Denial of Motor Vehicle Defect Petition, DP14-002 |
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Topics: Dodge Caravan, Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country, Chrysler Voyager
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Frank S. Borris II
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
April 8, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18935-18936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08082]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Denial of Motor Vehicle Defect Petition, DP14-002
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation.
ACTION: Denial of petition for a defect investigation.
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SUMMARY: This document denies a July 7, 2014 petition from Mr. Brian
Rosa of Union, NJ, requesting that the agency open an investigation
into an alleged defect resulting in engine stall without warning after
refueling in a model year (MY) 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan minivan. The
petitioner's vehicle is a Chrysler RS platform minivan. The RS platform
includes MY 2003 through 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan, Dodge Caravan,
Chrysler Town and Country and Chrysler Voyager minivans. NHTSA
evaluated the petition by analyzing consumer complaints submitted to
the Agency, analyzing field data and reviewing technical information
provided by Chrysler in response to an information request letter from
the Agency, and testing an RS minivan that was the subject of a post-
refuel engine stall complaint to NHTSA. After completing this
evaluation, NHTSA has concluded that further investigation of the
alleged defect in the subject vehicles is unlikely to result in a
determination that a safety-related defect exists. The agency
accordingly denies the petition.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Paul Simmons, Vehicle Control
Division, Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2315.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Alleged Defect
The petitioner alleges that his MY 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan vehicle
experienced multiple incidents of engine stall without warning after
refueling. The petitioner discovered that the defective part is a valve
that is integral to the fuel tank, requiring tank replacement to repair
the problem. The petitioner alleged that stalling without warning is an
unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety and requests the agency take
action by opening a Preliminary Evaluation fully evaluate the defect.
Engine Stall Defects
The United States Code for Motor Vehicle Safety (Title 49, Chapter
301) defines motor vehicle safety as ``the performance of a motor
vehicle or motor vehicle equipment in a way that protects the public
against unreasonable risk of accidents occurring because of the design,
construction, or performance of a motor vehicle, and against
unreasonable risk of death or injury in an accident, and includes
nonoperational safety of a motor vehicle.'' NHTSA considers several
factors when assessing the safety risk posed by conditions that may
result in engine stall while driving. These include the speeds at which
stalling may occur, the ability of the driver to restart the vehicle,
the warning available to the driver prior to stalling, the effects of
engine stall on vehicle controllability, when and where the stalling
will occur and the effects of the condition on other safety systems of
the vehicle. In general, conditions that result in engine stall during
low-speed operation at idle, such as when slowing to a stop, and which
do not affect the operator's ability to immediately restart the engine
are considered the least hazardous types of stalling problems and,
absent other safety factors, are not considered to be unreasonable
risks to safety.
Background (PE13-016)
On February 10, 2014, ODI closed an investigation of an alleged
defect in approximately 153,817 MY 2006 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and
Dodge Magnum vehicles (LX cars) that may result in engine stall shortly
after refueling (PE13-016). In response to ODI's information request
for PE13-016, Chrysler identified a problem with the multifunction
control valve (MFCV) fuel shutoff float integrated into 19-gallon fuel
tanks in certain LX vehicles. According to Chrysler, the float may
swell after exposure to fuels with high ethanol content, which may
cause the valve to stick. A float valve that is stuck open during
refueling, could result in fuel tank overfill and allow raw fuel to
enter the purge line. This could result in problems with engine
driveability (e.g., stumble or hesitation) or stall while driving in
the brief period immediately after filling the fuel tank.
[[Page 18936]]
ODI's analysis of complaints related to this condition determined
that most of the incidents of engine stall were occurring when the
vehicles were stopped or travelling at low speeds and there were no
reports of any difficulty restarting the engines after such incidents.
No crashes or injuries were identified in the subject vehicles, which
had been in service for 7 to 8 years. The investigation was closed with
no safety recall due to the low safety risk associated with the alleged
defect condition.
RS Minivan analysis
In response to ODI's information request letter for DP14-002,
Chrysler indicated that the RS Minivans may experience a condition with
MFCV float sticking similar to the one investigated in the LX Cars in
PE13-016:
``The failure mechanism is a result of a swollen refueling float
within the multifunction control valve. Studies have proven that
elevated ethanol additives cause the float and housing to swell,
which, in turn, causes the float to intermittently stick. Once
stuck, a limited amount of fuel will pass beyond the refuel float
and enter the vapor recovery system before the fill pressure
threshold is reached and shuts the fuel nozzle off.
``Once fuel has entered into in the vapor recovery system, it
can then be purged into the engine's intake system in place of
anticipated vapor within the first minute of starting the engine.
