2001 Pontiac Grand Prix

BY LETTER DATED MARCH 12, 2008, GENERAL MOTORS CORP. (GM) HAS NOTIFIED THE AGENCY THAT IT WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL (IDENTIFIED BY NHTSA RECALL NUMBER 08V-118) TO ADDRESS A DEFECT IN APPROXIMATELY 207,542 MODEL YEAR (MY) 1997-2003 BUICK REGAL GS AND PONTIAC GRAND PRIX GTP VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE L67 SUPERCHARGED VERSION OF GM'S 3800 SERIES II V6 ENGINE.THE RECALLED REGAL GS VEHICLES WERE BUILT FROM AUGUST 1996 TO JUNE 2003 AND THE GRAND PRIX GTP FROM MARCH 1996 THROUGH JANUARY 2003.ACCORDING TO GM, OIL MAY ESCAPE PAST THE VALVE COVER GASKET ON THE FRONT CYLINDER BANK (CYLINDERS 1-3-5) AND DEPOSIT ONTO HOT EXHAUST SYSTEM COMPONENTS.UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THIS OIL TO IGNITE A SMALL PILOT FLAME, WHICH MAY SPREAD TO THE ADJACENT PLASTIC SPARK PLUG WIRE CHANNEL, THE SPARK PLUG WIRES THEMSELVES, THE PLASTIC ENGINE COVER, AND OTHER UNDER HOOD COMPONENTS.REPORTS INDICATE THIS MOST OFTEN OCCURS ON HIGHER-MILEAGE VEHICLES SHORTLY AFTER THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN DRIVEN AND THEN PARKED.TYPICALLY, THE FIRE WAS DISCOVERED WITHIN 5 TO 15 MINUTES AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED.DURING THIS TIME WINDOW, UNDER HOOD TEMPERATURES MAY BECOME ELEVATED.SUCH ELEVATED TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH A LACK OF AIRFLOW THROUGH THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT MAY PERMIT A SMALL PILOT FLAME TO PROPAGATE AND IGNITE OTHER FUEL SOURCES.TO CORRECT THE SAFETY DEFECT, GM WILL INSTALL AN IMPROVED DESIGN FRONT VALVE COVER GASKET AND SPARK PLUG WIRE RETAINER.THIS REMEDY WILL BE SUPPLIEDFREE OF CHARGE FOR ALL RECALLED VEHICLES.UNTIL SUFFICIENT PARTS BECOME AVAILABLE TO REPAIR ALL OF THE AFFECTED VEHICLES, GM STRONGLY RECOMMENDS THAT OWNERS OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT PRECAUTIONS: (1) THEY STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT OWNERS DO NOT PARK THEIR VEHICLE IN A GARAGE, CARPORT, OR OTHER STRUCTURE; (2) IF OWNERS NOTICE A BURNING ODOR, THEY SHOULD HAVE THEIR DEALER INSPECT THE VEHICLE - THE DEALER WILL INSPECT THE VEHICLE WITHOUT CHARGE; AND (3) USE PREMIUM FUEL (91 OCTANE OR HIGHER) IN THE VEHICLE AS RECOMMENDED IN THE VEHICLE'S OWNER MANUAL.THE ACTION TAKEN BY GM IS SUFFICIENT TO RESOLVE THE ISSUES RAISED BY THIS INVESTIGATION.THE SUBJECT FIRE INCIDENT RATE ON THE C-, G-, AND H-PLATFORM SUBJECT VEHICLES IS LOW.THE AGENCY WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS ISSUE AND RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.SEE DOCUMENT FILE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THIS RESUME.

