U.S.

DepaMent
of Transportation

National Higbway
ODI RESUME
Traffic Safety
Administra

INVESTIGATION: EAOI-01'1 DATE OPENED: 111101 /01

SUBJECT: InadvertentRoll-awayin ReverseWhenParked
PROMPTEDBY: PEO1-021
PRINCIPAL ENGINEER:PeterKivett
MANUFACTURER: DaimlerChryslerCorporation
MODEL: JeepGrandCherokee
MODEL YEARS: 1993-CurrentProduction
VEHICLE POPULATION: 1,823,631
PROBLEMDESCRIPTION: Drivers allegethat theyplacethe vehicleinto PARK while stoppedon a
level surfaceandat sometime afterexiting thevehicle(this time variesfrom secondsto morethan a
coupleof minutes),the vehicle beginsto roll'-awayin REVERSE.
FAILURE REPORTSUMMARY
ODI MANUFACTURER TOTAL
ALL COMPLAINTS: 517 348 865
CRASHES: 167 192 359
INJURIES: 136 48 184
FATALITIES: 4 3* 5*
WARRANTY: N/A 74,320 74,320

DESCRIPTION OF FATALITY ODI believes

thatonlyoneofthereported
fatalities
from
DaimlerChrysler
isconsistent
withthealleged
defect, thetotal
narrowing to5 fatalities.

ACTION: An Engineering
Analysis
hasbeenopened.

ENGINEER DIV CHF- OFC

DAT9 DIR-DATE
DA

0
r.
Page2. 11

SUMMARY:
ODI openedthe PreliminaryEvaluationbasedon 48 complaintsfor modelyear 1995-1999subject
vehicles.In most cases(29 out of 48), ownersallegedthat the enginewas left idling andunattendedwhile
the vehicleself-engagedin PARK andmovedbackwardsunderpower. These48 vehicle roll-away
incidentsresultedin 32 crashesand 14 injuries. Sincethe PE wasopenedtheVOQ complaint numberhas
risento 414, with 153crashesand 121injuries, for 1995through1999JeepGrandCherokees.
Furthermore, ODI becameawareof 4 fatalitiesallegedto haveresultedfromthevehicle'sinabilityto stay
in PARK. Also, ODI identified103complaints forthe 1993and1994JeepGrandCherokees, thatwere
consistentwith theallegeddefect.

DaimlerChrysler including192crashes,
reportedto ODI thattheyreceived348 complaints, 48 injuriesand
3 fatalitiesfor the1995- 1999subjectvehicles.ODI's reviewof materialrelatedto the 3 fatalityincidents
submitted by DaimlerChrysler foundthatonlyonewasconsistent with theallegeddefect.

Compilingall the information thereare762 consumer

betweenODI andDaimlerChrysler, complaints,
345
alleging crashes, 169injuries
and5 Fatalities.

COMPLAINT DESCRIPTION:
ODI interviewed15 complainantswhoallegedthatbetween5 to 30 seconds aftershiftingto PARK,the
transn-~ission
engagedREVERSE(ODI wasunableto contactownersalleginglongerintervalsbetween
shiftsequence
andtheroll-awayevent).Two consumers mentioned duringtheinterviewsthattheyhearda
181" clunking"
noise,whichsuggeststheyheardthetransmission employPARK None of theconsumers
removedthekey fromthe ignitionpriorto theincident.All of theconsumersinterviewed saidtheywere
onlevelground.

In July2001, an ODI investigator met witha Chryslerfieldengineer at aJeepChryslerdealershipin

Virginiato inspect a complaintvehicle.The purposeof theinspection wasto duplicatethecomplaint
description of thevehiclegoingintoREVERSEafterbeingshiftedintothePARK position.TheODI
investigator wasableto duplicatethecomplaint.The vehicleengaged REVERSEwhileit wasinthe
PARK positionat theshifterbezel(Figure1). A sequence of eventsoccurredbeforethisphenomena.
First,theshifter buttonwas depressed. Second,the vehiclewas shiftedthroughREVERSEintoPARK
whiletheenginewasrunning.Third,half of the orangeindicator wasvisiblein thePARK windowof the
shifterbezel. Fourth,the shifterbuttonwasreleased.After 10 to 25 secondsthevehicleengaged in
REVERSE. The vehiclewasthenputona lift at thedealership andinspected frombelow. All the
linkagesappeared to be properlyadjustedandin goodcondition.It is worthnotingthatthefirstsequence
of testsof thevehiclewereperformed on asteepinclinewithnoPARK-to-REVERSEfailures.Duringthe
portionof testingthatthe ODI investigatorexperienced thePARK-to-REVERSEphenomena, thevehicle
wasonflat ground.A totalof threePARK-to-REVERSEfailuresoccurred.
-,--* Page3

