This week’s Recall Recap brought to you by brakes, engines, and electrical gremlins.
Ram Trucks are experiencing parking brake failures and engine compartment fires, Jeeps are stalling out, Dodge Darts want to go sledding downhill, Dodge Nitros are chucking crankshafts, Chrysler LX and Mitsubishi RVR cars are lying to you, and Mitsubishi and the Koreans are having brake light issues. Yep, it’s one of those weeks.
First up, Ram 1500 trucks may have an improperly adjusted parking brake equalizer installed from the factory. If your truck in part of this recall, don’t park on any steep slopes near water unless you want your pickup to turn into a pontoon boat.
On certain vehicles, the parking brake equalizer may have been adjusted incorrectly during vehicle assembly. This could result in reduced effectiveness of the parking brake system. Should the vehicle be parked on a sufficient slope, this could allow unintended vehicle movement, which could cause a crash resulting in property damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, re-adjust the parking brake equalizer.
Units Affected: 2431
Model Year(s) Affected: 2013
Also from Ram, 2500 and 3500 series trucks may be melting their engine covers. No, not the hoods (that would look seriously bad ass). We’re talking about those plastic engine covers everyone hates. There’s some fiery death potential with this one.
On certain vehicles, heat buildup can occur under the engine cover, potentially resulting in an underhood fire causing injury and/or property damage. Correction: Dealers will install an updated engine cover.
Units Affected: 882
Model Year(s) Affected: 2013
The soft-road Jeep twins are having fuel supply issues this week. Compass and Patriot models may stall out due to fuel starvation. This is caused by dino juice not moving around the tank as it should. It’s a good thing these vehicles aren’t “Trail Rated”.
On certain vehicles, fuel transfer from the secondary to the primary side of the fuel tank may be interrupted, possibly resulting in engine stalling and loss of motive power. In conjunction with traffic, road conditions and driver’s reactions, this could increase the risk of a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will install an updated fuel transfer tube.
Units Affected: 2315
Model Year(s) Affected: 2012
The Dodge Dart wants to play like its bigger truck brother and become a pontoon boat as well.
On certain vehicles, incorrect rear brake calipers may have been installed during vehicle assembly. As a result, the parking brake system may not function. Should the vehicle be parked on a sufficient slope, this could allow unintended vehicle movement, which could cause a crash resulting in property damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace the rear brake calipers.
Units Affected: 6
Model Year(s) Affected: 2013
This is my favourite recall of the week. Remember the Dodge Nitro? It’s okay if you’ve completely forgotten about it. You see, the driveline tunnel heat shield may drop down and get frisky with the driveshaft. Doesn’t sound like a massive issue, until you realize you may get a driveshaft through the butt then slapped with an airbag. I really feel bad for the poor sucker who found this one out, mostly because he was driving a Dodge Nitro.
On certain vehicles, the tunnel heat shield may drop down and rub on the drive shaft, which could eventually result in the drive shaft breaking and loss of motive power. In conjunction with traffic and road conditions and driver reactions, this could increase the risk of a crash. A broken drive shaft could also impact the tunnel with sufficient force to cause airbag deployment. Unintended airbag deployment, in a non-warranted (non-impact) situation could startle the driver which could result in a vehicle crash causing property damage and/or personal injury. In some instances, inadvertent deployment could cause minor injuries to vehicle occupants. Correction: Dealers will install a heat shield support bracket.
Units Affected: 1050
Model Year(s) Affected: 2007-2008
One more Chrysler recall? Sure. The LX triplets (300, Charger, Challenger) are lying to you. Mainly about airbags. They could be lying about other things, too, but that isn’t covered in this recall. The airbag warning light could become illuminated when it shouldn’t and deactivate the airbag when it shouldn’t.
On certain vehicles, seat airbag wiring harnesses were built with improperly sized electrical terminal crimps that may cause an intermittent illumination of the airbag warning light. If the airbag light illuminates, the seat side airbags may not deploy in the event of a crash, which could increase the risk of injury. Correction: Dealers will replace driver and passenger seat airbag harnesses.
Units Affected: 7043
Model Year(s) Affected: 2011-2012
The award for biggest recall of the week goes to Hyundai and Kia. Combined, this recall covers over 350,000 vehicles. I guess it is “go big or go home” for the Koreans on everything, including safety issues. This recall has to do with brake lights not illuminating when you hit the slow down pedal. Also, if you’ve rear-ended a Hyundai or Kia recently, this recall could have some…*cough*…ramifications. Heh.
On certain vehicles, the stop lamp switch may fail and cause intermittent operation of the brake lights. Failure of the brake lights to illuminate when the brake pedal is depressed could result in a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will replace the switch.
Units Affected: 254,784 (Hyundai), 106,098 (Kia)
Model Year(s) Affected: Multiple models, 2007-2011 (Hyundai recall link, Kia recall link)
Mitsubishi RVRs may run out of fuel without you knowing it, due to factory workers not installing a wiring thingy. And it gets another recall for a brake light switch that doesn’t work, allowing you to shift out of park without depressing the brake pedal. Nifty.
On certain vehicles, a wiring harness for the secondary fuel tank level sender may have been omitted during assembly. This would cause the fuel gauge to indicate a greater quantity of fuel than what remains in the tank. As a result, if the tank were to become empty, engine stalling could occur which, in conjunction with traffic, road conditions, and driver’s reactions, could increase the risk of a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will install the correct fuel level sender harness.
Certain vehicles may not comply with the requirements of Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 108 – Lighting System and Retroreflective Devices and CMVSS 114 – Theft Protection and Rollaway Protection. Due to an incorrectly adjusted brake light switch, the brake lights may remain on constantly or may illuminate intermittently, or the vehicle could be shifted out of the park position without depressing the brake pedal. Correction: Dealers will remove, reinstall and adjust the switch.
Units Affected: 2193 (wiring harness), 1252 (brake light switch)
Model Year(s) Affected: 2013
Last recall: Braun – who makes low-floor Caravan conversions for our handicapable friends – forgot to weld some stuff for the rear suspension.
On certain Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country vehicles converted to lowered floor mobility vehicles by the Braun Corporation, welds may be missing from the rear suspension track bar mount assembly, which could allow the track bar to separate at the mount. This could result in poor vehicle handling characteristics, increasing the risk of a crash causing property damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will inspect and replace the track bar mount assembly if needed.
Units Affected: 8
Model Year(s) Affected: 2013
