The 'New' General Motors Company has nothing to do with Pontiac. Even if this were true, it would be unwise to trust your antique car to any GM dealer, who will not have any service records and the average age of the mechanics employed is about 25, lower than the age of your car.
I dont know. Have not checked. I just posted what I saw and passed on it as being crazy, weeks later starting thinking about it...like tonight, just thought I'd ask a silly question.
Except for the exhaust oil shield the recall did nothing but remove the front trunk weatherstrip that allowed rain water in to cause the front manifold to crack. If your car has been running fine without the recall since 1988, I would leave it alone.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Last time I asked GM about a Fiero recall, knowing the car never went in for recall, their response was "All recalls on ALL Fieros have been done" and refused. Now that Pontiac is gone they have no legal liability to do so, so fat chance.
Except for the exhaust oil shield the recall did nothing but remove the front trunk weatherstrip that allowed rain water in to cause the front manifold to crack. If your car has been running fine without the recall since 1988, I would leave it alone.
Not true, they also added stickers and removed your power steering if you had one.
I had the recall done once I found a broken stud on the engine. Till then I had refused to take it in.
I had mine done in the early 2000's.
The dealer at first said they could not do it as there may not even be parts. Then I called GM and spoke to Customer Service to get their opinion. They told me yes it could be done and the parts were available. About 20 mins after speaking to GM the dealer called and went from no way to how soon could you bring it in. Asked how soon can you do it and they said tomorrow.
I took it in and all was done in the next day.
Now I can not say for sure about pre or post bail out if that had changed a couple years later but I would call GM just to get their take on it. If the parts are there I would say they would do it. The only issue I can see is finding a tech who has done it before.
In my case I found the broken stud on the manifold and it was not leaking yet. I went to a cruise in that night and a guy was looking at my car and said you did not have the recall done. I said yes how do you know. He said you have the rubber strip. He told me what dealer to go to as he used to do the job and the guy who taught him was still there. It normally was a two day job but this guy could do it and not have to mess with the sub frame and he was the best he saw on this. Sure enough he was still there and got the job done.
The guy that I spoke too also warned me to keep the rubber strip and take it off before it goes in or they would toss it.
I asked and they gave me every part back. too.
If the kits are available I would expect that GM will do it at a Chevy dealer just as they still do Saturn work post old GM. But to get them to do it you may have to work with GM as most dealers do not want that job.
Recalls are for the life of the car with only a few stipulations.
Call GM Customer Service and just get the official ruling and odds are they will work with a dealer to get it done if they are still able or liable.
Except for the exhaust oil shield the recall did nothing but remove the front trunk weatherstrip that allowed rain water in to cause the front manifold to crack. If your car has been running fine without the recall since 1988, I would leave it alone.
Depends on the engine and year.
Mined was an 85 and got an exhaust manifold and new studs hence they replaced my broken ones and saved me a lot of work. I agree the 88 got less work.
The 'New' General Motors Company has nothing to do with Pontiac. Even if this were true, it would be unwise to trust your antique car to any GM dealer, who will not have any service records and the average age of the mechanics employed is about 25, lower than the age of your car.
Excellent point. Why ruin your car? Most techs are not familiar with the car. Back about 3-4 years ago I worked at small dealership and wanted to get some work done. I don't recall what it was. I asked the service writer to inform the tech about coolant tubes and not to lift the car on them. "Oh dont worry xxxx is our best tech and has been with this dealership before they came out". Guess what? idiot raised the car on the coolant tubes. And he was the best tech and owned a GTO or something. To me he just wanted to get it done as fast as he could and didn't take the time to ensure the lift wasn't on the tubes.
[This message has been edited by solotwo (edited 01-26-2016).]
If it's a safety recall, they MUST honor it. If it's not safety related, they don't have to do squat. Doesn't matter if Pontiac is gone. GM is still the parent company. Safety recall don't expire.
I had the recalls done on my 86 about a year post bailout. They said no problem if part were available. Worked out good for me as it gave me new brakes all the way around.
I will see if I can dig up the work order (or a copy of it).
