NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Engineering Analysis EA13-007: Simultaneous Loss of Low-Beam Headlights
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Engineering Analysis EA13-007 on August 23, 2013 and closed it on June 24, 2014. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Chevrolet Corvette and Corvette Z06 for it and links recall 14V-251 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- EA13-007 (also written EA13007)
- Investigation type
- Engineering Analysis A more detailed stage of a defect investigation, opened when NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation decides an issue merits further review, often after a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query; it can include vehicle testing, surveys and further information requests.
- Status
- Closed June 24, 2014
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- General Motors, LLC
- Components
- Exterior Lighting; Exterior Lighting — Headlights
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 14V-251: Loss of Low Beam Headlights, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- Chevrolet Corvette and Corvette Z06
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Engineering Analysis EA13-007.
On May 14, 2014, General Motors (GM) submitted a Part 573 defect information report initiating NHTSA Safety Recall 14V-251 to remedy the subject vehicles.
GM will remedy a defect condition in the underhood bussed electrical center (UBEC) by modifying the vehicle's electrical harnessing.
GM also announced a customer satisfaction bulletin to address this issue on model year (MY) 2008-2013 Chevrolet Corvettes.
Both programs will be conducted free of charge.
According to GM, when the engine heats up and cools down (from normal use), the plastic material in the UBEC housing expands at a different rate than an electrical conductor routed within it.
The difference in expansion rates results in bending of the conductor, a control circuit for the low beam headlights.
After multiple thermal cycles, often taking several years of use, the conductor fractures resulting in an open circuit.
When this occurs the low-beam headlights will not illuminate.
After the engine is turned off and the UBEC cools, the conductor may temporarily reconnect and restore low-beam function, although subsequent failures will occur.
This condition does not affect high-beam headlights, marker lamps, turn signals or fog lamps.
Simultaneous loss of low-beam headlights could reduce the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash. The ODI report counts noted above, involving the loss of low beam headlights, represents those received at the time of GM's recall filing; however NHTSA has since received additional complaints.
GM submitted similar complaints in response to the agency's information request.
Among the complaints reported to NHTSA, five alleged minor crashes in which the vehicle ran off the road or into roadside objects due to the sudden loss of headlights.
Two of these complaints alleged minor injuries and three alleged property damage.
Several other reports to NHTSA alleged close calls due to the loss of lighting.
GM states that it has received no reports of crashes, injuries or fatalities as a result of this condition. GM's recall action appears to adequately address the safety risks in the subject vehicles of concern to ODI.Accordingly, the investigation is closed.
In addition to recalling the subject vehicles, GM is covering MY 2008-2013 Corvettes, which contain essentially the same UBEC, under a customer satisfaction campaign.
ODI notes that these vehicles exhibit a lower likelihood of failure due to their comparatively shorter service life. The VOQs cited above can be viewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10400308, 10415603, 10415867, 10416531, 10421639, 10424391, 10424543, 10445971, 10451733, 10454919, 10460674, 10460750, 10463546, 10466342, 10466857, 10468128, 10469057, 10470616, 10471595, 10474350, 10474368, 10475257, 10486597, 10491670, 10496592, 10496788, 10498100, 10502059, 10505606, 10508507, 10510052, 10511467, 10511517, 10511576, 10511696, 10511699, 10511789, 10511837, 10511994, 10512072, 10512093, 10512154, 10512292, 10512341, 10512856, 10513422, 10514576, 10514802, 10514978, 10515162, 10515311, 10515821, 10519426, 10519879, 10520155, 10521036, 10521585, 10522260, 10523059, 10523064, 10523190, 10525646, 10531602, 10531631, 10532221, 10532439, 10533227, 10533251, 10533339, 10536835, 10537561, 10537612, 10538184, 10541749, 10542468, 10542540, 10542576, 10542708, 10542726, 10543187, 10543970, 10544083, 10544810, 10545441, 10545516, 10547343, 10547561, 10547600, 10548492, 10548588, 10548687, 10548982, 10549272, 10549487, 10550079, 10550260, 10551233, 10551867, 10551926, 10551978, 10552019, 10553258, 10554456, 10554573, 10556002, 10556433, 10556844, 10556984, 1
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Engineering Analysis EA13-007. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Chevrolet VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for EA13-007
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.