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SO any of us that sold our cars to scrap as we didnt want a burned up car or those of us that had them repaired are entitled to nothing is GM's case on this.
guess what i found under the old hood a " fuel leak", seams they have had this trouble in the past as well, on the grand ams.
where the fuel line "from the tank" conects to the "fuel rail", seems their great plastic conector is to close to the heat, guess where it leaks on "thats right" the very hot intake around the injectors. it just sits there and pools up.
what i went on to disscover was that it didn't leak until the engine was turnd off.
it didn't leak under pressure.
dont know if this is the cause of all the fires,but i think the fuel would ignite faster than the " oil leak".
seems their pastic connector cant take the heat.
how did you fix it?
jtmandy@iowatelecom.net
well this weekend i did a little maint. to the 2003 pontiac grad prix gt 3800 II .
guess what i found under the old hood a " fuel leak", seams they have had this trouble in the past as well, on the grand ams.
where the fuel line "from the tank" conects to the "fuel rail", seems their great plastic conector is to close to the heat, guess where it leaks on "thats right" the very hot intake around the injectors. it just sits there and pools up.
what i went on to disscover was that it didn't leak until the engine was turnd off.
it didn't leak under pressure.
dont know if this is the cause of all the fires,but i think the fuel would ignite faster than the " oil leak".
quote ===============
I hope that what has failed is the O-ring in the connector and not the connector. The connnector is part of the fuel line and then you would have to replace the entire line.
I've got a 98 GTP with nylon fuel lines to the rail and metal connectors. Not sure exactly what the 03 GT uses, but the metal and plastic connectors for the 98 are similar and both us an O-ring that should be replaceable. For the metal connector, a special tool is needed to disconnect the lines, the tool is inexpensive and can be purchased at an auto parts store for less than $10.
I don't know if the specific O-rings can be bought at an auto parts store or not. I'm planning on replacing the O-rings on my car just as part of general maintenance and will buy them from the dealer.
I think this is a good find (I missed the first post on the fuel leak). At least with the metal connector, the O-rings at the connector are subjected to engine vibration and movement which would degrade the seal in addition to heat.
Jeff
The car was towed to the local dealer per GM's request. We were told that they would be out to look at it within 10 business days. Those 10 days are nearly up.
Here's the fun part. We received the original pre-recall letter. Contacted 2 dealerships who knew nothing about it. Contacted GM to find out when we could get the car fixed. We were told that as soon as the parts were in we would be notified. That was in March. This past Friday we get a postcard in the mail. It basically says we were sent a letter to take our car in to get fixed, per the recall and we didn't. It then say's to take it in for the fix at no cost to us. Funny how we get this post card days after the insurance pays us for the GTP. Needless to say we never received a letter advising us to schedule a repair. We called GM to inquire and were told that they sent us a letter 2 weeks before the car caught fire.
Sure sound like trying to cover up to me.
If anyone has any info on a potential lawsuit let us know. The one email address in this thread did not respond to me.
Jeff
Fortunately I have full coverage on the vehicle, but the blue book value will in no way compensate me for what the car is actually worth. I loved that car. It was fire engine red and the paint was in perfect condition. Looked like it just came off the showroom floor. I am really depressed about this.
Let's see, I contacted GM immediately and was told to tow the car to the local dealer. I was told that I would be contacted within 48 hrs. That didn't happen. I contated them again and after 1.5 hrs was told that he claim hadn't been sent where it was supposed to be sent. I was then told that a GM inspector would go look at the car and I would be contacted within 10 business days. That didn't happen.
About 1.5 weeks ago I got a postcard in the mail from GM telling me that I was sent a notice of recall and that I hadn't been in to have the free service done to fix my car. Unfortunately I never received the so called letter. I contacted GM again to ask and was told the letter was sent 2 weeks before my car burned. I got the pre recall letter and the postcard but never got the recall. Mysterious huh?
The whole time my insurance company is bugging me about allowing them to tow the car to a salvage yard. More about that in a minute. After roughly 14 business days I contacted GM again and was not able to get any info. I was told they would contact me Tue, May 26. They contated me by sending a letter from ESIS, which is a liability unit handling claims for GM. The letter is asking for all types of maintenance records etc... Also telling me that I have failed to provide proof that the fire was a defect of the car. I was never asked for anything but this is obviously more GM BS.
