2007 Dodge Nitro recalls and problems

In a letter dated August 21, 2014, the Center for Auto Safety (CAS) petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a defect investigation of alleged failures associated with the Totally Integrated Power Module (TIPM) installed in Chrysler SUV?s, trucks, and vans beginning in the 2007 model year. The petitioner alleges that TIPM defects may result in engine stall, airbag non-deployment, failure of fuel pump shutoff resulting in unintended acceleration, fire, and other symptoms. On September 25, 2014, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened DP14-004 to evaluate the petition for a grant or deny decision. ODI analyzed complaint data provided by CAS as well as complaints submitted to ODI from consumers. In total, there were 296 complaints submitted by the petitioner in the original petition and five supplements, including 271 complaints related to the subject vehicles equipped with TIPM-7. Approximately 3 percent of CAS complaints are related to vehicles equipped with TIPM-6 and ODI?s review of these complaints did not identify any safety defect trends. ODI conducted a detailed review of complaints narratives submitted by CAS and consumers including careful analysis of vehicle repair histories, warranty claims obtained from the manufacturer and any available Customer Assistance Inquiry reports (CAIR). Analysis of the field data indicated that MY2011-2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango vehicles exhibited significantly higher compla…

On November 18, 2010, NHTSA's Recall Management Division (RMD) opened an audit query (AQ10-001) to investigate recall remedy completion by rental car companies on safety recall campaigns.It was expected to provide the agency an indication of how completely and how quickly rental car fleets perform necessary recall-related remedies on the vehicles owned and then rented/leased for use on the roadways.RMD queried three (3) major motor vehicle manufacturers (Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors) and requested data regarding completion figures for fifteen (15) discreet safety recalls.Analysis of this data demonstrated that rental car recalls completion was neither complete nor consistent.The rental car companies representing the largest market share in the industry were then queried as to their respective policies for the rental, lease, and sale of vehicles with open recalls.The data and responses from the manufacturers and the rental car companies can be found in the document repository by accessing the ?Associated Documents link above.In December 2015, Congress enacted the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.One section of the Act prohibits rental car companies from renting, leasing, or selling motor vehicles subject to open safety recalls.With the passage of the FAST Act and its prohibition, there is no continuing need for the agency to investigate rental car recall completions.Accordingly, this investigation is closed.The agency reserves the right to open any futu…

ON JULY 3, 2007, DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION (DCC) SUBMITTED A DEFECT INFORMATION REPORT TO NHTSA DESCRIBING A DEFECT THAT COULD RESULT IN ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING IN APPROXIMATELY 80,894 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2007 JEEP WRANGLER AND DODGE NITRO VEHICLES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN JANUARY 30, 2006 AND JANUARY 22, 2007 (NHTSA RECALL 07V-291, DCC RECALL G25).ACCORDING TO DCC, THE TOTALLY INTEGRATED POWER MODULE (TIPM) IN THESE VEHICLES WAS PROGRAMMED WITH SOFTWARE THAT MAY ALLOW THE ENGINE TO STALL UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS.DCC WILL REPROGRAM THE TIPM IN THE RECALLED VEHICLES WITH REVISED SOFTWARE. ODI OPENED PE07-027 ON MAY 29, 2007, BASED ON 53 COMPLAINTS ALLEGING ENGINE STALL AND/OR LOSS OF ELECTRICAL POWER IN MY 2007 JEEP WRANGLER VEHICLES.ODI WAS ALSO MONITORING SIMILAR COMPLAINTS IN MY 2007 DODGE NITRO VEHICLES.DCC'S ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINTS TO DCC AND NHTSA FOUND THAT MANY DESCRIBED EVENTS WITH A MOMENTARY LOSS OF ELECTRICAL POWER INSIDE THE VEHICLE AND A CORRESPONDING LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.MANY OF THE REPORTS ALSO INDICATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER TELLTALE LAMPS MOMENTARILY ILLUMINATED DURING THE EVENT. DCC'S ENGINEERING ANALYSIS DETERMINED THAT THE TIPM COULD INITIATE AN INTERNAL RESET CYCLE LASTING APPROXIMATELY 75 MS IN RESPONSE TO ERROR MESSAGES ON THE COMMUNICATION BUS.THE KEY ON SIGNAL FROM THE TIPM TO THE POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE (PCM) IS LOST DURING A TIPM RESET.IF THE PCM LOSES THE KEY ON SIGNAL FOR LONGER THAN 40 MS, IT INTERPRETS IT AS THE VEHICLE IGNITION BEING TURNED…