Thread: Latest Recall 09047 Engine Compartment Fire

Has anyone received this recall yet, I just received my notice in the mail on Friday and made an apt today. What exactly will they be doing or fixing. Cause my Engine Compartment is extremely Hot you can basically boil an egg on it and I live in New York were Temp is roughly 60 to 70

It basically just replaces the front valve cover gasket or add the plastic thing to re direct the oil and plug wires or both. I would just do it yourself because chances are the rear is leaking also which they won't replace for free. I would look around the valve cover for oil build up on the ehaust manifolds. Mine was big enough I could smell oil burning before I did mine.

Sent from the Milky Way

See the big plastic lid that covers the engine the Styrofoam on the back is now laying on my valve cover, I'll have to take pictures so you understand fully but nevertheless I have little tiny pieces of the Styrofoam all over inside where the engine is so hot

Well the engine is gonna be really hot period just how it works. I would take compressed air and blow all of it off. You can just remove the engine cover then no more foam will be on it.

Sent from the Milky Way

Yeah been really busy with College to do the minor details. It's really frustrating though cause some reason like you said I smell Oil burning and other days nothing. Car runs smoothly.

Well if then dealer can do the front one for free do that then do then back one when you get free time unless the rear one is leaking then I would do it ASAP. Good news is when you do the rear one you get to mess with the tensioner/alternator bracket again and those nice coolant elbows.

Sent from the Milky Way

Yesss, I was going to change my front valve cover gaskets but since its free, no need for me to buy em

Should have did the back while you had that all torn down. Oh well, least you can remove it in half the time now.

Sent from the Milky Way

I got one in the mail back in February, I just tossed it in the trash, my valve covers have both already been replaced. And on a side note, independent testing has proven that oil leaking on the exhaust manifold is not what causes the fires, its actually the orings in the fuel line disconnects dry rot over time and leak fuel onto the exhaust manifolds.

Wht...


Yea I still wouldn't take a chance thinking that oil spilling on the manifold will not cause a fire seriously... Oil plus a hot manifold = potential fire

I'm not saying that people shouldn't change a leaky valve cover gasket I'm just saying that the fault behind the fires is not oil.
And back in my noob days of changing oil I had spilled about 1/2 a quart of oil on the manifold in my old truck and that never started on fire, it smoked like a mofo for about 15 min but all the oil burned off.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away........

I do believe that part may be oil.....and here's why.

GM doesn't appear to have the fire issue on the other body styles, only the W body. Valve covers do leak on all the body styles, so why not recall them to? The only thing I find different when looking at the various changes between the body styles is the front exhaust shield on the W. H/G/C don't have a tight to the manifold shield and sure they leak and sure it smokes..but it doesn't accumulate. The only theory I've come up with is that the shield allows accumulation which over time.. may catch fire.

In looking at cars in the JY, there appears to be a lot that look like they started the fire at the fuse box. This is another thing many of the other bodies didn't have during 97-03. No fuse box/relay center under hood.

Originally Posted by Slick2500

I'm not saying that people shouldn't change a leaky valve cover gasket I'm just saying that the fault behind the fires is not oil.
And back in my noob days of changing oil I had spilled about 1/2 a quart of oil on the manifold in my old truck and that never started on fire, it smoked like a mofo for about 15 min but all the oil burned off.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away........

I did that at a gas station and the oil lit up quick and they called the fire department because a lady freaked out. Can wasn't even running for maybe more than 10min in the dead of winter.

Sent from the Milky Way

Leaky plastic fuel lines a problem as well.
2 (1997 GTPs) out of 7 of my w body cars have had leaky fuel lines. One had a few pin holes right by the atf dipstick. I got to work smelled gas. I got out popped the hood and fuel was spraying right at my face like a paint gun. Those lines get brittle and crack and leak on to the rear of the engine.

My engine bay caught on fight with about a cap full of oil so yeah that does cause a fire too, i had to take the dudes bottle of water from in the station to put it out

Originally Posted by LowRidinCrew

My engine bay caught on fight with about a cap full of oil so yeah that does cause a fire too, i had to take the dudes bottle of water from in the station to put it out

There was something else in the oil.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away........

Your just assuming at this point just because you haven't experienced oil spilling on the manifold and causing a fire doesn't mean it's not possible right? Why even risk it. Your just arguing something just to argue...

My first 97 GTP did not leak a drop of oil until the recall was done on it.
I kept it clean and the engine looked showroom fresh. I even would wax the inside of the fuel door. lol
They did the windshield wiper recall at the same time. this was the start of my troubles.
I am not blaming the dealership... maybe just some slacker that worked there.....
The worst monday...
first off they dropped one of the valve cover bolts and lost it (it fell between the heat-shield and the front exhaust manifold. I found it last year when i pulled the engine.)
They took one off the rear cover and put it on the front. (the bolts were out off stock at all dealers in town) i picked up the car and it looked great because they detailed it after the recall was done and she looked beautiful. The detail guys there were great.
The service manager told me I had an oil leak and i would have to schedule a time to come back and have them look at it again.
I said that's funny it was fine before. I had a brand new concrete driveway (at the time) and there was not a drop of oil on it.
(i double checked when i got home) he said to bring it back next Monday. When i left got about a mile and everything was going nuts. My rear speakers were making popping noises and eventually just stopped all together. The heat only worked about 5 minutes on high and it sounded awful and i could hear relays clicking like crazy. check engine light came on and low oil came on plus the smell of burning oil. got home parked in the street looked at the driveway no oil. opened the hood. !!!Oil all over the firewall and every thing else back there. (one good thing came from this is that the underside of my car was covered with oil and i think it helped it resist rusting for a few years) I found the source of the oil leak and it was the rear valve cover missing a bolt. 3 quarts low on oil. It rained that night. The next day I called the dealership and talked to the parts guy and asked for a valve cover bolt. He said they were out of stock and he had some ordered. (he said they will be in Friday) I called The Buick and Cadillac dealerships and Napa all out of stock. Lol call Chevy and the guy asked for my vin # and everything and he said didn't i talk to you yesterday. (Because of the my vin #) LOL at least they tried to get one. I got one from a friend that had a spare from his SC Riviera. Got it in and filled up the oil no more leak. but water had got in thru the cowl and filled the blower. It roasted the blower motor resistor and the motor, the amp for the speakers and the carpet was soaked in the front. took the cowl off and found it was not put back together correctly. This was at 82,xxx miles It was down hill from there. I could go on and on.. probably should move this to the rant section. lol


If you love your car Trust no one..