I bought a Pontiac Aztek for $3600 to reward you, dear readers, for become Autopian Members. Thank you! Now, as part of that deal, I’m going to have to sleep in the Aztek for a week, but before that: Let’s have a look at everything wrong with this machine.
I already gave you a sneak peek “first look” at our new Pontiac Aztek, and it looks nice. Remarkably so for a 21 year old machine. But aesthetics are only a small slice of the automotive pie; how does the thing actually work? Well, upon arrival, the answer was: Not well.
The first thing I heard when the transporter drove the Aztek to my location was the car going into park and then VROOOOOMMMMMMMMM. The RPMS shot sky-high, and then — boom. It was off.
What the? Was that the Aztek? I wondered. Maybe it was a different car? Then I fired the thing up and, nope: It was the Aztek. SUNOVA!
This, to me, seemed like maybe an intake manifold leak — something for which these 3.4-liter V6s are notorious. But it got worse. Not only was the motor revving to the sky, but the AC didn’t work even though the Cars & Bids description said it was just serviced! Then, on top of that, when I shut the car off, the key would release, but only in the accessory position.
I woke up the next morning with a dead battery.
I was not thrilled. I was expecting an Aztek with an AC that blew cubes, with an ignition switch that performed its basic function without issue, and with an engine devoid of an intake manifold leak. Surely these issues should have been noted in the auction description, right?
I texted the seller, who has been nothing but great throughout the whole interaction, communicating well, getting the car shipped for me, sending the title quickly — he seemed like a solid guy. But what’s with the bad ignition switch, lack of AC, and high idle? Here’s what he responded to my inquiry:
So when u bought it the person before me told me about that ignition issue and when I had it I never had a problem but if u look under the steering column the hole closest to the ignition if you stick a pen in there you will feel a lever and once you push if and turn the key off a the same time it will come out I never had to do it but I felt it when he showed me, but the weird idle and non working ac had to be a result of low voltage, when I dropped off the car to get shipped it was about 112 here and the ac was blowing ice cold. I’m sorry your having a bad experience right off the bat if there is anything I can do to help I’ll do what I can
Hmm. So I stick a pen into a hole on the bottom of the steering column and it releases the key?
Sure enough!
Damn, but do I have to do this every time I want to turn the car off? Either way, my car was dead, so I had to put it on a charge. I hooked up my trickle charger and waited a few hours (you can see the extension cord on the left side of the image below):
Then I set off to take the Aztek on a drive, only to realize: The problems were fixed! All of them! The ignition switch was working properly, the AC was blowing ice cold, and the engine was no longer revving to the sky with my foot off the pedal. Hot damn!
There are still some little issues with the car, like this switch panel is coming off the driver’s door:
And this exterior door trim is missing (this is driving me crazy; I’m keeping an eye out for this piece at my local junkyard):
And more importantly, there’s this odd sound shortly after I start the car:
But overall, for a 21 year-old Pontiac Aztek, this thing is in remarkable shape, and I have to say I’m 100% thrilled with it. Even the tires are only about three years old:
Even the underbody rust, which looks a bit scary in the photos, isn’t that bad, per my handy-dandy flathead-poke rust perforation test:
What a great purchase! Sure, there was an initial scare caused by the wonky GM electrical system that goes haywire when the battery is a little low, but otherwise, I’ve got a solidly B+ Aztek, which is awesome for $3,604. Look at how much other Azteks from Cars & Bids went for:
Did we get a smokin’ hot deal?
I can’t wait to drive this thing a bit more and write an Unironic Pontiac Aztek review. Because let’s be real: Far too many people love the Aztek because it looks weird, but what’s it actually like as a car beyond that wackiness? More on that soon.
That rattling sound is almost certainly a loose catalytic converter heat shield. I’ll bet if you get under it you’ll find that it rusted out around one or more of the fastening points (spot welds? Not sure how this particular one would have been put together).
Annoying, but not worrisome, would be my diagnosis.
By “serviced” they mean they loaded a can of refrigerant into an already leaky system. By the time you got the car, it had leaked out again!
Yes, serviced generally means, “I paid a guy to work on it”.
It does not mean “Everything is fixed.”
Shouldn’t the ownership experience be exactly like driving a GM minivan of the era? Once you’re past the looks, that’s all that’s left. Or so I understand it.
Turns out, not a lot! Carry on, everyone!
Sarcasm aside, I look forward to the review. In most hands, this would easily be satirical or an attempt to look counter-culturally cool. In David’s hands, this will be an earnest assessment of a car many people don’t like because it’s ugly.
That punctuation-free paragraph-long reply from the seller… grrrrr.
*puts pitchfork away*
*extinguishes torch (not Torch)*
Casting vote (N+1) here for “heat shield”. The flathead screwdriver can double as a probe…
And as a microphone. I believe DT is aware of this one, but for those who are not familiar: place the flat end of the screwdriver against the engine while it’s running (as if you’re stabbing the engine). Place end of the handle against your ear-hole. The screwdriver will transmit vibration (i.e. audio) neatly into your noggin – handy for diagnosing internal engine issues (but less helpful for heat shields).
