1997 GMC Safari

ONGOING PROBLEMS WITH DEFECTIVE COMPONENTS ON CONSUMER'S TWO VANS. EACH VAN HAS HAD PROBLEMS WITH IT'S TRANSMISSION, ALTERNATOR, MOTORS FOR DOOR AND WINDOWS, CATALYTIC CONVERTER, FUEL PUMP, OXYGEN SENSORS AND WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR. *LA THE CONSUMER HAS TWO GMC SAFARI'S BOTH 1997 MODELS. THEIR VIN'S ARE [XXX] AND [XXX]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

A/C/HEATING: REAR HEAT WENT OUT AND HAD TO BE REWIRED ENGINE: THE WATER PUMP WENT OUT AND HAD TO REPLACE IT, THAT WAS COVERED BY WARRANTY. BUT STILL HAS A FRONT OIL LEAK SOME WHERE IN THE FRONT. OTHER: I HEARD A GRINDING NOISE WHILE GOING DOWN THE ROAD I TOOK IT IN TO THE DEALER I BOUGHT IT FROM AND THEY LOOKED IT OVER AND SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG. SHORTLY AFTER WARRANTY RAN OUT THE TRANSFER CASE WENT OUT SO WE HAD A USED ONE PUT IN AND IT ONLY LASTED FOUR MONTHS NOW IT SITS IN THE GARAGE THERE SHOULD BE SOMETHING TO DO ABOUT THE TRANSFER CASE THEY SHOULD LAST LONGER. BRAKES: BEEN HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE ABS BRAKES SINCE WE BOUGHT IT TOOK IT IN TO A DEALER AND THEY SAID NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH IT. I ENDED UP DOING THE BRAKES AND FOUND THEY HAD CRACKED PADS CAUSING THE NOISE IN THE BRAKES. FOUND OUT THAT ALL WHEEL DRIVE IS NOT WHAT IT IS MADE OUT TO BE, I HAVE HAD A LOT OF ISSUES WITH THIS 1997 GMC SAFARI ALL WHEEL DRIVE VAN.

THE THROTTLE BODY ON OUR 1997 GMC SAFARI CAME APART SENDING PIECES INTO THE ENGINE AND FAILING IN A WIDE OPEN THROTTLE CONDITION THAT WAS NOT CONTROLLABLE BY THE DRIVER. THIS OCCURRED WHEN THE DRIVER ENTERED THE FREEWAY AND THE CAR ACCELERATED THROUGH 85 MILES PER HOUR WITHOUT ANY DEPRESSION OF THE ACCELERTOR. THE DRIVER HAD TO CONTINUOUSLY APPLY BRAKE PRESSURE TO KEEP SPEED SOMEWHAT UNDER CONTROL. THE ONLY MEANS TO CONTROL THE ENGINE WAS TO TURN IT OFF.

1997 GMC SAFARI COMPLETE POWER FAILURE WHICH NEGATES POWER STEERING, POWER BRAKES, AND IS A DANGER TO ME AND MY FAMILY! I NEVER KNOW WHEN THE POWER WILL GO OUT. IT HAS GONE OUT ON AT LEAST 10 OCCASIONS SINCE I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. ALSO, THE TRANSMISSION "SLAMS" INTO GEAR ON OCCASION AT NO SPECIFIC INTERVAL. THERE CAN BE SEVERAL DAYS SEPERATING THE INCIDENTS; NO LOGICAL PATTERN. I HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO MARTIN CADILLAC IN LOS ANGELES AT LEAST 4 TIMES TO HAVE THESE PROBLEMS FIXED AND SO FAR THEY HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEMS AND MAKE THE FIX.

ANTILOCK BRAKES FAIL WHEN COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP. THE ANTILOCK SYSTEM STARTS TO FUNCTION AND THEN AT ABOUT 2 MPH THE PEDAL GOES DOWN COMPLETELY TO THE FLOOR. YOU COULD ONLY REGAIN BRAKING ABILITY IF YOU TOOK YOUR FOOT OFF THE BRAKES WHILE THE ABS SYSTEM RESET ITSELF. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIRS AND THE LEFT FRONT HUB BEARING ASSEMBLY (PART COST $864) WAS REPLACED. THE DEALER'S SERVICE INVOICE INDICATED A TEST DRIVE FOUND THE LEFT FRONT ABS SENSOR "DROPPING OUT" AND "TESTED CIRCUIT SENSOR OPEN". THE SERVICE ADVISOR SAID THAT THE SPEED SENSOR WAS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE FRONT HUB BEARING ASSEMBLY. THE DEALER SERVICE INVOICE NO. IS GCCS56017. I HAVE THE HUB AT MY HOME ADDRESS.*AK

97 SAFARI CONSISTENTLY SETS P1870 CODE, TRANSMISSION SLIPS WHEN WARMED UP. THE VEHICLE SHIFT EXTREMELY HARD (ACTUALLY SLIP)1ST-2ND-3RD. HARD ENOUGH A SIGNIFICANT CHANCE OF U-JOINT BREAKAGE, UNCONTROLLED TIRE SPINNING ON ICE/SLICK ROADS, (I HAVE EXPERIENCED),WHIPLASH TYPE EXPERIENCE UNDER MODERATE ACCELERATION. THIS SUDDEN SHIFT ALSO ATTRIBUTED TO CAUSING INTERIOR COMPONENTS SUCH AS CENTER CONSOLE TO SHAKE LOOSE. SEVERAL INSTANCES HAVE CAUSED ITEMS IN CENTER COLUMN CUP HOLDER TO FALL OUT AND SPILL. GM HAS TSB ON RECORD AND RECOGNIZES THIS AFFECTS 96-02 GM VEHICLES WITH THE 4L60E TRANS(VANS, SUV'S, REAR WHEEL DRIVE CARS AND FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CARS WITH SIMILAR TRANSMISSION). GM RECOGNIZES IN THEIR TSB OF AN INEFFECTIVE VALVE BODY AND THAT THIS IS A "POSSIBLE" PROBLEM AND GOES ON TO STATE IT WAS CORRECTED IN LATE '02 MFG VEHICLES AND THERE ARE NO "RECALLS". IT PROVIDES EXACT INFORMATION REGARDING THE ABOVE PROBLEM (TSB SAYS "CUSTOMER COMPLAINT") GM DEALERS ARE CHARGING CUSTOMERS "OUTRAGEOUS" FIGURES FOR TRANS REPLACE ONLY FOR THE CUSTOMER TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS SOON AS 10K MILES AS THE NEW TRANS IS STILL THE "OLD" MODEL WITH THE DEFECTIVE VALVE BODY. GM FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT A REPLACEMENT TRANS IS NOT NECESSARY(UNLESS "PROVEN" FAILURE) GM FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGES THE CODE P1870 IN A GM STC CLASS (#17040.01), HOW TO DETERMINE THE FAULT EVEN THOUGH A SIMPLE TSB EXISTS FOR THIS. SEVERAL TSB'S AS REFERENCE (THERE ARE MORE)#01-07-30-012,020 #99-07-30-005 #77-71-75 #02-07-30-001,030,042. SIMPLY SEARCHING THE WEB FOR P1870 WILL RESULT IN CONFIRMATION OF SAID COMPLAINT. *JB