GM Recalls 40,683 Vehicles Over Potential Issue With Airbag And Seat Belt Pretensioners

General Motors is recalling several models over an issue that could prevent a vehicle’s airbags or seat belt pretensioners from working properly.

The defect: the vehicles being recalled were previously remedied for recall 16V-651, but may not have received the complete software update necessary to completely remedy the recall condition. Without the update, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.

The hazards: a failure of the front airbags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.

Affected vehicle areas:

• Air bags
• Seat belts

Affected vehicles: certain model year:

• Buick:
  • 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse
  • 2014-2017 Buick Encore
• Chevrolet
  • 2014-2016 Chevrolet Spark EV
  • 2014-2016 Caprice PPV
  • 2014-2016 Chevrolet SS
  • 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette
  • 2014-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
  • 2015-2016 Chevrolet  Silverado 2500 and 3500
  • 2015-2016 Chevrolet Tahoe
  • 2015-2016 Chevrolet Suburban
  • 2015-2016 Chevrolet Trax
• GMC
  • 2014-2017 GMC Sierra 1500
  • 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 2500 and 3500
  • 2015-2016 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL
• Cadillac
  • 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV

Number of vehicles affected: 40,683 vehicles (United States figure).

The fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge.

Owners should: customers looking to find out if their vehicle is included in this GM recall should visit recalls.gm.com. There, owners will be able to enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to see any open recalls as well as customer satisfaction programs. If the vehicle is part of the recall, then owners should take it to a dealer

Owners can also contact customer service with questions by using the following information.

Contacts:

• Chevrolet Customer Service: 1-800-222-1020
• Buick Customer Service: 1-800-521-7300
• GMC Customer Service: 1-800-462-8782
• Cadillac Customer Service: 1-800-458-8006
• GM Recall Number: 17287
• NHTSA Toll Free: 1-888-327-4236
• NHTSA (TTY): 1-800-424-9153
• NHTSA Website: www.safecar.gov
• NHTSA Recall Number: 17V437000