2012 Chrysler 200 Touring on 2040-cars

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NHTSA closes investigation on 4.7M FCA power modules, no recall

FCA US hasn't had the best time with recalls as of late. Not only did the company recently agree to greater safety oversight and paid $105 million to the government, that came just days after hacking fears prompted a 1.4-million model recall campaign. However, a recent decision to close an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration means that the automaker doesn't have to worry about another major recall possibly affecting 4.7 million vehicles, according to the agency's report (as a PDF). Last September, the Center for Auto Safety petitioned NHTSA to investigate an alleged problem with the totally integrated power module (TIPM) on these FCA US models. The group claimed that a fault with the component could cause a variety of maladies, including stalls, not starting, catching fire, unintended acceleration, and airbag non-deployment. At the time, it also submitted 70 cases where this had reportedly happened. According to NHTSA, "no valid evidence was presented in support of claims related to airbag non-deployment, unintended acceleration, or fire resulting from TIPM faults and these claims were found to be wholly without merit based on review of the field data and design of the relevant systems and components." The agency did find signs of an issue with the fuel pump relay in some Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos, but FCA US issued recalls for the problem in September 2014 and February 2015. Without anything else to go on, the Feds don't think it's worth investigating this topic any more.

Junkyard Gem: 1993 Plymouth Voyager SE AWD

Under Lee Iacocca's leadership, Chrysler printed bales of money by designing a small, front-wheel-drive van based on the versatile K platform. Chrysler didn't invent the minivan, of course, but those first 1984 Dodge Caravans and Plymouth Voyagers instantly put small vans square in the middle of the American vehicle mainstream (and began the long downward spiral of the station wagon here). For the 1991 model year, the second generation of Chrysler minivans hit our roads, and they were bigger, better-appointed and available with all-wheel-drive. Here's one of those early second-gen vans, found in a Denver-area boneyard a few months back. The 1984 Voyager was a genuine minivan, scaling in at a mere 2,984 pounds (about the same as the current Toyota Corolla). The wheelbases of the second-generation Voyager and Grand Voyager grew just a fraction of an inch longer, but the vans themselves got longer and heavier anyway. The curb weight of today's Junkyard Gem was 4,008 pounds. By 1993, minivans were under sales assault by a new crop of SUVs, particularly the Ford Explorer (which debuted for the 1991 model year) and Chrysler's own Jeep Grand Cherokee (which first appeared as a 1993 model). Chrysler's XJ Cherokee had been siphoning away minivan sales since Day One, having first hit Jeep showrooms at the same time as the first Voyagers and Caravans went on sale. Still, the 1993 Caravan/Grand Caravan, Voyager/Grand Voyager and Town & Country obliterated those trucks when it came to usable interior space, safety, ride comfort and fuel economy. Plymouth used the Voyager name on rebadged Dodge Sportsman full-size vans from the 1974 through 1983 model years, during which time Chrysler attempted to sell their big fuel-swilling passenger vans as sensible station wagons. The Grand Voyager had a wheelbase stretch of just over seven inches versus that of the regular Voyager; the SE was the lower of the two trim levels available for the AWD-equipped version in 1993. In 1993, base-grade front-wheel-drive Voyagers had 2.5-liter Chrysler four-cylinder engines as standard equipment, while front-wheel-drive Grand Voyagers got Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 engines. If you bought a new all-wheel-drive Grand Voyager that year, your van had this Chrysler 3.3-liter pushrod V6, rated at 150 horsepower and 180 pound-feet. Sadly, Chrysler stopped installing turbocharged 2.2 engines in their minivans after 1990.

Junkyard Gem: 2006 Chrysler 300C

During my wrecking-yard travels, I tend to focus on old, rare, and/or strangely badge-engineered vehicles when I decide what is worth documenting. Sometimes, though, a fairly mainstream vehicle from our current century catches my eye, and this 2006 Chrysler 300C in a Charlotte, North Carolina, junkyard is such a car. The current Chrysler Hemi engine family first appeared in 2003 Dodge trucks, and so the revival of the legendary Hemi name was still pretty new when the 300C went on sale. This car had 340 horsepower when new, which almost certainly meant more power at the wheels than the 426 Hemi cars of the late 1960s and early 1970s (the differences between gross and net horsepower ratings tend to result in inflated power numbers for cars of a half-century back). At considerably more than 2 tons, however, the 300C wasn't likely to humiliate a '70 Hemi 'Cuda in a drag race. This car appears to be in reasonably solid condition, so we can assume that something very expensive went wrong with the engine and/or transmission. That won't stop some eager junkyard shopper from grabbing the Hemi, though. The same junkyard had a 2001 Audi S8 when I stopped by, with 360 horsepower, but nobody will want that engine for their work truck. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. There's a lot of stuff in this ad that could be interpreted much differently in 2018, compared to 2006, starting with the Aung San Suu Kyi reference. Featured Gallery Junked 2006 Chrysler 300C Hemi View 15 Photos Auto News Chrysler Automotive History