Jeep has initiated a recall campaign over a clutch plate in 2018-2023 Wranglers and Gladiators that could overheat. That could, in turn, lead to a fire, which has reportedly led to one injury on the field.
The automaker says, in documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that under some circumstances, the clutch pressure plate can overheat due to friction.
If that happens, the plate can rapidly fracture with enough force to crack or even puncture the transmission case. In that scenario, heated fragments could fly out of the transmission and come in contact with an ignition source in the vehicle, possibly leading to a fire.
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Late last year, Jeep started investigating the issue, and by January 10, 2023, it says it detected “a potential trend of vehicle fires related to failed clutch assemblies” in 2018–2023 Wranglers, and model year 2020–2023 Gladiators.
The automaker says that it is aware of 26 customer assistance records, 36 warranty claims, and six field reports of issues potentially related to this fault around the globe. It is not aware of any accident resulting from an exploding clutch pressure plate but is aware of one injury that may be related to this issue.
As a result, Jeep made the decision to launch a recall campaign in February. It says it will get in touch with owners starting on April 14. Since the problem is not related to a defect with the part, but a design issue instead, it is still in the process of developing a remedy for the problem.
In all, 55,082 Wranglers and 14,119 Gladiators will be affected by this campaign, for a total of 69,201 vehicles in the U.S. The problem is eerily similar to another recall the automaker launched in 2020.
