2002 Oldsmobile Bravada Recalls

The subject vehicles are model year (MY) 2002-2009 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, 2004-2007 Buick Rainier, 2003-2008 Isuzu Ascender, 2005-2009 Saab 9-7X, 2002-2004 Oldsmobile Bravada, 2003-2006 Chevrolet SSR, 2005-2009 Buick Lacrosse, and 2006-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix. This scope includes the Trailblazer/Envoy variants: 2002-2006 Envoy XL/Trailblazer EXT and 2004-2005 Envoy XUV. The original scope of this investigation was expanded to include all vehicles equipped with the subject Headlight Driver Module (HDM). The focus of the investigation was to determine whether actions performed by General Motors adequately addressed any unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety in the subject vehicles concerning the headlights and the HDM that controls them.Under normal electrical load and environmental conditions, the HDM can overheat inside the Underhood Electrical Center (UEC). This can cause the module to fail and result in a simultaneous loss of both low beam headlights and both daytime running lights (DRLs), often with no warning or prior detectability to the driver. This failure can be intermittent or permanent. No other exterior lights are affected. High beams, turn signals, brake lights, and reverse lights are still operational.General Motors addressed this issue with 2 recalls (14V755 & 15V519) and a special coverage program (N172091910). In view of the recalls and special coverage program implemented by GM and the vehicle high beams continuing to operate, ODI has tentatively concluded that the actions taken by GM mitigate any unreasonable risk to safety posed by HDM failure in the subject vehicles.Accordingly, the investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances.The ODI reports cited above are available for review online at NHTSA.gov under the identification numbers in the attached document.

ON NOVEMBER 30, 2001, GENERAL MOTORS (GM) CONDUCTED SAFETY RECALL 01V-364 FOR THE SUBJECT VEHICLES BUILT BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 16, 1999 AND AUGUST 28, 2001 TO REMEDY A DEFECTIVE HAZARD SWITCH THAT WOULD CAUSE A LOSS OF HAZARD AND STOP LAMP ILLUMINATION.THE HAZARD SWITCH IS CONTAINED WITHIN THE VEHICLE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH.ODI OPENED THIS INVESTIGATION BASED ON REPORTS THAT SOME CONSUMERS WERE NOT NOTIFIED OF THE ORIGINAL RECALL OR THAT THEY HAD REPAIRS DONE UNDER 01V-364 BUT EXPERIENCED SUBSEQUENT MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH FAILURES.THE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH SUPPORTS THE OPERATION OF CRUISE CONTROL, WINDSHIELD WIPERS, EXTERIOR LIGHTING AND TURN SIGNALS IN ADDITION TO HAZARD AND STOP LAMPS. ON MAY 21, 2008, GM NOTIFIED THE AGENCY THAT IT ERRONEOUSLY MISSED IDENTIFYING 5,862 VEHICLES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN RECALL 01V-364.GM WILL NOW NOTIFY OWNERS OF THESE VEHICLES UNDER A NEW NHTSA RECALL NUMBER 08V-231.OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON JUNE 17.THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF BRAKE LAMP FAILURE WAS A DESIGN CHANGE FROM COPPER TO BRASS CONTACT MATERIAL IN THE HAZARD SWITCH.THIS CHANGE WAS EFFECTIVE FOR VEHICLES BUILT AFTER SEPTEMBER 16, 1999.GM CHANGED THE MATERIAL BACK TO COPPER FOR VEHICLES BUILT AFTER AUGUST 28, 2001. THE REMEDY PART FOR BOTH 01V-364 AND 08V-231 CONTAINS COPPER CONTACTS.GM'S DATA SHOWS THAT LESS THAN 1% OF VEHICLES REPAIRED UNDER RECALL 01V-364 REQUIRED ADDITIONAL SUBSEQUENT REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT OF THE HAZARD OR MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH.THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.

DURING THE COURSE OF THIS EA INVESTIGATION, ODI OBSERVED THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE COMPLAINTS (88%) AND WARRANTY CLAIMS (94%) WERE REPORTED FOR VEHICLES THAT ARE REGISTERED FOR USE IN THE SALT BELT REGION OF THE US.THIS AREA INCLUDES 20 STATES IN THE NORTHEAST, MID ATLANTIC AND THE MIDWEST REGIONS AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.CONSUMERS IN THE SALT BELT REGION REPORTED TO ODI THAT THEY COULD SMELL FUEL VAPORS IN THEIR VEHICLES WHILE DRIVING.UPON FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THEIR VEHICLES, THEY DISCOVERED THAT FUEL VAPORS WERE COMING OUT OF THE TOP OF THE FUEL TANK. THIS CONDITION IS CAUSED BY CORROSION OF THE RETURN AND SENDER LINES OF THE FUEL PUMP MODULE.WATER AND ROAD SALT COLLECT ON TOP OF THE FUEL PUMP LEADING TO SMALL PINHOLES APPEARING ON THE FUEL LINES.FUEL MAY LEAK AND COLLECT ON TOP OF THE MODULE AND/OR SPILL ONTO THE GROUND.THE DATA EVALUATED UNDER THIS INVESTIGATION REFLECT A RELATIVELY LOW FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE THAT LARGELY ARISES IN SALT BELT STATES.GM HAS EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THE SUBJECT COMPONENT TO TEN YEARS OR 120,000 MILES.FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED AT THIS TIME; ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT NO SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT EXISTS.THE AGENCY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SELECT DOCUMENT SEARCH.