ON JANUARY 29, 2007, THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED NON-CRASH FIRES ORIGINATING IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR (MY) 1999-2002 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX GTP VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE ?L67? SUPERCHARGED VERSION OF THE GENERAL MOTORS (GM) 3800 SERIES II V6 ENGINE.TO DATE, ODI IS AWARE OF 121 NON-DUPLICATIVE COMPLAINTS ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES THAT ALLEGE NON-CRASH RELATED FIRES ORIGINATING IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WHILE DRIVING OR AFTER THE VEHICLE IS PARKED AND THE IGNITION SWITCHED OFF. WHILE NO SUBJECT COMPONENT HAS YET BEEN IDENTIFIED, ODI ANALYSIS OF AVAILABLE INFORMATION INDICATES THAT THE ALLEGED FIRE INCIDENT RATE AMONG THE SUBJECT VEHICLES IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN GM PEER VEHICLES THAT USE THE NON-SUPERCHARGED ?L36? VERSION OF THE GM 3800 SERIES II V6 ENGINE.IN SOME CASES, THE FIRE INCIDENT RATE IS TWICE AS HIGH IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES AND UP TO AS MUCH AS AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE GREATER THAN IN NON-SUPERCHARGED PEER VEHICLES.FOR INSTANCE, THE SUBJECT FIRE INCIDENT RATE FOR THE SUPERCHARGED MY 2000 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX GTP IS APPROXIMATELY 236 PER 100,000 VEHICLES PRODUCED (58 FIRES / 24,509 SUBJECT VEHICLES OR 0.236%) WHILE THE FIRE INCIDENT RATE FOR MY 2000 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE NATURALLY ASPIRATED ?L36? ENGINE IS APPROXIMATELY 18 PER 100,000 VEHICLES PRODUCED (17 FIRES / 90,338 VEHICLES OR 0.018%). THE MANUFACTURER?S INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES ON THE SUBJECT VEHICLES IS ONGOING.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA07-008) TO FURTHER STUDY THE FREQUENCY AND SCOPE OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT. BASED ON THE INFORMATION REVIEWED IN PE07-006, THE RANGE OF SUBJECT VEHICLES UNDER INVESTIGATION WILL BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL MY 1999-2002 BUICK PARK AVENUE, REGAL, AND RIVIERA, OLDSMOBILE LSS, AND PONTIAC BONNEVILLE AND GRAND PRIX VEHICLES THAT USE THE SAME OR SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TRANSVERSE MOUNTED ?L67? ENGINE.

THE AGENCY'S ANALYSIS OF GM'S COMPLAINT AND WARRANTY DATA FOR THE SUBJECT VEHICLES, INCLUDING A COMPARISON WITH OTHER AGENCY AND MANUFACTURER DATA PERTAINING TO OTHER VEHICLE BRAKE LAMP INVESTIGATIONS, INDICATED A LOW FAILURE HISTORY FOR THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.THIS INVESTIGATION INCLUDED A REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF DATA FOR RELEVANT BRAKE LAMP MALFUNCTIONS THAT REQUIRE REPLACEMENT OF THE MULTIFUNCTION SWITCH (MFS) MODULE.THE HAZARD WARNING SWITCH IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE MFS MODULE.OTHER COMPONENTS THAT AFFECT BRAKE LAMP ILLUMINATION SUCH AS WIRING, BULB SOCKETS, AND THE PLUNGER-TYPE BRAKE LAMP SWITCH, WERE NOT A PART OF THIS INVESTIGATION.A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT TREND HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED AND THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

EA02-030 IS CLOSED WITH GMEA02-030 IS CLOSED WITH GM?S ACTIONS IN 03V-473 AND 04V-090 RECALLING APPROXIMATELY 529,000 MY 1998-99 C- AND H-BODY VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH DEFECTIVE FUEL PRESSURE REGULATORS.THESE VEHICLES WERE EQUIPPED WITH PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLDS THAT ARE UNABLE TO CONTAIN PRESSURES THAT OCCUR IN SOME BACKFIRE EVENTS AND DEFECTIVE FUEL PRESSURE REGULATORS WITH LEAKING DIAPHRAGMS THAT CAN PROVIDE A SOURCE OF FUEL TO PRODUCE A COMBUSTIBLE AIR-FUEL MIXTURE IN THE MANIFOLD.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY ODI THAT NO SAFETY DEFECT EXISTS IN THE VEHICLES THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED IN GM?S RECALLS.ODI WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE INCIDENCE OF MANIFOLD RUPTURES AND RELATED FIRES IN OTHER MY 1995-2002 GM PASSENGER CARS EQUIPPED WITH THE SUBJECT INTAKE MANIFOLD.FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, SEE THE ATTACHED CLOSING REPORT.

