GM News: GM Calls More Vehicles Into The Ignition Switch Recall, Replacement Ignitions May Cause More Headaches

[William Maley]

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Last night, General Motors announced that the ignition switch has been expanded to include an additional 824,000 vehicles. The vehicles include,

• 2008-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt
  
• 2008-2011 Chevrolet HHR
  
• 2008-2010 Pontiac G5
  
• 2008-2010 Pontiac Solstice
  
• 2008-2010 Saturn Sky
  

This brings the total number of vehicles involved in the recall to over 2.6 million vehicles. Like the previous recalls, GM is urging owners to remove all of their keys except the ignition key to prevent the switch from moving. GM said replacement parts will begin arriving at dealers starting on April 7th.

"We are taking no chances with safety. Trying to locate several thousand switches in a population of 2.2 million vehicles and distributed to thousands of retailers isn't practical. Out of an abundance of caution, we are recalling the rest of the model years," said GM CEO Mary Barra in a statement.

This isn't the only problem GM is going through at the moment. Reuters reports that repair shops can buy the ignition switch from Delphi involved in the recall. While the switches may not be defective thanks to a fix in 2007 which replaced the tenser spring, the only way to be sure is to either take it apart or check the manufacturing history. This is due to GM keeping the part number the same on the new part, a bit surprising to those who are in the know.

"When you make a change, you change the part number so everybody understands what happened," said a former GM executive to Reuters.

GM Spokesman Jim Cain said they company is looking into this matter.

"We are in the process of responding to the very questions you are asking, per our pledge to be fully cooperative with NHTSA," said Cain.

Source: General Motors, Reuters

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected]or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

Press Release is on Page 2

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GM Moves to Secure Recalled Ignition Switches

2014-03-28

• 824,000 models sold in the U.S. from 2008-2011 will get new ignition switch
  
• Parts return sought from aftermarket distributors
  

DETROIT – General Motors today said it will replace the ignition switch in all model years of its Chevrolet Cobalt, HHR, Pontiac G5, Solstice and Saturn Ion and Sky in the U.S. since faulty switches may have been used to repair the vehicles.

The parts are at the center of the company's recently announced ignition switch recall, which originally extended through the 2007 model year. About 95,000 faulty switches were sold to dealers and aftermarket wholesalers. Of those, about 90,000 were used to repair older vehicles that were repaired before they were recalled in February.

Because it is not feasible to track down all the parts, the company is taking the extraordinary step of recalling 824,000 more vehicles in the U.S. to ensure that every car has a current ignition switch. GM is unaware of any reports of fatalities with this group of vehicles where a frontal impact occurred, the front air bags did not deploy and the ignition is in the "accessory" or "off" position.

As with the earlier recalls, if the torque performance is not to GM specification, the ignition switch may unintentionally move from the "run" position to the "accessory" or "off" positions, leading to a loss of power. The risk may be increased if the key ring is carrying added weight or if the vehicle goes off road or experiences some jarring event. The timing of the key movement out of the "run" position relative to when the sensing algorithm of a crash may result in the air bags not deploying, increasing the potential for occupant injury in certain kinds of crashes.

Until the recall has been performed, customers are urged to remove all items, including the key fob, from their key rings, leaving only the vehicle key.

"We are taking no chances with safety," said GM CEO Mary Barra. "Trying to locate several thousand switches in a population of 2.2 million vehicles and distributed to thousands of retailers isn't practical. Out of an abundance of caution, we are recalling the rest of the model years.

"We are going to provide our customers with the peace of mind they deserve and expect by getting the new switches into all the vehicles," Barra said.

GM records indicate the service parts may have been used for ignition repairs in:

2008-2010 Chevrolet Cobalts

2008-2011 Chevrolet HHRs

2008-2010 Pontiac Solstice

2008-2010 Pontiac G5 and

2008-2010 Saturn Sky

Owners who may have had a suspect part installed will receive a letter the week of April 21. GM dealers will replace their ignition switch free of charge as parts become available. Customers who paid to have their ignition switches replaced will be eligible for reimbursement.

Dealers, distributors and other parts customers will be told about the recall beginning March 31.

Information on the ignition switch recall is available www.gmignitionupdate.com.

View full article

[regfootball]

what does this mean if i paid 400 bucks to get a new ignition switch a few months ago on my 2010? (when i couldn't shut my car off)?

[Intrepidation]

Looks like they added another 662,000 pickups and Cruzes.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/29/chevy-silverado-tahoe-suburban-cruze-gmc-sierra-yukon-recall/

GM is up to 4.8 million vehicles this month.

TOTAL RECALL.

[FAPTurbo]

[yougojay]

what does this mean if i paid 400 bucks to get a new ignition switch a few months ago on my 2010? (when i couldn't shut my car off)?

