The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed its investigations into the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 2004-05 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey. It was decided that none of these models has defects that pose a significant risk to public safety, allowing both automakers to escape recall campaigns.

Probe into Jeep Grand Cherokee

The federal safety regulator closed the investigations in December, but posted its conclusions on its website Tuesday, January 8.

In July the NHTSA began its investigation into 107,000 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs after it received 24 reports of steering hoses coming loose and leaking fluid onto the engine, posing a possible fire risk.

It was learned that Chrysler and its supplier Dana redesigned the power steering cooler assembly in April, making it much less likely that a hose will come loose. While some early production models may still have the old assembly, the NHTSA determined that it would be very unlikely for a hose blow-off to lead to a fire.

No smoke or fire was reported in any of the 24 complaints that prompted the investigation.

The NHTSA ruled, “There is no indication of loss of motive power or unreasonable safety risk associated with the alleged defect in the subject vehicles.”

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Probe into Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey

The safety regulator also announced the conclusion of a separate investigation on Tuesday. That probe was looking into the possibility of a faulty scissor-style jack in 205,000 2004-05 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans.

The federal watchdog received six complaints of the allegedly faulty jacks, indicating that they could fail and collapse while tires are being changed. Those reports attribute three injuries and one death to the jacks. Meanwhile, Ford received 26 complaints and reports of four different injuries.

However, it was found that, in about half of the reports, the jacks were being used for purposes other than changing tires. That is in clear contradiction to safety warnings on the device. Another approximate half did not have the tires properly chocked or the emergency brake set, which was also contrary to posted warnings.

In the one fatality incident associated with the jacks, a van crushed a person working under the car. The vehicle was not blocked and it was not known if the parking brake had been set or the wheels chocked.

Larger recall avoided

If the NHTSA has ruled differently, Ford may have faced a much larger action, as the same style jack is also standard for the 2006-07 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey. That would have resulted in an additional 223,246 vehicles being returned to local dealerships like Gus Johnson Cars in Spokane, Wash., for repairs on the automaker’s nickel.

MCDE Editorial