Filed under: Convertibles, Sedans/Saloons, Recalls/TSBs, Safety, Crossovers/CUVs, Cadillac, GM, Pontiac, Saturn
GM recalling over 300,000 vehicles
After seeing a variety of reports cropping up this afternoon, we were finally able to get some hard information regarding a recall that's affecting 313,000 passenger vehicles and crossovers from General Motors.
The recall involves a seal on the rear axle pinion that's apparently prone to leaking, which has the possibility of locking the driven wheels and causing a loss of control. GM will be recalling 2005-2007 Cadillac CTS models, STS sedans and SRX crossovers, as well as the 2006-2007 Pontiac Solstice and it's platform sibling the 2007 Saturn Sky. All told, that's 275,936 vehicles in the U.S., along with around 38,000 vehicles in Canada, Mexico, the Middle East and Asia.
[Source: Business Week]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Xcountryflyer 2:18PM (12/21/2007)
That's going to cost some money.
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Russell 2:31PM (12/21/2007)
At least they re not blaming the suppliers /hint GETRAG /hint
Mal Fuller 2:21PM (12/21/2007)
The late, great, American Motors had a shield on the brake backing plate that surrounded the rear axle seal. Through a drain hole in the backing plate, any leaking axle lube would be diverted harmlessly away from the brake drums and shoes. AMC died, GM lives - go figure.
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Mike 2:41PM (12/21/2007)
The rear axle pinion is at the front of the differential, not the sides near the brakes, if gear fluid was lost on the road, you'd get a mist of it all over the back of the car but not on the brakes themselves. The locking of the rear axle could happen if you're too stupid to notice gear lube on the driveway, garage, parking spot, etc when you drive away or are not paying attention to the oil spraying out of the back of your car if it happens at speed. You also would hear the gears make noise before they locked up.
Of course if you didn't notice all that stuff and drove the vehicle with no gear lube, it would eventually lock up. I believe NHTSA requires the recall letter to inform the owner of the worst possible scenario.
Kevin 2:41PM (12/21/2007)
Mal:
The issue here isn't gear oil leaking onto the brakes; that wouldn't cause a lockup, it would simply reduce the effectiveness of the rear brakes to the point where they would be basically inoperative. Which, on most cars, while not good, is not the end of the world as most cars have braking systems heavily biased towards the front.
The issue is that with a seal leaking on the diff, if the leak is left for long enough, the fluid level will eventually drop low enough that the gearset in the diff will no longer be receiving adequate lubrication, leading (potentially) to the gears seizing, causing the wheels to lock up. This will then lead to functionally uncontrollable oversteer, and at that point, the situation will more than likely end with the car plowing into something.
Kevin 3:30PM (12/21/2007)
Beaten again. Twice in two days. The perils of posting at work, I suppose.
Mal Fuller 3:40PM (12/21/2007)
Several news reports that have been on the radio today specify the axle seals, not the pinion seal. To lose all the gear lube out of the pinion seal and seize the rear differential you'd have to drive and park heading downhill a good deal in order to drain the differential housing sufficiently to get things so starved for lubrication that seizing resulted. The news reports stated that the leaking gear lube made the rear brakes grab.
Guenther 12:01PM (12/23/2007)
Mal- not possible- The GM Sigma has an independent rear axle- as such, gear oil cant get all the way to the hubs/brakes. on many IRS diffs, the pinion is low enough to allow most of the fluid to leak out. Even if it doesn't run out completely, it can destroy the gears. I had ford 9" lock up on me, but not until the bottom of the off ramp- looked pretty ugly in there.
Merry Christmas.
3seriesisking 2:29PM (12/21/2007)
Not good.
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tankd0g 2:31PM (12/21/2007)
Only took one crash, sometimes government nanny systems do work. Wasn't that long ago that a manufacturer could get away with 30 or 40 crashes before doing anything.
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MKIV 2:46PM (12/21/2007)
Well, we got a "At least" player in here already. Just waiting for the "If" people to get in on the conversation.
Guess even the mighty General has issues with quality but I'm sure there is a perfectly good explination. Let's hear it!
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3seriesisking 2:48PM (12/21/2007)
If...........................you almost got me. Hahaha
3seriesisking 3:13PM (12/21/2007)
Big Dawg, you wouldn't happen to be a Bulldogs fan would you?
dan spalinger 2:51PM (12/21/2007)
Cadillac--GM's one shining example of what American style and engineering can do...So says the "Car of the Year" voters...Ooooops...
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Papi L-Gee 2:58PM (12/21/2007)
This comment would be more relevant (and probably funny) if they had recalled the 2008 CTS.
dan spalinger 3:02PM (12/21/2007)
I wasn't intending it as a direct indictment of the '08 CTS....but it might make me think twice before reccomending one to somebody...GM has YET to fix their quality control even in their most prestigous lines...
Big Dawg 3:08PM (12/21/2007)
Dan
You must drive an import. Your bias clearly shows. Out of curiousity, what did you you post when Autoblog posted that Toyota had the famous sludge problem? Was it the same import biased remark as the one you just posted? Cadiilac is and will continue to be one of the best Luxury brands in the world! Period! You import boys better get with the program.
dan spalinger 3:13PM (12/21/2007)
I actually drive 3 different imports...haven't owned a domestic in over 15 years...don't know if I ever will again...regardless, it doesn't bias me against any domestic product--if it were good...and actually I worked for Toyota when they had many of the sludge problems in the late 90's and early 00's and I was personally embarassed by their attempts to blame it on the customers...BUT they fixed it and moved forward...thats the difference...the imports make mistakes but they learn from them...the domestics don't...
3seriesisking 3:15PM (12/21/2007)
Big Dawg, you wouldn't happen to be a Bulldogs fan would you?
Matt Keller 4:03PM (12/21/2007)
Well there you go dan, you havent owned one in 15 years. Times are-a-changing.