1999 Chrysler Cirrus

ODI HAS RECEIVED 29 REPORTS OF ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES THAT APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO POWER STEERING HOSE LEAKAGE IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 1999 AND 2000 CHRYSLER CIRRUS, DODGE STRATUS AND PLYMOUTH BREEZE VEHICLES (JA-CARS) EQUIPPED WITH 2.4L ENGINES.THESE REPORTS INDICATE THAT THE FIRE RESULTED FROM A POWER STEERING HOSE LEAK OR THAT IT OCCURRED AFTER AN EXTENDED DRIVE AND SHORTLY AFTER BEING PARKED - CONDITIONS CONSISTENT WITH IGNITION OF POWER STEERING FLUID ON A HOT ENGINE OR EXHAUST SURFACE DURING THE VEHICLE HOT SOAK PERIOD. ON JANUARY 6, 2006, DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION (DCC) NOTIFIED NHTSA OF A SAFETY DEFECT ON MY 1999 AND 2000 JA-CARS BUILT FROM JULY 1, 1998 TO JULY 31, 2000 AND EQUIPPED WITH 2.4L ENGINES (RECALL 06V-001).THE NOTIFICATION STATED THAT ?THE HIGH PRESSURE POWER STEERING HOSE MAY PREMATURELY HEAT, AGE AND DEVELOP A LEAK. POWER STEERING FLUID LEAKAGE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE MAY RESULT IN AN UNDER HOOD FIRE.DCC INDICATED THAT IT WAS AWARE OF 94 COMPLAINTS AND FIELD REPORTS THAT MAY BE RELATED TO THIS CONDITION WHEN IT MADE THE DEFECT DETERMINATION.TO REMEDY THE DEFECT CONDITION, DCC WILL REPLACE THE HIGH PRESSURE POWER STEERING HOSE ON THE AFFECTED VEHICLES WITH A NEW PART MADE FROM A HOSE MATERIAL WITH INCREASED HEAT RESISTANCE CAPABILITY. CONSEQUENTLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.ODI WILL MONITOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE REMEDY AND TAKE FURTHER ACTION IF WARRANTED.

ON JUNE 29, 2005, ODI OPENED PRELIMINARY EVALUATION PE05-036 TO INVESTIGATE COMPLAINTS OF ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 1999-2000 CHRYSLER CIRRUS, DODGE STRATUS AND PLYMOUTH BREEZE PASSENGER CARS (JA CARS). THE JA CARS WERE INTRODUCED IN MY 1995 AND ENDED WITH MY 2000.THEY WERE PRODUCED WITH 2.0L, 2.4L AND 2.5L ENGINES.THE INCIDENT DATA IN THE FAILURE REPORT SUMMARY OF THIS RESUME ARE FOR SUBJECT VEHICLE ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES FOR ALL CAUSES. ACCORDING TO DAIMLERCHRYSLER, EVIDENCE COLLECTED FROM FIELD INSPECTIONS OF FIRE INCIDENT VEHICLES INDICATE THAT FLUID LEAKAGE FROM THE HIGH PRESSURE POWER STEERING HOSE IS THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF THE FIRES IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.THE SUBJECT HIGH PRESSURE POWER STEERING HOSE IS USED IN JA CARS WITH BOTH THE 2.4L AND 2.0L ENGINES IN MY 1995 THROUGH 2000.THE FIRE INCIDENT RATE IN THE MY 1999 THROUGH 2000 JA VEHICLES WITH 2.4L ENGINES IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN IN THE PRIOR MODEL YEAR VEHICLES USING THAT ENGINE AND IN ANY OF THE VEHICLES WITH THE 2.0L OR 2.5L ENGINES.DAIMLERCHRYSLER IS CONTINUING ITS INVESTIGATION OF THE ISSUE AND HAS PROVIDED PERIODIC UPDATES TO ODI. AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA05-019) HAS BEEN OPENED TO FURTHER ASSESS THE SCOPE AND FREQUENCY OF THE ALLEGED DEFECT IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.

