Jeep preliminary evaluation PE17003
Occupant Restraint Controller Failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the air bags on 1 model year (2012). Opened Jun 1, 2017, closed Dec 25, 2017 after 7 months. It led to safety recall 17V640000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation opened this Preliminary Evaluation to investigate VOQ complaints alleging a failure of the Occupant Restraint Controller (ORC) module in model year (MY) 2012 Jeep Liberty. The purpose of the investigation was to understand Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) complaints stating that the air bag warning light remained illuminated while the vehicle was in operation. In many cases the warning light issue was reportedly corrected by a replacement of the ORC module. In 2013 FCA issued NHTSA safety recall 13V282 to address ORC module failures caused by an electrical over stress (EOS) condition that damaged an internal resistor. The failure lead to non-deployment of the active head restraints in rear impact crashes of sufficient severity to require deployment. This condition would also result in illumination of the air bag warning light and set a B2208 diagnostic trouble code (DTC).Recall 13V282 involved two different remedies based on the model year and model of the recalled vehicle. Some models were repaired by replacing the ORC with an updated unit. However the subject vehicles of this investigation, which made up the largest population in the recall, received a software update to the Totally Integrated Power Module (TIPM), another electronic device that is involved in powering of the ORC. After the investigation was opened, FCA began collecting failed subject vehicle ORC modules so they could be analyzed for failure causation. From June 2017 to August 2017 FCA obtained 13 ORC modules and analyzed 10 of them. FCA determined 9 contained evidence of the resistor over stress condition. Of that group, 7 had experienced resistor failures prior to the TIPM being re-flashed under the recall action. In these cases, replacement of the ORC module would have been the only effective repair to extinguish the air bag warning lamp. This observation correlates well with VOQ complaints ODI received from consumers who experienced an airbag warning light illuminated when they presented their vehicle in for the original 13V282 repair. Many of these consumers were told the TIPM re-flash did not fix the warning light issue, and that their ORC module needed to be replaced (at the consumer's expense). ODI notes that 8 of the 10 analyzed ORCs displaying the resistor EOS condition also had DTC B1BCF stored. This code is related to the detection of a possible internal fault with a rollover sensor. FCA conducted additional testing and concluded that the presence of the resistor failure caused the subsequent setting of the this DTC. On October 4, 2017 FCA decided to conduct a safety recall to replace the subject vehicle ORC modules with a redesigned device. FCA submitted the defect information report to the agency on October 10, 2017. See NHTSA 17V640 for further details. Accordingly the investigation is closed. The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under the following ID numbers: 10994134, 10994095, 10993838, 10993675, 10993482, 10991764, 10985011, 10984531, 10980350, 10970003, 10969021, 10957076, 10948802, 10945162, 10938664, 10928226, 10917300, 10904332, 10896571, 10893915, 10888324, 10887727, 10865180, 10862586, 10860359, 10853737, 10850921, 10850366, 10837723, 10837086, 10816784, 10816174, 10810454, 10787829, 10778572, 10766688, 10761468, 10761189, 10747749, 10746608, 10744774, 10736037, 10730658, 10717657, 10706097, 10684125, 10681813, 10652841, 10648367, 10641248, 10622487, 10619379, 10618765, 10617657, 10614874, 10608301, 10605955, 11041327, 11047850, 11030130, 11012891, 11024995, 11051267, 11012170
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 became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2012 Jeep Liberty.
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 PE17003 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 17V640000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE17003 still open?
No. It closed on Dec 25, 2017 and led to recall 17V640000.
Which vehicles does PE17003 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2012 Jeep Liberty. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.