F/CMVSS Noncompliance - Certification and Tire Pressure Label Information Incorrect

General Motors has decided that some 2001 Chevrolet and GMC C pickup trucks and utilities fail to conform to Federal/Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 120, Tire Selection and Rims, (CMVSS) 120, Tire Selection and Rims for Vehicles Other Than Passenger Cars. Some of these vehicles have a Certification & Tire Pressure Label on which the tire description and tire inflation pressures may not meet the requirements of the standard. If tires are underinflated, it could reduce the tread life of the tire, and the tire could degrade to a point of allowing sudden air loss. If the tires are over-inflated, it could reduce the tread life of the tire and increase susceptibility to road hazard damage. If sudden air loss or a road hazard causes damage to a tire, control of the vehicle could be adversely affected and could result in a vehicle crash without prior warning.

A new label is to be installed on the driver's door, overlaying the previous tire and tire pressure information on the Certification & Tire Pressure Label. Since a new label can be easily installed, and to reduce customer inconvenience, the label will be sent with installation instructions directly to customers of record. Customers may install the label on the driver's door. However, if they desire, they may take the label to their dealer for installation.

Dealers are to install a new label on the driver's door, overlaying the previous tire and tire pressure information on the Certification & Tire Pressure Label.

Important: Dealers are to retain the Campaign Initiation Detail Report that is included with this bulletin. This report will be the only way to identify the correct part number for each vehicle.

Involved are certain 2001 Chevrolet and GMC C pickup trucks and utilities. Dealers should confirm vehicle eligibility through GMVIS (GM Vehicle Inquiry System) or GM Access Screen (Canada only) or DCS Screen 445 (IPC only) before beginning campaign repairs.

Involved vehicles have been identified by Vehicle Identification Number. Computer listings containing the complete Vehicle Identification Number, customer name and address data have been prepared, and are being furnished to involved dealers with the campaign bulletin. The customer name and address data furnished will enable dealers to follow up with customers involved in this campaign. Any dealer not receiving a computer listing with the campaign bulletin has no involved vehicles currently assigned.

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

Important: Refer to your Campaign Initiation Detail Report to determine appropriate part number. Dealers are to retain the Campaign Initiation Detail Report included with this bulletin. This report will be the only way to identify the correct part number for each vehicle.

A new label will be mailed to customers for installation. Labels for dealer inventory are included with this bulletin on a no-charge basis. If additional labels are required, contact Dealer Support Materials at 1-888-549-6152 and request the appropriate part number. See your dealer listing to determine the correct part number. DO NOT ORDER THESE LABELS FROM GMSPO.

Important: Refer to your Campaign Initiation Detail Report to determine appropriate part number. Dealers are to retain the Campaign Initiation Detail Report included with this bulletin. This report will be the only way to identify the correct part number for each vehicle.

Labels will be mailed to involved dealers on a no-charge basis. If additional labels are required, contact Oshawa, by fax, at 905-644-7846. Be sure to request the appropriate part number. See your dealer listing to determine the correct part number. DO NOT ORDER THESE LABELS FROM GMSPO.

1. Clean the surface with soap and water. Dry the surface with a clean, dry cloth.
2. Firmly hold the label and peel the protective liner from the backside of the label, being careful not to touch or contaminate the adhesive by allowing dirt or any foreign matter to come in contact with it.




Notice: Do not attempt to remove or loosen the new label once it has been applied. This will deface the label.

3. Carefully align the new label (2) to cover only the tire information (shaded area) on the existing label. Do not cover the model number (1). Press firmly and smooth out. The label must be uniformly bonded to the entire surface.
4. Install the GM Campaign Identification Label.

FOR US AND IPC

Place a Campaign Identification Label on each vehicle in accordance with the instructions outlined in this Product Campaign Bulletin. Each label provides a space to include the campaign number and 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.

Put the Campaign Identification Label on a clean and dry surface of the radiator core support in an area that will be visible to people servicing the vehicle. When installing the Campaign Identification Label, be sure to pull the tab to allow the adhesion of the clear protective covering. Additional Campaign Identification Labels for US dealers can be obtained from Dealer Support Materials by calling 1-888-549-6152 (Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm EST). Ask for Item Number S-1015 when ordering.

Additional Campaign Identification Labels for IPC dealers can be obtained from your Regional Marketing Office.

