The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) is opening new safety probes into Honda vehicles, Jeeps, and Ram trucks. It is around 1.72 million Honda vehicles, 230,000 Jeeps, and 390,077 Ram Trucks. It is to evaluate the issues involving loss of power and braking. This is the largest probe for loss of power from the NHTSA as stated in Reuters.
Furthermore, the 1.7 million vehicles include 2018-2022 model year Honda CR-V and HR-V vehicles. The reports said some drivers lost power at highway speeds without warning and some reported differential seal leaks resulting in rear differential lock-up as the cause. Some reports allege the rear lock-up caused the driveshaft to fracture while the vehicle was in motion resulting in the vehicle being towed.
According to Honda, it “will cooperate with the NHTSA through the investigation process, and we will continue our own internal review of the available information.” The US regulators are also investigating 390,000 2017-2018 model year Ram 2500-3500 pickup trucks after receiving 134 reports alleging an intermittent or permanent loss of braking performance. Some reports said replacing the Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) module and Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU) appeared to correct the issue.
Other investigations
The agency is also looking at nearly 230,000 2019-2020 model-year Jeep Compass SUVs after receiving 15 complaints alleging a loss of power while driving that was accompanied by a high coolant temperature message appearing on the vehicle dashboard. A U.S. spokesman for Stellantis NV, the parent company of Jeep and Ram, said it was fully cooperating in the investigations.
There are no crashes or injuries reported in relation to any of the vehicles in the three new investigations to date. Before NHTSA could demand a recall it must decide at a later date whether to upgrade each probe to an engineering analysis. In June, it was known that NHTSA is seeking a probe into unintended braking on 1.7 million vehicles. That came as 278 owners complained of their 2018-2019 Honda Accord and 2017-2019 Honda CR-V owners.
A letter addressed to Honda’s division head for product safety, Jeff Chang, from the NHTSA requests additional information about the braking system, as well as its components and operation. More specifically, the NHTSA wants details about the sensors, control modules, hardware, software, data, and wiring related to the AEB system. The probe is also no longer limited to Accord and CR-V models and also includes the 2017-2018 Acura RDX, 2017-2019 Civic, 2017-2019 Pilot, and 2019 Passport. In a way, many vehicles are into the probe, especially as electric vehicles are entering the market. However, it doesn’t mean ICE engine vehicles are any different. A recall is expected to be sent out to the respective car owners.
