CAMPAIGN: LT. SIDE SAFETY BELT RETRACTOR REPLACEMENT. Chevrolet Corvette 1990

SUBJECT: SAFETY BELT RETRACTORS (LEFT SIDE - 1D20; RIGHT SIDE - 1D40)

Models: Certain 1984-1991 Chevrolet Corvette

General Motors of Canada Limited has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 1984-91 Chevrolet Corvettes. Under specific conditions of vehicle operation and occupant usage, it is possible for the safety belts in these vehicles to lock-up orjam in the retractor. If this occurs, vehicle occupants will be unable to use the affected safety belt(s) because it will be impossible to pull the belt out of the retractor. In the event of a vehicle crash, unbelted occupants are more at risk of injury than those using safety belts.

If either safety belt in a Corvette exhibits this condition, dealers are to replace the affected retractor side safety belt. As this problem will not occur in all Corvette safety belts, only those safety belts which are experiencing a locked-up or jammed belt will require replacement under this recall.

Owners of involved vehicles are being instructed to retain their owner notification letter in case this condition should occur to their vehicle's safety belt(s) in the future. Dealers are to provide a copy of the owner notification letter (included with this bulletin - reproduce locally) to future purchasers of any new or used inventory units so that these owners are aware that correction is available should this condition occur.

NOTICE

This campaign provides only for locked-up or jammed retractors to be replaced. To accommodate this situation, it has been necessary to issue two (2) campaign numbers (one for each safety belt: left side = 1D20 and right side = 1D40). Having separate campaign numbers assigned to each safety belt enables claims to be submitted at different times in those cases where only one safety belt requires replacement due to a locked-up or jammed condition. In these cases, a claim is to be submitted ONLY against the campaign number for the belt requiring replacement (left or right) and as a result only the campaign for the safety belt being replaced will be "closed." Should the opposite side (unreplaced) safety belt lock-up or jam in the future, it can then be replaced and a claim submitted under the remaining "open" campaign number.

DCS/CRIS will identify both campaign numbers as outstanding on an involved vehicle until service action is performed on that vehicle. Once a campaign claim is submitted, however, the campaign number associated with that claim will be removed from DCS/CRIS for the repaired vehicle. For example, if only left (driver's) side safety belt is replaced on a vehicle, and a claim is submitted for that side, DCS/CRIS will show only 1D40 (right side) as outstanding for that vehicle. See the "CLAIM INFORMATION" section (page 6) of this bulletin for special claim submission instructions.

VEHICLES INVOLVED:

Involved are certain 1984-91 Chevrolet Corvettes built within the following VIN breakpoints:

PLANT YEAR MODEL PLANT CODE FROM THROUGH ---- -------- ----------- ------ ------ ------- 1984 Corvette Bowling Green "5" SOP EOP 1985 " " " " " 1986 " " " " " 1987 " " " " " 1988 " " " " " 1989 " " " " " 1990 " " " " " 1991 " " " " M5115148 1991 Corvette ZR1 " " " M5801760

All affected vehicles have been identified by the VIN listing provided to involved dealers with this bulletin. Any dealer not receiving a listing was not shipped any of the affected vehicles.

DEALER CAMPAIGN RESPONSIBILITY:

Dealers are to perform this campaign on all involved vehicles at no charge to owners, regardless of kilometres traveled, 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, you are to ensure the campaign correction has been made before selling 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 this bulletin.

CAMPAIGN PROCEDURE:

Refer to Section 4 of the Service Policies and Procedures Manual for the detailed procedure on handling Product Campaigns. Dealers are requested to complete the campaign on all transfers as soon as possible.

OWNER NOTIFICATION:

All owners of record at the time of campaign release are shown on the attached computer listing and have been notified by first class mail from General Motors. The listings provided are for campaign activity only and should not be used for any other purpose.

PARTS INFORMATION:

Parts required to complete this campaign are to be ordered through regular channels as an "E" item:

DEALERS ARE TO RETURN ALL OLD SERVICE INVENTORY OF 1984-90 CORVETTE SAFETY BELTS. ALSO, THE FOLLOWING 1991 PART NUMBERS MUST BE RETURNED:

12503643 12501352 12503654 12503645 12503655 12508125 12503647 12503657 12503648 12503658 12503649 12503659 12503651 12503661 12503652 12503662

PLEASE IDENTIFY RETURNED PARTS AS A SPECIAL RETURN ON YOUR GMP83 DOCUMENT.

DUE TO THE SMALL PERCENTAGE OF VEHICLES THAT WILL REQUIRE THIS REPAIR (LESS THAN 4%) AND VERY LIMITED PARTS AVAILIBILITY, DEALERS ARE NOT TO ORDER CAMPAIGN PARTS FOR USE AS SHELF STOCK. ONLY ORDER PARTS IF THEY ARE REQUIRED TO REPAIR A VEHICLE WITH A LOCKED-UP OR JAMMED SAFETY BELT RETRACTOR.

