NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE09-037: TRANSMISSION OVERHEATING / FIRE
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE09-037 on August 12, 2009 and closed it on November 17, 2009. NHTSA's investigations file lists 4 Jeep models for it and links recall 09V-436 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE09-037 (also written PE09037)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed November 17, 2009
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Chrysler (FCA US, LLC)
- Components
- Power Train; Power Train — Automatic Transmission; Power Train — Manual Transmission
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 09V-436: TRANSMISSION OVERHEATING / FIRE, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- 4 Jeep models, including the Wrangler and Wrangler 2-DR 4X4
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE09-037.
IN A LETTER DATED NOVEMBER 3, 2009, CHRYSLER GROUP LLC (CHRYSLER), NOTIFIED NHTSA THAT IT WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL OF APPROXIMATELY 161,000 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2007 AND 2008 JEEP WRANGLER VEHICLES BUILT WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS.CHRYSLER STATED THAT THESE VEHICLES WERE NOT EQUIPPED WITH A TRANSMISSION FLUID TEMPERATURE WARNING SYSTEM AND THE OPERATION OF THESE VEHICLES BEYOND THE LIMITS OF REASONABLE USAGE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME COULD RESULT IN TRANSMISSION FAILURE AND IN SOME CASES TRANSMISSION FLUID EXPULSION.THE EXPELLED FLUID COULD COME IN CONTACT WITH A HOT ENGINE OR EXHAUST COMPONENT AND CAUSE A FIRE.CHRYSLER WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL TO INSTALL A HOT OIL WARNING MESSAGE IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AND A CHIME INDICATING AN ELEVATED TRANSMISSION FLUID TEMPERATURE CONDITION.AN OWNER'S MANUAL ADDENDUM STATING THE PURPOSE OF THE HOT OIL MESSAGE AND CHIME TO INCLUDE CAUTION AND WARNING STATEMENTS REGARDING ELEVATED TRANSMISSION FLUID TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS WILL BE PROVIDED TO OWNERS.BASED ON CHRYSLER'S DECISION TO CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL THIS ENGINEERING ANALYSIS IS CLOSED.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE09-037. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Jeep
Jeep Wrangler
Jeep Wrangler 2-DR 4X4
- 2007, 2008
Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4X2
- 2007, 2008
Jeep Wrangler 4-DR 4X4
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Jeep VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE09-037
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.