Condition, Vehicles, Dealer & Service Information

CONDITION

General Motors has determined that some 1984 Cutlass Ciera, Firenza and Omega two-door cars have been assembled with bucket seat back locks which fail to conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 207 "Anchorage of Seats". In the event of a vehicle crash, the seat back inertia lock may not function. This would allow the seat back to fold forward, which could increase the likelihood of injury to the seat occupant.

VEHICLES INVOLVED

The involved vehicles are 1984 Cutlass Ciera, Firenza and Omega cars equipped with bucket seats (Option AR9) within the following assembly plant and vehicle breakpoints:

Through and
Model Plant From Including

Cutlass Ciera Framingham EG300001 EG304589
Firenza Leeds EK300001 EK303220
Omega Willow Run EW300001 EW305138

DEALER ACTION

Dealers are to inspect the bucket seat back locks on all involved vehicles. Locks which have been bent, broken or missing hooks are to be replaced per the "Service Procedure" in this bulletin. Approximately 10% of the locks will need to be replaced.

Dealers are to service all vehicles subject to this campaign at no charge to owners regardless of mileage, age of vehicle, or ownership, from this time forward.

Whenever a vehicle subject to this campaign is taken into your new or used vehicle inventory or is in your dealership for service in the future, you should take the steps necessary to be sure the campaign correction has been made before reselling or releasing the vehicle.

This bulletin is notice to you that the new motor vehicles included in this campaign may not comply with the standard identified above. Under Sections 108 and 114 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, it is illegal for a dealer to sell a new motor vehicle which the dealer knows does not comply with an applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. As a consequence, if you sell any of these motor vehicles without first performing the campaign correction, your dealership may be subject to civil penalty up to $1,000 for each such sale.

Owners of vehicles recently sold from your new vehicle inventory are to be contacted by the dealer, and arrangements made to make the required modification according to instructions contained in this bulletin.
SERVICE PROCEDURE

The bucket seat back locks on the subject vehicles may not lock under forward load conditions. Failure to lock is confined to bucket seats and one supplier. These locks may be used on either the driver or passenger seat, or both sides. All locks on these styles must be checked as specified below. Since the driver seat could have a different lock than the passenger seat, both locks must be inspected.

FIGURE 5:

1. Put reclining seat back in full upright position and keep it there during this service procedure.

CAUTION: To help avoid personal injury, inspect reclining seat models ONLY with the seat back in the full upright position. The lock is spring loaded. If the seat back is folded forward from a reclining position, and the recliner lever is released, the lock cam could slam closed on exposed fingers or hands in the cam hook area. (See Figure 5).

FIGURE 1:

2. Fold seat back forward. If the lock has a protruding cam as shown in View "A", Figure 1, it is not a suspect unit and no further checking is required.

FIGURE 2:

3. If the lock has a non-protruding cam as shown in View "A", Figure 2, it is a suspect unit and must be fully checked as follows:

FIGURE 3:

a. Sit in the seat.

b. Pull seat back slightly forward.

c. Lift the seat back lock emergency release lever knob and hold firmly in "up" position as shown in Figure 3.

FIGURE 4:

d. While holding the lever in the "up" position, lean back firmly in the seat as if to straighten a long coat. Lean back hard enough to lift yourself off the seat cushion as shown in Figure 4.
e. Get out of the car.

f. Fold these at back forward.

FIGURE 5:

g. Check for a broken or missing hook as shown in View "A", Figure 5.

FIGURE 6:

h. If the hook is not broken or missing, check for a bent hook as shown in Figure 6 using the proper checking template. If lock cover interferes with checking template, loosen or remove cover, as needed.

i. If the hook is missing, broken or bent, replace the lock assembly following procedures in the appropriate service manual.