Recall Register

1981 Chevrolet Citation: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 2 recall campaigns for the 1981 Chevrolet Citation. The newest campaign is 81V038000. NHTSA received the report on 24 Mar 1981. The NHTSA record gives the component Electrical System / 12v/24v/48v Battery / Cables. NHTSA has 3 complaints on file for this model year. 4 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, 81V038000, in the NHTSA record

A new ground cable will be installed free of charge.

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

2 campaigns, newest first. 130,593 units in total.

  1. 81V038000Received . 105,130 units.

    Electrical System / 12v/24v/48v Battery / Cables

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The engine-to-body ground cable on certain vehicles may have been damaged during manufacture. The cable could eventually break due to the relative motion between the engine and body during vehicle operation.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    A new ground cable will be installed free of charge.

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

  2. 80V129000Received . 25,463 units.

    Steering / Hydraulic Power Assist / Hose, Piping, and Connections

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The involved vehicles may have been assembled with the power steering hose incorrectly routed. The power steering hose may then contact the exhaust manifold, resulting in deterioration and eventual failure of the hose and leakage of power steering fluid onto the exhaust manifold.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    The dealer will inspect and, if necessary, replace the hoses and inlet pipe and add a clip at no charge to owner.

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

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

3 complaints, 10 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.

1981 Chevrolet Citation: component mentions in complaints
ComponentMentions
Engine and Engine Cooling3
Steering2
Suspension1
Tires1
Electrical System1
Power Train1
Visibility1
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
15 Jul 2000

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 1981 Chevrolet Citation, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1996, with 1 complaint.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1981 Chevrolet Citation
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
EA87006Engineering analysisPOWER ST. ASSISTSteering16 Dec 198619 Sep 1988
DP85026Defect petitionENGINE COMPARTMENT FIREEngine and Engine Cooling16 Jul 198513 Aug 1985
DP83008Defect petitionLOCKED POWER STEERING SYSTEMUnknown or Other23 Mar 198320 Jul 1983
DP82010Defect petitionTRANS. LOCKUPS AND TRANS. HARD SHIFTINGPower Train20 May 198218 Oct 1982

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. 19809
  2. 19812
  3. 19823
  4. 19831
  5. 19841
  6. 19880

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. 1981 Chevrolet Citation: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/chevrolet/citation/1981/. 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 1981 Chevrolet Citation?
130,593 units in 2 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Chevrolet Citation have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 16 recall campaigns for the Chevrolet Citation, model years 1980 to 1988. 2 of them name the 1981 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1981 Chevrolet Citation name most often?
Engine and Engine Cooling: 3 of 10 component mentions.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1981 Chevrolet Citation open?
No. Each of the 4 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.