Thread: Recall

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Well in all fairness, Im not convinced what they stated as the issue is really the issue. First off, motor oil leaking out the valve cover gasket is not going to just spurt out with hard braking, thats a bit of a stretch there. Unless the oil is just gushing out in which case there would be other issues. Next, motor oil even with the maximum allowed 2% fuel dilution still has a flash point approaching 300*. Good clean quality motor oil is going to have a flash point much higher, appraching 450*. Fire points are approaching 500*. Oil just does not ignite that easily and even if it does it does not burn well enough to sustain that kind of ignition with that little oil. Next, the oil would have to ignite, burn hot enough to light up the plastic tray the point out. Now, you and I know that that plastic is not going to ignite easily either as it is intended to survive a hot climate being that close to the manifolds.

And I base all this on stagnant air flow. It doesnt take into consideration of any vehicle movement that would cause air flow of any kind. Thats just going to make the ignition and sustainability of any fire that much harder.

Basically Im just not convinced that the valve cover gasket is the issue. I would say best case scenario it would take an extreme set of circumstances to generate that kind of fire from oil 'drops' as they stated. And they are citing what, 1 in a 1000 cases or something like that? I dont buy it.

I used to work for GM at a pontiac dealership and when I got this letter, I was kinda upset, because the letter clearly shows they really don't know what is causing it. However from my experience working on all types of 3800's, I don't believe it is from oil at the valve cover. I have really never seen extreme leaks at the valve cover and I have worked on plenty of these cars.

I have seen where fuel sits on top of the supercharger when the fuel lines leak though. And that would be cause for fire way more than the oil on the headers.

Check this.... I went to the Junkyard Monday and say 4 Grandprix's. None were GTP's. 2 GT's and 2 SE's....Tell me why both the GT's engines were burt to a crisp. BOTH OF THEM AT THE SAME JUNKYARD?!! And they say the NA's have nothing to worry about.

Originally Posted by japslpr

Check this.... I went to the Junkyard Monday and say 4 Grandprix's. None were GTP's. 2 GT's and 2 SE's....Tell me why both the GT's engines were burt to a crisp. BOTH OF THEM AT THE SAME JUNKYARD?!! And they say the NA's have nothing to worry about.

Yep, I've been looking at salvage yards for wrecked grand prix's for a few years now and about 60% of the cars I have seen had engine fires. I recall seeing more N/A GP's than GTP's, though some of them were so burnt you couldn't open the hood to tell...

Sweet - so I just got my recall done on Tuesday... with a new valve cover gasket... but guess what - oil is pretty much 'flowing' onto my exhaust manifold AGAIN.

Back to the dealership on Monday... maybe they can get it right the second time.

Well what the hell.... now today it isn't leaking anymore? There's just a bunch of white and burnt residue on my exhaust manifold... but its no longer leaking.

Is it possible to have leaked and then sealed itself back up? This mind-boggling.

I never receieved the first letter becauses I bought the car before GM had me registered into their system. Therefore, I had to call GM and a representative helped me out and got me and appt with the dealership. They checked it over and said I def need the recall done asap because it was burning a lot of oil on my exhaust manifold... it took about a week to get the parts..... and then they did the recall for me. Earlier in this thread I gave a looooong story about it.

However, the gasket sometimes leaks and sometimes doesn't.... I'm going to take a picture today of what I mean by the "white residue" on the first exhaust manifold tube... thats where it was like leaking and bubbling while running.

So ill ask again - is it possible for it to leak and then kind of seal itself back up again? Sounds too good to be true.... regardless, its going back to the dealer on Monday.

Thanks.

speaking of leaky valve cover gaskets mine are getting pretty bad, but i haven't decided either 1. i just do it myself and get it over with or 2. try to wait it out until i get my second letter. anybody have any feed back on what i should do ?

Originally Posted by japslpr

I used to work for GM at a pontiac dealership and when I got this letter, I was kinda upset, because the letter clearly shows they really don't know what is causing it. However from my experience working on all types of 3800's, I don't believe it is from oil at the valve cover. I have really never seen extreme leaks at the valve cover and I have worked on plenty of these cars.

I have seen where fuel sits on top of the supercharger when the fuel lines leak though. And that would be cause for fire way more than the oil on the headers.

Check this.... I went to the Junkyard Monday and say 4 Grandprix's. None were GTP's. 2 GT's and 2 SE's....Tell me why both the GT's engines were burt to a crisp. BOTH OF THEM AT THE SAME JUNKYARD?!! And they say the NA's have nothing to worry about.

I had the same suspicion about this. I'm not saying oil cant ignite, but dang you'd have to be experiencing a big leak. On the other hand just a small fuel leak can result in a flash fire. A small pooling of gas could ignite and cause a big fire. Our cheap plastic/rubber fuel lines melt and theres a bunch more fuel to keep the fire going.
I installed PRJ fuel rails and now I may just bypass the quick connects and cheap plastic like stock lines with something better. I'd feel a lot safer about it at least lol.

so this is all 97-03 gtps right? not just the sedans? and i also just got my car about a month or two ago so will i hve to call GM?

Originally Posted by TDCRacing

hey i dont think anyone answered my last question....



Can i take it to the dealer now....or.....do i have to wait for the other letter to arrive? I am not experiencing any problems right now as far as leaking...would it be easier just to wait?


Thanks guys

Mine was leaking very badly and smoking on the exhaust manifold... so I got mine done ASAP at the dealership... they just do valve cover gasket, valve cover grommets, reroute spark plug wires, and put in a spark plug wire retainer.

If its not leaking right now, I bet they would make you wait until the second letter. The exception is out there for those who are already experiencing the leak and potential fire risk