Chrysler said it would recall up to 792,300 Jeeps to replace the same faulty ignition switches that were the subject of an earlier recall this month that covered 696,000 minivans and crossovers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, after receiving documents from Chrysler on its airbag controllers, opened two investigations in June on the 2005–2006 Grand Cherokee and 2006–2007 Commander. Chrysler has since expanded the vehicle population to include the 2007 Grand Cherokee for a possible total of 649,900 cars in the U.S., up from the agency’s initial 525,000. Chrysler said it was still tabulating the final number and would notify owners in mid-September, saying that for now they should “remove all items from their key rings, leaving only their ignition keys.”
The agency said it had received 32 complaints from Grand Cherokee and Commander owners since 2004 alleging the ignition had been easily bumped to the off position by the driver’s knee hitting the key. Chrysler said it knew of at least one crash and roughly 119 complaints from owners related to the switch problem. As with the General Motors ignition-switch recall, the airbag controllers can only stay powered for 150 milliseconds after the car shuts down, which means that if the engine dies, they won’t deploy.
As it did with the minivans, Chrysler likely will install hardier detent rings inside the ignition switches to prevent the key from moving too readily, although it hasn’t specified the exact repair in this case. Another 920,000 2002–2003 Jeep Liberty and 2002–2004 Grand Cherokee models are under NHTSA investigation for airbags that can accidentally deploy.
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Chrysler is also recalling 21,000 cars and trucks for shocks and struts that can “break free from their mounts” and cause a loss of control. The 2014 Ram 1500, 2015 Jeep Cherokee, and 2015 Chrysler 200 are affected, including about 14,300 in the U.S. Chrysler hasn’t set dates for customer notification or repairs.
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