Dodge and Jeep preliminary evaluation PE13027
Headliner Fires. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the electrical system on 6 model years (2011–2013). Opened Aug 19, 2013, closed Jan 14, 2014 after 5 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has identified 5 reports of vehicle headliners catching fire at the front of the vehicle near the sun visors on Jeep Grand Cherokees. Customers reported a range of fire conditions ranging from minor overheating to an open flame at the headliner and/or sun visor material while driving the vehicle. In some reports the fire spread to the front seats and/or door panels of the vehicle. In one report, the sunroof was damaged causing the glass to shatter. The cause of these fires is an electrical short in the vanity lighting wiring circuit that is routed to either one of the sun visors. The sun visors are mounted to the roof of the vehicle through the headliner with three screws. The sun visor wiring may be penetrated, or pierced by one of these screws either during initial vehicle assembly or subsequent headliner area repairs. The piercing causes an electrical short that could result in a fire. There is no dedicated fuse for the affected circuit so the electrical short can continue until the short clears or the vehicle is keyed off. The Dodge Durango uses the same headliner assembly, and Chrysler indicates there are similar headliner fire incidents affecting this model. Therefore, these vehicles have been added to the scope of the investigation. Analyzing the data received from Chrysler along with ODI reports indicates there may be a total of 52 unique fire incidents (including 3 injury allegations) on Grand Cherokee and Durango vehicles which ODI will continue to evaluate during the investigation. Based on ODI's evaluation of currently available data, this investigation is being upgraded toEngineering Analysis EA14-001. The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues under the following identification (ODI) numbers: 10536895, 10556110, 10522665, 10522159, 10515592
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2011 Dodge Durango; 2012 Dodge Durango; 2013 Dodge Durango; 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee; 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee; 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE13027 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE13027 still open?
No. It closed on Jan 14, 2014 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE13027 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 6 model years: 2011 Dodge Durango, 2012 Dodge Durango, 2013 Dodge Durango, 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.