1987 Pontiac Tempest

The 1987 Pontiac Tempest has 5 recalls, the most serious being multiple hood latch defects that can allow the hood to fly up while driving and block the driver's view.

All four hood-related recalls center on the secondary latch, which serves as a backup if the primary latch fails. In some vehicles, the secondary latch may contact a support bracket or the primary latch's return spring in a way that causes it to disengage or prevents it from fully engaging. In others, a skid plate on the hood latch support assembly was not properly welded, and repeated hood closures can crack those welds and leave the secondary latch with no effective backing. A separate issue involves the secondary latch being out of adjustment from the factory, which can cause it to bend over time. A bent latch can either interfere with the primary latch's return spring or prevent the primary latch from fully catching, meaning a single latch failure leaves nothing holding the hood down. The fifth recall covers the door hinges, where the hinge pins can break and weaken the door's attachment to the body. A failed hinge pin can cause a door to swing open while the vehicle is moving, and in a side-impact collision, the compromised door structure raises the risk of injury to occupants.