POWER STEERING FLUID LEAKS - FIRES

GENERAL MOTORS (GM) INITIATED A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN IN OCTOBER OF 2006 TO ADDRESS A FAILURE OF THE POWER STEERING HOSE AND/OR CLAMPS THAT COULD OCCUR WHEN THE ENGINE IS STARTED IN VEHICLES PRIMARILY OPERATED IN THE FOLLOWING STATES THAT EXPERIENCE EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES: ALASKA, MAINE, MINNESOTA, MONTANA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMONT, WISCONSIN AND WYOMING. AT THE TIME THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION (PE) WAS OPENED, ONLY 1 OF THE 33 COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) WAS FROM A STATE COVERED BY THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN. IN RESPONSE TO AN INFORMATION REQUEST SENT BY THE ODI, GM PROVIDED INFORMATION THAT INCLUDED 6 ALLEGED FIRES AND 1 ALLEGED MINOR CRASH POTENTIALLY RELATED TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT. ONE OF THE ALLEGED FIRES IS A DUPLICATE OF A REPORT RECEIVED BY ODI. OF THE FIRE INCIDENTS, 2 OF THE 6 ALLEGED FIRE INCIDENTS OCCURRED AFTER THE REMEDY DETAILED IN THE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION PROGRAM WAS PERFORMED. ONE OF THE VEHICLES WAS TOTALED AS A RESULT OF THE INCIDENT. IT IS UNDETERMINED WHETHER THE INCIDENTS WERE RELATED TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT OR WERE A BY PRODUCT OF THE REPAIR. OF THE OTHER FOUR ALLEGED FIRE INCIDENTS, 1 INCIDENT INVOLVED SMOKE ONLY AND NO VISIBLE FLAMES. BASED ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED, THE REMAINING 3 FIRE INCIDENTS WERE LOCALIZED EVENTS THAT PRIMARILY INVOLVED DAMAGE TO THE POWER STEERING COMPONENTS AND SURROUNDING WIRING. ALL 3 OF THESE VEHICLES WERE SUBSEQUENTLY REPAIRED. NONE OF THE ALLEGED FIRE INCIDENTS OCCURRED WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS UNATTENDED. ODI IS AWARE OF 1 ADDITIONAL ALLEGED FIRE INCIDENT THAT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN GM'S INFORMATION REQUEST RESPONSE. BASED ON THE CONSUMER'S DESCRIPTION OF THE INCIDENT, THE FIRE WAS QUICKLY EXTINGUISHED BY A FRIEND AND THE VEHICLE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY REPAIRED AT A DEALERSHIP. IN TOTAL ODI IS AWARE OF 6 ALLEGED FIRE INCIDENTS WHERE THE CONSUMER ALLEGED FLAMES WERE VISIBLE. ALL OF THE ALLEGED FIRE INCIDENTS OCCURRED WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS S