Allegations Called ‘a Sham’ : 2 Question Safety of Cars From GM Plant

Two foremen at the General Motors assembly plant in Van Nuys alleged Wednesday that more than 5,000 cars made there last summer may be unsafe because of a temporary change in the way brake parts were assembled.

In response, GM said the change was minor and denied that it impairs the cars’ ability to stop. GM said the employees, both of whom are plaintiffs in a pending racial discrimination lawsuit against the auto maker, went public only to make good on a threat to do so if the company refused to settle the case out of court and pay their legal fees.

The foremen, Claude Rodriguez, 49, and Carlos Corona, 40, said their accusations, made at a news conference in Los Angeles, are unrelated to the lawsuit.

Rodriguez said he called the session out of a “moral obligation to the public” after his complaints to plant manager Ernest D. Schaefer and others at GM did not lead to recall of the automobiles.

Brake Fluid Hoses

The brake dispute centers on thin hoses that carry brake fluid from master cylinders to brake calipers on Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds made at the plant from Aug. 20 to Sept. 11, at the beginning of the 1987 model year.

Schaefer said that, during that period, brackets attaching the hoses to the front struts were attached 30 minutes earlier than usual on the assembly line. The change was an attempt to alleviate a problem of workers confusing brackets for right and left wheels, he said.

When the similar-looking brackets are switched, the assembly line must be shut down to correct the problem, Schaefer said, something that happens about once a month. But the problem was not solved by the altered procedures, he said, so the plant went back to the old way.

Rodriguez and Corona claimed that added tension applied to the hoses during that 30-minute period may cause the 12-inch long hoses to fray and, eventually, leak brake fluid.

Charges Denied

GM officials, however, said the added tension on the hoses is only about two pounds more than the five pounds they ordinarily withstand. The hoses can withstand up to 250 pounds of tension before tearing, Schaefer said.

“The safety claim is a sham manufactured to support a groundless lawsuit,” GM spokesman Harry Kelly said.

Officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which investigates safety problems in automobiles, were unavailable for comment.

Dan Howell, a safety researcher for the independent Center for Auto Safety in Washington, said his office has not heard any complaints about the brake systems in those cars, although it is “too early to tell.”

The lawsuit, filed July 1, 1985, in federal court in Los Angeles, alleges that discrimination was the reason that Rodriguez, Corona and 17 other black and Latino managers at the Van Nuys plant were not promoted and were kept off a list of those looking for advancement.