2002 Jeep Liberty airbags problems

What is wrong

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain model year 2002-2003 Jeep Liberty vehicles manufactured January 9, 2001, to March 28, 2003, 2002-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles manufactured February 13, 2001, to May 23 2003, and 2003-2004 Dodge Viper vehicles manufactured November 1, 2001, to June 30, 2004. Due to electrical noise beyond the tolerance of the air bag electronic control module (ECM), a component in the ECM may fail, causing the front air bags, side air bags, and/or seatbelt pretensioners to deploy inadvertently while the vehicle is being operated.

Risk

Inadvertent deployment of the air bags may increase the risk of injury and the possibility of a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Chrysler dealers will replace the air bag control module and side impact sensors as required, free of charge. This recall remedy was applied during earlier recall campaigns of these vehicles under safety recalls 12V527 and 13V040. All owners that have not had the recall repair performed under safety recalls 12V527 or 13V040 are strongly encouraged to have it performed and not wait for the final remedy to be deployed to the field. The recall began on December 29, 2015. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is R06.

Recall number 15V046000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Chrysler is recalling certain model year 2002 and 2003 Jeep Liberty vehicles manufactured January 9, 2001, through March 28, 2003, and 2002 through 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles manufactured February 13, 2001, through May 23, 2003. A component in the air bag control module may fail causing the front airbags, side curtain airbags, and/or seatbelt pretensioners to deploy inadvertently while the vehicle is being operated.

Risk

Inadvertent deployment of the airbags may increase the risk of injury and the possibility of a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will install a supplemental jumper harness to the airbag control module, free of charge. Owners were notified of the recall by interim letter in January 2013. The remedy for affected Liberty vehicles is expected to be available in April 2013. The remedy for affected Grand Cherokee vehicles is expected to be available later in the year. Owners may contact Chrysler at 1‑800‑247‑9753.

Recall number 12V527000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Vehicle description: sport utility vehicles. In the event of a severe frontal offset collision, sharp edges on the power steering pressure hose bracket could cut the front impact sensor wiring insulation causing a short circuit in the wiring.

Risk

This could delay the deployment of the air bag system, increasing the risk of injury to the seat occupant.

Remedy

Dealers will wrap the front impact sensor wire harness with protective insulation to prevent the possibility of damage. Owner notification began february 18, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact daimlerchrysler at 1‑800‑853‑1403.

Recall number 01V373000 · Recall details

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened an investigation based on consumer allegations of inadvertent air bag deployments (IABD) occurring after the recall remedy for the federal safety agency recall 12V‑527 had been installed on recalled model year (MY ) 2002-2003 Jeep Liberty and MY 2002-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles manufactured by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).The recall was in response to the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) investigation EA12-001 during which data provided by FCA indicate that the air bag circuitry inside the Occupant Restraint Control (ORC) module can degrade. ORC degradation can result in an inadvertent air bag deployment, without a crash or impact, while the vehicle is being operated.An IABD may involve frontal, side and belt pretensioner devices, and may result in injuries consisting of burns, cuts and bruises to the upper body region, and or the potential for a loss of control and or crash.The remedy FCA developed for 12V‑527 consisted of installing an in-line jumper harness with an integrated electrical filter for the circuits that connect to the air bag modules (squib circuits).This filter is intended to eliminate transient electrical spikes to the ORC which FCA asserted are responsible for the IABDs.ODI has identified a total of 9 the federal safety agency complaints across all affected vehicles indicating an IABD event occurring after the vehicle had previously been remedied under 12V‑527.In addition, FCA reported 12 additional complaints of post-remedy IABD events. The IABD events took place both while driving and while the vehicle was stationary. Six customers incurred injuries consistent with air bag deployments however no crashes were reported.As a response to this investigation, FCA has issued 2 new recalls involving the IABD.On January 27, 2015 FCA notified ODI that it would conduct a safety recall (15V‑046) to remedy potential IABD events occurring in 753,176 MY02-03 Jeep Liberty vehicles built through 03/28/03 and MY 2002-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles built through 5/23/03.Note that this recall, which was scoped based on field IABD events does not include all MY 2003 Liberty or MY 2004 Grand Cherokee manufactured with the same level ORC module.According to FCA, the ORC degradation and subsequent electrical overstress condition that causes the air bags to deploy inadvertently is not fully remedied with the filter installed during the 12V‑527 campaign.To remedy IABDs under 15V‑046, FCA will install a new design ORC module using a next generation electrical architecture.The next generation architecture has been used in other non-subject vehicles for many years without evidence of IABD events occurring.In addition to this recall, on October 15, 2015 FCA advised the federal safety agency that it would conduct safety recall 15V‑673 to remedy potential IABD events in the remaining 284,089 MY 2003 Jeep Liberty and MY 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles manufactured with the earlier generation ORC module that were not previously recalled.FCA initially did not recall these populations due to the lack of known IABD events.However, FCA is now aware of 7 IABD events occurring in this population. After consultation with ODI regarding the long term durability and noise toughness of the earlier ORC architecture, FCA decided to recall this population also.The recall actions initiated by the manufacturer address the safety risks identified by the investigation.Accordingly, the investigation is closed.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues under the following identification (ODI) numbers: 10622092, 10629705, 10619008, 10618842, 10626762, 106404

