[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 97 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28977-28978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-11307]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2004-17679; Notice 1]


General Motors Corporation, Receipt of Petition for Decision of 
Inconsequential Noncompliance

    General Motors Corporation (GM), has determined that certain 2004 
model year vehicles that it produced do not comply with S5.1 of 49 CFR 
571.124, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 124, 
``Accelerator control systems.'' GM has filed an appropriate report 
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, ``Defect and Noncompliance Reports.''
    Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h), GM has petitioned for 
an exemption from the notification and remedy requirements of 49 U.S.C. 
chapter 301 on the basis that this noncompliance is inconsequential to 
motor vehicle safety.
    This notice of receipt of GM's petition is published under 49 
U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
    Approximately 19,924 model year 2004 Cadillac SRX, Cadillac XLR, 
and Pontiac Grand Prix vehicles are affected. S5.1 of FMVSS No. 124 
requires that:

    There shall be at least two sources of energy capable of 
returning the throttle to the idle position within the time limit 
specified by S5.3 . . . . In the event of failure of one source of 
energy by a single severance or disconnection, the throttle shall 
return to the idle position within the time limits specified by S5.3 
. . . .

    In the event of failure of either of the two Electronic Throttle 
Control (ETC) Pedal return springs, at ambient temperatures of -
30[deg]C to -40[deg]C for the Grand Prix and XLR and -10[deg]C to -
40[deg]C for the SXR, the engine in some of the subject vehicles may 
not return to idle within the time limits specified by S5.3.
    GM believes that the noncompliance is inconsequential to motor 
vehicle safety for the following reasons:

    Vehicle Controllability: A number of conditions must occur for 
the noncompliance to occur. A return spring must be severed, the 
stack-up of tolerances in the ETC Pedal Position Sensor must exist, 
the vehicle must have soaked at an ambient temperature of -30[deg]C 
to -40[deg]C for the Grand Prix and XLR and -10[deg]C to -40[deg]C 
for the SXR, and the customer must drive the vehicle prior to the 
vehicle interior warming up. In the extremely low likelihood of all 
of these conditions existing, the condition would occur upon the 
first application of the throttle pedal. The vehicle would continue 
to be controllable by steering and braking, and the ETC Pedal 
assembly would return to normal operation once the passenger 
compartment warmed up.
    Pedal Assembly is Protected: When FMVSS No. 124 was established 
in 1973, the accelerator control systems of vehicles consisted of a 
mechanical connection between the accelerator pedal and the engine's 
carburetor. The throttle return springs required by FMVSS No. 124 
were typically part of the carburetor, and subject to the harsh 
engine environment. The requirements of S5.1 were established to 
ensure that if one of those springs in that environment were to 
fail, the engine would return to idle in a timely manner.
    The ETC Accelerator Pedal Module in the subject vehicles 
consists of the accelerator pedal at the end of the accelerator 
pedal lever. The lever is connected to the ETC Pedal Sensor shaft, 
and is returned to the idle position by two return springs. The ETC 
Pedal Sensor provides two redundant signals to the engine control 
module to indicate accelerator pedal position. The ETC Accelerator 
Pedal Module is located entirely within the passenger compartment of 
the vehicle. The return springs are in a protected area under the 
instrument panel, and are not subject to the harsh environment of 
the engine compartment.
    Condition Requires Failed Return Spring: The condition that is 
described can only occur if one of the two return springs is severed 
or disconnected. The springs in the subject Accelerator Pedal 
Module, however, have extremely high reliability and are not likely 
to fail in the real world.
    Durability Testing: The ETC Accelerator Pedal Module is designed 
for a service life of at least 100,000 miles or 10 years working 
life for passenger car application. The Minimum Typical Predicted 
Usage Profile of the Component Technical Specification states that 
the Accelerator Pedal mechanism may be subject to 35,000,000 dithers 
/ 70,000,000 sensor direction changes. The GM Test Procedure TP3750, 
Accelerator Pedal Lab Durability Cycling Test, that is used during 
the development and validation of this system, subjects these parts 
to 2 million cycles, an equivalent usage greater than 6 lives for an 
automatic transmission passenger vehicle and 3 lives for a manual 
transmission passenger vehicle. There were no accelerator pedal 
return spring failures after testing multiple samples to 10 million 
cycles during the durability testing that was performed on the ETC 
Accelerator Pedal Module for the subject vehicles.
    Condition Requires Extreme Temperatures, Pedal Assembly Warms 
Quickly: The root cause of the condition is an increase in friction 
that may occur on some ETC Accelerator Pedal Modules due to a stack-
up of tolerances, but only when the Module is subjected to extreme 
ambient temperatures. All tests at temperatures above those extremes 
resulted in full compliance with the FMVSS No. 124 time limits for 
all pedal assemblies tested. Therefore, the ambient temperatures 
required for the possibility of the noncompliance to exist are 
severe. Even if a vehicle with a disconnected return spring soaked 
under the necessary harsh conditions for a sufficient time, the 
potential for the noncompliance to occur would exist for only a 
short time, because the pedal assembly would warm up quickly with 
activation of the vehicle heating system.
    Warranty Data: GM has reviewed warranty data for these 2004 
vehicles, as well as complaint data. GM is unaware of any data 
suggesting the subject condition is a real world safety issue.
    Prior NHTSA Decision: On August 3, 1998, NHTSA granted a 
petition for decision of inconsequential noncompliance to GM for 
1997 Chevrolet Corvettes that failed to meet the requirements of 
FMVSS No. 124, with respect to the requirement to return to idle in 
less than 3 seconds at -40[deg]C.

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments on the petition described above. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited at the beginning of this notice and be 
submitted by any of the following methods. Mail: Docket Management 
Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, Nassif Building, Room PL-
401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Hand delivery: 
Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC. It is requested, but not required, that 
two copies of the comments be provided. The Docket Section is open on 
weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Federal holidays. Comments may 
be submitted electronically by logging onto the Docket Management 
System Web site at http://dms.dot.gov. Click on

[[Page 28978]]

``Help'' to obtain instructions for filing the document electronically. 
Comments may be faxed to 1-202-493-2251, or may be submitted to the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments.
    The petition, supporting materials, and all comments received 
before the close of business on the closing date indicated below will 
be filed and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the extent possible. When the petition is granted or 
denied, notice of the decision will be published in the Federal 
Register pursuant to the authority indicated below.
    Comment closing date: June 18, 2004.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 
CFR 1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: May 14, 2004.
Kenneth N. Weinstein,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 04-11307 Filed 5-18-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P