NHTSA Defect Investigation #EA02032 ODI identified 59 reports with the alleged defect.ODI was able to contact 44 of the 59 consumers in order to determine the specific cause of the latch problems.of the 44 owners contacted, ODI determined that four failures were due to an out-of-tolerance latch plate, and that 23 failures were due to a displaced buckle housing cover.the remaining 17 failures had indeterminable causes.of the 59 reports, there were three alleged minor injuries.no legal claims or lawsuits have been filed with regard to this alleged defect.based on the limited number of reports, and a declining report trend, this investigation is closed.a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of Agency resources does not appeared to be warranted.accordingly, this 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 will take further action if warranted by the circumstances. See additional summary report.
Seat Belts
no recall issued
1997 PONTIAC MONTANA -- ODI identified 59 reports with the alleged defect. ODI was able to contact 44 of the 59 consumers in order to determine the specific cause of the latch problems. Of the 44 owners contacted, ODI determined that four failures were due to an out-of-tolerance latch plate, and that 23 failures were due to a displaced buckle housing cover. The remaining 17 failures had indeterminable causes. Of the 59 reports, there were three alleged minor injuries. No legal claims or lawsuits have been filed with regard to this alleged defect. Based on the limited number of reports, and a declining report trend, this investigation is closed. A safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of Agency resources does not appeared to be warranted. Accordingly, this 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 will take further action if warranted by the circumstances. See additional summary report. Investigation was initiated on November 18 2002. Closed on November 21 2003. For detailed information & supporting documents, see the official NHTSA page concerning investigation #EA02032 »
NHTSA Defect Investigation #EA03005 On November 18, 2002, ODI opened a preliminary evaluation (PE02-086) to evaluate allegations of rear axle trailing arm failures in the subject vehicles (U-van) which included two reporting crashes.on April 9, 2003, ODI upgraded PE02-086 to an engineering analysis (EA03-005) to continue its examination of the issue. The trailing arm design in these vehicles has been used in the U-van from MY 1997 through the present.the GM analysis concluded that the subject trailing arms could crack or buckle if they were damaged during assembly, pre-delivery handling, or subjected to certain service related abuse conditions such as improper towing or jacking.analysis of ODI and GM data has identified 19 incidents of rear axle trailing arm failures in the subject vehicles.there have been no new reports to ODI or GM in the last 12 months and only one new complaint in the last 21 months. Due to the low complaint rate and the absence of a continuing trend in reported failures, a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of Agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this 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 will take further action if warranted by the circumstances. For additional information, see the attached closing report.
Suspension:Rear**
no recall issued
** This defect investigation is filed under 2 related vehicle components.
1997 PONTIAC MONTANA -- On November 18, 2002, ODI opened a preliminary evaluation (PE02-086) to evaluate allegations of rear axle trailing arm failures in the subject vehicles (U-van) which included two reporting crashes. On April 9, 2003, ODI upgraded PE02-086 to an engineering analysis (EA03-005) to continue its examination of the issue.
The trailing arm design in these vehicles has been used in the U-van from MY 1997 through the present. The GM analysis concluded that the subject trailing arms could crack or buckle if they were damaged during assembly, pre-delivery handling, or subjected to certain service related abuse conditions such as improper towing or jacking. Analysis of ODI and GM data has identified 19 incidents of rear axle trailing arm failures in the subject vehicles. There have been no new reports to ODI or GM in the last 12 months and only one new complaint in the last 21 months.
Due to the low complaint rate and the absence of a continuing trend in reported failures, a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of Agency resources does not appear to be warranted. Accordingly, this 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 will take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
For additional information, see the attached closing report.
Investigation was initiated on April 23 2003. Closed on January 12 2004. For detailed information & supporting documents, see the official NHTSA page concerning investigation #EA03005 »