— There won't be a formal investigation into alleged fires in 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstice and 2006-2010 Saturn Sky cars.
In December 2019, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received a petition to investigate fires caused by overheated blower motor connectors.
The petitioner asked NHTSA to open a formal investigation after 13 incidents were reported about blower motors smoking or melting.
Two of the thirteen cited incidents reported smoke and thermal damage, but NHTSA found the vehicles were never inspected to determine what caused the symptoms.
One of the cars, a 2008 Saturn Sky, had suffered from a frontal crash and NHTSA could not find a root cause of the thermal damage. In addition, a 2007 Pontiac Solstice allegedly also had problems but General Motors was never informed and the vehicle was never inspected by a dealer.
"Most of the 13 incidents reported an overheated or discolored connector with attendant loss of HVAC blower fan function. GM reported 354 warranty claims with the subject components for the Sky and Solstice, none of which included a report of fire and only one report of smoke. Over a period of ten to fourteen years in service, there are two reports of smoke or thermal damage." — NHTSA
Investigators also determined even if a HVAC blower motor overheats, the motor is more likely to fail than to catch fire or melt.
According to NHTSA, the cars show no defect trend and have a low rate of reported thermal events over the last 10 to 14 years. The most recent alleged incident was in 2017 and no fire was reported.
NHTSA denied the defect petition by saying a formal investigation is not necessary based on current evidence.
