is in the 500 dollar range i can deal with that but right now i wont know the full damage until its looked at by someone who knows what they are doing.we had already fixed the air conditioning right away-in sacramento you have to and we got a reconditioned part from e bay that worked well for the air-i will let you guys know what i find out-thanks
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Car Damage Photos
here are links to the car damage photos:
http://outglass.com/Car_2.jpg
http://outglass.com/Car_1.jpg
http://outglass.com/Car_2.jpg
http://outglass.com/Car_1.jpg