2000 Pontiac Sunfire

ODI OPENED EA 02-028 TO REVIEW COMPLAINTS OF CONSUMERS REPORTING THAT THEIR FUEL GAUGE WAS INCORRECTLY DISPLAYING THE AMOUNT OF FUEL IN THE GAS TANK.THE FUEL GAUGE RECEIVES AN ELECTRICAL SIGNAL FROM A FUEL TANK SENDING SENSOR CIRCUIT CARD.A FLOAT ARM IN THE TANK MOVES ELECTRICAL CONTACTS THAT RUB AGAINST THE CARD AS THE LEVEL OF FUEL RISES AND FALLS.DISRUPTION OF THE ELECTRICAL SIGNAL (SUCH AS CAUSED BY CORROSION OF THE CIRCUIT CARD) WILL CAUSE INCORRECT READINGS TO REGISTER ON THE FUEL GAUGE.GM REPORTED IN THEIR RESPONSE TO ODI DATED JANUARY 13, 2003 THAT THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF ERRATIC FUEL GAUGE OPERATION IS EXCESS ELEMENTAL SULFUR IN FUEL.GM REPORTED THAT ABNORMAL LEVELS OF SULFUR SPORADICALLY OCCURRED IN CERTAIN PARTS OF CANADA AND THE U.S. RESULTING IN REPORTS OF FUEL GAUGE MALFUNCTION.GM MODIFIED THE SENDING SENSOR FOR VEHICLES BUILT AFTER OCTOBER 2000.IT MADE A SECOND SENSOR MODIFICATION FOR VEHICLES BUILT AFTER JANUARY 2003.GM ALSO ISSUED A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN (GM NUMBER 00101) IN DECEMBER 2000 FOR U.S. CUSTOMERS IN THE STATE OF MAINE AND ISSUED SEVERAL SERVICE BULLETINS INFORMING DEALERS OF THE AVAILABILITY OF SENSORS WITH IMPROVED CORROSION RESISTANCE.THE COMPLAINT TREND INDICATES THAT COMPLAINTS PEAKED IN LATE 2000 TO EARLY 2001.WARRANTY CLAIMS DECLINED SINCE PEAKING IN APRIL 2002.BASED ON THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS AND THE INDICATION OF A DECLINING TREND, FURTHER USE OF AGENCY RESOURCES DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE WARRANTED.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.

ODI OPENED PE02-066 TO EVALUATE THE SCOPE AND CONSEQUENCE OF ENGINE POWER-LOSS DUE TO FUEL STARVATION INDUCED BY IN-TANK MODULAR FUEL PUMP STRAINER RESTRICTION.THE SUBJECT PUMPS USE AN EXTERNAL ?SOCK? STRAINER TO FILTER FUEL FLOWING TO THE PUMP INLET.THIS FILTER CAN SOMETIMES BECOME CLOGGED, RESULTING IN A REDUCED FLOW OF FUEL TO THE ENGINE.GM HAS SUBSEQUENTLY MODIFIED THE STRAINERS TO REDUCE THIS RESTRICTION.ANALYSIS OF THE ODI COMPLAINT DATABASE SHOWS THAT DESPITE THESE RESTRICTIONS, THE SUBJECT VEHICLES STALL AT A RATE THAT IS COMPARABLE TO THOSE OF MANY PEER VEHICLES.ADDITIONALLY, NONE OF THE RELEVANT WARRANTY REPAIR RATES EXCEED 1% AT 36 MONTHS OF EXPOSURE.ONE RELATED CRASH INVOLVES A STALLED VEHICLE THAT WAS REAR-ENDED ON THE ROADWAY, WHILE THE REMAINDER INVOLVED MINOR COLLISIONS OR SCRAPES.THE SOLE INJURY CONSISTED OF BRUISING FROM A LOW SPEED FRONTAL CRASH. GIVEN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, FURTHER EXPENDITURE OF AGENCY RESOURCES IS NOT JUSTIFIED IN THIS MATTER.THE PRELIMINARY EVALUATION IS THEREFORE CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT NO SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT EXISTS.THE AGENCY WILL TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN THE FUTURE IF WARRANTED.

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MY CAR WAS DRIVING PERFECT UNTIL 3 WEEKS AGO, IT HAS SINCE THEN WONT START BACK UP. THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH SPARK, THEN TRIED SPARK PLUG WIRES, NEW BATTERY, CHECKED ALTERNATOR AND FUSES, COILS ALL GOOD. THEN I WAS LEAD TO MAYBE THE GAS THAT WAS IN IT. DROPPED GAS TANK, PUT NEW FUEL FILTER, CHECKED FUEL PUMP, GAS LINES, IT DID STAY RUNNING ONE TIME SINCE BUT WAS SHAKING ROUGHLY WITH A FLASHING CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. WILL NOT RUN ANYMORE SINCE THEN. HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO DRIVE MY VEHICLE FOR 3 WEEKS NOW AND IT IS MY ONLY CAR.. ALSO BEFORE THE CAR STARTED HAVING THE ABOVE PROBLEMS MY BRAKES KEPT GETTING TONS OF AIR ALSO LOSING A TON OF BRAKE FLUID, ABS LIGHT STAYS ON AND ALL BRAKE LINES ARE GOOD. IT'S DANGEROUS. ALSO HAVE BLED THE BRAKES. NOT MUCH HELP OTHER THAN TEMPORARILY. *TR

NHTSA ID

11329282

Incident

May 24, 2020

Mileage

160,000 mi

"TAKATA RECALL" WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT ON A COUNTY ROAD AND SWITCHING FROM LOW BEAMS TO HIGH BEAMS, THE HEADLIGHTS WENT COMPLETELY DARK AND DID NOT COME BACK ON UNTIL SWITCHING BACK TO LOW BEAMS. AFTER INSPECTION, NOTICED THE DAY RUNNERS ALSO WERE NOT WORKING. ALL FUSES WERE PLUGGED IN AND GOOD. REPLACING THE RELAY DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM DESCRIBED HEREIN.

