The 1997 Pontiac Montana has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 717,302 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 25 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the engine and engine cooling. Last updated July 5, 2026.
ON CERTAIN MINIVANS EQUIPPED WITH SECOND-ROW BUCKET SEATS OR CAPTAIN'S CHAIRS AND A POWER SLIDING DOOR ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE, A PASSENGER USING THE INTERIOR HANDLE TO OPEN THE POWER SLIDING DOOR COULD BE INJURED.
Consequence
IF A PASSENGER USES THE INTERIOR HANDLE TO OPEN THE POWER SLIDING DOOR AND HOLDS ONTO THE HANDLE WHILE IT IS BEING OPENED BY THE MOTOR, THE PASSENGER'S ARM MAY BE PUSHED INTO THE SEAT BACK OR ARMREST AND A WRIST OR LOWER ARM INJURY MAY RESULT.
Remedy
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE POWER SLIDING DOOR INTERIOR HANDLE ON THE PASSENGER-SIDE. IF THE VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH A POWER OR MANUAL SLIDING DOOR ON THE DRIVER-SIDE, THE INTERIOR HANDLE WILL ALSO BE REPLACED FOR APPEARANCE REASONS. NOTE: BEFORE THE VEHICLE IS SERVICED, GM ADVISES OWNERS TO NOT USE THE INTERIOR…
Complaints by component
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
3
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM
2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:MANIFOLD/HEADER/MUFFLER/TAIL PIPE
2
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
2
SEAT BELTS
2
1crashes2injuries
STRUCTURE
2
SUSPENSION
2
AIR BAGS
1
1crashes2injuries
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FRONT UNDERHOOD
1
1fires
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
1
Total complaints25
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“I recently saw that toyota voluntarily recalled some of their vehicles due to failures of the cable that holds their spare tires in place. I had this exact same failure occur to me on a 1997 pontiac montana van. The actual failure occurred on 1/21/08. I was parked in a parking lot when the spare…”
“I recently saw that toyota voluntarily recalled some of their vehicles due to failures of the cable that holds their spare tires in place. I had this exact same failure occur to me on a 1997 pontiac montana van. The actual failure occurred on 1/21/08. I was parked in a parking lot when the spare…”
“Antifreeze leak; lead to replacement of lower intake manifold gasket (very costly) about 4 years ago. Needs replacing again. Dealership warns of excessive engine damage due to antifreeze in the motor oil. *nm”
“Pontiac transport montana was parked in a parking lot for 1/2 hour or so and became ingulfed in flames. Fire marshall thinks it was from battery/ electric. Destroyed our car and 5 others. No humans hurt...thank god it was parked and my son was not driving it.”
“Dt contact states his passenger safety belt in his vehicle is locked, originally designed a child safety feature. The seat belt buckle in the middle row, center and right side seat is coming apart. *nm”
“Driving down a two lane freeway, vearing to the right and I rearended a car. The seatbelts did not lock and the airbags did not work..the vehicle was inspected and everything was said to be working fine..the van is fully loaded and all the elctronics are working perfectly, as far as I knew.*ak”
“Driving down a two lane freeway, vearing to the right and I rearended a car. The seatbelts did not lock and the airbags did not work..the vehicle was inspected and everything was said to be working fine..the van is fully loaded and all the elctronics are working perfectly, as far as I knew.*ak”
“Intermittently vehicle had difficulty making a left turn, or was unable to make a left turn while in motion . Consumer received a recall notice concerning this problem back in october 23, 2003. But was not able locate that information in nhtsa data base. *ak”
Defect investigations
InvestigationEA02032 Opened 2002-11-18 · closed 2003-11-21
SAFETY BELT ASSEMBLY FAILURE
ODI IDENTIFIED 59 REPORTS WITH THE ALLEGED DEFECT.ODI WAS ABLE TO CONTACT 44 OF THE 59 CONSUMERS IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE SPECIFIC CAUSE OF THE LATCH PROBLEMS.OF THE 44 OWNERS CONTACTED, ODI DETERMINED THAT FOUR FAILURES WERE DUE TO AN OUT-OF-TOLERANCE LATCH PLATE, AND THAT 23 FAILURES WERE DUE TO A DISPLACED BUCKLE…
InvestigationEA03005 Opened 2003-04-23 · closed 2004-01-12
REAR AXLE TRAILING ARM FAILURE
ON NOVEMBER 18, 2002, ODI OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION (PE02-086) TO EVALUATE ALLEGATIONS OF REAR AXLE TRAILING ARM FAILURES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES (U-VAN) WHICH INCLUDED TWO REPORTING CRASHES.ON APRIL 9, 2003, ODI UPGRADED PE02-086 TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA03-005) TO CONTINUE ITS EXAMINATION OF THE ISSUE.…
InvestigationEA03005 Opened 2003-04-23 · closed 2004-01-12
REAR AXLE TRAILING ARM FAILURE
ON NOVEMBER 18, 2002, ODI OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION (PE02-086) TO EVALUATE ALLEGATIONS OF REAR AXLE TRAILING ARM FAILURES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES (U-VAN) WHICH INCLUDED TWO REPORTING CRASHES.ON APRIL 9, 2003, ODI UPGRADED PE02-086 TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA03-005) TO CONTINUE ITS EXAMINATION OF THE ISSUE.…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1997 Pontiac Montana as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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