THE MANUFACTURER REPORTS ABOVE ARE BASED ON DAIMLERCHRYSLER?S (DC) ANALYSIS OF MODEL YEAR (MY) 1998 (POPULATION = 356,384) AND 1999 (POPULATION = 486,948) JA, JX AND LH FAMILY SUBJECT VEHICLE DATA (EARLIER MYS EXCLUDED).THE POPULATION NUMBER INCLUDES ALL MYS.THE PRECISE NUMBER OF DUPLICATES BETWEEN ODI AND DC REPORTS CANNOT BE DETERMINED DUE TO MISSING OR INCOMPLETE INFORMATION.THE FATALITY INCIDENT INVOLVED AN ELDERLY PERSON WHO ATTEMPTED TO STOP A ROLL AWAY VEHICLE AND RECEIVED FATAL INJURIES.ODI ALSO GATHERED INFORMATION ON MY 1997-99 PROWLER VEHICLES IN THIS INVESTIGATION. THE PROWLER VEHICLES WERE MANUFACTURED WITH A DIFFERENT DESIGN SHIFTER MECHANISM (THE SHIFT LEVER IS SHORTER).THERE ARE NO COMPLAINTS OF PROWLER INTERLOCK FAILURE IN ODI?S DATABASE, AND DC HAS RECEIVED NO REPORTS EITHER.THE PROWLER IS EXCLUDED FROM THE RECALL SCOPE.THE INVESTIGATION INVOLVED A CONDITION WHERE THE INTERLOCK SYSTEM COULD FAIL (OR BE MADE INOPERATIVE BY THE OPERATOR) DURING VEHICLE USE, POSSIBLY INADVERTENTLY.THE INTERLOCK SYSTEM IS REQUIRED UNDER FMVSS 114.WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN THE PARK POSITION AND THE IGNITION KEY OFF, THE COMBINED ACTION OF PRESSING THE SHIFT BUTTON AND PULLING THE SHIFT LEVER REARWARD MAY RESULT IN THE OPERATOR OVERCOMING THE INTERLOCK SYSTEM AND CAUSE THE MECHANICAL LINKAGE OF THE SYSTEM TO DISCONNECT.WHEN THIS OCCURS, THERE IS NO OVERT INDICATION TO AN OPERATOR THAT THE SYSTEM IS DEFEATED, AND AN INCREASED RISK OF VEHICLE ROLL-AWAY EXISTS.UNDER RECALL 04V021, DC WILL REPLACE DAMAGED SHIFT MECHANISMS, AND WILL INSTALL ON ALL VEHICLES A DEVICE WHICH INHIBITS THE OPERATOR?S ABILITY TO OVERCOME THE INTERLOCK AND DEFEAT THE SYSTEM.BEGINNING WITH MY 2000, DC INCORPORATED A BRAKE AND TRANSMISSION SHIFTER INTERLOCK (BTSI) SYSTEM INTO THE SUBJECT VEHICLES.INTRODUCTION OF BTSI INVOLVED DESIGN CHANGES TO THE SHIFT MECHANISM, ONE OF WHICH RESULTED IN REDUCED MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE (RMA) OF THE SHIFT BUTTON.THE RMA SHIFTER REQUIRES INCREASED FORCES TO OVERCOME THE INTERLOCK SYSTEM, MAKING THE SHIFTER LESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO DAMAGE.

THREE OF THE MANFACTURER COMPLAINTS AND TWO OF THE MANUFACTURER CRASHES REPORTED ABOVE WERE DUPLICATES OF ODI REPORTS.THE MAJORITY OF CRASHES OCCURRED AFTER OPERATORS PARKED THE VEHICLE WITHOUT ENGAGING PARK GEAR POSITION; A NON-FUNCTIONAL IGNITION-PARK INTERLOCK SYSTEM SUBSEQUENTLY FAILED TO PREVENT KEY REMOVAL BEFORE THE OPERATORS EXITED THE VEHICLE.MOST OF THE CRASHES WERE MINOR AND INVOLVED MINOR PROPERTY DAMAGE.FOUR OF THE INJURY INCIDENTS OCCURRED WHEN UNATTENDED CHILDREN MOVED THE GEARSHIFT FROM THE PARK POSITION CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO ROLL AWAY, ONE INJURY OCCURRED WHEN THE OPERATOR WAS STRUCK BY A ROLL-AWAY VEHICLE AFTER PARKING AND EXITING.ALL INJURIES WERE RELATIVELY MINOR.A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF INTERLOCK SYSTEM FAILURES APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO DISENGAGEMENT OF THE INTERLOCK PIN THAT RIDES IN THE INTERLOCK LEVER SLOT WITHIN THE SHIFT MECHANISM.AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS WILL BE OPENED TO FURTHER STUDY INTERLOCK SYSTEM FAILURES.

