All Entries Tagged With: "washer fluid heater"

GM’s Washer Fluid Heaters “Fire Waiting To Happen”

I found an interesting video today via TheTruthAboutCars that needs to be shared. According to Canadian Mark Whinton of CarQuestions.ca, GM’s recall of 1.5 million heated windshield washer units is URGENT.

[got a washer fluid heater unit] out of an 08′ Buick Enclave and took it apart…and discovered corrosion on the inside on that [power] contact. That’s incredible. These things are an accident waiting to happen. If that [corrosion] migrates over to the ground contact, you could have a 40-50 amp sustained draw while the car is off…that is incredible. Did they have fires? My guess – absolutely they did. General Motors better get those cars in quick.

Whatever you may think about Mark – who doesn’t seem to have anything at stake in this particular issue – you have to agree that what he says makes some sense while watching his videos (see below).

The question I have – did Toyota’s recall fiasco prompt GM to take action sooner than they would have otherwise? Obviously, no one can know the answer to that question, and my sincere hope is that the answer is “no.” Still, there is evidence of a conspiracy. The New York Times has found some emails that suggest GM knew this was a safety problem as early as 2007.