GM STATES THAT SOME BRAKE/TAIL LAMP BULBS CAN PREMATURELY BECOME INOPERATIVE DUE TO MALFUNCTIONING BRAKE/TAIL LAMP SOCKETS.ON MARCH 2, 2004, GM INITIATED A 6-YEAR/72,000 MILE SPECIAL POLICY FOR 989,487 SUBJECT VEHICLES TO INSPECT AND REPLACE THE REAR BRAKE/TAIL LAMP BULB SOCKET ASSEMBLIES.ON APRIL 4, 2004, THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION (PE04-032) BASED ON CONSUMER COMPLAINTS ALLEGING BRAKE LIGHTS NOT OPERATING WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.ON AUGUST 3, 2004 ODI UPGRADED PE04-032 TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA04-021).BY LETTER DATED OCTOBER 27, 2004 GM NOTIFIED NHTSA THAT IT WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL (NHTSA # 04V527) COVERING SUBJECT VEHICLES THAT WERE NOT ALREADY REPAIRED UNDER GM'S SPECIAL POLICY.MY 2004 SUBJECT VEHICLES BUILT AFTER AUGUST 8, 2003 CONTAIN IMPROVED BRAKE LAMP ASSEMBLIES AND ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL.GM DEALERS WILL INSTALL THE IMPROVED BRAKE LAMP ASSEMBLY ON SUBJECT VEHICLES BUILT ON AUGUST 8, 2003 AND EARLIER.THE ACTION TAKEN BY GM IS SUFFICIENT TO RESOLVE THE ISSUES RAISED BY THIS INVESTIGATION.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.

ON SEPTEMBER 17, 2003, THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION (PE03-042) TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED WINDSHIELD WIPER FAILURE IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2002 AND 2003 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER AND TRAILBLAZER EXT, GMC ENVOY AND ENVOY XL, AND OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA VEHICLES.THE INVESTIGATION WAS UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS ON JANUARY 6, 2004, AND THE SCOPE WAS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE CERTAIN MY 2003 ISUZU ASCENDER VEHICLES.ALL SUBJECT VEHICLES ARE BUILT ON GENERAL MOTORS? GMT360 AND GMT370 PLATFORMS AND WERE ORIGINALLY EQUIPPED WITH A WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY REFERRED TO AS THE FAMILY DESIGN MODULE (P/N 15171306 BASE, P/N 15171307 FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH RAINSENSE AUTOMATIC MOISTURE SENSITIVE WIPERS).WATER ENTERS THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MODULE CAUSING THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS ON THE CONTROL CIRCUIT BOARD TO CORRODE AND SHORT OUT, THUS RENDERING THE WIPER MOTOR/MODULE INOPERATIVE.IN NOVEMBER 2002, GM INTRODUCED INTO VEHICLE PRODUCTION A REDESIGNED WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY REFERRED TO AS THE ?GLOBAL? DESIGN MODULE (P/N 15094704 BASE, P/N 15094705 FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH RAINSENSE) TO BETTER CONTROL WATER INTRUSION.ODI HAS RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 1,179 NON-DUPLICATIVE OWNER AND FIELD REPORTS ALLEGING WINDSHIELD WIPER FAILURE ON VEHICLES ORIGINALLY EQUIPPED WITH THE ?FAMILY? DESIGN MODULE.BY LETTER DATED FEBRUARY 2, 2004, GM HAS NOTIFIED ODI THAT IT WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL (NHTSA RECALL NO. 04V-046).ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.

THE SUBJECT VEHICLES (CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER (EXT), GMC ENVOY (XL), AND OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA) ARE BUILT ON THE GMT360 AND GMT370 PLATFORMS AND WERE ORIGINALLY EQUIPPED WITH A WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY REFERRED TO AS THE ?FAMILY? DESIGN MODULE (P/N 15171306 BASE, P/N 15171307 FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH RAINSENSE AUTOMATIC MOISTURE SENSITIVE WIPERS).THE WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY IS LOCATED INSIDE THE PLENUM AT THE BASE OF THE WINDSHIELD AND IS MOUNTED ON AN INCLINE APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE RAKE OF THE WINDSHIELD.GM REPORTS THAT VEHICLES ARE SUBJECT TO A QUALITY ASSURANCE WATER TEST AT THE ASSEMBLY PLANT.THE TEST EXPOSES THE VEHICLES TO AN AMOUNT OF WATER THAT EXCEEDS THE PLENUM?S CAPABILITY TO DIVERT WATER AWAY FROM THE WIPER MODULE, ALLOWING WATER TO RISE TO A LEVEL THAT EXCEEDS THE HEIGHT OF THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR COVER VENT HOLE.WATER ENTERS THROUGH THE VENT HOLE THEN FLOWS DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE MODULE AND POOLS CAUSING THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS ON THE CONTROL CIRCUIT BOARD TO CORRODE AND SHORT OUT, THUS RENDERING THE WIPER MOTOR/MODULE INOPERATIVE.ON NOVEMBER 2, 2002 GM INTRODUCED INTO VEHICLE PRODUCTION A REDESIGNED WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY REFERRED TO AS THE ?GLOBAL? DESIGN MODULE (P/N 15094704 BASE, P/N 15094705 FOR VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH RAINSENSE) THAT USES A POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE MEMBRANE COVERED VENT HOLE TO CONTROL WATER INTRUSION.THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 1,172 NON-DUPLICATIVE OWNER AND FIELD REPORTS ALLEGING WINDSHIELD WIPER FAILURE, TWO VEHICLE CRASHES ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY WINDSHIELD WIPER FAILURE, AND 43,219 WARRANTY CLAIMS FOR WINDSHIELD WIPER ASSEMBLY OR WIPER CONTROL MODULE REPLACEMENT ON VEHICLES ORIGINALLY EQUIPPED WITH THE ?FAMILY? DESIGN MODULE.THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA04-002) TO FURTHER STUDY THE SCOPE AND SAFETY CONSEQUENCES OF THIS ISSUE.