Yes, I’m serious. Old-school mechanics have told me about it and it is mentioned – with a diagram! – in a 1918 edition of the Automotive Engineering series, first published by the American Technical Society in the early 1900s to help people get to grips with the newfangled horseless carriages.
+1 heat shield/exhaust.
Did you know that same mechanism was also used to site the fractures in broken bones? Once you stopped feeling your taps, you’d gone past the break.
TIL!! That’s excellent – thank you!
Another technique is that the patient’s screaming gets louder as your tapping gets closer to the fracture.
[Scene in the ER tonight]
Doc: “Hang on tight, I wanna try something I read about today.”
I learned this trick when I was about 15, and trying to diagnose something on my air-cooled Beetle’s engine. Has come in handy so many times since then! I’ve even used a length of hose for harder to access places. Doesn’t transmit noise as well as a screwdriver, but still useful.
I have a mechanic’s stethoscope for this! It’s basically a doctor’s stethoscope, but with a long, thin metal tube instead of a flat piece. You can poke it around just about anywhere to pinpoint where a noise is coming from.
And you get it in full stereo!
And they’re stupid cheap at HF; great for checking the health of your idler & tensioner pulleys before a road-trip
otoh, they can really raise your blood pressure the first time you poke around and listen as you don’t know what the normal sound is supposed to be
eta : that they’re worth the few bucks as you can diagnose which pulley is the issue without pulling the belt in modern tight compartments. Listen, order, pull the belt once to replace, go drive is what I did last year
Hmmm, GM Ignition switches from the early 2000s… why does that sound familiar?
Oh, that’s right, because they malfunctioned, resulting in several deaths.
Check for recalls. You might be able to get that fixed for free.
You can steal a Kia with a USB plug.
Cool! Let’s steal Kia’s and post videos of it on Tik Tok!
You can steal an Aztek with a BIC pen.
No thanks, we’re good.
didn’t even need the pen in the first video, the car stopped and started as if the key was in there.
If a car thief saw an Aztek, he’d feel so bad that he would give the owner a stolen Kia.
I’d bet that noise is an exhaust heat shield that is starting to get lose or rusting out.
David, it’s beige. The exhaust manifold is not your problem. Wrap or repaint that thing ASAP. Might I suggest a harlequin theme?
As for the ignition, you need a heavier key ring. Try putting all of the keys from all of your cars together on it. You won’t need to reach for a pen again.
No, heavy keys makes the ignition switch thing worse. When I had a car with that issue (before they all got recalled) I had to take alllll my work keys off and use the car key by itself. Went from happening every time I tried to turn the car off to 10% of the time.
(In Rainier Wolfcastle voice)
Thats the joke.
Eh, an acquaintance years ago had some old beater (a 70s-era Ford, not a GM product, though) where they kept having to jiggle the key to get it to start and keep running and they found it helped immensely if they put weight on the keyring as it would hold the key down at the right angle and maintain constant pressure on the electrical contacts so they just loaded the keyring up with odds and ends. Yeah, the OP might have been joking but in this case it was a legitimate fix.
Especially if you put a pen on the key ring!
David we gotta get cooking. The pen in a hole under the steering column is pretty funny though. I haven’t had any starting issues with any gms I have owned and surprisingly the VATS in my Firebird hasn’t malfunctioned yet.
Pretty sure that’s a heat shield rattling. I’ve had plenty of cars that did that. Usually you can just bend them a few millimeters one way or another and the rattle goes away.
You sure that funny noise on ignition isn’t you giggling in relief because everything is working?
I would guess the weird noise is either a rattling exhaust heat shield, or maybe a fan or belt that’s rubbing against something metallic and flimsy.
Click & Clack would have known the answer.
Did not imagine David being a Deadhead. Nice key fob.
Yes! I want to know everything about the key-chain. Did it come with the car, or is DT in actual fact a Dead Head? Fuck all taillights, this is what I need to know!
The keyring came with the car; it was in the seller’s pictures in the listing.
So here’s my take on it. If the entire car fell apart right now, the keychain makes it worth the entire purchase price.
David may be many things, but I’d bet a mediocre burrito that a seasoned space-time traveller, he is not.
DT: “The Grateful Dead? Is that a band?”
Torch: “Yes, David, they were extremely popular for 30+ years. You may have heard of Jerry Garcia.”
DT: “Nobody who reads the Autopian can be expected to understand that reference. It’s pretty obscure. I mean I’ve never even heard of them.”
“Far too many people love the Aztek because it looks weird, but what’s it actually like as a car beyond that wackiness?”
The impression I get is that most people actually hate the Aztek because of its looks. I had first-hand experience with one for several years and found it to be a perfectly fine, cromulent automobile. It was civilized, comfortable, and adequate. However, it may matter that it was a black on black Rally Edition (which actually looks pretty handsome…go ahead, look it up).
I drove a few of its minivan platform mates and they were fine. Nothing special but adequate. I imagine the Aztek is the same.
