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Does anyone know what the foot long "missile" like projectiles are that come out of the front when the car is on fire? Very dangerous and put big dents in our garage door. I am all for a class action lawsuit. These cars should all be taken off the road and all owners should get a new car from GM.
Around 2pm this afternoon I had just returned from a meeting and someone came into my office building and asked if anyone drove a red grand prix...I looked outside and the entire engine compartment was in flames. The car was totally destroyed. I contacted GM and surprise surprise, they have to "get back to me"...has anyone had any luck receiving any type of compensation for an issue like this? My car has been kept up to date with any recalls and fixed immediately.
I have a 1995 Grand Prix SE with problems with the driver's electric window. The motor has been replaced twice and the problem still remains. The problem is that occasionally(but not always) the window sticks in the down position. This only happens maybe 1 in 3 times that the window is down. It almost always happens when the window is fully down and almost always when the auto down function has been used. It more often happens in warm or hot weather but also happens rarely in cold weather. When it sticks in the down position, if I wait a minute or so, it will go back up. Always. If I only wait 20 or 30 seconds, it comes up halfway slowly and then stops. If I wait another minute it goes all the way up. It has never been stuck in the down position for more than 5 minutes.
Anyone seen a problem like this?
gm needs to be accountable.....
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/firefighter-unfazed-by-explosion/20tvn0sc- ?q=Firefighter&rel=msn&from=en-us_msnhp&form=msnrll>1=42010
God Bless that you're all safe. I don't think GM will be of any help.
On the windows, they are not "fused" but instead the motor has a breaker.
When it gets hot, it trips "open" and will not re-close until it cools down.
Have a new breaker installed in the door AFTER asking your dealer if this is related.
33000 VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS
TSB Bulletin No: 531018
04/25/1996
http://www.ownersite.com/TSB/tsbs.cfm/
Rusty Wrench
aka DrVette
AFAIK, posting legal advice is against Forum policy,
I do reserve the right to be wrong though.
Try a Google Search
Rusty Wrench
DrVette
GM Recalls Millions of Vehicles 1997-2003
April 12, 2009
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 09V116000
EA07008 NHTSA Action Number: EA07008
GM RECALL NO. 90047.
The recalled vehicles all have naturally aspirated 3.8 liter V6
"Affected vehicles include:
1997-2003 Buick Regal;
2000-’03 Chevrolet Impala;
1998-’99 Chevrolet Lumina;
1998-2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo;
1998-’99 Oldsmobile Intrigue
1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix.
GM said some of these vehicles have a condition in which drops of engine oil may be deposited on the exhaust manifold through hard braking. If the manifold is hot enough and the oil runs below the heat shield, it may ignite into a small flame and may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel and beyond, increasing the risk of an engine compartment fire.
GM said dealers will remove the spark plug wire retention channel at the front of engine and install two new spark plug wire retainers free of charge.
The recall is expected to begin this month and owners and technicians can
contact
Chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438,
Oldsmobile at 1-800-630-6537,
and Pontiac at 1-800-620-7668.
OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT
1-888-327-4236
(TTY 1-800-424-9153),
or THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’">link title
Per CNN
"GM issued a similar recall on a similar engine in 2008, according to the company's filing with the government. That problem was traced to a faulty gasket on the engine rocker cover."
link title
You can "search" here for other Auto recalls
Look here for TSB's [Technical Service Bulletins]
I'm sorry for all the distress caused by this, I only hope that the auto mfg's association gets their act in line a bit better.
*Note*
Many other brands catch fire also, the automobile is a complicated piece, sometimes the engr dept cannot consider all factors in the design of each component.
Good Luck to Everyone
Rusty Wrench
aka DrVette
Sorry, I do not e-mail folks I don't know, I worked for a Computer Tech help site for many years
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0e40ac/407#MSG407
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https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/index.xhtml
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If the owners have their oil changes done at QuickyCheap lube and don't follow the internet for recalls and TSBs, they may not have had proper checks and updates done to the vehicles. Also, the seeps would have given an oil smell occasionally from oil getting onto the exhaust area. That should have prompted a visit to a knowledgeable repair facility to check on the source.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Details of GM's 3800 Model Engine Recall
May you have many more happy years!
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My car engine started on fire last week, 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix with the 3800 engine. I decided to google Pontiac fires because I was so confused why it started on fire.
Parked my car outside to go into a store and within a few minutes I overhear someone mentioning that an older Grand Prix has smoke coming from the engine and I go outside to see it was my car!
Car is totalled just lucky the car fire didn't injure anyone or anything else. Still a little freaked out that could have started in my garage.
Didn't realize there were all these issues with the 3800 engine.
What I would do is replace the silicon valve cover seals with new ones. They tend to settle with age and not seal as tightly, allowing a little leakage. Replacing them stops the leak.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
One of the Guys I golf with was just telling us about his sons cars engine started to smoke last year and it was on the GM recall list. Not sure if it was the Impala or Lumina. Sounds like a dangerous problem.
23 Telluride SX-P X-Line, 23 Camry XSE
Thanks much!