| Subject: | Instrument panel fires |
| Components covered: |
|
| Investigations Summary: |
This investigation was opened on Aug. 28, 2006.
It was closed on Mar. 15, 2007.
Note: this investigation has resulted in
a vehicle safety recall. This investigation originated from complaints received by the agency reporting instrument panel (ip) fires on vehicles that were covered under a prior recall (recall 03v528) by daimler Chrysler (dcc) to correct a cracked capacitor in the ip. Dcc has now identified another condition that can cause overheating of an integrated circuit that controls interior lighting. This condition affects certain model year 2004-2006 Dodge durango vehicles. Dcc's March 6, 2007 letter to the agency states, "under certain operating conditions, an integrated circuit located in the instrument cluster may overheat and result in an instrument panel fire. Dcc will conduct a safety recall to inspect the cluster for damage and replace it if necessary. If the cluster shows no evidence of damage, it will be re-flashed [re-program the cluster] to prevent the potential for this condition. In addition, all vehicles will receive a wiring modification that directs the interior lighting to a portion of the integrated circuit with additional current carrying capacity. "this recall covers 328,424 vehicles manufactured from 4/03/03 through 6/30/06. See NHTSA recall number 07v092 for details. |
| Vehicles Affected by this investigation: |
|
Defect investigation of seat belt retraction
Defect investigation of powered vehicle rollaway
Defect investigation of totally integrated power module failure