Vehicle failed to start. Upon opening hood consumer noticed that the battery terminal post came off, and acid was leaking out.

- Belleville, IL, USA

Vehicle parked in driveway with fluid dripping in front of passenger side front tire. Found positive battery post (side) separated from battery case with battery acid leaking out. Battery terminal was very difficult to remove from cables and there was slight corrosion damage to battery tray area.

- Antelope, CA, USA

My car wouldn't start and there were no electrical components functioning. I called the car dealership where I purchased the warranty and was told to make sure I didn't have a dead battery because that was not covered under the warranty. I called the towing company and they attempted to charge the battery. Battery would not charge; the car went "puff" and caught on fire. When the wrecker driver attempte to start the car, he heard a loud "pop" and smoke was rolling out from under the hood. He opened the hood, battery was intact, however the engine was on fire. After fire was extinquished, he found the plenum(?sp) blown off the top F the engine and the oil filtler tube was blown out of he top of te manifold. Warranty company would not cover due to the fact the car caught on fire. They said my car ins should cover it. However, I believe the fire was the result of a previously existing defect. I was told the foam used to extinguish the fire could possibly have caused more problems in the engine. Was I supposed to let the car completey burn up? I don't think so!

- Glen Dale, WV, USA

While my wife was driving home with our children the vehicle suddenly shut off. My wife was able to safely pull off the highway and contacted me. When I arrived I found the positive battery terminal fell off the delco battery, causing acid to leak into the battery tray and front frame section. I replaced battery and had to repair the cable end because the end was seized.

- West Chester, PA, USA

This appears to be a common problem with this make/model or similarly configured battery cable system. The post breaks off inside the battery as a result of vibrations and the weight of the cable. The consumer must buy a new battery as a result. Furthermore, the battery bolt freezes inside the cable requiring it to be cut out due to the excessive heat generated aththe connection. This is a common problem with this vehicle according to the technician I spoke with at bentley Pontiac at the time I took it in. I had to have the vehicle towed to get it repaired. When I picked my vehicle up, I noticed another Bonneville getting it's battery replaced for the exact same problem - the positive terminal post had broken off and the bolt was frozen to the positive cable connection. I believe there should be a fix to this problem and that GM should reimburse owner's for any cost associated with this design flaw. It presents a danger to vehicles driving down the highway because it could potentially result in sudden power loss and could be catastrophic. I was lucky my incident occurred in my garage. I shoulod have reported this earlier. However, while cleaning up my computer files, I recalled that I had not reported this incident. I have owned a number of vehicles for many years and have never heard of this type problem with the battery/battey cable on any of them. Have other such incidents been reported or does GM have knowledge of this problem from maintenance actions at their dealers?

- Madison, AL, USA

Batteries leak acid.et.

- Kingsburg, CA, USA