11 Figure I

SUBJECT COMPONENT:
Model year(MY) 1993was the first year of the JeepGrand Cherokee.It utilizes a floor-mountedshifter
anda setof cablesto mechanicallyshift the transmission.Thekey mustbe in the ignition, the service
brakemustbe engagedandthe shifter buttonmust bedepressedfor the vehicle to be shifted out of PARK.
is to shift from NEUTRAL to
Theonly other time the shifter button is requiredin the shiffing sequence
PARK. Eachgearcorrespondsto a bezelwindow that, whenilluminated,indicatesthetransmission
position to thedriver.

DESIGN CHANGES:
From MY 1993to 1998the JeepGrandCherokeeswere badgedundertheZJ models. Starting in MY
1999the WJ modelswereintroduced. In 1995four revisionsweremadeto the subjectcomponents
including:
1) addedfoam sleeveto the shift cable;
2) revisedlever designutilizing the samegeometry;
3) changedthe routing of the PARK interlock cable;and
4) revisedthe shifterto improve theassemblyprocess.

In MY 1998therewas a valve body changeto accommodatea new filter andpan design. Additionally, the
housingandshifterassemblieswerechromeplated. The WJ modelsincorporatedmajor changesto the
shiffing mechanismsandhousingcomponentsproducingsix partnumberchanges.

WARRANTY CLAIMS:
A total of 74,320warrantyclaims werefiled associated
with the subjectcomponents.Three of the 17
warrantylabor codeoptionsaccountedfor 73 percentof thetotal warrantyclaims in DaimlerChrysler's
submission:
1)bezel,gearshiftlever - replace;
2) valve body - replace;and
3) shiftercable- adjusted.

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 Page4

PEERVEHICLES:
Analysisof ODI datafor MY 1993through1999subjectandpeerSUV's showsthat the subjectvehicle
PARK-to-REVERSEexperienceis morethanfive timesgreaterthanthe closestnon-DaimlerChrysler
vehicle.

IncidentRates1brPeerSUVs:0131
PARK4o-REVERSE Data
Oldsmobile
Bravada0.00
Mercedes
ML320/W-430
0.00
MazdaNavajo0.00
LexusRX3000.00
Lexus
LX450/LX470
~0.00
LandRover
Discovery0.00
IsuzuTrooper0.00
QX40.00
Infinity
BWVX50.00
AcuraSLX 0.00
Toyota
4-Runner0.04
GMCS/T 0.10
Nissan
Pathfinder 0.11
FordExplorer 0.19
IsuzuRodeo 0.19
Mountaineer 0.23.
Mercury
Toyota
LandCruiser 0.28
ChevroletSfrBlazer 0.29
Mitsubishi
Montero/Sport 0.~
JeepCherokee
-0.39
HondaPassport tO .53
Dodge Durango ~ 0.67
#
Grand
Jeep Cherokee 2.62
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00
Complaints
per100,000
Registered
Vehicle
Years
 Page5
DAIMLERCHRYSLERIS POSITION:
factor' of unintendedvehicle
"DaimlerChryslerbelievesthat the virtually universal'causalor contributory
movementin the subjectvehiclesis the driver's decisionto exit the vehiclewith the enginerunningand
without trying to removethe key (which ensuresthe vehicleis in "PAIW') or settingtheparking brake.
DaimlerChrysleris unawareof any vehicle designfrom any manufacturerthat is not theoretically
susceptibleto unintendedvehicle motion underthesecircumstances."According to DaimlerChrysler
thirty-eight stateshavepassedlaws requiring driversto turn the engineoff beforeexiting the vehiclesand
twenty-eightstatesrequirethat the key be removedbeforethe driver exits the vehicle.

SCOPE:
PEO1-021 involvedMY 1995-99JeepGrand Cherokeevehicles.The scopeof the investigationhasbeen
expandedto includeMY 1993to currentproduction,basedon ODI analysisof field experienceandpart
usage.

Complaint and Crash Rates for

1993-2001 Model Year Grand Cherokee (per 100k), ODI Data

60.00

50.00

~4
C> 40.00
CD

IM 30.00

E
0 20.00

10.00

0.00
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

ACTION:
ODI will upgradethe PreliminaryEvaluationto an EngineeringAnalysisto fiu-therevaluatethe safety
consequences of this issue.