Once they colormatched the cladding, I started shopping for one. Never did buy one, but they weren’t too bad after that. I didn’t like the fact that they even had plastic panels stuck along the bottom of the body in the first place, but Pontiac kept on Pontiacing until Pontiac was no more…
If the battery is dying and the ignition switch doesn’t let your key out, I would guess the ignition switch is faulty. I’m not sure how low voltage would cause engine surge though. That doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Spinning the alternator faster to make more juice?
The engine’s idle speed is controlled by a computer. If the computer is being fed low voltage, it may not do its job correctly and the idle speed will not be well regulated. That’s how low voltage causes engine surge.
That’s also how low voltage caused the oil pressure light to come on in my car that was making strong oil pressure. That’s also how low voltage caused my buddy’s transmission to spontaneously shift into 1st at 50mph and strip out his input shaft.
Computers freak out and do unexpected things when they’re fed low voltage.
Not sure why the number one thing wasn’t “It’s an Aztek.”
Take it over to Galpin and lift it up. I think your guess that the rattle is from the exhaust is correct. With one person under the vehicle and another pushing the gas you should be able to pinpoint the source.
If an exhaust rattle and having to shove a pen into the steering column to turn it off are the biggest problems with this Aztek then you’ve done very well for a 21 year old mass market vehicle. I’d suggest keeping a portable jumper pack in at all times in case the charging issue gets worse. Happy camping!
That rust is somewhere around the range of “California totaled” which I consider to be about equal “Off-Lease Michigan car” which is to say, really not that bad.
My old Toyota made that same weird noise. It had a flywheel inspection plate made of thin sheet metal that bolted to the bell housing with only 2 or 3 bolts. It had flexed in somehow and was barely catching the flywheel and making that noise. I hammered it out and slapped it back on and the sound went away.
I also had a very similar noise on a subaru svx and I went over the whole exhaust and belt and pully and axle and wheel bearing and brake about 5 times before I found that one of the torque converter bolts backed half way out and at specific RPM’s it would just barely catch the bellhousing.
Oh GM, you and your ignition switches! What are we going to do with you?
That rattle at a specific RPM kind of reminds me of when my old car had an exhaust heat shield coming loose.
New Autopian feature: Beige Cars You’ll be Sleeping in.
But never banging in.
Hey, Rule 34, my friend…
Never say never, keep the dream alive.
Well, not with that attitude.
low voltage absolutely messes with cars.
I have a bricked TPMS/fob receiving unit that resulted from low voltage. Apparently, it causes some internal hang and the thing just bricks itself. Only fix is to replace, reprogram (because replacing it requires some reprogramming, computer ftw), and not get a dead battery ever again.
Yeah, Priuses also throw all kinds of error codes when it’s just that the 12v battery is dying.
Honda Clarity PHEVs also go absolutely nuts when the 12v battery gets weak. Sort that out and it all goes back to normal unless there’s a real issue.
It’s strange how providing a solid source of 12v electricity is the first step of troubleshooting.
Somehow Honda and Toyota are incapable of having a reliable “Low/Weak 12v Battery” code in these hybrids.
C-Max same thing with the 12V battery. My theory. The 12V battery mainly just acts as a device that mainly just turns on a large relay that powers the actual car from the hybrid battery. Plus stabilizing voltage for the legacy 12V electricstuff in the car (lights, radio, etc.)
So the 12V battery really doesn’t supply much power at startup. This causes 2 problems. First is there is never a big draw of power to clean up the plates inside. Secondly, you don’t notice the battery problems until the battery is completely and totally dead. Dead as a doornail dead. It’s dead, Jim. You get the picture. My car went from jumpstart every morning to battery won’t accept a charge at all within the space of a week.
Yes the battery in a Ford or Toyota Hybrid’s only purpose it to supply all the modules with the Keep Alive Power, operate the door locks and interior lights until it closes the main contactors in the HV battery. Seriously I have “jumped” our old C-max with a little AGM battery I keep around for testing things that has a 20a fuse.
There are a number of reasons why they don’t last and can catch you unaware just how bad the battery is.
One of the big things is that it is just a low capacity battery. It doesn’t crank the engine so they size it accordingly to save weight and space.
Because the demand is so low it can keep doing its job w/o any signs of weakness until the battery is really really weak. However depending on the car it can give you a warning. On my MKZ hybrid one day I shut the car off at my destination and before I could open the door the screen displayed a message that the battery was low and it was shutting down to conserve power.
The battery is also rarely fully charged, for most of the Ford hybrids the factory setting is to only charge to 80% effectively making that small battery even smaller. You can change the settings with ForScan to shut off the battery management system or adjust it to charge to a higher SOC and it will charge it to 100% occasionally IF you take a very long drive.
Many people fail to do the reset procedure when they replace the 12v battery. The battery management system keeps thinking it is an old battery, won’t accept much charge and thus fails to properly charge a newer battery. So your really small battery’s capacity is lowered even more.
The other problem I’ve heard of on Mavericks built in a certain time frame is that for a period of time they didn’t have the specified AGM battery so they substituted a Flooded unit but didn’t change the BMS to the type and capacity of the battery that was installed.