Assuming it's a 2010 out of warranty, now under recall, and you HAD to get it replace because you could NOT shut your car off? I'd say it means you get a 400 dollar refund.

[smk4565]

Makes you wonder what is wrong with the new cars. I am sure they cur corners like crazy because they were headed towards bankruptcy, but the Cruze is post bankruptcy and on the list now too. As is the new 2014 Silverado and 2015 Tahoe/Yukon. Don't they have engineers that test this stuff to make sure it works? 5 million cars in 2 months, even it costs just $200 per car to fix, that is a a $1 billion bill.

[Drew Dowdell]

but... doesn't the Cruze use the switchblade key? I know the Cobalt didn't.

Like the article said, they are recalling all of them just to replace a few thousand known to be defective, but still, wouldn't the Cruze use a different switch?

[pow]

Sometimes GM just makes you go, "Hmmm..."

I drove a Volt a few days ago, and as I reached for the Drive Mode button to switch from Normal to Sport mode, I turned off the car instead. The power button is right next to the Drive Mode button, which is right next to the entertainment/HVAC capacitive buttons. Luckily I was in a parking lot and the vehicle behind me was patient, but still it's a boneheaded design fault.

[ocnblu]

but... doesn't the Cruze use the switchblade key? I know the Cobalt didn't.

Like the article said, they are recalling all of them just to replace a few thousand known to be defective, but still, wouldn't the Cruze use a different switch?

The Cruze is subject to a stop-sale for the 1.4t model, from what I read. I forget why. Nothing to do with the ignition switch. And the new fullsize trucks and SUVs are being called in for a loose trans cooler line, I believe.

[Drew Dowdell]

I'll have to look into it more, curious that it is just Cruze and not 1.4t powered Sonic or Encore.

[ocnblu]

http://31.media.tumblr.com/39a71351c02848063a5190b8de29dfd5/tumblr_n2wn4bHFoE1soz9yao1_250.gif

[William Maley]

but... doesn't the Cruze use the switchblade key? I know the Cobalt didn't.

Like the article said, they are recalling all of them just to replace a few thousand known to be defective, but still, wouldn't the Cruze use a different switch?

The Cruze is subject to a stop-sale for the 1.4t model, from what I read. I forget why. Nothing to do with the ignition switch. And the new fullsize trucks and SUVs are being called in for a loose trans cooler line, I believe.

GM says that Cruzes equipped with the 1.4T need to have their halfshaft replaced before they shatter.

[ocnblu]

hate when that happens

[David]

I know in various threads some have pounded on GM for still being the old GM. Yet with this said, once needs to aknowledge just how far they have come in a short time period and how fast they are responding to issues that show up in their auto's.

While everyone would love an auto to be perfect from day one, at least it would seem that GM is having the engineers do long term testing and as issues show up they are responding to fixing them. The old GM never responded as fast to issues as the new GM is doing. As an engineer we do everything we can to test and make sure an product is 100% out the door and yet you cannot build an auto in 2-3 yeras and know the long term outcome of using new metals, new liquids, etc. In the early stages you do end up with having some tweaking to be done and at least while this seems to be done for the new GM auto's at least GM is also responding by taking care of issues pre-bankruptcy and correcting what past mgmt was passing the buck on.

Happy to see the responses of GM to new Auto issues.

[regfootball]

but... doesn't the Cruze use the switchblade key? I know the Cobalt didn't.

Like the article said, they are recalling all of them just to replace a few thousand known to be defective, but still, wouldn't the Cruze use a different switch?

The Cruze is subject to a stop-sale for the 1.4t model, from what I read. I forget why. Nothing to do with the ignition switch. And the new fullsize trucks and SUVs are being called in for a loose trans cooler line, I believe.

GM says that Cruzes equipped with the 1.4T need to have their halfshaft replaced before they shatter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvxpNTNmzs

SHATTERED

[regfootball]

I know in various threads some have pounded on GM for still being the old GM. Yet with this said, once needs to aknowledge just how far they have come in a short time period and how fast they are responding to issues that show up in their auto's.

While everyone would love an auto to be perfect from day one, at least it would seem that GM is having the engineers do long term testing and as issues show up they are responding to fixing them. The old GM never responded as fast to issues as the new GM is doing. As an engineer we do everything we can to test and make sure an product is 100% out the door and yet you cannot build an auto in 2-3 yeras and know the long term outcome of using new metals, new liquids, etc. In the early stages you do end up with having some tweaking to be done and at least while this seems to be done for the new GM auto's at least GM is also responding by taking care of issues pre-bankruptcy and correcting what past mgmt was passing the buck on.

Happy to see the responses of GM to new Auto issues.

i think every carmaker has issues