Recall Register

1978 Buick Regal: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 6 recall campaigns for the 1978 Buick Regal. The newest campaign is 85V048000. NHTSA received the report on 29 Apr 1985. The NHTSA record gives the component Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components / Drum / Wheel Cylinders. NHTSA has 1 complaint on file for this model year. 2 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 85V048000, in the NHTSA record

Add a part to prevent wheel cylinder from rotating.
NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

6 campaigns, newest first. 12,961,101 units in total.

  • 85V048000Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components / Drum / Wheel Cylinders
  • 84V149000Power Train / Axle Assembly / Axle Shaft
  • 81V025000Suspension / Rear
  • 79V175000Suspension / Front / Wheel Bearing
  • 78V139000Engine and Engine Cooling / Cooling System / Fan
  • 78V018000Equipment / Other / Labels

  1. 85V048000Received . 1,810,000 units.

    Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components / Drum / Wheel Cylinders

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Excessive enlargement of the wheel cylinder pilot hole in the rear brake backing plate could allow the wheel cylinder to rotate and cause loss of brake fluid. Consequence of defect: a loss of brake fluid leads to loss of rear brake action, creating the potential for an accident. Front brakes would remain operational.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Add a part to prevent wheel cylinder from rotating.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP..

  2. 84V149000Received . 3,100,000 units.

    Power Train / Axle Assembly / Axle Shaft

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Rear axle assembly may have axles that were improperly manufactured. This condition may result in separation of the axle shaft and wheel assembly from the vehicle.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    The dealer will inspect the rear axle to determine whether it was manufactured at the buffalo plant. If so, they will make axle measurements and if necessary replace or modify affected axle components without charge.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  3. 81V025000Received . 5,821,160 units.

    Suspension / Rear

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The bolts that attach the lower rear control arm to the frame may fracture. The rear control arm supports and positions the rear axle. Fracture of the bolts would allow the control arm to drop free.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Both rear control arm attachment bolts will be replaced without charge.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  4. 79V175000Received . 1,896,222 units.

    Suspension / Front / Wheel Bearing

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Under certain driving conditions, these vehicles can experience temperatures in the front wheel outer bearing area which can affect the wheel bearing grease. This can result in inadequate lubrication of the bearing. This condition may be further aggravated by improper adjustment of the front wheel spindle nut.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    The dealer will install new front wheel outer bearings packed with grease and the spindle will be coated with lubricant. New grease retainer caps will also be installed to maintain grease in outer bearing. This will be done free of charge.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  5. 78V139000Received . 333,619 units.

    Engine and Engine Cooling / Cooling System / Fan

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The hub portion of the fan blade assembly could crack due to high stress levels generated during engine operating conditions. Eventually, the blade could break apart at the hub and blade pieces could be propelled into the engine. If the hood is open while the engine is running, the fragments would be free to fly from the vehicle.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealer will replace the fan blade assembly without charge to owner.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  6. 78V018000Received . 100 units.

    Equipment / Other / Labels

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The involved vehicles do not conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 110, "tire selection and rims", in that the tire placard does not contain legible tire size information.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealer will provide proper labels for the owner to install, or for dealer installation, if preferred.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP..

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

1 complaint, 1 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. This model year has fewer than 50 component mentions, so the table shows the number of mentions only.

1978 Buick Regal: component mentions in complaints
ComponentMentions
Service Brakes, Hydraulic1
Complaints that report a crash
0
Complaints that report a fire
0
Injuries in the complaints
0
Deaths in the complaints
0
Date of the newest complaint
19 Nov 1996

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 1978 Buick Regal, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1996, with 1 complaint.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1978 Buick Regal
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
EA86006Engineering analysisBRAKE BACKING PLATEService Brakes, Hydraulic27 Nov 198528 Nov 1988
DP79049Defect petitionV-6 STALLING DUE TO FUEL FILTERVehicle Speed Control / Linkages14 Jun 197917 Sep 1979

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

  1. 19731
  2. 19742
  3. 19752
  4. 19762
  5. 19773
  6. 19786
  7. 19794
  8. 19805
  9. 19813
  10. 19822
  11. 19831
  12. 19844
  13. 19858
  14. 19864
  15. 19872
  16. 198810
  17. 19897
  18. 19908
  19. 19916
  20. 19922
  21. 19932
  22. 19943
  23. 19958
  24. 19963
  25. 19977
  26. 19986
  27. 19996
  28. 20008
  29. 20016
  30. 20023
  31. 20033
  32. 20042
  33. 20050
  34. 20080
  35. 20090
  36. 20100
  37. 20114
  38. 20126
  39. 20135
  40. 20142
  41. 20150
  42. 20161
  43. 20170
  44. 20183
  45. 20193
  46. 20202

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 1978 Buick Regal: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/buick/regal/1978/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
30 Sep 2026
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 1978 Buick Regal?
12,961,101 units in 6 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Buick Regal have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 98 recall campaigns for the Buick Regal, model years 1973 to 2020. 6 of them name the 1978 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1978 Buick Regal name most often?
Service Brakes, Hydraulic: 1 of 1 component mention.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1978 Buick Regal open?
No. Each of the 2 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.