Recalls

Recall Monday—the day when NHTSA releases its list of recalls from the prior week—shows two Mopar recalls, one of which we have already covered (electrical shorts in 2014-16 Jeep Cherokees resulting in a “park outside” warning) due to its urgency. The second Stellantis recall for the week is almost trivial, a missing airbag warning label on 2022-23 Grand Cherokees. The fix for this one is adding a label, which cannot be done via over-the-air updates.

BMW’s Mini made the list with possible short-circuits in the footwell control module, affecting 2007-13 Mini Cooper, Cooper S, and JCW, and 2008-14 Cooper Clubman.

Jeep is recalling nearly 220,000 Jeep Cherokees due to fire risks, with a “park outside” alert for owners. This only affects the 2014-16 models with power liftgate—and only 1% appear to have the defect. The recall covers Cherokees which have already been recalled (twice) for power liftgate short-circuits. All Cherokees made from February 27, 2013 … Read more

Last week, NHTSA published three new recalls covering Stellantis North America vehicles: Ram ProMasters which may slip while in Park, Jeep Cherokees which may lose power or slip while in Park, and Jeep Wrangler 4xes which may stall or have the engine light come on. [Details — click on “More”]

There were no “Mopar” recalls again this week, but Volkswagen had a particularly bad time with front camera heaters overheating on 2020 Q7s, surprise-opening doors on 2023 the ID 4, breaking fuel pumps on the 2022 Taos, and inoperative airbags on the 2018-21 Atlas.

Tesla recalled the 2018-19 Model 3 for separating front suspension links, and Kia is fixing 2022-23 Carnival minivans whose power sliding doors may not stop for occupants. Oh, and the 2023 Hyundai  Genesis G90’s seat belt pretensioners may explode (see robot’s rendering). 

What’s left? 2019…

Recall Monday brought more Ford recalls than usual. Their issues include:

Rupturing brake hoses (2013-2018 Ford Fusion/Lincoln MKZ)
Failing wipers (2021 F-150)
Rear caliper bolts (2022 F-53 and F-59)
Rear cameras (2021-22 Bronco)
Trailer lights not working (2023 Maverick)

American Stellantis Marques had no recalls in the past week, but Ford managed to sell 2023 F-150s, Expeditions, and Navigators without heat-treated front axle pinions, and have inactive defoggers in 2023 Transits….

Late 2022 Jeep Compasses, made from May 12, 2022 to August 8, were made with no way to make the gauge cluster bright enough during some lighting conditions. This is not so much a defect as a design issue; as a result, starting by the end of March, Jeep will start adding a light sensor module and wiring jumper, and replacing the windshield and headlamp switches, so the display backlighting will be able to handle ambient lighting.

The second Mopar recall of the week is lack of rear-view images in 2021-23 Ram Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups….

The weekly summary of NHTSA recalls brings up Ram’s engine compartment fires, a low-probability but high-damage event caused by bad intake heater grids; Ram announced this last week. It affects 2021-23 Ram pickups and chassis cabs with Cummins diesel engines only—no gasoline engines are affected.

It also brought up some Ford recalls eerily reminiscent of times passed—a combination of rollaway and fuel tank fires which may remind some of the time Tauruses were slipping into Reverse even as Pinto fires were in the news. In this case, it’s the 2023 Ford Transit with poorly welded fuel tanks, compared with two rollaway recalls—one in the 2020-22 Ford Explorer, caused by a computer flaw; and one in the 2022-23 Bronco, Explorer, F-150, Mustang, and Lincoln Aviator (in short, the company’s hottest vehicles and a Lincoln) where a loose bolt in the transmission may let the vehicle just roll away….