FCA (aka Chrysler) is recalling 182,308 model-year 2016-2017 Jeep Wrangler trucks because during crashes the front impact sensor wiring may be pulled until it detaches before a signal can be received by the Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC). Under certain crash conditions, rotation of the headlamp can cause the sensor wiring to separate from the front impact sensor. Impact sensors help determine when airbags and pretensioners should be activated. A wiring disconnect may prevent their deployment, as FCA discovered during a crash test.
Thus, both frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners will not deploy, increasing the risk of injury. As of September 30, 2016, FCA US said it is unaware of any accidents or injuries potentially related to this issue.
Also subject to the safety defect recall are an estimated 18,011 vehicles in Canada, 3,087 in Mexico and 20,948 outside the NAFTA region.
Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will reroute the front impact sensor wiring and relocate the impact sensor branch, free of charge as required by U.S. law. NHTSA says that FCA has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler’s number for this recall is S76.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
