EA07015 · EA
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP Investigation
ODI'S ANALYSIS OF THE STALLING INCIDENTS THAT HAVE RESULTED FROM SUBJECT COMPONENT FAILURES FOUND THAT THEY CAN OCCUR AT ANY SPEED AND GENERALLY RESULT IN A NO RESTART CONDITION.THESE ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE FACTORS THAT INCREASE THE POTENTIAL SEVERITY OF STALLING INCIDENTS.HOWEVER, THESE INCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED AT RELATIVELY LOW RATES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLE POPULATION WHEN COMPARED WITH PRIOR INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING SIMILAR CATEGORIES OF ENGINE STALL CONSEQUENCES.EVEN FOR THE EARLY MY 2003 PRODUCTION, WHERE HIGHER FAILURE RATES WERE NOTED, THE RATES OF PUMP FAILURES RESULTING IN ENGINE STALL ARE LOWER THAN RATES RECORDED IN PRIOR INVESTIGATIONS OF POPULATIONS THAT WERE NOT RECALLED.FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF THIS MATTER WOULD NOT BE AN EFFICIENT ALLOCATION OF AGENCY RESOURCES.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR COMPLAINTS AND OTHER INFORMATION RELATING TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES AND TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN THE FUTURE IF WARRANTED.SEE DOCUMENT FILE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CLOSING RESUME.
PE07033 · PE
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Investigation
AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS HAS BEEN OPENED TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE SCOPE, FREQUENCY AND POTENTIAL SAFETY-RELATED CONSEQUENCES OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT.GENERAL MOTORS (GM) HAS IDENTIFIED AN ISSUE WITH ACCELERATED MOTOR BRUSH WEAR IN THE FUEL PUMP ASSEMBLY OF MODEL YEAR (MY) 2001 THROUGH 2003 CHEVROLET VEHICLES THAT CAN CAUSE THE PUMP TO STOP OPERATING.GENERAL MOTORS INDICATED THAT PEROXIDE OR SULFUR, WHICH ARE BOTH PRESENT IN VARYING AMOUNTS IN GASOLINE, CAN REACT WITH THE COPPER COMMUTATOR OF THE PUMP MOTOR AND CORRODE/ROUGHEN THE SURFACE.A ROUGH COMMUTATOR SURFACE INCREASES THE RATE OF BRUSH WEAR.THE INCREASED ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE CAUSED BY DEGRADATION OF THE BRUSH-COMMUTATOR INTERFACE INHIBITS CURRENT FLOW THROUGH THE MOTOR WINDINGS.ACCORDING TO GM, THE CONDITION WILL USUALLY RESULT IN A NO-START CONDITION BECAUSE OF THE HIGH CURRENT REQUIRED DURING START-UP.WHEN THE ALLEGED DEFECT DOES CAUSE A STALL WHILE DRIVING INCIDENT, THE VEHICLE TYPICALLY CANNOT BE RESTARTED.GM'S ANALYSIS OF WARRANT CLAIMS SHOWED THAT NO START/HARD START WAS THE MOST COMMON CONDITION AND THE FREQUENCY OF CLAIMS ASSOCIATED WITH STALL WHILE DRIVING INCIDENTS WAS TOO LOW TO WARRANT FIELD ACTION. THIS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA07-015) TO FURTHER ASSESS THE COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY CLAIM DATA AND THE ANALYSES PROVIDED BY GM.
PE04043 · PE
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TURN SIGNAL Investigation
COMPLAINANTS ALLEGE THAT THE REAR TURN SIGNALS FAIL TO ILLUMINATE AND DO NOT PROVIDE A SIGNAL TO DRIVERS IN FOLLOWING VEHICLES.ODI HAS RECEIVED ONE REPORT OF A CRASH WHERE THE COMPLAINANT BRAKED AND ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A LEFT TURN AND THE FOLLOWING VEHICLE IMPACTED THE COMPLAINANT'S VEHICLE IN THE DRIVER-SIDE DOOR.IN MAY 2002, GM'S SUPPLIER MADE CHANGES TO THE BULB SOCKET THAT INCLUDED STOPPING THE USE OF THERMAL-MASTIC GREASE IN THE BULB SOCKET.GM REPORTS THAT THE GREASE REDUCES ARCING AT THE CONTACTS AND DISSIPATES HEAT THUS PREVENTING MELTING OF THE SOCKET MATERIAL OR BURNING OF THE CONTACTS.MOST OF THE SUBJECT VEHICLES WERE PRODUCED WITHOUT GREASE APPLIED TO THE BULB SOCKET.IN JUNE 2003, GM DIRECTED THE SUPPLIER TO RESUME THE USE OF GREASE IN THE SOCKET.GM ISSUED TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (TSB) 04-08-42-004A ON JULY 15, 2004 ADVISING TECHNICIANS TO MAKE SURE THAT ADEQUATE AMOUNTS OF GREASE WERE ADDED TO THE BULB SOCKETS ON ALL SERVICE PARTS.ODI WILL UPGRADE THIS INVESTIGATION TO EA 04-028 TO FURTHER EXAMINE THE ISSUE.