1998 Pontiac Trans Sport problems

What is wrong

On certain minivans equipped with second-row bucket seats or captain's chairs and a power sliding door on the passenger side of the vehicle, a passenger using the interior handle to open the power sliding door could be injured.

Risk

If a passenger uses the interior handle to open the power sliding door and holds onto the handle while it is being opened by the motor, the passenger's arm may be pushed into the seat back or armrest and a wrist or lower arm injury may result.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the power sliding door interior handle on the passenger-side. If the vehicle is equipped with a power or manual sliding door on the driver-side, the interior handle will also be replaced for appearance reasons. Note: before the vehicle is serviced, gm advises owners to not use the interior door handle to open the door. The driver can open and close the door from switches at the driver's position or by using the remote key fob. The driver should tell passengers to use the switch located in front of the door to open or close it. The driver should use the override switch to prevent operation of the power door by children or by others who are not familiar with its use. The owner notification letter mailing will be conducted in phases with the first phase beginning on may 31, 2005. The second phase mailing began on july 18, 2005. The recall began on may 31, 2005. Phase 2 began on july 18, 2005. Phase 3 (final phase) began on august 24, 2005, to all remaining customers. Owners should contact chevrolet at 1‑800‑630‑2438; pontiac at 1‑800‑620‑7668; or oldsmobile at 1‑800‑630‑6537.

Recall number 04V597000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Certain passenger vehicles and mini vans have lower pinion bearings in the power rack and pinion assembly in which the retainer tabs were not crimped properly. These and some other retainers used in vehicles assembled between january 1, 1996 and october 31, 1997, could fail and permit the ball bearings to escape.

Risk

If this occurs, the pinion shaft can be forced upward during left turns and back down as the steering wheel is moved back and to the right. If the pinion shaft moves further, the driver will need to exert more effort to turn the steering wheel, similar to a vehicle without power assisted steering. If the pinion shaft moves even further, the driver will require much higher effort to turn left and may not be able to turn the wheel as much as intended. With the maximum pinion shaft movement, which requires internal gear component damage, the driver can encounter high resistance to turning left, followed by unintended power assist to the right. In any of these conditions, a crash could occur.

Remedy

Dealers will install a new lower pinion bearing unless inspect of the existing bearing indicates that replacement of the gear assembly is necessary. Owner notification began january 24, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact chevrolet at 1‑800‑222‑1020, pontiac at 1‑800‑762‑2737, or oldsmobile at 1‑800‑442‑6537.

Recall number 02V286000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Vehicle description: minivans equipped with passenger side power sliding doors. The door closes but may not be latched. If this happens, the power sliding door can open while the vehicle is in motion, particularly when the vehicle ascends a hill, makes a turn, or travels over a rough road surface.

Risk

An unrestrained occupant could fall out of the van and be injured.

Remedy

Dealers will install a new un-latch actuator assembly to the power sliding door. This recall has been continued under safety recall 01v‑264. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact chevrolet at 1‑800‑222‑1020, pontiac at 1‑800‑762‑2737, or oldsmobile at 1‑800‑442‑6537.

Recall number 01V067000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Vehicle description: mini vans. These vehicles may have (1) a broken shift cable fitting or (2) loose shift linkage. Consequently, moving the shift lever to a 'park' position may not shift the transmission to 'park'.

Risk

The vehicle could roll increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will inspect, and replace if necessary, the automatic transaxle range selector cable.

Recall number 98V131000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Vehicle description: passenger mini vans equipped with traction control systems. The windshield wiper linkage arm can contact a brake line which is connected to the traction control system modulator valve. This contact can chafe the brake line resulting in a brake fluid leak.

Risk

Brake fluid leakage can cause reduced brake effectiveness and increased stopping distances.

Remedy

Dealers will install a brake line clip to ensure proper clearance. Also the brake lines will be inspected to any damage caused by this condition and will replace any damaged lines.

Recall number 98V072000 · Recall details

Subject vehicles are available with an optional power sliding door.the interior handle is oriented in the vertical position in the door panel and lines up at the elbow level when the occupant is seated in the 2nd-row outboard position.if the occupant holds the interior handle in the thumb up position during power-assisted opening, the arm/wrist can be push back with force against the 2nd-row bucket seat or captain's chair seat back creating a risk of injury (other seating configurations have ample seat to door clearance to avoid entrapment of the lower arm).among the 103 total reports, there were 102 alleged injuries including arm/wrist, thumb and shoulder injuries.a count of injuries reveals that 76 injuries were a fractured or a broken arm/wrist requiring an immobilizing cast for four-to-six weeks.all injuries involve the right side power sliding door.the left side power sliding door is on far fewer vehicles, but more importantly, it produces less force.gm notified the agency by letter dated december 21, 2004, that it will recall model year 1997 though early 2005 gm u-van vehicles equipped with a right side power sliding door and with 2nd-row bucket seats or captain chairs (the federal safety agency recall #04v597).as part of the recall remedy, gm will replace the door handle with a flush mounted handle that will prevent an occupant from grasping the handle with the palm between the handle and door panel (thumb up orientation) and thus eliminate the potential for arm/wrist entrapment.this investigation is closed.

PE04064

On november 18, 2002, odi opened a preliminary evaluation (pe02-086) to evaluate allegations of rear axle trailing arm failures in the subject vehicles (u-van) which included two reporting crashes.on april 9, 2003, odi upgraded pe02-086 to an engineering analysis (ea03-005) to continue its examination of the issue. The trailing arm design in these vehicles has been used in the u-van from my 1997 through the present.the gm analysis concluded that the subject trailing arms could crack or buckle if they were damaged during assembly, pre-delivery handling, or subjected to certain service related abuse conditions such as improper towing or jacking.analysis of odi and gm data has identified 19 incidents of rear axle trailing arm failures in the subject vehicles.there have been no new reports to odi or gm in the last 12 months and only one new complaint in the last 21 months. Due to the low complaint rate and the absence of a continuing trend in reported failures, a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist. The agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances. For additional information, see the attached closing report.

EA03005

Odi identified 59 reports with the alleged defect.odi was able to contact 44 of the 59 consumers in order to determine the specific cause of the latch problems.of the 44 owners contacted, odi determined that four failures were due to an out-of-tolerance latch plate, and that 23 failures were due to a displaced buckle housing cover.the remaining 17 failures had indeterminable causes.of the 59 reports, there were three alleged minor injuries.no legal claims or lawsuits have been filed with regard to this alleged defect.based on the limited number of reports, and a declining report trend, this investigation is closed.a safety-related defect has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appeared to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances. See additional summary report.

EA02032

Analysis of odi and gm data has identified 14 incidents of rear trailing arm failures in model year (my) 1997 through 1999 gm u-vans, including two that allegedly resulted in crashes. The trailing arm design in these vehicles is used in the u-vans from my 1997 through 2003.according to gm, the subject trailing arms can crack or buckle if they have been damaged during assembly, pre-delivery handling, or certain service related abuse conditions (e.g., improper towing or jacking).gm identified a parts handling concern that was causing some trailing arms to be damaged prior to installation.to address this concern, gm implemented changes to the shipping containers from january 1999 through september 1999. Eight (8) of the reported incidents in my 1997-99 u-vans, including the two crashes, occurred in the last 2 years.this investigation has been upgraded to an engineering analysis to assess the trend and safety risk associated with the alleged defect.

PE02086

PE02017

PE00045

There is no summary currently available

SQ00014