FOR CANADA

Place a Campaign Identification Label on each vehicle in accordance with the instructions outlined in this Product Campaign Bulletin. Each label provides a space to include the campaign number and 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.

Put the Campaign Identification Label on a clean and dry surface of the radiator core support in an area that will be visible to people servicing the vehicle. Additional Campaign Identification Labels for Canadian dealers can be obtained from DGN by calling 1-800-668-5539 (Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm EST). Ask for Item Number GMP 91 when ordering.

Submit a Product Campaign Claim with the information indicated below:

Refer to the General Motors WINS Claim Processing Manual for details on Product Campaign Claim Submission.

FOR US AND CANADA

Customers will be notified of this campaign on their vehicles by General Motors (see copy of customer letter included with this bulletin).

FOR IPC

Letters will be sent to known owners of record located within areas covered by the US National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. For owners outside these areas, dealers should notify customers using the attached suggested dealer letter.

FOR US AND IPC (US States, Territories, and Possessions)

The US National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act provides that each vehicle that is subject to a recall campaign of this type must be adequately repaired within a reasonable time after the customer has tendered it for repair. A failure to repair within sixty 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 customer 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 these burdensome remedies, every effort must be made to promptly schedule an appointment with each customer and to repair their vehicle as soon as possible. In the recall campaign notification letters, customers are told how to contact the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration if the campaign is not completed within a reasonable time.

This bulletin is notice to you that the new motor vehicles included in this campaign may not comply with the standard identified above. Under Title 49, Section 30112 of the United States Code, it is illegal for a dealer to sell a new motor vehicle which the dealer knows does not comply with an applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. As a consequence, if you sell any of these motor vehicles without first performing the campaign correction, your dealership may be subject to a civil penalty for each such sale.

ALL

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 customers take possession of these vehicles.

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

Customers who have recently purchased vehicles sold from your vehicle inventory, and for which there is no customer information indicated on the dealer listing, are to be contacted by the dealer. Arrangements are to be made to make the required correction according to the instructions contained in this bulletin. This could be done by mailing to such customers a copy of the customer letter accompanying this bulletin. Campaign follow-up cards should not be used for this purpose, since the customer 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.

Dear General Motors Customer:

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

General Motors has decided that some 2001 Chevrolet and GMC C pickup trucks and utilities fail to conform to Federal/Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 120, Tire Selection and Rims, (CMVSS) 120, Tire Selection and Rims for Vehicles Other Than Passenger Cars. Some of these vehicles have a Certification & Tire Pressure Label on which the tire description and tire inflation pressures may not meet the requirements of the standard. If tires are underinflated, it could reduce the tread life of the tire, and the tire could degrade to a point of allowing sudden air loss. If the tires are over-inflated, it could reduce the tread life of the tire and increase susceptibility to road hazard damage. If sudden air loss or a road hazard causes damage to a tire, control of the vehicle could be adversely affected and could result in a vehicle crash without prior warning.

A new label will be installed on the driver's door, overlaying the previous tire and tire pressure information on the Certification & Tire Pressure Label. Since a new label can be easily installed, and to reduce the possible inconvenience to you, we are enclosing the label and installation instructions for installing the label. However, if you desire, you may take the label to your dealer for installation. This service will be performed for you at no charge .

The length of time required to perform this installation, if you choose to take the label to your dealer for installation, is approximately 15 minutes. Additional time may be required to schedule and process your vehicle. If you dealer has a large number of vehicles awaiting service, this additional time may be significant. Please ask your dealer if you wish to know how much additional time will be needed schedule, process, and repair your vehicle.

Please contact your dealer as soon as possible to arrange a service date if you would like them to install the label for you. Instructions for installing the label have been sent to your dealer.

Your dealer is best equipped to obtain parts and provide services to correct your vehicle as promptly as possible. Should your dealer be unable to schedule a service date within a reasonable time, you should contact the appropriate Customer Assistance Center at the number listed below:

If, after contacting the appropriate customer assistance center, 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 SW, Washington, DC 20590 or call 1-888-327-4236.

The attached customer 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 installed the label yourself or if you no longer own this vehicle, please let us know by completing the attached and mailing it in the postage paid envelope.

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.

General Motors Corporation

Enclosure