RQ14001

The investigation was opened based on reports of frontal air bag inadvertent deployments (ABIDs) on model year (MY) 2002-2003 Jeep Liberty vehicles.Data provided by Chrysler indicate that the air bag squib filter circuitry inside the Occupant Restraint Control (ORC) module can degrade and result in an inadvertent air bag deployment, without a crash or impact, while the vehicle is being operated on the roadway.As of Oct. 04, 2012, ODI is aware of 131 frontal ABIDs on the Jeep Liberty vehicles resulting in 62 injuries consisting of burns, cuts and bruises to the upper body region.There were no reports of loss of vehicle control or vehicle crashes.Some owners noted that the air bag warning light (ABL) and/or chime had activated just seconds prior to the air bag deployment, while others stated that they did not observe any prior ABL illumination.Chrysler's analysis found there were no reports of ABID on Liberty vehicles build after March 28, 2003, a date which coincides with a filter circuit design change in the ORC module.The Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Viper were identified as having the same basic circuit.ODI is aware of 61 frontal ABIDs with 31 injuries on the Grand Cherokee and none on the Dodge Viper.In its Nov. 07, 2012 letter (12V‑527), Chrysler announced plans to recall 744,822 Jeep Vehicles (MY02-03 Liberty through 03/28/03 and MY02-04 Grand Cherokee through 5/23/03).The remedy consists of installing an in-line jumper harness with an integrated squib circuit electrical filter.In addition, in Feb 05, 2013 letter (13V‑040), Chrysler added the MY03-04 Dodge Viper (through 6/30/04) with a similar remedy, bringing the total number of recalled vehicles to 748,482.During the investigation ODI contacted the ORC module supplier (TRW) to determine the usage of this circuitry in other manufacturers? vehicles.As a result, ODI sent peer Information Request (IR) letters to five other manufactures.Toyota's response identified 72 frontal ABIDs resulting in 31 injuries.The rate and failure mode/trend were consistent with the subject defective issue as reported by Chrysler.In a Jan. 30, 2013 letter (13V‑029), Toyota announced plans to recall 897,709 MY2003-2004 Corolla/Matrix and Pontiac Vibe vehicles and will utilize a similar remedy to that of Chrysler consisting of adding an in-line noise filter to its air bag wire harness.Honda's IR response reported 126 unique ABIDs for both frontal, side impact and/or side curtain air bag deployments across 4 models and 800k vehicles.However upon further review, no more than 25 of the reports appeared to be frontal ABIDs.The remaining involved less aggressive non-frontal ABIDs mainly stemming from side sensors that trigger side and/or side curtain air bags upon undercarriage debris strike or heavy door slams.The Honda rates are lower than those from the recalled Liberty and Toyota models, and with the exception of the MY 2002-2003 Odyssey, the other Honda models' failure mode/trend was also less severe.ODI will continueto monitor the affected Honda models.There were no reports of ABIDs from the other three peer manufacturers.It should be noted that since the October 2012 data collection date, ODI has received 4 additional Jeep Liberty and 2 Jeep Grand Cherokee reports for frontal ABIDs with two reports alleging loss of vehicle control and crashes. To date, the ORC modules from the two crash vehicles have not been available for detailed analysis by Chrysler or ODI, so the cause of the ABIDs cannot be confirmed at this time.Accordingly the investigation is closed.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/SearchagencyI

EA12001

Based on analysis of Chrysler's response, and including ODI's consumer complaints, ODI has identified 87 reports of air bag inadvertent deployment incidents resulting in 50 alleged injuries.The injuries consists of burn/cuts and bruises to the upper body region.Forty-two (42) of the 87 incidents involved the driver frontal air bag, and the remaining 45 incidents involved both the driver and passenger frontal air bags inadvertently deploying without a crash.These incidents occurred both at vehicle startup or while the vehicle is being operated on the roadway.Some owners noted that the air bag warning light had illuminated, or had intermittently illuminated, and that this occurred just prior to the air bag deployment, while others stated they did not observe any illumination of the air bag light. Inspection of the Occupant Restraint Control (ORC) module conducted by Chrysler indicates that an internal electronic circuit (an ASIC chip) which controls air bag deployment fails due to an electrical over stress (EOS) condition possibly caused by a transient voltage spike.Chrysler is in the process of identifying potential root causes of the component failure and/or a source for the electrical over stress.In addition, Chrysler noted that there have been no reports of inadvertent air bag deployment in vehicles manufactured after a March 19, 2003 production date.However, Chrysler had not identified a component or other change that would explain why the inadvertent deployments ceased. Accordingly, this investigation has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA12-001) to further study the alleged defect and its consequences.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following identification (ODI) numbers: 10435710 10429579 10429306 10428411 10407276 10399551 10335637 10283484 10249231 10166706 10055405

PE11035