The 1987 Pontiac Bonneville has 4 recalls, the most serious being a sticky accelerator cable that can prevent the throttle from returning to idle when you lift your foot, and a fusible link near the windshield washer bottle bracket that can melt and set the engine compartment on fire.
The accelerator cable can develop excessive friction along its path between the pedal and throttle body, causing the engine to stay at high revs even after the driver releases the pedal, with no warning beforehand. The electrical fire risk is separate: under a heavy current load, a fusible link routed near the plastic washer bottle bracket can overheat, melt the bracket, and ignite a fire under the hood. On vehicles equipped with fog lamps, the headlamp circuit breaker can overheat at low beam and cause the headlights and fog lamps to cut out without warning, a particular hazard at night or in poor weather. There is also an emissions compliance issue affecting vehicles with the 3.0-litre and 3.8-litre engines, where a failing mass airflow sensor causes the vehicle to exceed exhaust emissions standards.
