Tuesday, October 12, 2004
DCX recalls 1.2 million minivans for glitch
Detroit News staff and wire reports
AUBURN HILLS - Chrysler Group is recalling 1.2 million minivans worldwide, including 955,000 in the United States, because an electrical problem could cause the driver's side air bag to fail.
The vehicles affected are the Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Grand Voyager and Chrysler Town and Country from the 1998-2000 model years, Chrysler said Monday.
Four people have been injured in crashes because of the defect, according to records submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. There also have been 782 complaints about the defect to Chrysler and NHTSA.
The defect involves a clock spring that supplies current to the driver's side air bag, the horn and the cruise control. If the clock spring is working properly, the air bag warning light will illuminate for a few seconds when the vehicle is started and then go out. If the air bag warning light isn't working properly, the clock spring may have failed.
"We are voluntarily treating this issue as a safety recall to increase the likelihood that owners will take action to have it repaired," said Curtrise Garner, a Chrysler spokeswoman.
Garner said Chrysler would begin notifying customers about the recall this week. Dealers will replace the clock spring for free on vehicles with less than 70,000 miles. The company will extend the warranty on the clock spring for vehicles with more than 70,000 miles.
Chrysler recalled 1996-1998 minivans in 2002 for the same defect, NHTSA said.
Safety restraint systems are among the most common components cited in recalls.
Link: http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosins...c02-300822.htm
DetNews: DCX recalls 1.2 million minivans for glitch
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