CAMPAIGN FUEL LEAK (ENGINE RUNNING) CRACKED FUEL RET.HOSE. Buick LeSabre 1984

MODELS AFFECTED: 1984 LeSABRES AND ELECTRAS EQUIPPED WITH 5.0L (LV2) ENGINES

The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended, provides that each vehicle which is subject to a recall campaign of this type, must be adequately repaired within a reasonable time after the owner has tendered it for repair. A failure to adequately repair within sixty (60) days after tender of a vehicle is prima facie evidence of failure to repair within a reasonable time. If the condition is not adequately repaired within a reasonable time, the owner may be entitled to an identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle at no charge, or to a refund of the purchase price, less a reasonable allowance for depreciation.

To avoid having to provide these burdensome solutions, every effort must be made to promptly schedule an appointment with each owner and to repair the vehicle as soon as possible. As you will see in reading the attached copy of the letter which is being sent to owners, the owners are being instructed to contact the Buick Home Office if their dealer does not remedy the condition within five (5) days of the agreed service date. If the condition is not remedied within a reasonable time, the owners are instructed on how to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

General Motors has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in some 1984 Buick LeSabres and Electras equipped with 5.0L (LV2) V-8 gasoline engines. These vehicles may have been assembled with a rubber fuel return hose which could allow a slow fuel leak while the engine is running. Under certain conditions, this could result in a fire which could, in time, spread to the passenger compartment and cause burn injuries to occupants remaining in the vehicle.

VEHICLES INVOLVED

Involved are certain 1984 LeSabres and Electras equipped with 5.0L (LV2) V-8 gasoline engines between the following serial numbers:

Assembly Plant Serial Numbers -------------- --------------- Flint EH885029 through EH886251

DEALER ACTION

To correct this condition on vehicles involved, the fuel return hose will require replacement.

Dealers are to service all vehicles subject to this campaign at no charge to the owner, regardless of mileage, age of vehicle, or ownership, from this time forward.

Whenever a vehicle subject to this campaign is taken into your new or used vehicle inventory, or it is in your dealership for service in the future, you should take the steps necessary to be sure the campaign correction has been made before reselling or releasing the vehicle.

Owners of vehicles recently sold from your new vehicle inventory are to be contacted by the dealer, and arrangements made to make the required modification according to instructions contained in the bulletin.

DEALER MATERIAL

If your dealership has vehicles involved in this campaign, you will receive the following items:

List of all vehicles involved in this campaign shipped to your dealership.

One campaign identification label for each vehicle.

Involved vehicles have been identified by Vehicle Identification Number Computer listings. Computer listings contain the complete Vehicle Identification Number, owner name and address data, and are furnished to the involved dealers with the campaign bulletin. Owner name and address data furnished will enable dealers to follow up with owners involved in this campaign.

These listings may contain owner names and addresses obtained from State Motor Vehicle Registration records. The use of such motor vehicle registration data for any other purpose is a violation of law in several states. Accordingly, you are urged to limit the use of this listing to the follow-up necessary to complete this campaign.

OWNER NOTIFICATION

Owners of vehicles involved in this campaign will be notified by Buick Motor Division (See copy of Owner Letter included with this bulletin.).

TRANSFER OF VEHICLE

If a vehicle has been transferred or sold to another location, please forward vehicle information for this vehicle to your Buick Zone Office for handling with the proper dealer.

CHANGE OF OWNER INFORMATION

Dealers are to use the Dealer Communication System (D.C.S.) to provide Buick Motor Division with subsequent Buick owner information. By reporting a change of owner name or address of a vehicle in campaign status over the D.C.S., the need to send in an S-866 form for that vehicle is eliminated. Terminal input instructions are covered in the D.C.S. Manual under Section 9, page 9-J01A and B.

PARTS INFORMATION

The fuel hose required to complete this campaign is to be ordered from WDDGM.

To ensure this part will be obtained as soon as possible, it should be ordered from WDDGM on a C.I.O. order with no special instruction code, but order on an advise code (2).

DESCRIPTION PART NUMBER ----------- ----------- Fuel Return Hose 22506189

TECHNICAL PROCEDURE

Service Procedure

1. Cover the seat and fenders.

2. Disconnect the negative battery cable.

3. Remove air conditioning belt and D & C A/C compressor and set to the side. Loosen A.I.R. Pump bolt for ease of compressor installation.

