Stellantis recalls 1.3 million Jeeps over a fire risk that 72 owners have already experienced
Power steering pump wiring can overheat and start a fire
The biggest consumer-safety story of the day arrived Tuesday with a single instruction: park outside.
Stellantis is recalling more than 1.3 million Jeep Wrangler SUVs and Jeep Gladiator trucks globally, including more than 1 million in the United States, over a defect in the electric-hydraulic power steering pump wiring that can overheat and ignite, CNBC reported.
The recall covers model years 2021 through 2025, and the danger persists even when the vehicle is parked with the ignition off, Bloomberg reported.
Stellantis told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it has identified at least 72 fires potentially associated with the issue, along with one injury. The company said a “faulty electrical connection may cause the connection to melt, ultimately increasing the risk of a fire,” CNBC reported, citing the recall filing. Owners are told to park outdoors and away from buildings and other vehicles until repairs are made, Bloomberg reported.
Not the first time
The recall extends a regulatory file that NHTSA opened in September 2024 over engine fires in roughly 800,000 Wranglers and Gladiators from the 2021-2023 model years, CNBC reported. The current campaign also reaches into Canada, Mexico (about 23,000 vehicles) and other international markets (about 125,000), CNBC reported.
The remedy — inspections and, where needed, replacement of the wiring harness or the entire electric-hydraulic power steering pump — is not expected to be available until July at the earliest, CNBC reported. For owners with no driveway or detached garage, that is six weeks of careful parking and crossed fingers.
The Stellantis campaign comes on top of last week’s Ford recall of 1.74 million U.S. vehicles for a rearview-camera defect that can prevent images from displaying, Reuters reported, and a separate Volvo recall of more than 40,000 EX30 electric SUVs over battery-pack overheating risks, also according to Reuters. Together, the three campaigns put roughly 3 million additional vehicles into the U.S. recall pipeline in less than a week, the busiest stretch of safety actions so far this year.