Also, the dealer and insurance company are telling me I will be responsible for storage and tow of the car since I'm refusing to allow it to be towed away. Remember GM is the one that told me to have it towed there and that they would come out to inspect.
One more thing the letter I got from ESIS also states that if I tow it away I do so at my own perile. Basically, if I tow it they will never inspect it. If I don't tow it I am responsbile for storage fees.
Well bottom line is I'm not budging. I'm thinking that the only reason to pay to have the car out of storage is if you want it back. I don't have any use for a totalled GTP.
I called GM and they told me the same thing that someone from the legal department would contact me in 2 days.
What can we do? Can we all get one lawyer and sue? You can send e-mail to
jsrogers2007@yahoo.com
Thanks
Thanks,
Jeff
Being that the car was driven primarily by my 17 year old son I decided to carry full coverage on the car, so my insurance company is reimbursing me for the retail value of the car. Which is actually about $1500.00 more than what I paid for it a year ago. But I'll never find one that was in as good shape as this one was. It's still a loss and now my son is looking at different models to replace it with...major hassle. I'd rather have the car back.
Here's a link to a video my son took of it burning with his cell phone if anyone is interested. The loud bang right before the end is the tire blowing, which scared the crap out of everyone standing around watching it burn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uJLMhIrkgU&feature=related
Both the Pontiac and the Buick may suffer an oil leak which can drop onto the exhaust manifold while breaking hard. The problem could get worse if the oil reaches the manifold’s heat shield, this in turn could cause a small flame this could then spread to the spark plug covers, and once that happens it could then turn into an engine fire.
As for the cylinder 3 misfires.... thus far I swapped 2 of the coils (top and middle) so I could see if the problem stayed on cylinder 3 or migrated down when the swapped coil. Everything stayed bad on 3 and didn't change. I guess I should mention I have an obd2allinone.com serial tester. So with that, I used a timing light on all wires (which were replaced a year ago along w/ spark plugs). Seemed ok w/ that. Removed the #3 wire at the coil side, sparks like crazy there, seems ok. On the spark plug side on the front of the engine I pulled it and the cover w/ the spring (I am not sure the technical term) off and there was very little if any corrosion, but wire brushed it off and cleaned off the grease on / around it too.
So I guess that leads me to where I am now. Engine is still misfiring and with all the above checked would anyone think there could be something w/ the recall repair that affected it? Do you think it's the actual fuel injector itself for the 3rd cylinder? And if so, I am trying right now to look up and figure out which fuel injector is the one for the 3rd cyl. Does anyone have a picture or can you explain where to find the 3rd one? I'm by no means a pro on cars, but my grandpa is a retired mechanic so I've always worked on mine with him, so that's how I was able to do what I've done so far. I really like getting under the hood and dirty plus I am cheap and hate to pay for repairs at all. I appreciate any info some of you pros might be able to help me with!
Marianne
I recommend to everyone that has had it done to verify that the area is clean prior to driving. Otherwise you may end up with a pile of ashes where your car once sat.
I am sorry to hear about your fire..... I have a 1999 gt, july 23, 2008 it caught fire
my son was driving it . he merged on to the freeway and said, it was making weird
sound and then smelt smoke . He pulled over realized there was a flame started
got out of the car.... it was on fire.....called the fire department they put the fire out.... I am upset of course...I too, only had liability insurance. a friend of mine
mentioned the recall for fires . so I thought I would check into it..... I thought my son
did something to the car.... but I don't believe so...... how do I contact pontiac to let
them know this happen to my car ..... so they can include it in the recall if they want too.....I feel like its a bad dream.... but its reality it really happen..... thank you ...any info. would be helpful....erica
I am so upset... this happen july 23, 2008..... I always changed the oil every 3000 miles ... my car had no problems thats why I couldnt believe this happened...
can anyone give me advice? I have the gt model 3800 v 6.......looks like the fire started near the area where the alternator sits,,,, not for sure.......