Left Hand P/N Right Hand P/N Year(s) / Colour / Body ------------- -------------- -------------------------- 12517092 12516944 1984 / Graphite / Coupe 12517094 12516948 1984 / Medium Gray Coupe 12516966 12516967 1984 / Medium Blue Coupe 12517098 12516978 1984 / Dark Saddle Coupe 12517100 12516982 1984 / Dark Bronze Coupe 12516992 12516993 1984/Carmine/Coupe

12517092 12516944 1985 / Graphite / Coupe 12517094 12516948 1985 / Medium Gray Coupe 12516966 12516967 1985 / Medium Blue Coupe 12517098 12516978 1985 / Dark Saddle Coupe 12517100 12516982 1985 / Dark Bronze Coupe 12516992 12516993 1985 / Carmine / Coupe 12517092 12516944 1986 / Graphite / Coupe 12517093 12516945 1986 / Graphite/ Convertible 12517094 12516948 1986 / Medium Gray / Coupe 12517095 12516949 1986 / Medium Gray / Convertible 12517096 12516960 1986 / Medium Blue / Coupe 12517097 12516961 1986 / Medium Blue / Convertible 12517098 12516978 1986 / Dark Saddle/ Coupe 12517099 12516979 1986 / Dark Saddle/ Convertible 12517100 12516982 1986 / Dark Bronze/ Coupe 12517101 12516983 1986 / Dark Bronze Convertible 12517102 12516988 1986 / Flame Red / Coupe 12517103 12516989 1986 / Flame Red / Convertible 12516942 12516944 1987 / Graphite / Coupe 12516943 12516945 1987 / Graphite / Convertible 12516946 12516948 1987 / Medium Gray / Coupe 12516947 12516949 1987 / Medium Gray / Convertible 12516958 12516960 1987 / Medium Blue / Coupe 12516959 12516961 1987 / Medium Blue / Convertible 12516976 12516978 1987 / Dark Saddle / Coupe 12516977 12516979 1987 / Dark Saddle / Convertible 12516980 12516982 1987 / Dark Bronze / Coupe 12516981 12516983 1987 / Dark Bronze / Convertible 12516984 12516988 1987 / Flame Red / Coupe 12516985 12516989 1987 / Flame Red / Convertible

Left Hand P/N Right Hand P/N Year(s) / Colour / Body Type ------------- -------------- -------------------------- 12516940 12516941 1988 / White / Coupe 12516950 12516954 1988 / Black / Coupe 12516951 12516955 1988 / Black / Convertible 12516958 12516960 1988 / Medium Blue / Coupe 12516959 12516961 1988 / Medium Blue / Convertible 12516968 12516972 1988 / Medium Cognac / Coupe 12516969 12516973 1988 / Medium Cognac / Convertible 12516984 12516988 1988 / Flame Red / Coupe 12516985 12516989 1988 / Flame Red / Convertible 12516994 12516998 1988 / Medium Smoke Gray / Coupe 12516995 12516999 1988 / Medium Smoke Gray / Conv. 12516950 12516954 1989 / Black / Coupe 12516951 12516955 1989 / Black / Convertible 12516958 12516960 1989 / Medium Blue / Coupe 12516959 12516961 1989 / Medium Blue / Convertible 12516968 12516972 1989 / Medium Cognac / Coupe 12516969 12516973 1989 / Medium Cognac / Convertible 12516984 12516988 1989 / Flame Red / Coupe 12516985 12516989 1989 / Flame Red / Convertible 12516994 12516998 1989 / Medium Smoke Gray / Coupe 12516995 12516999 1989 / Medium Smoke Gray / Conv. 12516952 12516956 1990 / Black / Coupe 12516953 12516957 1990 / Black / Convertible 12516962 12516964 1990 / Dark Steel Blue / Coupe 12516963 12516965 1990 / Dark Steel Blue / Conv. 12516970 12516974 1990 / Medium Cognac / Coupe 12516971 12516975 1990 / Medium Cognac / Conv. 12516986 12516990 1990 / Flame Red / Coupe 12516987 12516991 1990 / Flame Red / Convertible 12516996 12517001 1990 / Medium Smoke Gray / Coupe 12516997 12517002 1990 / Medium Smoke Gray/ Conv.

Left Hand P/N Right Hand P/N Year(s)/ Colour/Body Type ------------- -------------- -------------------------- 12510324 12510325 1991 / Black / Coupe 12510334 12510335 1991 / Black / Convertible 12510326 12510327 1991 / Dark Steel Blue / Coupe 12510336 12510337 1991 / Dark Steel Blue / Convertible 12510332 12510333 1991 / Medium Cognac / Coupe 12510342 12510343 1991 / Medium Cognac / Convertible 12510328 12510329 1991 / Flame Red / Coupe 12510338 12510339 1991 / Flame Red / Convertible 12510330 12510331 1991 / Medium Smoke Gray / Coupe 12510340 12510341 1991 / Medium Smoke Gray / Conv.

