Camaro5 forum member Bumleb drove his brand new 2010 Chevy Camaro SS about 40 miles when it suddenly just shut down (that's his car above being trailered back to the dealer on a flat bed). The culprit turned out to be a battery cable run from the trunk. Its insulation had broken down from rubbing up against the starter and eventually just shorted out, which ultimately caused the car itself to shut down. Before this was known, however, the forums blew up with speculation about what could be the cause and Mustang and Challenger fanboys had a field day. It turns out, however, that what happened to Bumleb's new Camaro may not be an isolated incident. General Motors has reportedly issued a voluntary product safety recall for any 2010 Chevy Camaro equipped with a V8 engine to ensure this doesn't happen again.
The recall is a pretty easy fix, but GM is reportedly offering two options for owners: a temporary fix that requires a second visit to a dealer and a permanent fix. The temporary fix involves wrapping the battery cable with protective insulating tape and rerouting it to ensure enough clearance between it and the starter. The permanent fix involves the same thing, except will use a new engine wiring harness that's being shipped to all dealers by May 11. Thus, owners can choose the temporary fix and keep driving their Camaro or just leave it at the dealer until the new wiring harnesses arrive.
The real question is whether or not this recall will damage the Camaro's reputation and ultimately hurt sales. Every aspect of GM is under the microscope, so what does it say when such an important new product launches with a recall right out of the gate? Thanks for the tip, Mark!
UPDATE: The AP reports that GM has built about 1,400 Camaros equipped with a V8 that are affected by this issue, but only 300 have been sold and are therefore under recall. The rest will be fixed before they're delivered to dealers.
[Source: Camaro5]
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