could you post the info. how to contact gm....my 1999 gt 3800 v6 caught fire under the hood......I am not sure if its fixable..... we are researching that now.... I am so upset this happened... I am new to this site...I am amazed at all these people that had the same fires and gm is in denial....my daughter used my car for work and would have used it to get to college this fall....now we have to get another car....my car was paid for.....I didnt want payments.....I only had liability insurance.....I am sure that I am out of luck....take my stock wheels and alpine stereo out and say farewell to my car....this is not right that we bought their product and they don't care...thanx for info you can give... erica
I'm really sorry to hear about everyone's loss and the headache that came with it. I also am going through the same thing, Just 3 weeks ago my life changed and became more of a challenge. I had just come home from picking up my daughter's from the sitter who lives maybe 6 miles away and i parked my 2003 pontiac grand prix gtp and got my girls out and went into the house, i had my ac on in the house and about 15 minutes after being home i smelled this burning smell and looked out the window to see my car on fire. I immedetly called 911 and my kids dad and grabbed my girls, dog and got out of the house. My car was parked right next to my daughters room and the addition to the living room. I was in shock of what was happening and my neighbor had come over and helped me get my kids away from the house and car. There dad showed up 3 minutes later and did everything he could to control the fire until the fire department showed up. The siding on my house was melted and my car is totaled. Both my kids had to watch mommy's car go up in flames and as you can imagine they were terrified. I called the insurance company immedetly and told them what had happened. Then the fire investigater came and found there was oil that had leaked on the manifold. I showed him the "saftey recall notice that i recieved in march but never had a problem with it and then the recall notice i had recieved maybe a week prior. I am a single mother with two disabled children and my car was a huge importance to me and my kids. I am a home health aid and my job requires me to do a good amount of traveling. Plus my kids go to a lot of dr. appointments out of town ( about 3 hours away one way). I took very good care of that car and always paid attention to anything that seemed different or unusual for the car. I never once noticed anything that the saftey notice had said. When i called a local dealer to make the appointment to get it fixed they said they knew nothing about it and that there computers where down so the gentleman took my phone number and said he will look into it and get back to me. Well shortly later my car was gone. Still haven't heard from the dealer. I did call GM and have been through the ring around too. I'm now on my 5th time being transferred to another department and i should hear something this week from them. I have been trying to find a lawyer to take this case because this is a huge problem with these cars and something has got to be done and GM needs to take responsiblity for what they made and sold to consumers! I have owned a GM ever since i started driving and i loved them. Now that i see how GM doesn't care what happens to there costumers i will never buy another product from them again and many others i know. I really think if we all get together on this issue and start making some seriouse noise then we might start to get somewhere. It should be on the news, in papers, internet anything to get GM to take care of us!
I am sorry for you loss of your car.... I am glad that you and your daughters were okay.....how frightening to watch your car and part of you house be on fire.....
I am still upset about mine.....it has'nt quite been a week.... my daughter used this
car for work and errands. etc. I only had this car for seven months...... liability insurance only because it was paid for .... ironically two days before this happened
I was going to put full coverage on it ... because I thought if something did happen I could at least get it fixed if wrecked...but when I was told how much it didnt make sense to spend that amount for insurance when the car was not worth that much...even though it was a nice car and I really enjoyed it.... my daughter was safe in it ... so I thought.... my car is out front sitting.....I don't know how to get a hold of gm......is there a 1-800#? I agree with you if we all complained at once and it was on television, news , newspapers,,,,,it is wrong that gm will not stand behind there own product..... we definitely need to stand up for ourselves all together to get some kind of action......take care... erica
I'd appreciate the pictures you have of your catastrophe. Please send to jdkeck46_att.net ( you know to replace the _with an @).
thanks,
Jeff
Sorry to hear you are another victim of this terrible problem.
my 1999 Grand Prix gt 3800 series engine caught fire in july of 08.
A investigator came to look at the car and took photos.
Then, the investigator called and , he said, he was flying up to look at the car
again...I don't know why he wasted his time.....and their money.....later.....Gm called and sent me a letter stating it would be a breach of warranty to pay me anything.....who has a warranty on a 1999....My car had 125000 miles on it... I loved my car....I recently had it towed to the used car and wrecking...this broke my heart...I bond with my cars unfortunately. I have pics I took of the car after the fire... my son was driving the car it started smoking he pulled over on the freeway, it ignited into flames.. he called the fire department. Two engines responded....put the fire out....but the car was a total loss...I couldn't even get my car key out.... Because everything was power controlled.....my car looked brand new and was fully loaded and leather interior black ,, exterior red....oil changes all the time.. the car ran great...I now have a toyota....I will never buy a gm again.....I hope you have better luck than I did....erica b. Northern calif.