The NHTSA is investigating Jeep after 9 reports of underhood fires when vehicles were switched off.
More than 780,000 Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator vehicles between model years 2021 and 2023 are under scrutiny by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after reports of underhood fires. Specifically, reports suggest a fire possibly breaking out from the passenger front side of the engine compartment at the power steering pump electrical connector. At this preliminary stage, however, the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is looking into confirming the source and scale of the problem. Right now, there is no official recall to address the problem.
At time of writing, the ODI received nine reports of underhood fires. Of those, one resulted in an injury, but there have been no confirmed fatalities due to this issue.
In contacting Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), the American division of larger parent company Stellantis, the ODI “learned of several thermal events originating at the power steering pump electrical connector in recent model year Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator vehicles.” The report did not mention which powertrains were of serious concern, though since the investigation covers both the 2021-2023 Wrangler and Gladiator, the potentally problematic connectors most likely impact vehicles with the ubiquitous 3.6-liter Pentastar V6. (The 2.0-liter turbo, for example, is not available on the Gladiator.)
Again, the NHTSA’s investigation opened late last week to determine the cause, scope and frequency of the problem, so it may be awhile before this escalates to a larger recall campaign.
The Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator have been subject to two recalls in recent months, however. Another recall just last week homes in on a potential instrument panel failure for nearly 33,000 vehicles across this entire generation (2018-2024 in the Wrangler’s case, or 2020-2024 for the Gladiator). Another, smaller recall addresses a powertrain control module issue on manual-equipped models, though it only affects 94 units in total.
If you own a Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid, there is separate, ongoing recall involving fire risk. 32,125 Wrangler 4xes may experience an internal failure of their high voltage battery, leading to a fire while driving or while parked. Owner notifications for that recall went out in March of this year.
