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10-27-2015
As i'm sure many of you are aware, GM came out with another recall for us. I think they announced it but haven't said which cars exactly fall under this recall. My first GTP burned after I owned it for 3 weeks. It did not fall under any previous recall. My question is, if that car shows up on this recall, can anything be done? I'm assuming nothing but just curious.
10-27-2015
been posted and your in it lol
10-27-2015
merge them scott
Originally Posted by Bio248
Originally Posted by Kilroy
10-27-2015
I also saw the "old" recall on FB news feed. I currently own 4 Grand Prixs, all with the 3.8L engine, all in a garage attached to my home. So GM better hurry with their "fix" before they all burn up!
NOTE: I am very pissed at GM for this ****. My 1st GP was a '97 GT. The oil leaked from the valve covers so bad that after 5 minutes, there was tons of smoke from the oil hitting the exhaust manifold. It leaked even at idle. I had that car at the local Pontiac dealer at least 5 times for different repairs. No mechanic ever mentioned to me that there was a defect with the valve cover gaskets or the stupid "spark plug wire retainer". It's a wonder that GP did not catch fire. I always had it parked in my garage also. I finally got the dealer to fix the oil leak at my cost, which was hundreds of $$$. This was years before the GM fire recall.
Then, I purchased a GTP and the previous owner said the GM recall was done on it. That car still leaked oil. From what I remembered, a GM dealer replaced the front valve cover gasket. The rear gasket was also leaking. I could smell oil burning, but there was not that much smoke. Also, there was puddles of oil under the car.
Stupid GM fixes for a problem that could have been prevented from the start if they installed quality gaskets. I no longer own those 2 GP's.
10-27-2015
From what I've heard the recall for the engine fire is just a retaining clip for the spark plug wires, nothing to do with fixing the VC gaskets. I just fired up the impala yesterday after sitting for a few months and noticed that it was smoking from under the hood, never seemed to happen before and sure enough it's deff leaking from the front VC. It's got 209k miles and is my winter car but until the recall fixes it, I'm not driving it. So now it's just a waiting game I guess. Called the dealership and to do the engine fire recall as I never did it and that's when they told me it's just a clip lol so I'm not going to waste my time with that since it's clearly not the issue lol
10-27-2015
No clue on what they will do about cars that burned down in the past, you would have to prove that the recal is the reason for it I guess. Also, this problem is very preventable
step 1) Remove stupid plastic cover thingy. Grab and pull, throw away
step 2) Replace valve cover gaskets with FelPro ones.
no more roasty toasty GP
10-27-2015
Oh, the plastic spark plug clip is what causes the fire then? Not the leaky P.O.S. valve gaskets apparently. Suck it up GM, and take care of the real issue you cheap bastards.
The whole "don't park in the garage" crap is really old as well. Guess what, my vehicles go in the garage, that's what that part of my house is for. Now if you can't fix the real problem, and a fire does happen, a lawyer will get around your "phoning it in" recall. God, I hate this car.
10-27-2015
Anyone else reading comments on the blogs about the recall? The majority of people are crapping all over our cars saying they're in the junkyard, not worth fixing etc lol.
10-27-2015
Burn it down then.
Or spend the 20 bucks and fix it yourself.
10-27-2015
Basically...
Just fix the **** yourself. I wouldn't waste the time and effort for the dealership to do it
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
10-27-2015
This is clearly from a plastic spark plug holder.
https://www.google.com/search?site=w...rand+prix+fire
10-27-2015
Dude this recall is old as hell
Sent from my LG G3
10-27-2015
its brand new again. cause recall one failed. cause doing nothing is doing nothing lol
10-27-2015
Another thread too?
10-27-2015
Here you guys go. 97-04 N/A
http://www.amazon.com/Fel-Pro-VS5008...rds=VS+50080+R
http://www.amazon.com/Fel-Pro-ES72833-Misc-Set/dp/B000C2GB72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445995660&sr=8-1&keywords=ES+72833
That's $23.54
Add elbows if yours are plastic, most require the bracket to be removed in the procedure for the rear one, and they will break and/or leak.
http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-47065HP-Elbow-Type-Heater/dp/B00A1A6PT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445996129&sr=8-1&keywords=47065HP
97-04 supercharged
http://www.amazon.com/Fel-Pro-VS5046...words=VS50465R
Add elbows for supercharged if needed as well
Last edited by 02NavyBlue; 10-27-2015 at 08:44 PM.
10-27-2015
So, GM is still claiming that the front spark plug retainer clip is what is catching the oil as it leaks from the leaky valve covers. The retainer clip causes large amounts of oil to drip down on the front exhaust manifold causing the oil to ignite. Doesn't anyone at GM think that the oil leak itself (from the weak ass valve cover gaskets) should be fixed? Doing so will prevent any leakage at all.
No wonder all the car enthusiasts on other car sites are laughing like hell at GM and 3800 owners.
Best advice was stated above: replace the valve cover gaskets using Felpro. That was the advice given back in 2008, and that's what I did, and I have no oil leaks from the valve covers on my high mileage GP.
10-27-2015
They way I look at it; Any gasket on an engine going bad is not the manufacturers responsibility unless it's under warranty. 3800 intake gaskets go all the time, way more than fires caused by valve cover gaskets. No recall for that? If you develop a rod knock because coolant was in the oil, you're out of luck. Now it so happens the VC gaskets go bad, I'd say not usually any earlier than the plastic intake gaskets, they're arguably both equally as badly designed. But the rod knock won't endanger your safety or property, a fire from the valve cover gasket will. So this is why GM is basically forced to do something to reduce the chance of a fire.
I mean, vc gaskets go bad on a lot of engines, 3800's might be one of the earliest ones but are also so mass produced, there are enough of these fires happening to do something about it. Replacing both valve cover gaskets would cost them so much money it's not funny, so they apparently had to try and remove a cover which may or may not increase the chance of said leaking oil to combust. Honestly the gasket will keep getting worse, enough that a fire is inevitable.
There are so many warning signs though, you will smell, and often see oil smoke long before a fire occurs. You may even see drips where you park. The things I see wrong with people's cars daily, yet they continue to drive is ridiculous. People drive on super worn out suspension parts, they break and cause an accident. Safety issue? Of course, but these are maintenance parts, and vc gaskets are not far behind. Not quite maintenance but, a gasket after all that will fail at some point. I don't think I've seen a vc gasket make it to 200k without seeping just a little, even on the best designed engines. I've personally seen a 3800 GP absolutely pour oil out of the gasket at like 140k, enough smoke to blind the driver in a smokescreen if driving slow enough. But no, that car came in for a running issue. (Bad maf sensor)
So yeah gm had bad quality gaskets but if people used common sense and maintained their vehicles like ALL vehicles need, this wouldn't happen. They go bad on almost every vehicle of the era, some just as early.
Last edited by 02NavyBlue; 10-27-2015 at 10:26 PM.
10-27-2015
Blue makes very valid points. He made me re-think my position on the subject. :P
10-27-2015
Lol I find it crazy that the 3800 gets singled out for vc gasket issues.
If you dislike the 3800 or gm for the vc gaskets, what will you do when you find out about the leaky intake gaskets? Lol
10-28-2015
Came here to say that exact same thing blue. Thanks. Couldn't have said it better. Its a wear part, just like the oil, or the tires. For god sake its in the service schedule well before it becomes a problem! FIX. YO. ****.
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