Chrysler has announced two recalls for electrical problems in several vehicle models. A total of 559,703 vehicles will be recalled in the U.S. because of issues with either the air bags or the ABS/ESC systems.
The first recall is for certain model year 2003 Jeep Liberty and 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles for inadvertent air bag deployment that could cause a vehicle to crash. (Note: this is unrelated to the widespread Takata air bag recall.) According to the National Traffic and Highway Safety Association, the filter circuitry inside the air bag electronic control module can degrade, and then electrical noise can cause a component in the ECM to fail. When this happens, the front air bags, side air bags, and/or seatbelt pretensioners can deploy inadvertently, posing injury and crash hazards. Chrysler will notify owners in December 2015, but the replacement parts aren’t expected to be available until early 2016. When the parts of available, dealers will replace the air bag electronic control module and the front and/or side impact sensors, as necessary.
A separate recall includes certain 2012-2015 Dodge Journey vehicles. In the recalled Journeys, water can enter the wiring harness for the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) module and leak into the module, disabling the ABS and/or the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system. This could cause a loss of stability or braking control which increases the risk of a crash. Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will seal the ABS wiring harness to prevent water from entering and will replace the ABS module and repair the headlamp and dash wiring harness, as necessary.
Source: NHTSA | Photo by Sfoskett~commonswiki
