Chrysler may be next in the dock for faulty ignition switches if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration determines there’s a problem lurking on 1.25 million cars.
The agency opened two investigations this week after Chrysler revealed it used airbag controllers on previous-generation Jeeps that only stay powered for 150 milliseconds after the car shuts down, a similar setup to the airbag issues GM has been facing all year on its older and some current models. The agency said it had received 32 complaints from Grand Cherokee and Commander owners since 2004 alleging the ignition key being easily bumped into the off position by the driver’s knee. A total of 525,000 2005–2006 Grand Cherokee and 2006–2007 Commander models are potentially affected. One crash has been reported.
Following Chrysler’s admission and 23 owner complaints, NHTSA is also looking at the 2008–2010 Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Journey, and Chrysler Town & Country for similar problems. In these cars—which may affect up to 700,000 vehicles—the spring inside the ignition switch may cause the key to over-travel when the driver releases it after the engine starts. The key can get stuck between the run and accessory positions with the engine running and then revert to the accessory position—shutting off the engine and disabling all power assists and the airbags—after hitting a bump or striking the key with a misplaced knee.
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In February 2011, Chrysler had recalled nearly 250,000 of those models from 2010 and replaced the ignition switches, although many owners claim the cars shut off even after they received the new part. The investigation also includes the identical, forgotten Volkswagen Routan, which was initially recalled at the same time. No injuries or crashes due to airbags failing to deploy have been linked to the investigations, the agency said.
Earlier this month, NHTSA began questioning a November 2012 recall of 2002–2003 Jeep Liberty and 2002–2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee models for airbags that could suddenly deploy due to electrical faults. At the time of that recall, Chrysler had received at least 215 reports of faulty deployments and 81 injuries from the airbags.
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