PARTS AND LABOUR CLAIM INFORMATION:

Credit for the campaign work performed will be paid upon receipt of a properly completed campaign claim card or DCS transmission in accordance with the following:

Repair Code Description Time Allowance ----------- -------------------------- --------------- 2A Install New Left Hand (Driver's Side) .3 Safety Belt - Closes Campaign #1D20

3A Install New Right Hand (Passenger's Side) 3 Safety Belt - Closes Campaign #1D40

NOTICE

After performing the required repair(s), claims should be submitted as appropriate based on the following:

Only Left Hand Safety Belt Replaced File Claim For 2A Only. (Driver's Side Belt) Only Right Hand Safety Belt Replaced File Claim For 3A Only. (Passenger's Side Belt) Both Right And Left Hand Safety Belts File Separate Claims For Both 2A Replaced and 3A.

T1783 Reimburse Owner For Previous Repair

REIMBURSEMENTS

Claims for customer reimbursements on previously paid repairs to correct the safety belt retractors condition will be considered. Owners should present documentation which reasonably confirms the amount of unreimbursed repair expense, a description of the repair, the date of the repair, and the person or entity performing the repair.

Review the owner's documentation, and process under T1783 (authorization is required).

SERVICE PROCEDURE:

NOTICE: Perform this procedure for any involved vehicle in which a customer has complained of the retractor side safety belt locking-up. Only safety belts which experience the locked-up or jammed condition are to be replaced.

If only one safety belt in the vehicle is experiencing the condition, replace that safety belt and inform the owner that the opposite safety belt will be replaced at no charge should it develop the condition in the future. Be certain to advise the customer that the occurrence of this condition can be avoided by always safety belt before moving the vehicle,

For customers who have not experienced this condition on either belt but who question whether repairs should now be made, advise the owner to retain the notification letter and to retum to the dealer should the condition occur. Again, be certain to advise the customer that this condition can be avoided by always buckling the safety belt before moving, the vehicle.

Safety Belt Assembly Replacement

1. Remove and replace affected retractor side safety belt(s) following procedure in appropriate Chevrolet Corvette Service Manual. (It is not necessary to replace the buckle side safety belt assembly although the part is provided when a retractor side safety belt is ordered.)

2. Verify proper operation of safety belt (latch and buckle) assembly.

3. Install Campaign Identification Label.

INSTALLATION OF CAMPAIGN IDENTIFICATION LABEL

Clean surface of radiator upper mounting panel and apply a Campaign Identification Label(s) according to which safety belts have been replaced (ie. if only the left safety belt was replaced, only install a sticker for 1D20). Make sure the correct campaign number is inserted on the label. This will indicate that the campaign has been completed.

Dear General Motors Customer:

General Motors of Canada Limited has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 1984-91 Chevrolet Corvettes. Under specific conditions of vehicle operation and occupant usage, it is possible for the safety belt in your vehicle to lock-up or jam in the retractor. If this occurs, you will be unable to use the safety belt because it will be impossible to pull the belt out of the retractor. In the event of a vehicle crash, unbelted occupants are more at risk of injury than those using safety belts.

If either of the safety belts in your Corvette has this problem, you will be unable to pull the belt out of the retractor and buckle up no matter how hard you pull. If you currently have a safety belt that is locked-up, please call your GM dealer right away and schedule a time to have the safety belt replaced. Be certain to tell the dealer the model year and interior colour of your Corvette so they can have the proper safety belts for your car when you come in.

In addition, if you ever have this problem in the future - no matter when - contact your GM dealer for safety belt replacement. Please keep this letter in your Corvette, so that any future owners will also know of this situation.

Most Corvettes will never experience this problem because it can only occur under specific conditions of safety belt use. You can avoid having this occur by simply fastening your safety belt before you start driving your Corvette. This is clearly the best safety belt use routine, and is what your owner's manual recommends.

The retractor lock-up problem can occur only if you attempt to fasten the safety belt while either accelerating, braking, or bouncing over a rough road so that the retractor attempts to lock-up as it would in a vehicle crash. If this condition occurs and you have just started to pull the belt out of the retractor (first 15 millimeters [six inches] of belt travel) you will feel resistance as the retractor attempts to lock-up. Continuing to pull on the belt in spite of feeling this resistance may break the retractor and you would not be able to use the safety belt.

If you have previously paid to have either of your safety belts replaced because of this condition, we want to reimburse you. Please bring documentation to your dealer which reasonably confirms the amount of unreimbursed repair expense, the date of repair, and the person or entity performing the repair so you may submit a claim for reimbursement.

If either safety belt in your Corvette is currently locked-up - or even locks-up in the future - we will replace the safety belts at no charge.

This letter identifies your vehicle. Presentation of this letter to your dealer win assist their Service personnel in completing the necessary correction to your vehicle in the shortest possible time.

Subsequent to contacting your dealer, further assistance, if required, may be obtained from our Customer Assistance Centre, toll free, by calling 1-800-263-3777 (English), or 1-800-263-7854 (French).

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

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.