Best to call and ask vs relying on internet hearsay - a dealer may say no, but talk to GM directly
I had the recalls done on my 86 about a year post bailout. They said no problem if part were available. Worked out good for me as it gave me new brakes all the way around.
I will see if I can dig up the work order (or a copy of it).
Best to call and ask vs relying on internet hearsay - a dealer may say no, but talk to GM directly
Yes he needs to call GM customer service and let them handle it. Even with the old GM and New GM they are still taking care of the older cars.
Heck all the cars that had the ignition recall were old GM and they were all fixed so the old GM and new GM mean nothing.
Dealers like to say no but GM if held by law can not. That is how my case went from they may not even have the parts to can you bring it in tomorrow.
If it's a safety recall, they MUST honor it. If it's not safety related, they don't have to do squat. Doesn't matter if Pontiac is gone. GM is still the parent company. Safety recall don't expire.
I think many think because GM today is a new company as they let the old GM go bankrupt that they are not liable. But the fact is they are still fixing and recalling old GM's cars. I have one on my older Malibu they are calling me on.
You just need to call GM Customer Service and let them deal with it.
GM is (as posted) likely still liable for the recall. Up until the car is scrapped.
With that said, if you are not having issues (like exhaust leaks) i wouldn't worry about it.
If you haven't had the recall done, I would do the following: Find a "recall" intake duct. The one that has the nipple in the side for the vent tube. They are the most common "used" duct you are likely to run across. Find the vent tube. The one that goes from the front valve cover to the intake tube. Install them in place of the original stuff. If there is anything that connects from the front valve cover to the firewall, and then from the firewall to the air filter canister, remove all you can. Go to Advance Auto and buy a rubber cap and install it on the air filter housing, where the rubber hose was removed.
That is (IMHO) really the only useful change that was made by the recall. The rubber strip needs to remain on the decklid. The metal shield that gets bolted to the engine is only useful if a rod comes through the front side of the block. It will keep oil off of the catalytic converter. Most of us take better care of our cars than to allow that to happen. (Yeah... you can pretty much tell...)
GM is (as posted) likely still liable for the recall. Up until the car is scrapped.
With that said, if you are not having issues (like exhaust leaks) i wouldn't worry about it.
If you haven't had the recall done, I would do the following: Find a "recall" intake duct. The one that has the nipple in the side for the vent tube. They are the most common "used" duct you are likely to run across. Find the vent tube. The one that goes from the front valve cover to the intake tube. Install them in place of the original stuff. If there is anything that connects from the front valve cover to the firewall, and then from the firewall to the air filter canister, remove all you can. Go to Advance Auto and buy a rubber cap and install it on the air filter housing, where the rubber hose was removed.
That is (IMHO) really the only useful change that was made by the recall. The rubber strip needs to remain on the decklid. The metal shield that gets bolted to the engine is only useful if a rod comes through the front side of the block. It will keep oil off of the catalytic converter. Most of us take better care of our cars than to allow that to happen. (Yeah... you can pretty much tell...)
...that is only the 1 recall - there are others. Like I said they replaced the brakes on mine (granted that was on a 86).
[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 01-27-2016).]
...that is only the 1 recall - there are others. Like I said they replaced the brakes on mine (granted that was on a 86).
I never recall hearing a brake recall. Did they say what the issue was as the brakes are all the same on all years but 88. My 85 never got a brake recall. Just wondering.
IIRC, the brake recall that I heard about had to do with the parking brake, on manual trans cars. (Since automatics have "park", they didn't deem them worthy of a recall.) I'm not sure if it applied to the 88s or not.
Ogre's cave used to have a list of all the recalls. There were several. More than just two.
The "engine fire" recall is the one that most people pay attention to, and the one that I was alluding to.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 01-27-2016).]
Even if you found one that would, run away. I took one of mine in for the recall on ebrake and exhaust manifolds. They did over a $1,000 worth of damage 'fixing' it. Threw away the special thermostat for the turbo, pinched coolant hoses shut, pinched and cut off plug wires, and burned out the clutch (the bottoms of the quarters were covered with rubber...hint). Wasnt worth it to me.
