RoadVitals

NHTSA safety recall

Recall 14V540000: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION

General Motors LLC · Reported to NHTSA Sep 9, 2014

Recalls apply to specific vehicles, not to every vehicle of a model year. Check your VIN with NHTSA or your manufacturer's dealer to confirm whether a recall affects your vehicle.

Check a VIN on NHTSA.gov
Units potentially affectedThe manufacturer's own estimate of how many vehicles or items of equipment may contain the defect. It is not a count of failures, and not every unit in the range is necessarily affected.
47,043
Model years coveredModel years in our database that NHTSA matched to this campaign. Whether an individual vehicle is covered still depends on its VIN.
5
Models covered
2
Grouped from the model years above
Reported to NHTSA
Sep 9, 2014
Production Jul 25, 2007 – Dec 6, 2013

What this recall covers

NHTSA's campaign record, quoted as published

The defect

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 Chevrolet Caprice vehicles manufactured October 15, 2010, to December 6, 2013, and 2008-2009 Pontiac G8 vehicles manufactured July 25, 2007, to February 18, 2009. In the affected vehicles, the driver may accidentally hit the ignition key with their knee, unintentionally knocking the key out of the run position, turning off the engine.

The risk

If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Additionally, a key knocked out of the run position could cause loss of engine power, power steering, and power braking, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

The remedy

GM will notify owners, and dealers will remove the key blade from the original flip key/RKE transmitter assemblies, and cut and fit a revised key blade and housing assembly, in which the blade has been indexed by 90 degrees, to the original RKE transmitter assembly. GM issued an interim notification to owners on December 31, 2014. The recall began on February 4, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 and Pontiac customer service at 1-800-762-2737. GM's number for this recall is 14445. Note: Until the recall has been performed, it is very important that drivers adjust their seat and steering column to allow clearance between their knee and the ignition key.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

A safety recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle has a safety-related defect or does not comply with a federal motor vehicle safety standard. Recall repairs are free. Whether a specific vehicle is covered depends on its VIN — a recall listed for a model year does not necessarily apply to every vehicle of that year.

Campaign details

Identifiers and dates as filed with NHTSA

Manufacturer
General Motors LLC
Manufacturer's campaign number
14445
NHTSA campaign number
14V540000
Units potentially affected
47,043
Report received
Sep 9, 2014
Production range
Jul 25, 2007 – Dec 6, 2013
Campaign type
Vehicle
Federal safety standard (FMVSS)
Not recorded

Vehicles covered

5 model years across 2 models

Recalls apply to specific vehicles, not to every vehicle of a model year. Check your VIN with NHTSA or your manufacturer's dealer to confirm whether a recall affects your vehicle.