NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE20-018: Fuel Tank Outlet Flange Leak
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE20-018 on November 5, 2020, the day it closed Recall Query RQ19-004, which this investigation's summary cites, and closed it on March 24, 2022. NHTSA's investigations file lists the Land Rover LR4 and Range Rover Sport for it and links recall 21V-635 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE20-018 (also written PE20018)
- 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 March 24, 2022
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Land Rover
- Components
- Fuel System, Gasoline — Delivery; Fuel System, Gasoline — Storage — Tank Assembly
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 21V-635: Fuel Outlet Flange May Crack And Leak Fuel, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- Land Rover LR4 and Range Rover Sport
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE20-018.
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE20-018 on November 5th, 2020, to investigate fuel leak allegations in vehicles equipped with fuel tank outlet flange Part Number AH229039AB. ODI based the investigation on six consumer complaints it had received and, using information gathered from RQ19-004, five field reports and 200 warranty claims in the subject vehicles. At the closing date of PE20-018, the number of related complaints received by ODI has risen to fifteen. In response to an ODI Information Request (IR) letter, Land Rover identified: 57 additional warranty claims (257 total), four additional consumer complaints (ten total), and five dealer field reports.
Land Rover?s internal investigation identified a cyclic fuel pressure condition that led to cracks forming in the outlet flanges, resulting in fuel leaks. Fuel tank outlet flange revisions to the subject AH229039AB component increased the rigidity of the outlet flange in the area experiencing the highest stress. As Land Rover continued to assess field returned components, they identified cracks in the vicinity of subsurface voids in the subsequent AH229039AC and AH229039AD fuel tank outlet flanges.
Based on the information gathered, Land Rover`s Recall Determination Committee (RDC) elected to recall vehicles with the subject fuel outlet flange and expanded the scope to include all vehicles equipped with fuel outlet flange Part Numbers AH229039AA, AH229039AB, AH229039AC, and AH229039AD. Land Rover will replace the previously listed part numbers with an updated designwhich reduces the pressures exerted on the fuel flange. Recall 21V-635 (covering MY2010-2013 Range Rover Sport and MY2010-2016 LR4 vehicles equipped with 3.0L V6 or 5.0L V8 engines) was reported to NHTSA on February 16, 2021. An interim owner notification letter was distributed in October 2021 alerting owners to the defect and the availability of like for like replacements until the remedy parts become available. Land Rover has indicated that remedy parts will become available in the second quarter of 2022. Correspondence from the fuel outlet flange supplier (Vitesco Technologies) indicated that the components at issue in this investigation were sold exclusively to Land Rover.
This Preliminary Evaluation has been closed due to the recall issued by the manufacturer (NHTSA Recall 21V-635). The fifteen consumer complaints reports cited above can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under the following reference numbers: 11122159, 11155570, 11156894, 11220260, 11255901, 11280630, 11337853, 11375884, 11383192, 11388329, 11420940, 11423024, 11428966, 11431744,11440020.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE20-018. 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.
Land Rover
All Land Rover recallsWhat 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.
Land Rover VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE20-018
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.