Not sure if the problem is in the engine or engine or the fuel but I but I smell Exhaust or gas when the engine is running. With the headlights I can barely see at night. Having my brights on Is like having your regular lights on.

NHTSA ID

11486131

Incident

Jun 28, 2021

The contact owns a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix. The contact stated that while the vehicle was idle, a burning odor was detected. The contact turned off the vehicle and noticed that there was smoke and then flames coming from underneath the hood. The contact did not sustain any injuries, and no medical attention was received. No police report was filed. The contact waited until the fire went out on its own and placed a cloth on top of the hood. The contact inspected underneath the hood and noticed that antifreeze was spraying outward. The fire had melted the fuses and valve cover; a brown substance was in the coolant; a red substance was spilling out of the manifold, and the timing belt had detached. The dealer was made aware of the failure and scheduled an upcoming appointment for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact was made aware that there was one unrepaired recall associated with the VIN under NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V701000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The failure mileage was approximately 143,000.

NHTSA ID

11465335

Incident

May 12, 2022

Mileage

143,000 mi

ENGINE STARTED SMELLING OF SMOKE AND UPON DRIVING TO WORK AND OR HOME THE CARS OIL LIGHT CAME ON TO FILL THIS CAR IT TAKES 4.2 QUARTS OF OIL, AFTER PUTTING 4 QUARTS OF OIL WITHIN THE MOTOR I NOTICED A LEAK COMING FROM THE OIL PAN AREA TO FIND OUT THE OIL PRESSURE SENSOR WAS DAMAGED AND WAS LEAKING 12 QUARTS OF OIL IN 25 MILES POTENTIAL OIL SPILL TO HIT HOT EXHAUST CAUSING COMBUSTION.

NHTSA ID

11367011

Incident

Oct 26, 2020

Mileage

180,000 mi

I AM DRIVING DOWN HWY 311 IN HOUMA, LA. I WENT AROUND ANOTHER VEHICLE AND AS MY CAR WENT INTO PASSING GEAR I HEAR A NOISE FROM UNDER THE HOOD. I STOPPED AND PUT GAS IN MY CAR. AS I'M DRIVING DOWN SAVANNE ROAD I HEAR THE NOISE AGAIN. AS I'M DRIVING THE NOISE GETS LOUDER AND WORSE. ON JUNE 10, 2020 THE CAR STARTS GETTING HOT SO I PULL OVER AND SHUT THE ENGINE OFF. SMOKE STARTS COMING OUT THE HOOD AND WATER IS ALL OVER THE GROUND. CAN'T FIND WHERE THE WATER SPEWED OUT AT OR A CRACK OR ANYTHING. FANS ARE CONSTANTLY NOT WORKING. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAPPENS. CAR WOULDN'T START. GET IT STARTED AND IMMEDIATELY WENT STRAIGHT HOME. THE BEARINGS ARE GOING OUT IN THE ENGINE. I BOUGHT THE CAR IN FEBRUARY 2013 AND HAVE HAD PROBLEMS SINCE MARCH 2013. AC GOES OUT. I FIX IT. IT WORKS A WEEK OR 2 AND STOPS AGAIN. ABS LIGHT IS ON BUT A MECHANIC CANNOT DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT STAYS ON NO MATTER WHAT. THE PIECES ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE DOORS HAVE FALLEN OFF, ONCE WHILE I WAS DRIVING. I ALWAYS HAVE TROUBLE STARTING IT. CHANGED THE BATTERY 3 TIMES. THE HEADLIGHTS ARE NOT BRIGHT AND THE HOUSINGS FOR THEM ARE HORRIBLE. THE SUNROOF LEAKS INTO THE DOME LIGHT. THE DRIVER SIDE SEAT BELT GETS STUCK DOWN AND I HAVE TO FIGHT WITH IT TO GET IT UP TO BUCKLE IT. THE WHOLE CAR SHOULD BE RECALLED AND ON THE LIST OF WORST CARS NUMBERS 1 THRU 20 WITH OTHERS AFTER. I'M GETTING RID OF THIS CAR AND NEVER BUYING ANOTHER PONTIAC GRAND PRIX GT. *TR

