STALLING INVESTIGATION
The NHTSA is investigating stalling on various GM vehicles.
keywords Stalling problem, Chevrolet, defect, stalling, lemon law, GMC suburban, defect, problem, class action,
NHTSA Action Number : EA06016 NHTSA Recall Campaign Number : N/A
Make / Models : Model/Build Years:
CHEVROLET / 2500 HD 2001
CHEVROLET / C35 2001
CHEVROLET / C3500 2001
CHEVROLET / C3500HD 2001
CHEVROLET / CK 2500 2001
CHEVROLET / INCOMPLETE/CUTAWAY C3 2001
CHEVROLET / K2500 2001
CHEVROLET / K35 2001
CHEVROLET / K3500 2001
CHEVROLET / SILVERADO 2500 2001
CHEVROLET / SILVERADO 2500 HD 2001
CHEVROLET / SILVERADO 3500 2001
CHEVROLET / SUBURBAN 2500 2001
CHEVROLET / YUKON 2001
GMC / C/K 2500 2001
GMC / C/K 3500 2001
GMC / C3 2001
GMC / C3500 2001
GMC / G25 2001
GMC / G35 2001
GMC / INCOMPLETE/CUTAWAY C3 2001
GMC / K2500 HD 2001
GMC / K3500 2001
GMC / K3500 HD 2001
GMC / SIERRA 2500 2001
GMC / SIERRA 2500 HD 2001
GMC / SIERRA 3500 2001
GMC / SUBURBAN 2001
GMC / YUKON XL 2500 2001
Manufacturer : GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Component :
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
Date Investigation Opened : September 14, 2006
Date Investigation Closed : Open
Summary:
THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY
INVESTIGATION (PE06-016) ON MAY 4, 2006 BASED ON ELEVEN VEHICLE OWNER
QUESTIONNAIRES (VOQS) AND EARLY WARNING (EWR) DATA ALLEGING SUDDEN ENGINE
SHUTDOWN WHILE DRIVING AS A RESULT OF CRANK POSITION SENSOR FAILURES IN MY
2001-2002 GENERAL MOTORS C/K PLATFORM VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 8.1L ENGINES. IN
RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST LETTER SENT BY ODI, GENERAL MOTORS (GM)
PROVIDED OWNER COMPLAINT INFORMATION, FIELD REPORTS AND WARRANTY CLAIM DATA
BASED ON A POPULATION OF 108,338 VEHICLES. THE DATA WAS CATEGORIZED BY ENGINE
STALLS WHILE DRIVING, ENGINE STALLS WITH AN UNKNOWN DRIVING CONDITION, NO START
CONDITIONS AND CLAIMS WHERE IT WAS INDETERMINATE IF AN ENGINE STALL OCCURRED
WHILE DRIVING. GENERAL MOTOR'S RESPONSE INCLUDED 1,213 OWNER COMPLAINTS AND
FIELD REPORTS OF WHICH 289 WERE CATEGORIZED AS ENGINE STALLS WHILE DRIVING
ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY CRANK POSITION SENSOR FAILURES. GENERAL MOTORS ALSO
SUBMITTED WARRANTY CLAIMS FROM ITS REGULAR WARRANTY (5 YEARS/50,000 MILES) AND
FROM ITS EXTENDED WARRANTY DATABASE. FROM THE REGULAR WARRANTY DATABASE THERE
WERE 3,140 CLAIMS OF CRANK POSITION SENSOR REPLACEMENT OF WHICH 147 CLAIMS WERE
FROM CONSUMERS ALLEGING ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING. GM STATED THAT 2,841 OF THE
CLAIMS WERE INDETERMINATE IF AN ENGINE STALL OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING. FROM ITS
EXTENDED WARRANTY DATABASE, GM SUBMITTED 1,561 CLAIMS OF CRANK POSITION SENSOR
FAILURE THAT IT ALSO STATED WERE INDETERMINATE AS TO WHETHER AN ENGINE STALL
OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING. IN TOTAL, GM REPORTS 4,701 CLAIMS OF CRANK POSITION
SENSOR FAILURE COMBINING REGULAR WARRANTY AND EXTENDED WARRANTY. SIMILAR TO GM'S
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, ODI'S ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE FAILURE RATE FOR WARRANTY
CLAIMS OF ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING AT THREE YEARS IN SERVICE IS LOW (LESS THAN
1%). HOWEVER, FURTHER ANALYSIS DETERMINED THAT THE MY 2001 VEHICLE BUILD PERIOD
FROM MAY 2000 THROUGH OCTOBER 2000 HAD SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER (MORE THAN FOUR
TIMES) CRANK POSITION FAILURE RATES IN BOTH CONSUMER COMPLAINT DATA AND WARRANTY
CLAIM DATA THAN IN THE BUILD PERIOD FROM NOVEMBER 2000 THROUGH JULY 2001. ADDING
THE CLAIMS OF KNOWN ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING AND CLAIMS WHERE ENGINE STALL WAS
INDETERMINATE, THE FAILURE RATE AT THREE YEARS IN SERVICE FOR THIS POPULATION IS
OVER 6%. AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS IS BEING OPENED BASED ON HIGH COMPLAINT AND
WARRANTY RATES OF VEHICLES BUILT FROM MAY 2000 THROUGH OCTOBER 2000 TO FURTHER
ASSESS THE FREQUENCY AND POTENTIAL SAFETY CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE
ALLEGED