NHTSA Investigation EA08005

STUCK THROTTLE VALVE

TO DATE, THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) IS AWARE OF 29 NON-DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS/FIELD REPORTS AND 52 WARRANTY CLAIMS RELATED TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT AFFECTING 69 UNIQUE SUBJECT VEHICLES.BECAUSE THE ALLEGED DEFECT CONDITION IS MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR DURING WINTER MONTHS WHEN AMBIENT TEMPERATURES ARE BELOW FREEZING, ODI UPGRADED THIS INVESTIGATION TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS ON FEBRUARY 14, 2008 SO THAT IT COULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FIELD EXPERIENCE DURING THE 2007/2008 WINTER SEASON.BY LETTER DATED MAY 22, 2008, GENERAL MOTORS CORP. (GM) SUPPLEMENTED ITS PREVIOUS INFORMATION REQUEST RESPONSE WITH FIELD DATA RECEIVED BY GM THROUGH MAY 1, 2008.ACCORDING TO GM, WHEN MOISTURE FREEZES IN THE POSITIVE CRANKCASE VENTILATION (PCV) SYSTEM AND/OR THE ENGINE AIR INTAKE TRACT IT IS MOST OFTEN OBSERVED AS A HARD TO START/NO START CONDITION, THROTTLE STUCK CLOSED, ROUGH RUNNING ENGINE, STALLING AT IDLE, OR OIL LEAKAGE.OF THE 29 COMPLAINTS RELATED TO STUCK THROTTLE, ODI IDENTIFIED 5 REPORTS THAT ALLEGE UNWANTED ACCELERATION, 13 REPORTS DESCRIBE AN APPARENT HIGH-IDLE CONDITION AT START UP OR WHEN SLOWING THE VEHICLE TO A STOP WITHOUT ANY ALLEGATION OF UNWANTED ACCELERATION OR DIMINISHED BRAKING PERFORMANCE, AND THE REMAINING 11 REPORTS DESCRIBE AMBIGUOUS ALLEGATIONS OF STUCK THROTTLE WITHOUT REGARD TO SEVERITY OR CONSEQUENCE.ODI ANALYSIS OF FIELD INCIDENT DATA SHOWS THAT THE COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY TRENDS APPEAR TO BE IN DECLINE, WITH ONLY 1 ADDITIONAL COMPLAINT AND 6 WARRANTY CLAIMS RELATED TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT RECEIVED BY GM SINCE APRIL 2007. A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT TREND HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AT THIS TIME AND FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

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.