NHTSA ID

11328279

Incident

May 22, 2020

Mileage

179,000 mi

THE MAP LIGHTS WONT TURN OFF. ITS NOT REGISTERING MY DOOR BEING SHUT I HAVE REPLACED EVERYTHING ON THE DOOR BUT IT STILL GIVES ME THIS PROBLEM. ITS DANGEROUS ESPECIALLY WHEN DRIVING.

NHTSA ID

11311995

Incident

Dec 10, 2019

Mileage

138,245 mi

IT WAS DRIVING FINE AND I PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT AND NOTICED THAT THE STEERING BECAME REALLY HARD THEN SMELLED SOMETHING BURNING SO I PARKED THEN STARTED SEEING SMOKE COME FROM UNDERNEATH THE HOOD SO I OPENED IT AND SAW A SMALL FLAME TOWARD THE BACK OF THE ENGINE LUCKILY I HAD A JUG OF WATER IN THE TRUNK AND PUT IT OUT AND THERE WAS POWER STEERING FLUID SPARYED ALL OVER I'M ASSUMING THE FIRE MELTED A HOSE. THE CAR STILL START BUT IT DOESN'T SOUND GOOD PROBABLY MELTED THE SPARK PLUGS WIRES I'M SURE . * (RECALL RELATED INCIDENT) TS

NHTSA ID

11289084

Incident

Dec 13, 2019

Mileage

68,894 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX. WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, A BURNING ODOR WAS DETECTED COMING FROM THE VEHICLE AND THE CHANGE OIL WARNING INDICATOR PERIODICALLY ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE ENGINE INTAKE GASKET WAS DRIPPING OIL ONTO THE EXHAUST. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING OR REPAIRS. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 103,697. *DT*JB

NHTSA ID

11280333

Incident

Nov 13, 2019

Mileage

103,697 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE OIL CAP O RING FOR THE VALVE COVER LEAKED ONTO THE EXHAUST PIPES. THE FAILURE CREATED A POSSIBLE FIRE HAZARD WHEN NEAR A HOT AREA. THE CONTACT NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM UNDERNEATH THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT NOTICED AN ISSUE WITH THE VEHICLE PRIOR TO THE O RING LEAK. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN UNKNOWN DEALER FOR AN UNKNOWN RECALL REPAIR BEFORE THE ORIGINAL LEAK AND THE DEALER REPLACED THE VALVE COVER GASKET AND VALVE COVER. THE DEALER AND THE CONTACT DID NOT AGREE ON EVERYTHING THAT WAS COVERED UNDER THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT MADE FURTHER REPAIRS ON HIS OWN BEFORE THE O RING LEAK OCCURRED. THE CONTACT SPOKE WITH THE MANUFACTURER AND WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS NO WARRANTY COVERAGE FOR THE RECALLS. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 189,000.

NHTSA ID

11266168

Incident

May 1, 2019

Mileage

189,000 mi

This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint. Technician should get record a sound clip or take a video of the noise for assessment by engineering. Technician will need to call General Motors Technical Assistance Center for further assistance.

This Preliminary Information communicates to the dealer the process for downloading or updating operating software for the Tire Pressure Monitor, Active Fuel Injector tester, multi media tester, PICO Scope, GR8 starting/charging tester  and Vehicle Data Recorder tools, giving website address and step by step instructions to complete the update.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and vent temperature.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and vent temperature.

Vehicle Wide Programming (VWP) is a new process to update software on GM Vehicles. It provides the ability via a single selection within Techline Connect to first identify which modules need updating and then proceed to updating affected modules (with some exceptions). The updating of modules is completed in parallel instead of the technician needing to update one module at a time. This allows a more streamlined approach for dealers and customers.