CAMPAIGN: STEEL WHEELS

SUBJECT: STEEL WHEELS

MODELS AFFECTED: CERTAIN 1988, 19899 AND 1990 REGALS EQUIPPED WITH STEEL WHEELS (RPO PB9-14" AND RPO PG1-15")

IMPORTANT: THIS BULLETIN IS A REVISION OF BULLETIN 90-C-13B DATED SEPTEMBER 1994. TO ADD ADDITIONAL DISC CODES, AS INDICATED IN DCS 95-14, DATED JANUARY 13, 1995, AND REISSUED FEBRUARY 3, 1995, AND EXPANDS INVOLVED WHEEL POPULATIONS. PLEASE DISCARD OLD COPIES OF BULLETIN 90-C-13B.

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 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 their vehicle as soon as possible. As you will see in reading the attached copy of the letter that is being sent to owners, the owners are being instructed to contact the Buick Customer Assistance Center if their dealer does not remedy the condition within five (5) days of the mutually agreed upon service date. If the condition is not remedied within a reasonable time, they are instructed on how to contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

DEFECT INVOLVED:

General Motors has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 1988, 1989, and 1990 Buick Regal vehicles equipped with steel wheels (RPO's PB9 [14"] and PGl [15"]). These vehicles may exhibit a condition in which cracks develop in the wheel mounting surface and, should the cracks become severe enough, the wheel could completely separate from the vehicle. If this were to occur while the vehicle was in motion, steering and braking control of the vehicle could be affected, and a vehicle crash could result without prior warning.

To prevent this condition from occurring, dealers are to inspect the manufacturing date codes stamped on each wheel to determine if the wheels were produced during a suspect period. Whenever a wheel falls within the specified date code range, dealers are to replace that wheel assembly.

VEHICLES INVOLVED:

Involved are certain 1988, 1989 and 1990 Buick Regal model vehicles built within the following VIN breakpoints:

WHEEL Plant Size Year Plant Code From Through -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14" PB9 1988 Oshawa #2 1 J1480947 J1530075 14" PB9 1989 Oshawa #2 1 K1400029 K1456578 14" PB9 1989 Oshawa #2 1 K1456579 K1467286 14" PB9 1990 Oshawa #2 1 L1417263 L1437353 15" PG1 1990 Oshawa #2 1 L1417264 L1437528

IMPORTANT: ONLY VEHICLES WITH STANDARD STEEL WHEELS WITHIN THESE RANGES ARE INVOLVED. VEHICLES WITH STYLED STEEL WHEELS OR ALUMINUM WHEELS ARE NOT INVOLVED.

Additional 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 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. Any dealer not receiving a computer listing with the campaign bulletin has no involved vehicles currently assigned.

OWNER NOTIFICATION:

Owners will be notified of this campaign on their vehicles by Buick Motor Division (see copy of owner letter included with this bulletin).

DEALER CAMPAIGN RESPONSIBILITY:

All unsold new vehicles in dealers' possession and subject to this campaign MUST be held and inspected/repaired per the service procedure of this campaign bulletin BEFORE owners take possession of these vehicles.

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

Owners of vehicles recently sold from your new vehicle inventory, with no owner information indicated on the dealer listing, are to be contacted by the dealer, and arrangements made to make the required correction according to the instructions contained in this bulletin. This could be done by mailing to such owners a copy of the owner letter accompanying this bulletin. Campaign follow-up cards should not be used for this purpose since the owner may not as yet have received the notification letter.

In summary, whenever a vehicle subject to this campaign enters your vehicle inventory, or is in your dealership for service in the future, please take the steps necessary to be sure the campaign correction has been made before selling or releasing the vehicle.

PARTS INFORMATION:

Parts required to complete this campaign are to be obtained from General Motors Service Parts Operations (GMSPO). To ensure these parts will be obtained as soon as possible, they should be ordered from GMSPO on a "C.I.O" order, with no special instruction code, but on an advise code (2).

PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION QUANTITY/VEHICLE -------------------------------------------------------------------- 09592409 14" Steel Wheel 1 to 4 - As Required 09592147 15" Steel Wheel 1 to 4 - As Required 09439866 Valve Stems 1 to 4 - As Required

NOTICE: TO ASSIST IN ORDERING WHEELS, THE TO-BE-DONE LISTING OF ADDITIONAL VEHICLES HAS AN IDENTIFYING SIZE CODE LETTER AFTER THE CAMPAIGN NUMBER AS FOLLOWS:

A - 14" (PB9) B - 15" (PG1)

SERVICE PROCEDURE:

INSPECTION

NOTICE: ALL WHEEL LOCATIONS ON THE VEHICLE MUST BE INSPECTED.

1. Remove wheel cover, using care to avoid damage to cover and wheel surfaces.

2. Thoroughly clean outer surface of wheel using appropriate cleaning materials and tools.

NOTICE: WHEEL MUST BE CLEANED TO ASSURE CORRECT READING AND INTERPRETATION OF DATE CODE STAMPED ON THE CENTER PORTION OF WHEEL.

3. Read and record on repair order date code stamped on center portion of wheel in the following order (see figure on page 4):

A. Manufacturer, plant and year codes

B. Disc code

C. Day code is not to be considered

If codes match any of the combinations on next page or are unreadable/ illegible, the wheel must be replaced.

