Car Repair

[sraun]

A week and a half ago I saw a news story about a car fire that severely damaged an apartment building in Plymouth, MN. The broadcast story I heard mentioned that the owner of the car had known it was recalled for two days.

Wednesday, I got a recall letter for my Pontiac Grand Am - the same recall that the car in the news story was involved in. We got it in to the dealer we bought it from on Friday, and had it back in 25 minutes. The dealer told us that they were doing a lot of that specific fix - it seems that there are a number of apartment complexes telling tenants 'you can't park in your garage until you've had the fix put in'. (Gee, I wonder why!?)

The problem is that a specific oil leak can be directed towards the exhaust manifold by the spark plug wires. Oil + Hot Exhaust Manifold = Fire. This is exacerbated if you brake hard. How many people who buy a Grand Am or a Grand Prix are going to be driving with jack-rabbit starts and brake-at-the-last-second?

Comments

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Eeeep! Wow, glad you got it fixed so quickly.

[spiffikins]

yikes! what year is this ? I have a 2002 grand am and haven't heard anything about a recall...

[sraun]

I've got a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am; IIRC, the news story claimed it was a 2000 Grand Prix.

Check out http://www.autorecalls.us/aut-04/recalls/2002/pontiac/grand-prix/57134.html, and maybe talk to your/a dealer?

[spiffikins]

weird - that page doesn't even admit that Grand Am is a valid model name...I'll have to call..someone..our dealership closed down recently, although apparently the service department is still certified GM.

[sraun]

I'll see if iraunink still has the recall letter. That should have better specifics, and maybe some additional references that would be helpful for you.

[sraun]

It's specifically for models with the "3.8L V6 naturally aspirated engine". If you've got a V8, you have no problem.

Otherwise, the recall number is 09047. You can call the Pontiac Customer Assistance Center at 800-6220-7668. You'll need your VIN.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

Last year I had a pinhole leak in one of the steel tubes for the power steering system on my 1990 5.0 Mustang. And I mean pinhole. I knew there was a problem of some sort, because after few minutes smoke would come out of the engine compartment, but I couldn't tell what it was. Even putting the car up on a rack with the engine running, the mechanics needed several minutes to find the leak. It was aimed right at the exhaust manifold. They couldn't get to it for a couple of days, but agreed with me that this was too dangerous for me to drive it home and back. They let me leave it there, and even gave me a ride home.

The good news: that's a $10 part. The bad news: the gaskets were shot and the whole assembly (original factory equipment, so I can't complain) needed replacing.