Question for GM 3.8 guys

[Ziggy1647545504]

I am writing an estimate on a 00 Monte Carlo SS with the NA 3.8. The damage is from a fire, but it appears that it was really more of a small explosion. Whatever happened, the composite intake manifold exploded into about 6 or 7 pieces, and the resulting fire scorched the wire harness, fuel rails, and a little of the cowl screen. Any ideas what caused this? I pulled pieces of the intake out, and found a puddle of gas and oil directly under the intake, but can't determine if said puddle was there prior to the fire or not.

[excell]

Yes, that is a design flaw in the L36 engine/intake that causes fuel vapor to build up in the upper intake and causes said explosion.

 

I believe it is a GM safety recall.

[Ziggy1647545504]

Very interesting... I'll have to pursue that. Will GM cover any resulting damage from an explosion of this type?

[Guest Removed]

Check TSB's.....

[smokin5s]

it could also be that the PS pump is located on top of the exhaust manifold and they can have faulty o-rings that cause them to leak and can cause the car to catch on fire... (mine has been replaced 3 times so far)

[Ziggy1647545504]

Thanks guys, I was able to hit up the nhtsa website, and locate the safety recall on this car. Confirmed with Maxton that the recall hasn't been done on it yet, and it appears that is the cause of the issue.

[Buck531]

so what happens in an issue like this? Where it was a recall type deal and it was never done. THen hte car goes boom. How do you/insurance/whoever handle it? Just curious.

[Guest Removed]

Is it a recall or a TSB....recall's are covered, tsb's go by warranty time!

[Ziggy1647545504]

Well, we just dumped the car on Germain Chevy for the Recall. My understanding is that safety recalls are forever, whether the car has 10 miles, or 100k. The thing is, the manufacturer is only obligated to send notification to the original owner of the vehicle, with regard to safety recalls. Beyond that, it is the owner's responsibility to find out if they don't have their vehicle serviced at a dealer that would have access to the manufacturer's database. Unfortunately for GM in this case, by the look of it, they'll be on the hook for not only the issue that caused the problem, but also any resulting damage. We'll end up covering any of the resulting damage that GM doesn't under the recall.