Defect in heated washer fluid system brings recall of nearly 1.5 M GM vehicles

The automaker will pay $100 to owners and lessees of a variety of its pickup trucks, SUVs, crossovers and sedans and disable the heater element because of concerns it is a fire hazard.

According to the Associated Press, GM can’t replace the unit because the supplier, Microheat Inc. of Michigan, is out of business.

This isn’t the first time the automaker has had problems with the heated washer fluid system in certain of its vehicles: GM recalled over 900,000 vehicles in August 2008 because a short circuit on the circuit board could have overheated the ground wire.

The automaker later came across fires in vehicles after they’d been fixed under the recall, leading to the recent recall.