The company launched a repair campaign in July 2014 to fix a problem with the vanity-mirror wiring, which was prone to short circuit if technicians had previously removed the mirror or headliner to perform service. At least three injuries were blamed on fires caused by improper reassembly.
Owners continued to report wiring fires in vehicles that had been ‘fixed’ by the original campaign. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration eventually opened an investigation into the campaign to determine what, if anything, went wrong. Notably, the fire complaint tally for serviced vehicles had exceeded the number of reports that led to the initial recall.
FCA has finally acknowledged the continuing problems, placing blame on technicians for failing to ‘precisely’ follow the recommended service procedure. The issue is said to be present only in vehicles with a certain wiring package, limiting the recall’s list to less than half the original campaign.
Headliners will be secured with a new adhesive, while other measures will be taken to prevent wiring from contacting abrasive surfaces.
The company acknowledges ‘overheating conditions’ in less than 0.02 percent of the original campaign’s 895,000 vehicle population, suggesting post-service failures occurred in up to 179 SUVs. The specific number of fires has not been disclosed, though the automaker claims to be unaware of any related injuries or accidents.
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