CAMPAIGN:STEEL WHEELS CRACKING

Subject: PRODUCT SAFETY CAMPAIGN 90C39(a) - STEEL WHEELS CRACKING

Model and Year: 1990 CHEVROLET LUMINA WITH STEEL WHEELS

To: All Chevrolet Dealers

THIS BULLETIN IS A REISSUE OF 90-C-39 ISSUED APRIL, 1994. THE VEHICLES INVOLVED AND SERVICE PROCEDURE SECTIONS HAVE BEEN REVISED. SPECIFICALLY, THE VIN BREAKPOINTS HAVE EXPANDED AND ADDITIONAL WHEEL DISC CODES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE INVOLVED WHEEL POPULATION. PLEASE DISCARD ALL OLD COPIES OF BULLETIN 90-C-39; ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE 01-279, DATED 09/01/94 AND ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE 01-023, DATED 01/18/95. ALL PRIOR INFORMATION IS CONTAINED IN THIS BULLETIN.

REVISED INFORMATION IS INDICATED IN BOLD TYPE AND ITALICS.

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 Chevrolet 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 1990 Chevrolet Lumina model vehicles equipped with steel wheels (RPO's PB9 (14"] & PG1 (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 1990 Chevrolet Lumina model vehicles built within the following VIN breakpoints:

PLANT YEAR MODEL PLANT CODE FROM THROUGH --------------------------------------------------------------- 1990 W-Car Oshawa #2 "1" L1100001 L1189623 1990 W-Car Oshawa #1 "9" L9100103 L9245158

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 Chevrolet 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 owners 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).

Quantity/ Part Number Description 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

SERVICE PROCEDURE

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 data stamped on center portion of wheel in the following order (see Illustration 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 below or are unreadable/illegible, the wheel must be replaced.

MANUFACTURER (M) DISC MANUFACTURER (M) DISC PLANT (P) CODE PLANT (P) CODE YEAR (Y) YEAR (Y) ------------------------------- ---------------------------- M P Y M P Y ------------------------------- ---------------------------- K 2 8 J K 2 9 A K 2 8 K K 2 9 B K 2 8 L K 2 9 C K 2 8 M K 2 9 Y K 2 8 N K 2 9 EE K 2 8 O K 2 9 FF K 2 8 P K 2 9 GG K 2 8 Q K 2 9 JJ K 2 8 R K 2 9 KK K 2 8 S K 2 9 LL K 2 8 T K 2 8 U K 2 0 A K 2 8 V K 2 8 W

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

5. As required by inspection, replace necessary wheels & balance. Use torque stick (Tool J-39544-15) and air gun to tighten lug nuts to appropriate torque.

This should be done in two steps using the star pattern. First, snug nuts down by hand. Then, using star pattern and a torque stick, tighten the wheel nuts to half the final torque. Finally, tighten the wheel nuts to specification using star pattern and torque stick. Use same amount of impact wrench 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 five (5) digit dealer code of the dealer performing the campaign service. This information may be inserted with a typewriter or a ball point 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 by the owner. Additional "Campaign Identification Labels" can be obtained from DAC.

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

CLAIM INFORMATION

Submit a Product Campaign Claim with the information indicated below:

*** * REPAIR FAILED PARTS LABOR LABOR OTHER NET PERFORMED PC PART NO. ALLOW CC-FC OP HOURS HOURS AMOUNT Inspect All Wheels No Wheels Replaced - - - - - SK-00 V8620 0.2 0.1 - -

Inspect All Wheels 1 09592409 ** SK-00 V8621 0.5 0.1 **** 1 Wheel Replaced

Inspect All Wheels 2 09592409 ** SK-00 V8622 0.7 0.1 **** 2 Wheels Replaced

Inspect All Wheels 3 09592409 ** SK-00 V8623 0.9 0.1 **** 3 Wheels Replaced

Inspect All Wheels 4 09592409 ** SK-00 V8624 1.1 0.1 **** All 4 Wheels Replaced

* Campaign Administrative Allowance.

** The "Parts Allowance" should be the sum total of the current GMSPO Dealer Net price plus 30% of all parts required for the repair.

*** Labor times for labor operations V8621, V8622, V8623 and V8624 include time for replacement of valve stem and wheel balancing. Labor times are based on use of torque stick as described in service procedure.

**** The "Net Amount" should represent the dealer cost plus 30% for balance weights and valve stems used in conjunction with labor SK-00 V8620 0.2 0.1 operations V8621, V8622, V8623 and V8624.

Dealers will automatically receive the correct labor and material allowance based on the labor operation performed.

Refer to the Chevrolet Claims Processing Manual for details on Product Campaign Claim Submission.

Dear Chevrolet Lumina Owner:

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

REASON FOR THIS RECALL

General Motors has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 1990 Chevrolet Lumina 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.

WHAT WE WILL DO

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.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO

Please contact your Chevrolet 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. The labor time necessary to perform this service inspection/correction is approximately 10 to 40 minutes 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.

Your Chevrolet 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 Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center by calling 1-800-222-1020.

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).

The enclosed owner reply card identifies your vehicle. Presentation of this card to your dealer will assist in making the necessary inspection/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.

Chevrolet 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.