Product Safety Recall N182206312 Diesel Engine Block Heater Cord – 2019 Chevrolet Silverado

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Product Safety Recall
N182206312 Diesel Engine Block Heater Cord

Release Date:   January 2020                                                        Revision:    02

Revision Description:   This bulletin is being revised to update the service procedure and add the customer letter.  Please discard all previous copies of bulletin N182206312-01.

Involved vehicles are marked “open” on the Investigate Vehicle History screen in GM Global Warranty Management system.  This site should always be checked to confirm vehicle involvement prior to beginning any required inspections and/or repairs.  

Condition

General Motors has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in certain 2019 model year Silverado 4500/5500/6500 vehicles. In vehicles equipped with the Duramax diesel 6.6 liter engine and the optional engine-block heater cord, a short-circuit condition may develop in the engineblock heater cable or in the terminals that connect the heater cable to the block heater. A short-circuit condition can cause damage to engine components and, in rare cases, start a fire in the engine compartment.

Correction

Dealers will replace the engine-block heater.

Parts

Parts required to complete this repair are to be obtained from General Motors Customer Care and Aftersales (GMCC&A).

Please refer to your “involved vehicles listing” before ordering parts.  Order parts on a CSO = Customer Special Order only. DRO’s may be cancelled.  Place the VIN # in the notes field of the order.  If there is no VIN or the VIN doesn’t fit a VIN on this population your order will be cancelled.  All orders will be reviewed prior to being filled with customers sold vehicles having priority.

Important: Due to limited initial parts availability, dealers are encouraged not to order these parts for use as shelf stock.

Note: The per gallon part number for coolant is listed in the part table. If your facility buys the correct coolant in a bulk quantity, do not order the gallon units.

Warranty Information

Note: To avoid having to “H” route the floor plan transaction for approval, it must be submitted prior to the repair transaction.

* USA Only – For vehicles eligible for floor plan reimbursement, the amount should be submitted in Net Item/Miscellaneous.  This amount should represent the product of the vehicle’s average daily interest rate (see table below) multiplied by the actual number of days the vehicle was in dealer new inventory and not available for sale.  This reimbursement is limited to the number of days from the date of the stop delivery message (April 26, 2019) to the date the repair is completed and the vehicle is ready for sale (not to exceed 35 days):

Service Procedure

Danger: When performing the following repairs, ensure the engine and coolant are at room temperature. When removing the engine block heater, the coolant in the engine will drain out. This coolant may injure the technician if the coolant is hot.

Note: Some vehicles may have had the engine coolant heater power cord sealed and secured at the time of manufacture or under a previous campaign. If the heater power cord is not sealed and secured, proceed directly to step #4.

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1. From underneath the vehicle, locate the engine coolant heater power cord. It is on the front passenger side of the engine block. Cut the wire tie securing the engine block heater power cable. Remove and discard the wire tie. (shown without the shrink tube installed).

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TIP: A seam ripper is a good example of the type of tool used in the following step.

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2. Using an appropriate cutting tool, carefully slice the shrink tube from the power cord. Use care to cut away from the harness itself to ensure that you do not cut into the harness or body of the connector.
3. Inspect the connector cavities and mating surface for any heat shrink tube adhesive. Carefully remove the adhesive if required.

Note: It is not necessary to drain the radiator. The engine block coolant will be drained when the engine coolant heater is removed.

4. Place a large drain pan under the work area. Remove the engine coolant heater. Refer to Engine Coolant Heater Replacement (L5D) in SI.
5. After removing the original block heater, take care to remove the old cured thread sealant in the block. Failure to remove the old thread sealant will result in cross threading the replacement block heater. 

Note: The new engine coolant heater element has the thread sealer applied at the time of manufacture. DO NOT INSTALL ADDITIONAL SEALER to the threads.

6. Hand start the block heater carefully and secure at least 3 full turns before further tightening with a socket wrench.
7. Install the replacement engine coolant heater. Refer to Engine Coolant Heater Replacement (L5D) in SI.

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8. Plug the engine coolant heater cord assembly into the heater and secure it with the metal clip. Be certain the metal retaining clip is secured onto to the deeper of the two grooves.
9. Fill the cooling system. Refer to Cooling System Draining and Filling (Vac N Fill) in SI.

Dealer Responsibility – For USA & Export (USA States, Territories, and Possessions)

It is a violation of Federal law for a dealer to deliver a new motor vehicle or any new or used item of motor vehicle equipment (including a tire) covered by this notification under a sale or lease until the defect or noncompliance is remedied.

The US National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act provides that each vehicle that is subject to a recall of this type must be adequately repaired within a reasonable time after the customer has tendered it for repair.  A failure to repair within sixty days after tender of a vehicle is prima facie evidence of failure to repair within a reasonable time.  If the condition is not adequately repaired within a reasonable time, the customer may be entitled to an identical or reasonably equivalent vehicle at no charge or to a refund of the purchase price less a reasonable allowance for depreciation.  To avoid having to provide these burdensome remedies, every effort must be made to promptly schedule an appointment with each customer and to repair their vehicle as soon as possible.  In the recall notification letters, customers are told how to contact the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration if the recall is not completed within a reasonable time.

Dealer Responsibility – All

All new, used, GM Certified Used, courtesy transportation vehicles, dealer shuttle vehicles, etc. in dealers’ possession and subject to this recall must be held and inspected/repaired per the service procedure of this bulletin before customers take possession of these vehicles.  Involved vehicles must be held and not delivered to customers, dealer-traded, released to auction, used for demonstration, or any other purpose.

All GM Certified Used vehicles currently in the dealers’ inventory within the Certified Pre-Owned Inventory System (CPOIS) will be de-certified and must be held and remedied per the service procedure in this bulletin.  Upon submitting an accepted/paid warranty transaction in the Global Warranty Management (GWM) system, the vehicle can be re-certified for sale within the CPOIS system, or once again be used in the CTP program.

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

In summary, whenever a vehicle subject to this recall enters your vehicle inventory or is in your dealership for service in the future, you must take the steps necessary to be sure the recall correction has been made before selling or releasing the vehicle.

Dealer Reports

For dealers with involved vehicles, a listing with involved vehicles has been prepared and will be provided to U.S. and Canadian dealers through the GM GlobalConnect Recall Reports or sent directly to export dealers.  The listing may contain customer names and addresses obtained from Motor Vehicle Registration Records.  The use of such motor vehicle registration data for any purpose other than follow-up necessary to complete this recall is a violation of law in several states/provinces/countries.  Accordingly, you are urged to limit the use of this report to the follow-up necessary to complete this recall.

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL

December 2019

This notice applies to your vehicle, VIN: _____________________________________ Dear General Motors Customer:

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

General Motors has decided that a defect, which relates to motor vehicle safety, exists in certain 2019 model year Chevrolet Silverado 4500/5500/6500 vehicles equipped with the 6.6L, 8-cylinder diesel engine.  As a result, GM is conducting a safety recall.  We apologize for this inconvenience.  However, we are concerned about your safety and continued satisfaction with our products.

If after contacting your dealer and the Customer Assistance Center, you are still not satisfied we have done our best to remedy this condition without charge and within a reasonable time, you may wish to write the Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590, or call the toll-free Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1.888.327.4236 (TTY 1.800.424.9153), or go to https://www.safercar.gov.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Campaign ID Number for this recall is 19V328.

Federal regulation requires that any vehicle lessor receiving this recall notice must forward a copy of this notice to the lessee within ten days.

Maryann L. Combs

Vice President

Global Vehicle Safety

GM Recall: N182206312

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