Safety recalls for Hummer, Subaru and Volvo

ALMOST 2500 Hummer, Subaru and Volvo vehicles are involved in safety recall notices issued in the past week.

In the case of General Motors’ iconic off-road brand, every example of the Hummer H3 sold in Australia since it was launched here in October 2007 has been recalled to fix decorative bonnet louvres that may become loose, rattle against the bonnet and, in the worst cases, fall off the vehicle.

According to Australian Hummer distributor GM Holden, some 1942 examples of the H3, which is now discontinued, are affected.

“The integral clip-tabs on the decorative hood louvre may break causing the louvre to lose its retention mechanism,” said Holden, which has advised owners of affected vehicles to contact their nearest Hummer dealership to have their H3 bonnet repaired.

“As the clip-tabs break, the louvre may rattle against the hood. If unnoticed, additional clips could fracture and the louvre could detach from the vehicle.” The recall of the H3, just five of which were sold in Australia last month, follows last week’s recall of some 34,432 Holden Utes to repair a tailgate latching glitch.

From top: Subaru Liberty, Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester and Volvo XC60.

Meantime, the third recall to affect Subaru’s MY10 Liberty and Outback models in about two months this time also includes the MY10 Forester.

All told, 467 manual-transmission examples of the MY10 Liberty, Outback and Forester have been recalled because a “limited number” of six-speed manual gearboxes were manufactured without a necessary lubrication supply passage.

“Insufficient supply of lubricant to the 6MT gearbox main-shaft may cause, in the longer term (greater than 10,000km), fretting of the third and fourth gear components and eventual failure of the third driving and driven gears,” said Subaru.

Owners of affected vehicles will be contacted by mail, asking them to take their vehicle to an authorised Subaru retailer for inspection and rectification if necessary.

About 2300 MY10 Liberty and Outback vehicles fitted with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) were recalled on May 12 to fix a potentially faulty transmission oil-cooler hose, while a further 8827 MY10 Liberty/Outback models were recalled on June 21 due to potentially defective steering wheel wiring that could disable the driver’s airbag.

Finally, 54 examples of Volvo’s MY 2011 XC60 and XC70 crossovers fitted with a 2.4-litre diesel engine were recalled on July 19 to repair a potentially ineffective radiator hose clamp.

“The spring band clamp mounted on the radiator hose connection to the water inlet pipe spigot may not sufficiently secure the hose, potentially leading to the hose coming loose during driving, resulting in loss of engine coolant water.

“The driver will be informed of the concern through a warning symbol and text message ‘Low coolant level stop safely’ in the instrumental panel. If warning is ignored and the vehicle is continuously driven this will lead to engine damage,” said Volvo, which has advised owners of affected vehicles to contact an authorised Volvo dealer to attach a new radiator hose clamp.

The recall affects XC60 models with vehicle identification numbers ranging between 135123 and 137267, and XC70 models with a 094101-095193 VIN range.

The XC60 has now been the subject of four safety recalls since December 2009, following potential problems relating to high-pressure power steering lines, the power steering belt tensioner and an underbody fuel line rail cover.

Last week Volvo recalled both the MY10 C30 hatchback and XC90 SUV to fix potential sunroof and fuel line problems respectively. Volvo has now issued eight safety recall notices this year.