NHTSA recall 90V185000

A recall listed here may apply to a vehicle of this year, make and model. Only the manufacturer can say whether it applies to one vehicle: check the VIN with the official lookups.

Campaign
Published by	NHTSA (United States)
Campaign number	90V185000
Manufacturer	GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Reported	1990-10-16
Owners notified	1990-11-08
Component	EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS:SWITCH
Units potentially affected	476422

What is wrong

BRAKE STOPLAMPS MAY NOT ILLUMINATE OR, IN SOME CASES, STOPLAMPS WILL NOT STAY ILLUMINATED ALL THE TIME WHEN BRAKES ARE APPLIED DUE TO A FAULTY STOPLAMP SWITCH. ALSO IN VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH CRUISE CONTROL, A FAULTY STOPLAMP SWITCH CAN RESULT IN RESUMPTION OF THE CRUISE CONTROL FUNCTION UPON RELEASE OF THE BRAKE PEDAL.

What can happen

A TRAILING VEHICLE MAY NOT RECOGNIZE A BRAKING ACTIONIN TIME TO RESPOND APPROPRIATELY. ALSO, CRUISE CONTROL WILL REENGAGE UPONRELEASE OF THE BRAKE PEDAL AND RESUME THE SET SPEED. IN EITHER CASE, IT COULDRESULT IN A CRASH WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING.

The remedy

INSTALL AN IMPROVED DESIGN STOPLAMP SWITCH.

Notes

SYSTEM: BRAKE STOPLAMP SWITCH.VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER CARS.NOTE: ALSO SEE NHTSA RECALL 92V086000.

Vehicles this campaign lists
1989 BUICK REGAL	Built 1989-01-01 to 1990-01-01.
1990 BUICK REGAL	Built 1989-01-01 to 1990-01-01.
1990 CHEVROLET LUMINA	Built 1989-01-01 to 1990-01-01.
1989 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS	Built 1989-01-01 to 1990-01-01.
1990 OLDSMOBILE CUTLASS	Built 1989-01-01 to 1990-01-01.
1989 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX	Built 1989-01-01 to 1990-01-01.
1990 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX	Built 1989-01-01 to 1990-01-01.

A vehicle with no link is not in this site's catalog, which covers cars, multipurpose vehicles and trucks by model year. The campaign is from data as of 2026-10-19.

Investigated as PE90088

This recall followed 1 NHTSA investigation. An investigation is NHTSA looking into a possible defect. It is not a finding that a defect exists, and it does not say that any one vehicle is affected.

NHTSA investigations that led to this recall
PE90088	Preliminary evaluation, opened 1990-06-11, closed 1990-10-31. FAILURE STOP LAMP SWITCH. EXTERIOR LIGHTING.

From NHTSA's investigation file, as of 2026-10-19. The JSON has NHTSA's summary of each.