Feds Investigate Dodge Journey and Troubled Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid

NHTSA is asking whether the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid’s transmission recall was adequate, and is looking into concerns about the Dodge Journey’s backup camera.

Federal safety regulators in the US are investigating alleged issues with two Stellantis vehicles that could affect up to 293,426 units in total. Models under review are the Dodge Journey and Chrysler’s problem child, the Pacifica Hybrid minivan.

The first investigation affects more units, but not terribly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary evaluation on the 2018-2020 Dodge Journey, after receiving 26 vehicle owner questionnaires with complaints about the backup camera.

The security agency says that owners are experiencing a number of issues, including a black screen, as well as blurry, flickering and blurry photos. Since this affects the driver’s ability to use a backup camera, which all vehicles are required to have, these reports are important to NHTSA.

It is now working to assess the scope, frequency, and severity of the problem to determine its impact on driver safety. Based on the results of his initial evaluation, as many as 226,249 Trips can be linked in the archive.

Read: Chrysler Recall May Have Made Pacifica Hybrid Fires Worse

The second step is the “Recall Motion,” and it works to evaluate the effectiveness of the recall that Chrysler previously launched to fix the 2017-2023 Pacifica Hybrid. Although it only affects 67,177 models of the car, the fatal issue has been linked to accidents.

The investigation follows the launch of a campaign to return to January 2023. The move was taken to correct an infection problem that can cause drivers to lose power and leave them vulnerable on the road.

NHTSA reports that Chrysler’s solution was to update the Power Converter Module and instrument cluster software to give drivers a detailed warning that their transmission had a problem.

The safety agency has taken the problem and fixed it because the warning, “Stop Safely – Vehicle Will Shut Down Soon” gives drivers an indication of how far they have left to drive. Feeds examines whether the revisions adequately address the safety concerns raised in the previous recall.

“FCA confirms that their drug does not prevent loss of torque, but instead keeps the engine torque after an unknown number of miles,” NHTSA writes. “Dashboard messages introduced in the recall solution could cause the driver to move into an unsafe area. Moving into an unsafe area could expose the occupants to undue harm.”

As part of its recall motion, the agency will look to assess how often owners with the recalled vehicles experience problems, whether the repairs were adequate, and what the safety implications are. It may then require a reset to address the problem.