2016 Chrysler Town and Country problems

What is wrong

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling various Dodge, Chrysler, and RAM vehicles equipped with Kidde Plastic-Handle or Push Button 'Pindicator' Fire Extinguishers. A list of the affected trailer models is available at: These extinguishers may become clogged, preventing the extinguisher from discharging as expected or requiring excessive force to activate the extinguisher. Additionally, in certain models, the nozzle may detach from the valve assembly with enough force that it could cause injury and also render the product inoperable. For a full list of the affected fire extinguisher models visit:

Risk

If the fire extinguisher does not function properly, it can increase the risk of injury in the event of a fire.

Remedy

Chrysler will notify owners instructing them to contact Kidde for a replacement fire extinguisher, free of charge. The recall began February 14, 2018. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403 or Kidde customer service service toll-free at 1‑855‑262‑3540, or online at www.kidde.com and click on "Product Safety Recall" for more information. Chrysler's number for this recall is T82.

Recall number 17V824000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan vehicles manufactured July 31, 2015, to April 18, 2016, 2016 Dodge Journey vehicles manufactured August 17, 2015, to January 29, 2016, and 2016 RAM ProMaster vehicles manufactured August 15, 2016, to April 15, 2016. The transmission pump may seize causing a loss of hydraulic pressure.

Risk

If the transmission loses hydraulic pressure, the vehicle may lose motive power, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the transmission pump, free of charge. The recall began on August 18, 2016. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is S44.

Recall number 16V461000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain model year 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country vehicles manufactured March 16, 2016, to March 17, 2016. The nuts on the third row seatbacks were incorrectly torqued and may become loose.

Risk

If the third row seatback becomes loose, it may separate from the seat frame, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will re-torque the third row seatback nuts, free of charge. The recall began on July 1, 2016. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is S37.

Recall number 16V300000 · Recall details

What is wrong

FCA US LLC (Chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Chrysler Town and Country, and 2014-2015 Dodge Grand Caravan vehicles manufactured August 16, 2014, to December 5, 2015. The windshield on the affected vehicles may have been installed using expired urethane primer, allowing the windshield to become displaced in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 212, "Windshield Mounting."

Risk

If the windshield dislodges during a crash, there is an increased risk of occupant injury.

Remedy

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the windshield, free of charge. The recall began March 4, 2016. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is S02.

Recall number 16V044000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Chrysler Group LLC (Chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2016 Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan vehicles manufactured August 19, 2015 to August 27, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the bolts that attach the hood striker may loosen and, as a result, the hood may open unexpectedly while driving.

Risk

If the hood opens while driving, the driver's vision may be obstructed, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will install new hood striker bolts with the proper torque, free of charge. The recall began on October 22, 2015. Owners may contact Chrysler's customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Chrysler's recall number is R53.

Recall number 15V595000 · Recall details

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE21-016 on July 7, 2021, to investigate 364 complaints alleging that one or both sliding doors on 2016 Model Year (MY) Grand Caravan or Town and Country vehicles could not be opened. The door(s) could not be opened using the mechanical handle or electronic remote switches. Many of the complaints described having to remove passengers seated in the rear of vehicles through the front doors, the second sliding door (if it was operational), the window, or the car?s rear hatch. The complainants have expressed concerns that if the sliding door(s) cannot be opened in the event of an emergency or crash, it could trap passengers or delay their egress.On June 4, FCA published TSB# 23-017-20 instructing dealers to replace the door lock actuator instead of the entire door latch assembly on the subject vehicles when consumers complained about either one or both of the sliding door locks not functioning and/or emitting a loud buzzing noise during lock/unlock operation. On June 16, 2021, FCA approved a Quality Warranty Extension for fifteen years/150,000 miles from the vehicle's in-service date for sliding door lock actuators on vehicles built between May 1, 2015, through January 9, 2017. FCA has started notifying owners about the new program. FCA will provide reimbursement for owners who previously paid for sliding door repairs.Consumers whose sliding doors are inoperative will have the opportunity to have their vehicle diagnosed, and if a fault is identified, have the sliding door actuator repaired at no charge.Analysis of the FCA IR response and ODI complaint data found that the majority (96%) of sliding door failures occurred prior to the calendar year 2020 when the subject vehicles had approximately 4 years in service. At the time of the closing of this investigation, 99% of the subject vehicles are passed the age where failures typically occur. The number of new reports has been decreasing since 2020 and further reduced following the FCA Warranty Extension program. ODI found that prior to a failure of the sliding door(s) there is normally a loud buzzing noise/sound generated that alerts the operator to the actuator starting to wear out.ODI has not identified any crashes or injury allegations due to the sliding door being inoperable on the subject vehicles following nearly six years of exposure. ODI will continue to monitor complaints received for the incidence of sliding doors becoming inoperative.Accordingly, the investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist, and the agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances.For a complete summary of this investigation and related consumer complaints, please see attached closing resume document.

