NHTSA Investigation EA06009

TIMING CHAIN FAILURE - STALL

IN A NOVEMBER 7, 2007 LETTER, GENERAL MOTORS (GM) NOTIFIED ODI THAT IT HAD DETERMINED THAT A SAFETY DEFECT EXISTED IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2001 SATURN L-SERIES VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE 2.2L 4-CYLINDER (L61) ENGINE BUILT FROM NOVEMBER 2000 THROUGH FEBRUARY 2001.THE DEFECT COULD RESULT IN ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING WITH NO RESTART. GM WILL RECALL (07V-519) THE VEHICLES TO REPLACE THE TIMING CHAINS WITH REDESIGNED PARTS. DURING THIS ENGINEERING ANALYSIS GM AND ODI CONTACTED SATURN OWNERS THAT HAD WARRANTY WORK PERFORMED RELATED TO TIMING CHAIN REPLACEMENTS OR REPAIRS IN ORDER TO DETERMINE CERTAIN SAFETY CONSEQUENCES ASSOCIATED WITH TIMING CHAIN FAILURE.BASED ON ANALYSIS OF WARRANTY CLAIM VERBATIM TEXT FOR INDICATIONS OF STALL WHILE DRIVING (SWD) AND THE RESULTS FROM A SURVEY OF WARRANTY CLAIMS WITH AMBIGUOUS TEXT, GM ESTIMATED THAT 55% OF ALL TIMING CHAIN WARRANTY REPAIRS INVOLVED SWD INCIDENTS.ODI'S ANALYSIS ESTIMATED APPROXIMATELY 76% OF WARRANTY REPAIRS MAY HAVE INVOLVED A SWD.THE SURVEYS WERE ALSO USED TO ASSESS THE SAFETY CONSEQUENCES OF THE SWD INCIDENTS.THE CALLS FOUND THAT NONE OF THE VEHICLES THAT EXPERIENCING STALLS DUE TO TIMING CHAIN FAILURE COULD BE RESTARTED.INADDITION, APPROXIMATELY ONE-THIRD OF THE STALLS OCCURRED AT SPEEDS GREATER THAN 40 MPH AND ABOUT 20% INDICATED THAT THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE OUT OF TRAFFIC AFTER THE ENGINE DIED.GM'S STATISTICAL ANALYSES OF FAILURE DATA ESTIMATED STALL WHILE DRIVING RATES OF 1.7% AND 5.2% AT 3 AND 6 YEARS IN SERVICE.ODI'S ANALYSES ESTIMATED SLIGHTLY HIGHER RATES OF 2.3% AND 7.0% AT 3 AND 6 YEARS IN SERVICE. THIS ENGINEERING ANALYSIS IS CLOSED BASED ON GM'S RECALL.

An investigation is a separate record from a recall and from a manufacturer communication. A manufacturer campaign to repair a safety defect or a failure to meet a federal safety standard.