Thread: Important Safety Notice

Originally Posted by stugots

Here you go guys.... This has been a long time coming

Sorry i cant post the rest for it as it is only internal use only.

Recall to follow


Important Safety Notice

March 2008



Dear General Motors Customer:

Part of our commitment to you is providing important information whenever a specific concern or problem may affect your vehicle.

GM will soon announce a safety recall to correct an issue that may cause a fire in your 1997-2003 model year Pontiac Grand Prix or Buick Regal with the 3.8L supercharged engine.

The purpose of this letter is to explain this issue, what GM is doing to correct it, and what you can do immediately to reduce the potential for injury.

We believe that the fires may be caused by drops of engine oil being 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 in some instances the fire may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel. This may have occurred in about one in one thousand vehicles.

We are currently working with our suppliers to obtain sufficient parts so we can launch a full recall to address this situation.

Please know that we understand the concern this may cause and the need to correct it as quickly as we can. Until we are able to do so, there are three very important precautions you should take:
• We strongly recommend you not park your vehicle in a garage, car port, or other structure.
• If you notice a burning odour, you should have your General Motors dealer inspect your vehicle. The dealer will inspect your vehicle without charge.
• Use premium fuel (91 octane or higher) in your vehicle, as recommended in your vehicle’s owner manual.

If you have any questions or need any assistance, please call the General Motors Customer Communication Centre

We are sorry to cause you this inconvenience; however, we have taken this action in the interest of your safety and continued satisfaction with our products.


Models: 1997-2003 model year Pontiac Grand Prix GTP and Buick Regal GS

Dates of Manufacture: September 1996 to June 2003

Description of Condition: 1997 to 2003 models of the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP and Buick Regal GS with the 3.8-litre L67 supercharged engine may experience an under hood fire. We believe the fires may be caused by drops of engine oil being 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 in some instances the fire may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel. Most cases have occurred five to 10 minutes after the vehicle has been turned off.

Doesn't seem right to me. Why would this only affect the SC engines and not the NA engines? I haven't been following this, but any ideas? Also, how does the recommendation to run premium fuel have anything to do with this recall?

so this is taking affect as of now ???? i am going to have them check my car anyways . i dont need my car catching fire that would suck . keep us posted please !!

at least its not as bad as the recall Ford did. I got my letter in the mail from them about my old SHO that I had sold a long time ago.

this is interesting.

The premium fuel is probably because the lower octane causes knock and leads to hotter manifold temps. Also, I'll bet they see a lot of warranty work from people who ignore the octane recommendation. Always good to give them the reminder.

I would guess that the L67 is more at risk because of the hotter temps. It has to get pretty hot for oil to actually catch fire on the manifolds. The L36 probaby doesn't reach those temps as easily.

I would never have guessed that the spark plug holder and burning oil would be the culprit with these engine fires. I would have thought for sure it was electrical, but considering that very few modded cars go up, it makes sense since those cars would have removed that strip, and would probably not have oil leaking from the front gasket for very long.

Originally Posted by BlackGS

The premium fuel is probably because the lower octane causes knock and leads to hotter manifold temps. Also, I'll bet they see a lot of warranty work from people who ignore the octane recommendation. Always good to give them the reminder.

I would guess that the L67 is more at risk because of the hotter temps. It has to get pretty hot for oil to actually catch fire on the manifolds. The L36 probaby doesn't reach those temps as easily.

I would never have guessed that the spark plug holder and burning oil would be the culprit with these engine fires. I would have thought for sure it was electrical, but considering that very few modded cars go up, it makes sense since those cars would have removed that strip, and would probably not have oil leaking from the front gasket for very long.

I have auctually seen my exhaust manifolds catch on fire. My throttle got stuck open one time (See Thread). When I finally got it stopped, I popped the hood to see flames on my manifolds. The oil that had been leaking finally got hot enough to ignite and start burning. I quickly was able to blow it out (after it quit acting like those trick birthday candles). But yeah, the manifold were glowing red.

Any bets the cars that this happened on had a clogged or partially clogged cat?

Obvously there was oil already on my manifolds and just regular driving didn't ignite it. But they had to get red hot for it to catch fire.

So where is this oil coming from? Leaky valve cover gaskets or people spilling oil during an oil change?

leaky vavle cover

Originally Posted by Zef_66

Doesn't seem right to me. Why would this only affect the SC engines and not the NA engines? I haven't been following this, but any ideas?

My thoughts exactly. That's bs to me seeing as I have an L36, and I've heard about more of those starting on fire than the L67's.

L36 traditionally don't generate the heat that the L67 does. I'm guessing that this is why they are not included.

I have this problem right now
with my front cover so if i take this in to the dealer they will fix it up
free is that about it..
Thanks John

Went to the junk yard to take some pictures of this 1998 Regal GS that only had 36,000 miles on it....

In all honesty, there is some slight oil build up on the front head, but I have seen much-much worse on a L76 that never has ever caught fire. I guess this was the "1 in 1000" that caught fire. But what gets me...is the hood damage...If the fire was up front...wouldn't more of the front of the car be damaged...rather than the back side of the engine area? Hummmmm.........









~F~

I just got mine in the mail last Saturday.

i got my letter in the mail the other day too . i had mine changed when i bought my car from the dealership but i am going to the local gm dealer now to have them do it just to make sure it is done correctly .