Chrysler, Honda, and Toyota are recalling more than two million cars to fix airbags that can suddenly deploy without warning, according to filings posted this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This is the second round of recalls for the same problem stemming from late 2012.
These recalls (which are not related to the Takata airbag inflators that can explode shrapnel) were prompted by a NHTSA investigation from May that looked at a previous 2012 recall of Jeep SUVs. In that instance, front and side-curtain airbags manufactured by supplier TRW were inadvertently deploying due to electrical faults in the airbag circuitry. Chrysler's initial submissions cited 215 reports of faulty deployments and 81 injuries from the airbags, and by May of last year, it had informed NHTSA of an additional six deployments that occurred on vehicles previously repaired with a new wiring harness incorporating an electrical noise filter.
So far through October, Chrysler has reported a further 18 accidental deployments on repaired vehicles—a total of 18 Libertys and six Grand Cherokees—where the noise-filter solution obviously failed. Chrysler admits it still can't figure out what's causing the "electrical overstress" and so it's now replacing the entire airbag control module instead of installing new wiring.
A total of 753,176 Chrysler models, including the 2002–2003 Jeep Liberty, 2002–2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and 2003–2004 Dodge Viper, are included in the U.S. Chrysler said it wasn't aware of any airbag deployments in Vipers, and while there have been at least 81 injuries, there have been no related crashes.
Likewise, Honda is recalling 374,177 cars—specifically, the 2003–2004 Honda Odyssey and 2003 Acura MDX—after learning of an accidental deployment on a 2003 Odyssey in April. So far, Honda has reported eight accidental deployments and no injuries involving vehicles that had received the original wiring fix.
The recall also spreads to include 1,006,849 2003–2004 Toyota Avalon, Corolla, and Matrix models (as well as the Toyota-built Matrix twin, the Pontiac Vibe). However, unlike Chrysler and Honda, Toyota had already begun replacing airbag modules in addition to installing noise filters during its initial January 2013 and later March 2014 recall campaigns. Still, because dealers only replaced modules that threw a faulty code, many more potentially bad modules are still across the million-plus cars just recalled.
- Chrysler Recalls 2.9 Million U.S. Vehicles with Takata Airbags
- Massive Takata Airbag Recall: Everything You Need to Know, Including List of Vehicles
- NHTSA Launches VIN Look-up Tool for Uncompleted Recall Repairs
Airbag supplier TRW won't have any new control modules ready "until the latter part of 2015," according to NHTSA. In the meantime, Chrysler, Honda, and Toyota owners will be notified to have the noise filter installed, if they haven't already, as an interim fix. All the cars are supposedly safe to drive, although some Jeep owners have witnessed airbags and even the seatbelt pre-tensioners being triggered sometimes before even a warning light appears. If you'd like to know if your vehicle is among those affected, you can use NHTSA's VIN lookup tool to search the database.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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