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.  (Read More…)

We’ve said the next Jeep Wrangler would have diesel power, as well as an eight-speed auto. Now, both will be paired with each other.

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For those who don’t share my fascination with diving, a saturation dive is conducted at deep depths for extended periods of time at depths of hundreds of feet. I have read with bemusement the various “deep dives” that have been conducted by various publications into the workings of modern automatic transmissions. These deep dives tend to be more akin to splashing about in the shallow end of a pool. The name Saturation Dive is an engineer’s attempt at humor, namely to convey that this series of articles is much deeper than the stereotypical deep dives.

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