NHTSA ID

11001900

Incident

Jun 25, 2017

Mileage

106,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 PONTIAC SUNFIRE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE'S TURN SIGNALS WOULD INTERMITTENTLY FAIL TO OPERATE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THERE WAS A RECALL THAT INVOLVED A SIMILAR FAILURE (GMC RECALL NUMBER: 03043); HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 164,283.

NHTSA ID

10959175

Incident

Mar 3, 2017

Mileage

164,283 mi

DAUGHTER HYDROPLANED, WENT INTO DITCH ON RIGHT SIDE OF ROAD, TRAVELED ACROSS ROAD INTO LEFT DITCH AND HIT TREE, OPENING THE CONVERTIBLE TOP DURING CRASH AND TOTALED VEHICLE AIRBAGS DIDN'T DEPLOY DURING CRASH.

NHTSA ID

10544721

Incident

Sep 20, 2013

Mileage

115,000 mi

MY DAUGHTERS CAR WAS HAVING STARTING PROBLEMS (NOT ENOUGH GAS GETTING TO THE ENGINE TO START, HAD TO PUMP THE GAS). I TOOK IT FOR A TEST DRIVE IN A EMPTY PARKING LOT ONCE IT STARTED. I WAS GOING APPROX 10MPH THE FIRST TIME I PUSHED THE GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR. WHEN I RELEASED THE PEDAL IT STAYED IN PLACE AT FULL THROTTLE. I PUSHED THE BREAKS TO STOP THE CAR AND HAD TO THROW IT INTO NEUTRAL BEFORE THE THROTTLE RELEASED. SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME!! THANK GOD MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER NEVER PUSHED THE THROTTLE ALL THE WAY DOWN!! I TRIED IT SEVERAL MORE TIMES WITH THE SAME RESULTS. SOMEHOW THE THROTTLE STICKING IS TIED TO THE TRANSMISSION BECAUSE, EVERYTIME, THE THROTTLE WOULD RELEASED AS SOON AS I PUT IT IN NEUTRAL. I DONOT HAVE THE VIN BECAUSE WE TOOK IT TO A SHOP TONIGHT. JUST THOUGHT I SHOULD WARN ANYONE ELSE WITH THIS VEHICLE. I HAD MY DAUGHTER MEET ME IN THE PARKING LOT AND TOLD HER TO FLOOR IT WITH THE SAME RESULTS, AND AS I THOUGHT WOULD HAPPENED SHE PANIC AND ONLY PUSHED THE BREAKS YELLING "OW GOD, OW GOD. I HAD MY HAND ON THE SHIFTER AND MOVED IT TO NEUTRAL. AGAINST HER WILL MADE HER DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN SO SHE COULD LEARN NOT TO PANIC AND PUT IT IN NEUTRAL IN CASE THIS HAPPENS TO HER EVER IN THE FUTURE. SHOULD BE A TRAINING IN DRIVERS ED. *TR

NHTSA ID

10496555

Incident

Feb 5, 2013

Mileage

150,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 PONTIAC SUNFIRE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND UNOCCUPIED, A SMALL FIRE OCCURRED IN THE STEERING COLUMN AND INSTRUMENT PANEL. IN ADDITION, THE FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE WINDSHIELD WAS CRACKED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE AND WAS NOT REPAIRED. IN 2005, THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED UNDER A RECALL RELATED TO THE MOST RECENT FAILURE UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 04V036000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: IGNITION: SWITCH). THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE BUT PROVIDED NO ASSISTANCE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 150,000. UPDATED 08/07/12*LJ UPDATED 08/15/2012 *JS

NHTSA ID

10459348

Incident

Apr 30, 2012

Mileage

150,000 mi

REAR PASSENGER SIDE TURN SIGNAL SOCKET IT IS GETTING VERY HOT AND IS MELTING BULBS AND SOCKET. HAVE REPLACED BULBS VARIOUS TIMES WITH AND WITHOUT PROPER GREASE AND NO CHANGE. *TR

NHTSA ID

10350456

Incident

Jan 2, 2008

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 PONTIAC SUNFIRE. UPON STARTING THE ENGINE AT NIGHT, THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WOULD NOT ILLUMINATE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER BUT THERE WERE NO REPAIRS MADE TO THE VEHICLE. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 80,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 130,000.

NHTSA ID

10321705

Incident

Sep 1, 2002

Mileage

80,000 mi

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.

This bulletin provides information for use on a Product Assistance Claim (PAC), which is formerly known as a Product Allegation Resolution (PAR) claim.

This service bulletin provides information for dealers/technicians on Service Programming System (SPS) Error Codes E4398, E4399, E4401, E4403, M4404, M4413, M6954, M6955, E4414, E4423, E4491, E4492, or E6961 and resolution information.