Defect Involved

DEFECT INVOLVED

General Motors has determined that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain recently manufactured 16 and 20 gallon service-part fuel tanks for use on 1975-86 C/K Pickup and 1987-91 R/V Pickup and Cab-Chassis. These service-part fuel tanks may have one or more pairs of the six projection welds which attach the sender unit retaining ring to the tank that do not meet specification. These out of specification welds may fracture during sending unit installation. Normally it would be expected that the installer would notice the welds breaking. However, if this occurred unbeknownst to the installer, the fuel tank could spray some fuel in a collision and/or fuel could leak out if the vehicle rolled over. In these instances, if an ignition source were present, a fire could occur.

To correct this condition, dealers will inspect the tank for wet spots or corrosion, then perform a pressure test on the suspect tank to determine if any of the sender ring weld pairs are fractured. If they are, a new fuel tank would be installed. Any required repairs for fuel system leakage caused by other preexisting conditions would be repaired at the customer's expense.