4. Disconnect the fuel return hose at the fuel pump. Refer to Figure 1.

5. Raise vehicle on hoist and disconnect fuel return hose from steel line. Install new fuel return hose on steel line using original hose clamp.

6. Lower vehicle and install new hose on fuel pump using original clamp.

7. Install compressor assembly, adjust belt to 500N and tighten A.I.R. pump bolt. Refer to Figure 2.

8. Connect battery negative cable, start engine and check fuel return hose connections for leaks. Correct any leaks.

9. Install a campaign identification label. Each vehicle modified in accordance with the instructions outlined in this service procedure will require Campaign Identification Label. Each label provides a space to include the campaign number, the five (5)-digit dealer code of the dealer performing the campaign service and the date the vehicle was campaigned. This information may be inserted with a typewriter or ballpoint pen. When installing label, clean the surface of the radiator upper mounting support, and apply the campaign label where it is readily visible.

DISPOSITION OF REPLACED FUEL HOSE

Replaced hoses must be held for disposition by Buick contact personnel. Each replaced part must have a claim tag attached showing the repair order and the VIN of the vehicle from which it was removed.

WARRANTY INFORMATION

Dealers are to submit each campaigned vehicle as a separate case on the one-line warranty document, Form S-764. Dealers submitting warranty claims by teletype terminal are to transmit completions as a separate case.

FAILURE OPER. LABOR OTHER SUBLET OPERATION COUNT PART NO. ALLOW. CODE NO. HOURS HOURS MTL. TWG --------- ----- -------- ------- ---- --- ----- ----- -------- Replace fuel ** return hose 1 22506189 * 96 V2250 .5 hr. .1 hr. -

* List current dealer price plus 30% of fuel hose.

** .1 hour for administration.

To assure accurate records of all transactions on this campaign, it is recommended that campaign repairs for each vehicle be listed on a separate repair order. Other repairs performed to the vehicle may be listed on the same repair order, and warranty cases other than campaigns may be listed on the same warranty document.

Zone authorization is not required.

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

To prevent this from occurring on your vehicle, please contact your Buick Dealer to arrange a service date. Your dealer will replace the rubber fuel return hose. This service will be completed for you at no charge.

Until the service has been completed, you should be alert for indications of fuel leakage underneath your engine near the fuel pump. If leakage is noted, make arrangements to have the correction performed immediately.

Instructions for making this correction have been sent to your dealer. Parts are available. The labor time to perform the correction is approximately thirty minutes. Please ask your dealer how much additional time will be needed to process your vehicle.

Your Buick Dealer is best equipped to obtain parts and provide service to ensure your vehicle is corrected as promptly as possible. However, if you take your vehicle to your dealer on the agreed service date, and he does not remedy this condition on that date or within five (5) days, we recommend you contact the Customer Assistance Department, Flint home office by calling:

1-800-521-7300, for all except residents of Alaska and Hawaii. In Alaska, call (503) 641-8350. In Hawaii, call (805) 497-8561.

After contacting your dealer and the Buick home office, if you are still not satisfied that we have done our best to remedy this condition without charge within a reasonable time, you may wish to write the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 40 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590, or call 1-800-424-9393 (Washington D.C. residents use 426-0123).

The enclosed Owner Reply Card identifies your vehicle. Presentation of the card to your dealer will assist in making the correction in the shortest possible time. If you have sold or traded your vehicle, please let us know by completing the postage-paid Owner Reply Card and returning it to us.

We are sorry to cause you this inconvenience; however, we have taken this action in the interest of your safety and continued satisfaction with our products.

Object Number: 90495 Size: MF

Object Number: 90382 Size: LF

General Motors bulletins are intended for use by professional technicians, not a "do-it-yourselfer". They are written to inform those technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or to provide information that could assist in the proper service of a vehicle. Properly trained technicians have the equipment, tools, safety instructions and know-how to do a job properly and safely. If a condition is described, do not assume that the bulletin applies to your vehicle, or that your vehicle will have that condition. See a General Motors dealer servicing your brand of General Motors vehicle for information on whether your vehicle may benefit from the information.