Recall Monday: gauge lights, cameras, and at Hyundai/Genesis, exploding seat belts

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 issue is not, as one might expect, the camera; instead, it is a trailer reverse steering control module which prevents the image from showing up in Reverse. The fix here is no parts replacement, but a firmware update. This affects around 68,809 Ram 1500 trucks made from June 3, 2020 through August 17, 2022 with the trailer reverse steering control module. Another 25 or so Ram 2500s with the module were made from June 21, 2022 through August 17, 2022.

In other recalls, there were some mildly dull ones (Volkswagen using incorrect labels on Audi Q7s for no less than six model years), some goofy ones (Nikola trucks missing brake pedal locking screws, 2023 Honda CR-Vs with badly welded passenger seats), an intriguing one (eight different 2023 BMWs being able to close their windows without the key present), and then Hyundai’s exploding pre-tensioners.

Around 65,517 2020-23 Hyundai Genesis cars—the G80, GV80, GV70, and GV60—have seat belt pre-tensioners which may explode when deployed. Only around 1% of these vehicles were made with the defect, according to the recall. The problem was traced down to “over-pressurization of the pretensioner pipe.” The solution is not what you would expect (replacing the pretensioner) but fitting a cap over the pretensioner so that, if it does explode, people will not be hit with its shrapnel.