NHTSA recall 98V146000

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	98V146000
Manufacturer	GENERAL MOTORS CORP.
Reported	1998-06-29
Owners notified	1998-08-11
Component	AIR BAGS
Units potentially affected	675302

What is wrong

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. BECAUSE OF CERTAIN CALIBRATIONS IN THE AIR BAG'S SENSING AND DIAGNOSTIC MODULE, AN INADVERTENT AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT COULD OCCUR IN A LOW SPEED CRASH OR WHEN AN OBJECT STRIKES THE FLOOR PAN.

What can happen

AIR BAGS DEPLOY WITH GREAT FORCE AND CAN SERIOUSLY INJURE UNRESTRAINED OCCUPANTS WHO ARE TOO CLOSE TO THEM.

The remedy

DEALERS WILL RECALIBRATE THE AIR BAG SENSING AND DIAGNOSTIC MODULE.

Notes

OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN DURING AUGUST 1998.OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT CHEVROLET AT 1-800-222-1022 OR PONTIAC AT 1-800-762-2737.ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4326).

Vehicles this campaign lists
1996 CHEVROLET CAVALIER	Built 1995-04-01 to 1996-08-31.
1997 CHEVROLET CAVALIER	Built 1996-07-01 to 1997-05-31.
1996 PONTIAC SUNFIRE	Built 1995-04-01 to 1996-08-31.
1997 PONTIAC SUNFIRE	Built 1996-07-01 to 1997-05-31.

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 EA98001 and RQ98013

This recall followed 2 NHTSA investigations. 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
EA98001	Engineering analysis, opened 1998-01-23, closed 1998-07-31. OVERSENSITIVE AIR BAG DEPLOYMENTS. AIR BAGS.
RQ98013	Recall query, opened 1998-08-26. OVERSENSITIVE AIR BAG DEPLOYMENTS. AIR BAGS.

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