After a high-profile recall of over 1 million vehicles due to a design flaw associated with the shifter used with the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, Fiat Chrysler probably felt it was in the clear as far as rollaway risks were concerned. Unfortunately, FCA is now recalling 2017 Dodge Challengers with instrumentation that might erroneously indicate the vehicle is in park — creating another potential rollaway hazard.
The affected vehicles have 5.7-liter V8 engines and eight-speed automatic transmissions. In total, Dodge expects the necessary fix to pertain to 7,802 vehicles in the United States, 390 in Canada, and 119 more outside of North America.
According to Automotive News, drivers of the vehicles can shift the vehicles into park while the motor is running without the vehicle’s brake actually engaging. Affected cars may even indicate via the shifter and gauge display that the vehicle is in park, without it actually being so.
Since all modern Challengers are outfitted with software that automatically places the car in park when the engine is stopped, there have been no reported incidents. However, a driver who stepped out of the vehicle while it was still running could be forced to go chasing after it.
FCA said in a statement it is also unaware of any injuries or accidents related to the problem, adding that the recall is unrelated to any previous campaign — including the seemingly similar one from 2016.
[Image: FCA]
Sigh.
Four words. DVP&R.
Yep.
Do Very Poop and Reset?
FFS, FCA! Your Shifter Has One Job! Put the car in the gear that the driver turns the dial to! What’s next, crossing the wires between the gas and the brake? Hitting the window button sets off the alarm? Turning on the radio opens the trunk?
So putting the car in Park doesn’t guarantee that it will go into Park and the display will lie to you. It would be interesting to know what drives the display — the driver’s action or the actual state of the transmission.
Although it doesn’t excuse the design flaw, this is another example of why one should use the parking brake rather than rely on Park to hold the car.
You wouldn’t believe how many people have told me not to use my parking brake because “it’ll freeze up one day”. I wonder how many people actually believe that’s an issue to be concerned about.
Maybe in the Rust Belt. Me, I use mine all the time. My wife? Almost never.
I had a 2017 RAM 1500 as an Enterprise rental earlier this year, and it used the rotating knob. I was at Sonic with it one night, shut off the engine with the knob turned to Neutral and the parking brake on. When I shut off the engine, the knob rotated itself back to Park.
I’m quick to tell those people that it’s NOT using your parking brake that causes it to seize-up.
The version I heard is to use it regularly or never but not sometimes. That makes sense. If you work the linkage frequently, it won’t corrode in place. If you never use it, the parking brake will freeze up but it won’t be with the brake applied.
A 2007 BMW Electronic Parking Brake Actuator repair costs $1,200.00.
I would never use an electronic parking brake if my car had one.
Yet another reason to get the available 6MT in a HEMI Challenger…
Sure. While you’re at it why not just buy a Challenger with three wheels, or one door. Clearly you like severely compromised vehicles.
Typical Chrysler.
“OK, here is an element of the car that has two standard designs, the column shifter, and the fore-and-aft console shifter, that have been in production for something like 50 years, and basically there are never any significant problems with those designs. So, let’s change this element to an unproven design, even though it has major safety implications. What could possibly go wrong?”
Instead of “software that automatically puts the car in Park”, how about a shifter that works like all the other shifters?
Actually, I think FMEA is the most immediately applicable tool here.
Because “all the other shifters” are electronic now too. I’m sure it’s faster to assemble a car with a shifter that has no mechanical connection to the transmission.
This is a software flaw which has nothing to do with the fact that the shifter is a rotating knob. If the shifter was conventionally styled but still using electrical switches to tell the transmission computer what gear is selected, the problem would still remain.
^this, thank you sir.
“Typical Chrysler.”
This is a ZF design that works just fine. It’s not the shifter’s fault that people choose to exit their vehicle before securing it.
But yes, lets evolve every aspect of our lives except cars. Let’s keep 50s era car design….
Uh, the monostable gear selector was a *ZF* design too, genius.
2.7 million more vehicles recalled for explosive Takata air bags. Nissan, Ford, and Mazda.
Alas, Ford and Mazda likely kept this recall off the pages of TTAC.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/ct-takata-air-bag-recall-expands-20170712-story.html
Takata is a Japanese company so they get a pass from TTAC. I thought this site was done with recall stories 10 years ago but that seems to never have applied to GM/Ford/Chrysler
Yep, TTAC sure gives Takata a pass.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/07/millions-airbags-takata-replaced-might-also-dangerous/
Yep, nothing about that but whitewashing over it and pretending its no big deal.
Yeah, because we didn’t have a Ford recall story last week (or was it the week before? I know I saw it recently).
Enough with the bias accusations. This guy owns an Odyssey and you let him drive the new one? BIAS! So, Tim can’t review it because he likes his, and Chris can’t go to the reveal because he has a family. What’s next? Jack can’t do a No Fixed Abode because he has a Honda? Bark can’t tell us about his RS because its a Ford?
Maybe you missed the part where I said GM/Ford/Chrysler are (and always have been) exempt from the no-recall policy. Tim already had commentary regarding his tongue-to-tailshaft paean for the non review of Honda’s untested and unproven 10 speed transmission which is somehow best in class.
“Since all modern Challengers are outfitted with software that automatically places the car in park when the engine is stopped…”
Yeah, that doesn’t sound like it could be easily hacked through UConnect at all…..
“After a high-profile recall of over 1 million vehicles due to a design flaw associated with the shifter used with the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission,”
Wow, no biased reporting in that sentence.
There is no design flaw. The shifter works exactly as designed. But because some b-list actor died because he chose not to secure his vehicle before exiting, we have to blame evil Chrysler.
However, Toyota not being able to design an all-weather floor mat and/or gas pedal shape correctly with proper tolerances, issues addressed in Japan through recall but ignored in the US to save money, wasn’t corporate malfeasance or incompetence. It was a witch hunt of unfair proportions.
Any other makers epically over complicated shifters (and there are a lot of them now) isn’t a problem apparently, but that piece of spin…
It’s not over complicated. If my grandmother who is in her 70s can figure it out, anyone should be able to.
If you still struggle with the simple shifter though, then clearly driving is too complicated and your license should be taken away.
I’ve been on TTAC from almost the start. I don’t want to go spelunking through the posts over all of those years to prove it, but you are a fool if you think that TTAC has not shown bias. The GM-bashing here has been especially prominent.