GM recalling 1.5M vehicles over potential fires

What absolutely TERRIBLE timing for this.

I'm dumbfounded.



"WASHINGTON – General Motors Corp. is recalling 1.5 million vehicles because of potential engine fires.

GM says there have been no reports of any fires or injuries.

Some of the recalled vehicles are no longer in production. The recall includes the 1998-1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue, the 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix, 1997-2003 Buick Regal, and the 1998-2003 Chevrolet Lumina, Monte Carlo and Impala.

It involves vehicles with a 3.8-liter V6 engine. The government says drops of oil could fall into the exhaust system and cause a fire in the engine.

GM spokesman Kerry Christopher says it was a precautionary measure for consumers."

 

very strange... no reports of fires in the 6 to 12 years that these 1.5 million vehicles have been on the road, but the government says that it could happen so they have to recall all of them. I wonder what the "fix" is

 

Valve cover gaskets.....already did the wife's car....no biggie, but PITA for the dealers / GM.

Seriously, what a chicken sh*t recall....the wife's car has over 178k miles and the gaskets didn't look or leak any worse than the old cork gaskets always did on a small block....certianly wasn't worried about a fire. Personally, I think it's just harrassment by the NHTSA......

 

If they're worried that a couple of drops of oil could cause an engine fire, them my 93 should have burned to the ground last year. My oil sending unit sprung a leak and was pissing oil all over the Y pipe, but all it did was bake off. No fires.

 

Recalling a 12 year old car for oil seeping by the valve covers...

Hari-Kari mean anything to some folks...

What got me was that I actually heard about this on the radio this morning coming to work. The 20-ish DJ was offering his supreme advice to those who own these cars... "We have to wait a month for GM to contact us about our cars... in the mean time we wait to see if it burns our house down" comments. He solicited callers to call in and voice their opinions/concerns.
I had to change the station or go to the hospital for treatments - one or the other. I figured changing the station would cost me less - so I did.

The stupid comments ABOUND.

I feel so bad for GM right now. They simply can't get a break.

 

I recall hearing about this issue a long time ago. It might have been just the SC'd 3.8s, but i definitely remember something about leaking valve covers and potential for fire in W-body GPs.

 

My wife told me this was on Perez Hilton last night. WTF?

 

They are probably doing this now so they can charge it to the "bad GM" when they split up.

 

Is that the all-inclusive list of affected vehicles?

There's no mention of the Bonneville, and I'm sure there are other 3800-powered vehicles not on that list.

 

It was, and I wrote him a nice e-mail telling him to stick to drawing a ***** on Lindsey Lohan pictures and leave the automotive news and reporting to real auto bloggers.

 

I find a couple of ironic things about this. The 3800 is one of GM's best engines, and probably one of the greatest V6 motors of all time.

The 3800 is the only GM engine I've had that ever leaked oil. It was terrible. It leaked from the pan and the rear main at 42k miles on my 97 Camaro. Probably unrelated, but if I do remember correctly, it would leak onto the exhaust.

This couldn't have come at a worse time for GM. Talk about taking a hit when you're already down...

 

Def a bummer... Lots of labor/and gaskets cost money that GM doesn't have.

 

You're probably right.

 

Or, it's a final, purposeful nudge, to push them into bankruptcy

 

They recalled the SC engines for this same thing not that long ago.

Shoudl we expect a recall from Honda on all of their vehicals that have the exhaust routed directly below the oil filter?