I knew about the e brake recall but would not expect them to do more than adjust or get the ratchet free in the caliper.
As for getting your car trashed at the dealer. This is why you go in and you investigate and make it clear how it will be treated.
With mine the Service manager thought I was nuts when I went in to talk to him before I even brought the car in.
Then I showed up with the car and his mouth dropped open. He apologized to me and now understood why I was particular. I even took the wing and Scoop off the rear deck to make sure nothing happened to them when they took the deck lid off.
The best part is when I came in to pick up the car the tech came out to visit and tell me he had not seen a Fiero that clean since they were new. He even was the one who fixed me up with all the parts he took off but the manifold. He took great care and did not even drop the sub frame as called for in GM directions.
The bottom line is at some point your manifold bolts are going to break. Not a matter of if but when. You have two choices one to work with a dealer and get involved with the work being done from the start. Or you can try to replace the broken studs yourself. Some here could do it easy but I would wager 85% can not or just do not want to mess with that project.
You may be a pain in the ass to them but you will get what you need and not have to play games if you lay the ground rules out to start. Also the fact GM stepped in on my case really changed some attitudes. Not sure what went on but they treated me much different and went from not being able to get the parts to having them the next day.
Also shop dealers as they are not all the same. I have a GMC/Buick ex Pontiac dealer here that I would not take a Little Tikes car to and then I have a Chevy dealer across the street that I fully trust as they have one of the best staffed departments in the country. There is little they can not handle. GM also sends many Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer customers to them just because of that.
Also when I had a few teething issues on my Turbo the tech and GM engineering were a great help. I emailed the guy who did the Turbo system and he was a great help. I even was able to get his own number so if the dealer needed help they could contact him on the road. Even my buddy had a slight over idle issue on his turbo the dealer worked on it even out of warranty and at this point made it better. The tech calls him in and applies anything new that comes up at no charge when GM engineering calls or he learns of something else to try. It is not a major problem but one they took very serious and still are willing to contact him if they get something else at no charge.
Note over the years I have worked with many GM people on different projects. I have learned how their e mail system works and how to contact people. They usually answer and often are very glad to help. Bill the engineer is retired but still checks his old e mail and forwards the info to others still at GM performance.
Note to even Bob Lutz would personally answer his e mail.
[This message has been edited by hyperv6 (edited 01-28-2016).]
I knew this dealer well. I bought thousands of dollars in parts from them when they were a Pontiac dealer. IThere now a Chevy dealer (same staff), and I wont buy any parts or service from them at all. Ill even order from out of town dealers. On their follow up call to get a service rating, I told the service manager they were lucky I didnt sue them and hung up.
The weather strip to which you are referring: is that the piece that attaches around the hinge area of the trunk? I thought that a lot of Fiero owners were seeking that strip as a protection against water getting into the engine bay. It looks from above as though the recall removed that part to protect the manifold(s)!!?? Thanks, bb
The weather strip to which you are referring: is that the piece that attaches around the hinge area of the trunk? I thought that a lot of Fiero owners were seeking that strip as a protection against water getting into the engine bay. It looks from above as though the recall removed that part to protect the manifold(s)!!?? Thanks, bb
The thought by GM was that by removing this weatherstrip, it would stop leaves (junk) from collecting and catching fire, from what I remember. Dumb.... While it does stop water from getting into that part of the engine, when you lift the lid, the water flows onto the engine (manifold). I installed or left it on my Fieros.
Yes leave the strip in place. Removing it creates more issues than it solves.
Most guys who did the work a the dealers will tell you to take it off before you bring it in and put it on when they are done.
Water is always an issue on the back side of the V6. This is why you should remove your plugs once a year if your car is out in the weather. I have seen some plugs rusted in and break off.
[This message has been edited by hyperv6 (edited 01-30-2016).]
Way back I took my 85 GT in for exhaust manifold recall. Utter butchery. I discovered later they tried to weld up through the bottom of the car. Cold weld joints and spatter. Nothing improved. Keep your car to yourself or a trusted indy dude.