2003 Chevrolet Impala

On certain vehicles equipped with a 3.8L engine, degradation of the front rocker cover gasket may result in eventual oil seepage.  Under hard braking, drops of engine oil may be deposited on the exhaust manifold.  If the manifold is hot enough and the oil runs below the heat shield, it may ignite into a small flame and, in some instances, the fire may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel and beyond.  An under-hood fire could result in injury and/or property damage.  Correction: Dealers will replace the engine’s front valve cover and front-valve-cover gasket with new parts. The engine’s plastic “beauty” cover and plastic oil-fill-tube extension will also be removed, if they haven’t been already. Note: This recall supersedes and is an expansion of recalls 2008-081, 2009-105 and 2015-145. All vehicles having been inspected and/or serviced under the previous recall will require re-inspection and repair.

On certain vehicles, a defect in the ignition switch could allow the switch to move out of the "run" position if the key ring is carrying added weight or the vehicle goes off-road or is subjected to some other jarring event.  If this were to occur, engine power, power steering and power braking would be affected, increasing the risk of a crash causing injury and/or damage to property.  The timing of the key movement out of the “run” position, relative to the activation of the sensing algorithm of the crash event, may also result in the airbags not deploying in a subsequent collision, increasing the risk of injury. Correction: For each key, dealers will install two key rings and modify the key ring opening shape. Note: Until the correction is performed, all items should be removed from the key ring.

On certain vehicles equipped with a 3.8L naturally aspirated engine, degradation of the front rocker cover gasket may result in eventual oil seepage.  Under hard braking, drops of engine oil may be deposited on the exhaust manifold.  If the manifold is hot enough and the oil runs below the heat shield, it may ignite into a small flame and, in some instances, the fire may spread to the plastic spark plug wire channel and beyond.  An under-hood fire could result in property damage, personal injury or death.  Correction: Dealers will remove the spark plug wire retention channel at the front of the engine and install two new-revised spark plug wire retainers.

On certain vehicles, the driver's side air bag may not deploy as designed, resulting in reduced capability of the air bag to protect the driver.  In addition, the air bag inflator may fracture.  If this were to occur, pieces of the inflator could strike and injure the vehicle occupants.  Correction:  Dealer will inspect, and if necessary, install a new driver's air bag.

Certain vehicles may have a driver's side airbag inflator that could fracture at a weld during a deployment.  Pieces of the inflator could strike and injure vehicle occupants and the airbag cushion would not inflate fully, reducing the capacity of the bag to protect the driver.  Correction:  Dealers are to inspect and if necessary replace the driver side airbag module assembly.