Manufacturer (M) Plant (P) Year (Y) Date M P Y Code ------------------------ K 2 8 J K 2 8 K K 2 8 L K 2 8 M K 2 8 N K 2 8 O K 2 8 P K 2 8 Q K 2 8 R K 2 8 S K 2 8 T K 2 8 U K 2 8 V K 2 8 W K 2 9 A K 2 9 B K 2 9 C K 2 9 Y K 2 9 EE K 2 9 FF K 2 9 GG K 2 9 JJ K 2 9 KK K 2 9 LL K 2 0 A

4. Repeat above procedure for remaining three wheels on vehicle.

REPLACEMENT

5. As required by inspection, replace necessary wheels ( & balance). Use torque stick J39544-15 and impact gun to tighten lug nuts to appropriate torque.

This should be done in two steps using the star pattern. First, snug the nuts down by hand. Then using the star pattern and a torque stick or torque wrench, tighten the wheel nuts to about half the final torque. Finally, tighten the wheel nuts to specification using the star pattern and the torque stick/wrench. Use the same amount of impact wrench operating time as would normally be used without a torque stick.

6. Render all removed wheels unusable and scrap as required by campaign procedures.

7. Install Campaign Identification Label.

CAMPAIGN IDENTIFICATION LABEL:

Each vehicle corrected in accordance with the instructions outlined in this product campaign bulletin will require a "Campaign Identification Label." Each label provides a space to include the 5 digit dealer code of the dealer performing the campaign service. This information may be inserted with a typewriter or a ballpoint pen.

Each "Campaign Identification Label" is to be located on the radiator core support in an area which will be visible when the vehicle is brought in for periodic servicing of the owner.

Apply "Campaign Identification Label" only on a clean, dry surface.

DISPOSITION OF REPLACED PARTS

Steel wheels removed from vehicles involved in this campaign may be scrapped immediately after rendering removed wheels unuseable.

WARRANTY INFORMATION:

Submit a claim using the one appropriate operation:

PART FAILED PART FAILURE LABOR LABOR NET OPER COUNT PART NO ALLOW CODE OP NO HRS AMOUNT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- o Inspect all wheels - no wheels replaced -- -- -- 96 V8620 *0.2 --

o Inspect all wheels - one (1) wheel replaced

1 9592409 (14") ** 96 V8621 *0.5 *** or 9592147 (15")

o Inspect all wheels - two (2) wheels replaced

2 9592409 (14") ** 96 V8622 *0.7 *** or 9592147 (15")

o Inspect all wheels - three (3) wheels replaced

3 9592409 (14") ** 96 V8623 *0.9 *** or 9592147 (15")

o Inspect all wheels - four (4) wheels replaced

4 9592409 (14") ** 96 V8624 *1.1 *** or 9592147 (15")

* The "Labor Hours" time shown include time for replacement of valve stems(s) and wheel balancing, but not removal of locking wheel covers or Campaign Administrative Allowance.

Add: For locking wheel covers, add 0.1 hours to the "Labor Hours" for wheel cover lock removal/reinstall (one or all).

Add: For Campaign Administrative Allowance, add 0.1 hours the "Labor Hours."

**The "Parts Allowance" should be the sum total of the correct GMSPO dealer net price plus 30% of all parts required for the repair

***The "Net Amount" should represent the dealer cost, plus 30% for balance weights and valve stems used

Dear Buick Regal Owner:

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

SAFETY RECALL FOR:

General Motors has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 1988, 1989, and 1990 Buick Regal model vehicles equipped with steel wheels. These vehicles may exhibit a condition in which cracks develop in the wheel mounting surface and, should the cracks become severe enough, the wheel could completely separate from the vehicle. If this were to occur while the vehicle was in motion, steering and braking control of the vehicle could be affected, and a vehicle crash could result without prior warning.

ACTION:

------ To prevent this condition from occurring, your dealer will inspect the manufacturing date codes stamped on each wheel of your vehicle to determine if the wheels were produced during a suspect period. Whenever a wheel falls within the specified date code range, your dealer will replace that wheel assembly. This service will be performed for you at no charge.

HOW LONG WILL REPAIR TAKE:

The labor time necessary to perform this service inspection/correction is approximately 10 minutes to one (1) hour depending on the repairs required. Please ask your dealer if you wish to know how much additional time will be needed to schedule and process your vehicle.

CONTACTING YOUR BUICK DEALER:

Please contact your Buick dealer as soon as possible to arrange a service date. Instructions for making this correction have been sent to your dealer and parts are available.

Your Buick dealer is best equipped to obtain parts and provide service to ensure that your vehicle is corrected as promptly as possible. If, however, you take your vehicle to your dealer on the agreed service date, and they do not remedy this condition on that date or within five (5) days, we recommend you contact the Buick Customer Assistance Center by calling 1-800-521-7300.

After contacting your dealer and the Customer Assistance Center, if you are still not satisfied that we have done our best to remedy this condition without charge and within a reasonable time, you may wish to write the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 or call 1-800-424-9393 (Washington D.C. residents use 366-0123).

OWNER REPLY CARD:

The enclosed owner reply card identifies your vehicle. Presentation of this card to your dealer will assist in making the necessary correction in the shortest possible time. If you have sold or traded your vehicle, please let us know by completing the postage paid 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.

Buick Motor Division GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION

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.