General Motors recalls 1.5 million cars

General Motors is recalling nearly 1.5 million Buick, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac mid-sized cars due to a potential engine oil leak that could cause a fire. A total of 1,497,516 vehicles equipped with 3.8 liter engines are involved in the recall.

Recalled were the 1997-2003 Buick Regal; 1998-2003 Chevrolet Lumina, Monte Carlo and Impala; 1998-99 Oldsmobile Intrigue; and 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The recall notice states that: "If the manifold is hot enough and the oil runs below the heath shield, it may ignite into a small flame and spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel and beyond, increasing the risk of an engine compartment fire."

Car owners are advised to contact a dealer who will remove the spark plug wire retention channel at the front of the engine and install two new spark plug wire retainers at no charge. The recall is expected to begin in May. Owners may contact Chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, Oldsmobile at 1-800-630-6537, and Pontiac at 1-800-620-7668 or visit the Pontiac or GM Web sites.

Comments

[M Fran Zack]

Received notice from GM May 6th, 2009> 1997 Grand Prix Pontic recalled due to problem with engine that could cause a fire. Car was taken to local dealer on May 15th, 2009 Picked up May 16th. they changed two spark plug wires. On May 20th car was driven 4 miles and parked at local supermarket. As soon as it was stopped, car burst into flames. 96,000 miles, in pristine condition Found out in March 2008 GM became aware of problem and claims they notified all owners " not to park car in garages, or carports" because danger of fire existed after car was stopped. I was never notified of this. For the last year we would smell something burning " like plastic" and when we took it to the garage we were told, " Oil was spilled on manifold" cleaned it off, and told it would be ok .

[I. David Thompson]

Contact General Motors Dealer and ask for a warranty because a car should not explode at under 50,000 miles. The owner should be at least partly reimbursed by the manufacturer. I had a Ford Maverick in which the main computer failed around 50,000 miles. Initially the dealer said that Ford would not pay anything. I wrote Ford District headquarters and Ford paid about 2/3/ of the cost to replace the computer. Manufacturers do have unpublished and un publicised warranties that have to be requested. I think that was the same car that would not hold a tune up. I had it in for tune up and one mechanic said to the other mechanic "Is this car under the program?" Ford provided a free engine rebuild because of a mistake made in engineering the engine.
It is worth a try.

[Mary Ann Capone]

To Whom It May Concern,
I recently had problems with my '97 Grand Prix. My car would not start and I enstalled a new battery. When I tried to start it again the engine exploded sending the oil cap flying a block away. The car only has 42 thousand miles on it and it in good shape. Unfortunately, it is parked at a garage until we can raise the money to fix it.
What is my next step?