Air bags failed to deploy during wreck. Multiple both axle and wheel bearings failures

NHTSA ID

11488003

Incident

Mar 6, 2021

THIS IS SECOND TIME MY BATTERY HAS DIED AND L AM STILL UNABLE TO JUMP THE THING. SOMETHING IS WRONG THAT THE MECHANICS OR DEALERSHIPS AREN'T TELLING ME . *TR

NHTSA ID

10621179

Incident

Aug 9, 2014

Mileage

57,000 mi

1999 CHRYSLER CIRRUS, WILL NOT START AFTER RAIN. THERE IS NO DISTRIBUTOR AND I FEEL THAT IT COULD BE A PROBLEM WITH THE FUEL SYSTEM. I PUMP THE GAS AND TRY TO TURN IT OVER IT JUST CRANKS SOMETIMES IT DOES EVENTUALLY START. I HAVE MISSED DAYS OF WORK. SO WHEN EVER IT RAINS I AM ALWAYS WORRIED, THIS HAPPENS OFTEN. *TR

NHTSA ID

10293683

Incident

Apr 18, 2008

Mileage

134,000 mi

THE DISTRIBUTOR HAS GONE OUT TWICE (2X) ON MY 1999 CHRYSLER CIRRUS. THE FIRST TIME WAS IN 2007 WHILE I WAS SITTING IN A CAR WASH. I THOUGHT PERHAPS SOME WATER HAD SPLASHED IN AND SHORTED SOMETHING OUT. SO I DIDN'T REPORT IT. BUT THE SECOND TIME WAS ON FRIDAY, MAY 29TH. WE WERE DRIVING ON THE I-210 FREEWAY IN THE CARPOOL LANE - NEAR AZUSA, CA. SUDDENLY THE CAR LOST ALL POWER AND I HAD TO PULL ACROSS 5 LANES OF TRAFFIC IN ORDER TO SAFELY GET OFF THE FREEWAY. IT WAS VERY SCARY AND VERY DANGEROUS. IF I HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO PULL OVER, THE CAR WOULD JUST HAVE STOPPED DEAD ON A BUSY FREEWAY ON THE FRIDAY AFTERNOON OF THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. I ASKED THE MECHANIC AT CLIPPINGER CHRYSLER IN COVINA WHERE WE HAD THE CAR TOWED IF THE DISTRIBUTOR WENT OUT OFTEN ON THEIR CARS. HE SAID IT WAS "RARE." I THINK THAT THE FACT THAT IT HAS GONE OUT TWICE ON MY CAR IN THE PAST 2 YEARS IS VERY STRANGE AND COULD CONSTITUTE A SERIOUS DEFECT. *TR

NHTSA ID

10273813

Incident

May 29, 2009

Mileage

63,000 mi

ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO, MY CAR BEGAN STUTTERING AND STALLING OUT WITH NO WARNING. THE OIL LIGHT REPEATED FLASHES ON, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLASHES AND THEN STAYS ON, AND THE CAR WONT START OR JUST CUTS OFF. THE TRANSMISSION SPEED SENSOR WAS REPLACED. THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED. THE OIL WAS CHANGED. THIS PAST 3 MONTHS ALONE, IT HAS BEEN AT THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT 6 TIMES FOR THIS SAME PROBLEM. I AM NOW BEING TOLD THAT I NEED A TUNE-UP, WHICH WILL COST $700, THEN THE EGR NEEDS REPLACED, AND A FEW OTHER THINGS. HOWEVER, WHEN THE MECHANIC HAD IT LAST WEEK, HE COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT. I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT THE CIRRUS VEHICLES HAVE THIS SAME PROBLEMS THAT I AM HAVING. I WAS ON MY WAY TO THE MALL VIA THE PARKWAY WHEN THE CAR STALLED OUT. LUCKILY TRAFFIC WAS SLOW BECAUSE IF I WAS ON THE PARKWAY AND IT STALLED OUT, MY SISTER AND I COULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED. THERE IS NO PREDETERMINED TIME WHEN THESE PROBLEMS OCCURRED. THE CAR ONLY HAS 89500 MILES ON IT. I HAVE ALL OF MY ORIGINAL REPAIR PAPERS. PROPER MAINTENANCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN DONE ON MY CAR. WHEN IT WORKS, IT IS GREAT. UNFORTUNATELY, I JUST NEVER KNOW WHEN IT IS GOING TO NOT START. *TR