The result of fuel rather than vapor entering in the engine intake
system will cause the engine to stumble or, when the vehicle is not
in motion and/or the engine at idle, a stall can occur. The
condition is often contained to a momentary engine stumble as the
purge event is immediately turned off when a rich fuel condition is
detected by the Powertrain Control Module.
``Chrysler believes there is no unreasonable risk to motor
safety because an engine stumble or rough idle will occur at a low
driving speed, and while a stall is most likely to occur at an idle
or stop. There have been no reported accidents or property damage in
over 1.8 million vehicles. Additionally, when a refuel valve does
stick, there is sufficient back pressure in the fuel system to shut
off the fuel pump and limit the amount of the fuel into the purge
line.''
ODI's analysis of complaints, field reports, legal claims and
warranty data related to the alleged defect in Chrysler RS Minivans
identified a total of 720 post-refueling engine stall incidents in
approximately 1.8 million vehicles, resulting in an overall rate of
0.39 per incidents per thousand vehicles (IPTV). Similar to the LX Car
analysis in PE13-016, the engine stalls were mostly occurring when the
vehicle was stopped or coasting to a stop at low speed. There were no
allegations of difficulty restarting the engines immediately after the
stalls occurred. There were no allegations of crash or injury.
Differences in tank design, exhaust routing and purge strategy may
influence the incident rate at which the MFCV float sticking condition
occurs and/or the potential for engine stall or other performance
concerns. As a result, ODI's analysis examined incident rates over the
full range of RS Minivan production to assess the effects of changes in
tank design and purge control logic. This analysis identified an
elevated incident rate for approximately 208,000 MY 2004 and 2005 RS
Minivans built during a seventh month period from September 2003
through March 2004, which exhibited a failure rate similar to the LX
Cars investigated in PE13-016. Table 1 summarizes the field data for
DP14-002 and PE13-016.
Table 1. Summary of NHTSA Complaints and Chrysler Complaints, Field Reports and Lawsuits
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Vehicle age Total Report rate Crashes/
NHTSA inv. No. Vehicles Build range Population (yrs) reports (IPTV) Injuries
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PE13-016................................... LX cars, 2006................ 4/05-7/06 153,817 7-8 299 1.94 0/0
DP14-002................................... RS vans, 2003-04............. 7/02-8/03 425,544 11-12 34 0.08 0/0
RS vans, 2004-05............. 9/03-3/04 208,419 10-11 445 2.14 0/0
RS vans, 2005-07............. 4/04-5/07 1,221,370 7-10 241 0.20 0/0
Total RS, 2003-07............ 7/02-5/07 1,855,333 7-12 720 0.39 0/0
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Subject Vehicle Test Results
As part of its evaluation of this defect petition, NHTSA's Vehicle
Research and Test Center (VRTC) conducted testing on a 2005 Chrysler
Town & Country LMT (3.6L SFI, 20 gal. fuel tank) vehicle that was the
subject of an ODI complaint (VOQ 10641603) that provided the following
description of the problem:
After fill up, vehicle stalls, the engine cuts off and the
vehicle loses all power and power steering. This happened first on a
cross country trip and caused some serious safety concerns when
attempting to exit the gas station and merge onto the highway. This
problem has been occurring regularly from the first instance in
2011. When fueling, the van is never over filled; we fill until the
pump clicks off. This seems to be a fairly common problem in this
generation of minivans as represented in online forums trying to
diagnose the problem.
VRTC conducted tests on the complaint vehicle to assess engine
performance after refueling, including the driving conditions and ease
of engine restart associated with any observed engine stalls. When
refueling the vehicle up to the initial shut-off of the filling station
pump nozzle, the VRTC testing was able to reproduce stalling incidents
when the vehicle was stopped or coasting to a stop at low speed. The
vehicle did not stall 4 out of 5 times when travelling at 5 mph, but
minor hesitation was noted. No stalls and only minor hesitation were
occurred when travelling at 10 mph or above in tanks filled to the
initial nozzle shut-off. Stalling was more likely to occur if the tank
was overfilled (i.e., adding fuel past the initial fill nozzle
shutoff). Testing after overfilling resulted in stalls in 4 of 5 tests
at speeds up to 10 mph. Regardless of fill condition, the vehicle could
always be immediately restarted after each engine stall.
Conclusion
In the Agency's view, additional investigation is unlikely to
result in a finding that a defect related to motor vehicle safety
exists given the limited conditions under which the subject condition
may result in engine stall, the low failure rate in vehicles with
approximately 8 to 13 years in service and the absence of any reports
of crashes or injuries. Therefore, in view of the need to allocate and
prioritize NHTSA limited resources to best accomplish the Agency's
safety mission, the petition is denied. This action does not constitute
a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The
Agency will take further action if warranted by future circumstances.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162(d); delegations of authority at CFR
1.50 and 501.8.
Frank S. Borris II,
Acting Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2015-08082 Filed 4-7-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P