NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE15-003: Engine compartment fire
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE15-003 on January 13, 2015 and closed it on December 9, 2015. NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2015 Jeep Cherokee for it and links recall 15V-676 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE15-003 (also written PE15003)
- 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 December 9, 2015
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Chrysler (FCA US, LLC)
- Components
- Engine; Equipment — Appliance — Air Conditioner
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 15V-676: Air Conditioning Hose may Touch Exhaust Manifold, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- 2015 Jeep Cherokee
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE15-003.
try.vin does not copy NHTSA's investigation documents; NHTSA's investigation record lists the ones NHTSA has published.
On October 15, 2015, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, US LLC, (FCA), submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA regarding an air-conditioning suction/discharge combo line routing condition that may result in engine compartment fire in approximately 75,574 model year (MY) 2015 Jeep Cherokee vehicles equipped with 2.4L engines and built from October 1, 2014 through June 18, 2015 (NHTSA Recall 15V-676, FCA Recall R57).
According to FCA's DIR, a misrouted A/C combo line can be pinched and cut or thermally degraded by the exhaust manifold heat shield, potentially resulting in loss of air conditioning, smoke and/or fire from ignition of leaked A/C refrigerant oil onto a hot exhaust manifold.
The recalled vehicles will be inspected for misrouted A/C combo lines and those found to be misrouted will be replaced.
FCA estimates that one percent of the recalled population may be affected by the A/C combo line routing defect.
ODI?s analysis of warranty data provided by FCA in response to the information request letter for PE15-003 identified a spike in claims related to the A/C combo line leakage in vehicles equipped with 2.4L engines built after October 1, 2014.
FCA implemented its final process corrective action for the hose routing concern on June 18, 2015.
The 113,034 MY 2015 Jeep Cherokee vehicles equipped with 3.2L engines have different A/C line routing configurations and are not affected by the A/C combo line routing defect.
FCA provided a total of 220 warranty claims potentially related to the A/C combo line in vehicles equipped with 2.4L engines.
Ninety-five percent of the claims (210) involved the 74,574 Jeep Cherokee 2.4L vehicles built during the recall period.
Only 10 A/C combo line claims and no related fires were identified in the 28,250 Jeep Cherokee 2.4L vehicles that were built before or after the period with the hose routing concern.
Analysis of engine compartment fires reported to ODI and FCA identified a total of 10 fires in MY 2015 Jeep Cherokee vehicles.
Nine (9) of the fires involved vehicles equipped with 2.4L engines and 8 of these involved vehicles built during the production range subject to Recall 15V-676.
These include 5 fires that FCA's investigations determined were most likely caused by the A/C combo line and 3 fires of unknown cause originating in the area of the exhaust manifold heat shield, resulting in fire incident rates in the recall population of 6.6 per 100,000 vehicles for the A/C combo line condition and 10.6 per 100,000 vehicles for fire incidents for which the A/C combo line could not be excluded as the cause.
The other 2 engine compartment fires involved a low-mileage fire of unknown cause in a vehicle equipped with a 3.2L engine and a minor self-extinguished fire that FCA?s investigation attributed to a lower transmission oil cooler (TOC) line connection seepage condition in a rental vehicle equipped with a 2.4L engine and built prior to the recall production range. This preliminary evaluation is closed based on FCA?s recall.
The following VOQ numbers are associated with the issues discussed in this closing resume: A/C combo line failure:10786287 Unknown cause:10712350, 10678215, 10672201
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE15-003. 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 Cherokee
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 PE15-003
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.