NHTSA ID

10259302

Incident

Feb 18, 2009

Mileage

89,490 mi

I HAVE A 1999 CHRYSLER CIRRUS. MY WIFE TOOK THE CAR FOR THE DAY 10/15/08, SHE CALLED ME AT WORK TO SAY THE BRAKES WERE MAKING A VERY LOUD GRINDING NOISE. THE NEXT DAY I DROVE THE CAR TO THE DEALER TO HAVE THE BRAKES SERVICED. ON THE WAY OVER, THE BRAKE PADS COMPLETELY STOPPED FUNCTIONING. I HAD TO DOWN SHIFT TO STOP. I DROVE AT 10 MPH OR SLOWER THE LAST MILE TO THE DEALER. THEY TOLD ME THE ROTORS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED ALONG WITH THE BRAKES. THIS CAR HAD NO BRAKES. WHAT TROUBLES ME, IS THAT THE BRAKE PADS HAD NO WEAR INDICATORS ON THEM. HAD I HEARD THE SCREECHING OF THE INDICATORS, I WOULD HAVE HAD THE PADS REPLACED SOONER. I HAD NO IDEA THE PADS WAS THAT BAD. A FEW DAYS EARLIER, I WAS IN RHODE ISLAND TO VISIT MY DAUGHTERS. I WAS TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THIS COULD HAVE CAUSED A BAD ACCIDENT HAD THE BRAKES FAILED THEN. THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT NOT ALL BRAKE PADS HAVE THESE WEAR INDICATORS. I THINK THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED. THE COST OF INCLUDING THESE ON ALL BRAKE PADS COULDN'T BE THAT MUCH. PASS THE COST ON IF THEY HAVE TO. *TR

NHTSA ID

10245700

Incident

Oct 15, 2008

Mileage

74,733 mi

I CURRENTLY OWN A 1999 CHRYSLER CIRRUS V6. AUTO IS EQUIPPED WITH A 41TE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WITH 104,000 MILES ON IT. ACCORDING TO AL WEB SITES I HAVE COME TO FIND THAT THE 41TE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION HAS PROVEN TO BE AN UNRELIABLE UNIT RESULTING IN PREMATURE FAILURE AND BEARING FAILURE. CHRYSLER HAS REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEFECT. AS OF THIS WRITING THE PINION BEARINGS HAVE FAILED IN MY VEHICLE AND CHRYSLER HAS REFUSED TO REPAIR AS THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH THIS TRANSMISSION FOR WHICH THE MANUFACTURER DENIES AN RESPONSIBILITY. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LIKE ME OUT THERE WITH NO RECOURSE. ESTIMATED REPAIR COST $2,000.00. 1999 CHRYSLER CIRRUS V6 ANY ASSISTANCE YOU CAN PROVIDE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED AS THERE ARE MANY OTHER PEOPLE LIKE ME OUT THERE. *TR

NHTSA ID

10237702

Incident

Jun 15, 2008

Mileage

104,900 mi

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 CHRYSLER CIRRUS. THE CONTACT HAD A PASSENGER IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OF THE VEHICLE, BUT THE LATCH PLATE COULD NOT BE SECURED INTO THE SEAT BELT BUCKLE. TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE SEAT BELT WAS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. HE CALLED THE MANUFACTURER, NHTSA, AND SPOKE WITH SOMEONE AT CHRYSLER. HE ALSO SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT WITH A LOCAL DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER ADVISED HIM TO OBTAIN THE COST FOR THE REPAIRS AND HAVE THE DEALER IDENTIFY THE FAILURE COMPONENT. ONCE AT THE DEALER, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT BELT BUCKLE WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 47,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 47,050. UPDATED 09/15/08 *BF UPDATED 09/22/08. *JB

NHTSA ID

10234564

Incident

Jul 4, 2008

Mileage

47,000 mi

KEY, Master If replacing the key/FOBIK on a WJ, KJ, TJ, or PT Cruiser, use the "AC" NIC level part number. The "AB" NIC level will not program to these platforms. For all other platforms, if the "AB" NIC level will not program to the vehicle, use the "AC" NIC level part and submit a part warranty.

KEY, Master If replacing the key/FOBIK on a WJ, KJ, TJ, or PT Cruiser, use the "AC" NIC level part number. The "AB" NIC level will not program to these platforms. For all other platforms, if the "AB" NIC level will not program to the vehicle, use the "AC" NIC level part and submit a part warranty.

Charging System, Battery Diagnostic Tools and Warranty This information only bulletin discusses using the correct test equipment for testing batteries and charging systems, and also warranty reimbursement when battery replacements are necessary.

Repair Parts Used For Structural Repairs This bulletin involves discussing FCA US LLC position with regard to structural repair parts usage.

Use of Aftermarket Parts This bulletin involves discussing FCA US LLC position with regard to collision repair industry awareness regarding the use of aftermarket parts.

Use of Salvage/Recycled Parts This bulletin involves discussing FCA US LLC position with regard to collision repair industry awareness regarding the use of recycled or salvage parts.