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'00 Grand Prix fire causes an estimated $3 million in damages


mfewtrail

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I just got a Recall notice in the mail for the Buick yesterday. I'm still undecided whether or not I'm going to bring it in or not though. I mean, its not like they are really doing anything other then rerouting the spark plug wires and removing the plastic channel. Top that off with the fact that i'm under the hood at minimum once a week to check things out, so i'm pretty sure that I will notice an oil leak long before I would have a fire.

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I love how the lady has a GT, and she thinks that the dealer spending "only 15 minutes" to fix the problem has her such piece of mind. The L36 recall is a joke.

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I love how the lady has a GT, and she thinks that the dealer spending "only 15 minutes" to fix the problem has her such piece of mind. The L36 recall is a joke.

 

Yeah.. I thought only the L67s caught fire.

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I love how the lady has a GT, and she thinks that the dealer spending "only 15 minutes" to fix the problem has her such piece of mind. The L36 recall is a joke.

 

Yeah.. I thought only the L67s caught fire.

They recalled all of them recently.

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See, what I wonder is how badly are the valve covers leaking on the cars before they actually catch fire? I know that I have seen some 3800s that were leaking bad enough that you could smell the burning oil and even see whisps of smoke after the car was parked. Those to me are the ones that are prone to BBQing. Not the ones that are properly maintained and checked on a regular basis.

 

 

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See, what I wonder is how badly are the valve covers leaking on the cars before they actually catch fire? I know that I have seen some 3800s that were leaking bad enough that you could smell the burning oil and even see whisps of smoke after the car was parked. Those to me are the ones that are prone to BBQing. Not the ones that are properly maintained and checked on a regular basis.

 

 

 

My GTP would smoke a little when it was idling at ~40k miles. But I replaced the valve cover gaskets when I did the rockers. It's kind of ridiculous if you ask me.

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i took my GTP in a few months ago for the recall...

 

i thought "while i can do it my self for cheap, they will do it free and i wont get my hands dirty"

 

when the guy went to put the valve cover back on the gasket fell off into the head and he bolted it down. a few days later i went back in and had to sit there (had me wait cuz he wasent getting paid for screwing up) for 6 hours...

 

i used to say "i do all my own work except for recalls" now its just "i do all my own work"

 

 

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See, what I wonder is how badly are the valve covers leaking on the cars before they actually catch fire? I know that I have seen some 3800s that were leaking bad enough that you could smell the burning oil and even see whisps of smoke after the car was parked. Those to me are the ones that are prone to BBQing. Not the ones that are properly maintained and checked on a regular basis.

 

 

 

after i bought my monte i could smell burning oil, and see smoke coming up from the hood and that immediately caught my attention. I'm surprised that they didn't tell me about it although the engine bay looked like it hadn't been touched in ages, and i only drove it a mile since there was almost no gas in it :willynilly:

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when the car is going to catch fire most people could tell. if you have an oil leak then you should fix it , if you don't there can be a consequence. if you maintain your car and there is no oil leaking then you won't have a fire. it is the people who never look under their hoods and never maintain their cars that are having the fires. you get plenty of warning that there could be a problem. it is not something that just suddenly happens. if a gasket leaks you replace it. alot of the fires are on cars that have alot of miles on them and they are all older or not very well maintained.

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when the car is going to catch fire most people could tell. if you have an oil leak then you should fix it , if you don't there can be a consequence. if you maintain your car and there is no oil leaking then you won't have a fire. it is the people who never look under their hoods and never maintain their cars that are having the fires. you get plenty of warning that there could be a problem. it is not something that just suddenly happens. if a gasket leaks you replace it. alot of the fires are on cars that have alot of miles on them and they are all older or not very well maintained.

 

But if this is the case, then why don't other cars catch fire as frequently? GMs are kinda legendary for leaking gaskets on MOST of their motors. Why are the 3800s so much more prone to burning down? I don't buy the whole leaking valve cover gaskets as being the issue. When I went to top off the oil in my TGP once, I accidentally bumped my elbow as I was leaning in ( from the driver's side), and spilled oil directly on to the turbo. It smoked and smoldered a few seconds, then ignited into a small flame. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I didn't have much chance to think about it, as the flame burned for about 10 - 15 seconds, then died. Being a TGP owner, I'm sure you know how hot a turbo gets, yet pouring oil DIRECTLY on to it resulted in a weak fire that didn't last more than a few seconds. That being said, the likelihood of drops of oil depositing on to the exhaust manifolds being the cause for fires that completely destroy a car just doesn't seem logical to me.

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when the car is going to catch fire most people could tell. if you have an oil leak then you should fix it , if you don't there can be a consequence. if you maintain your car and there is no oil leaking then you won't have a fire. it is the people who never look under their hoods and never maintain their cars that are having the fires. you get plenty of warning that there could be a problem. it is not something that just suddenly happens. if a gasket leaks you replace it. alot of the fires are on cars that have alot of miles on them and they are all older or not very well maintained.

 

But if this is the case, then why don't other cars catch fire as frequently? GMs are kinda legendary for leaking gaskets on MOST of their motors. Why are the 3800s so much more prone to burning down? I don't buy the whole leaking valve cover gaskets as being the issue. When I went to top off the oil in my TGP once, I accidentally bumped my elbow as I was leaning in ( from the driver's side), and spilled oil directly on to the turbo. It smoked and smoldered a few seconds, then ignited into a small flame. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I didn't have much chance to think about it, as the flame burned for about 10 - 15 seconds, then died. Being a TGP owner, I'm sure you know how hot a turbo gets, yet pouring oil DIRECTLY on to it resulted in a weak fire that didn't last more than a few seconds. That being said, the likelihood of drops of oil depositing on to the exhaust manifolds being the cause for fires that completely destroy a car just doesn't seem logical to me.

 

Agreed. And even if the oil got onto the heat shield, that wouldn't be nearly as hot anyway right? I can't remember how far it goes up on the manifold.

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the oil starts the fire and then it lights the plastic spark plug wire retainer that is just above the manifold. the recall involves taking the plastic piece off of the head. that is what keeps the fire going. the oil only burns for a short time like you said but it is the plastic piece that is what ignites everything else under the hood.

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^ What he said. Also, I don't know for sure but I think the leaking oil tends to pool up on the 3800 exhaust manifold. The valve covers tend to leak just as bad on the 3100/3400's but they don't catch fire. Most of the oil runs down the head, then down to the block.

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