PE21016

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19014 on September 9, 2019, to investigate 128 consumer complaints alleging that the Active Head Rest (AHR) inadvertently deployed without the occurrence of a crash or other rear impact event in model year (MY) 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango vehicles.When ODI opened the investigation, ODI was aware of thirteen alleged injuries.A small number of Early Warning Reports identified driver and/or passenger front seat AHR inadvertent deployments without a rear impact event.Reported safety consequences resulting from the AHR deployments include concussions, headaches, soft tissue injuries, disorientation, nausea, vomiting and/or loss of vehicle control as a result of being surprised and distracted by being struck in the head by the inadvertent AHR deployment. On September 24, 2019, ODI sent an Information Request (IR) letter to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).ODI requested certain detailed information from FCA related to the following subject vehicles: MY 2010-2014 Dodge Avenger 200, MY 2010-2014 Dodge Calber, MY 2010-2014 Chrysler Sebring, MY 2013-2015 Ram Tradesman, MY 2012 Ram Van, MY 2010-2019 Dodge Grand Caravan, MY 2010-2016 Chrysler Town and Country, MY 2010-2017 Jeep Compass, MY 2011-2020 Dodge Durango, MY 2011-2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee, MY 2010-2019 Dodge Journey, MY 2010-2012 Jeep Liberty, MY 2010-2011 Jeep Nitro, and MY 2010-2011 Jeep Patriot vehicles.On December 2, 2019, ODI received a response from FCA that included vehicle production data, consumer complaints, field reports, warranty claims, manufacturer actions, production changes, and other data related to the alleged defect from the start of production (2010) through September 24, 2019.On January 27, 2020, ODI received an update to the December 2, 2019, IR response from FCA.On September 22, 2020, ODI requested additional subject vehicle AHR information from FCA.ODI received FCA's response on October 21, 2020.ODI subsequently received an update to FCA's October 21, 2020, response on February 16, 2021.During the investigation, ODI requested updates to certain IR questions on two occasions.FCA provided updates to question #2 on March 5, 2021, and questions #2 and #5 on May 26, 2023. FCA’s IR response data identified approximately 7.5 million subject vehicles (with approximately 15 million AHR assemblies).Due to the large number of vehicles and failure reports, ODI focused its analysis on the FCA vehicle model with the highest failure rate to represent the worst-case scenario.For this purpose, ODI focused on MY 2012-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles for its analysis.This population includes 710,890 vehicles that FCA manufactured between August 19, 2011, and August 8, 2015.ODI identified 2,839 alleged AHR failures within this limited population.ODI identified 263 alleged injuries that were caused by AHR failures in MY 2012-2015 Grand Cherokees vehicles.Of these alleged injuries, ODI categorized them as eighty-two (82) soft tissue (neck/whiplash, bruise) injuries, four (4) concussions, fifty-nine (59) headaches, and one hundred eighteen (118) without a specific injury description.Although complainants have alleged injuries, ODI has been unable to obtain evidence to substantiate or validate any injuries where medical treatment was required.Consumer outreach was conducted by ODI, where sixty-three (63) FCA complainants with alleged injuries were contacted.Twelve of the sixty-three FCA consumers responded and were interviewed by ODI.ODI requested medical records, however, only one response was provided. Attorneys representing the responding complainant provided a synopsis that indicated they had experienced prior neck-related injuries dating to the mid-1990s.ODI also contacted one hundred (100) consumers who submitted Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ) in an attempt to validate alleged injuries. Despite the efforts of ODI, the office has been unsuccessful at obtaining substantive documentation/evidence supporting complaints that allege serious injuries (where pre-existing medical conditions did not already exist). In addition to the low severity of alleged injuries caused by AHR deployments, there have been eleven alleged crashes and two alleged lane departures within the entire subject vehicle population that has been in the field up to sixteen years (with over 8,500 AHR inadvertent deployments).ODI was not able to validate that the alleged crashes were the result of inadvertent head rest deployments, and the crashes were minor in nature. ODI has conducted a thorough investigation of the alleged safety defect and with up to sixteen years of exposure for some vehicles and over 8,500 inadvertent AHR deployments, no serious crashes or injuries could be validated in the sub-population of focus.The lack of serious injuries validated by ODI with such large period of field exposure is consistent with thework done by the federal safety agency’s Human Injury Research Division and the Biodynamic Research Corporation, which support that an inadvertent AHR deployment is not likely to cause serious injury.In addition to the low risk of injury, FCA released an extended warranty program that covers inadvertent AHR deployment for ten years / unlimited mileage from the vehicle's in-service date. PE19014 is closed with the FCA extended warranty program.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist, and the Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances. To review a complete closing summary, please the attached closing report. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to

PE19014