Active Head Rest Inadvertent Deployment

Seats
Seats:Front Assembly:Head Restraint

Summary
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has identified 128 Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) reports alleging the Active Head Rest (AHR) inadvertently deployed without the occurrence of a crash or other rear impact event in model year (MY) 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango, the subject vehicles, produced by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). Thirteen of those reports allege injuries mostly involving headaches and soft tissue injuries, however some reports allegedly resulted in disorientation, nausea and vomiting according to complainants interviewed. A small number of EWR field reports have also been identified.The AHR, which is intended to deploy in rear impact crashes to reduce the risk of neck injury, is a spring actuated device controlled by the air bag control unit (ACU).When the ACU senses a rear impact, it signals the AHR to deploy (forward from the headrest, and towards the occupant's head) to limit rearward head motion in the crash. In the reported cases, it appears a plastic material inside the AHR, intended to hold the AHR in the "ready" (compressed) state, fails due to stress and/or fatigue allowing the AHR to actuate unexpectedly. Inadvertent deployments have reportedly occurred at either (or both) front seat positions, when the vehicle is either occupied or unoccupied, when the seat is either occupied or unoccupied, and in some cases (nearly two-thirds) while the vehicle was in motion. The AHR must be replaced to correct the condition, a process that apparently involves disassembly of the seat.ODI is opening this preliminary evaluation (PE) to evaluate the scope, frequency and consequence of the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. Although at a lower rate of occurrence, ODI is also aware of similar reports on other MY Grand Cherokee and Durango, as well as other FCA models and model year vehicles equipped with AHR. These reports will also be evaluated during the PE. The VOQ reports cited above can be viewed at NHTSA.gov under the following reference (ODI) numbers:11253751, 11253472, 11246187, 11245937, 11245486, 11243143, 11242060, 11242057, 11241965, 11240860, 11235131, 11235105, 11234003, 11233187, 11232766, 11230802, 11229833, 11229805, 11229317, 11229224, 11222916, 11222786, 11222582, 11222374, 11221815, 11220929, 11220738, 11218542, 11210851, 11209398, 11206022, 11196571, 11196150, 11195419, 11195025, 11193129, 11192175, 11191661, 11191170, 11184859, 11183953, 11176547, 11175694, 11172752, 11172629, 11165122, 11164591, 11157003, 11153743, 11150228, 11144424, 11144298, 11142311, 11141805, 11141690, 11140134, 11132955, 11130367, 11124408, 11121861, 11121625, 11120549, 11120529, 11120505, 11120167, 11120080, 11119341, 11118896, 11115613, 11115105, 11114757, 11114514, 11113353, 11113344, 11111961, 11110951, 11110796, 11109606, 11105315, 11105130, 11104890, 11104643, 11103883, 11102226, 11101371, 11100450, 11099424, 11099374, 11098705, 11093402, 11092693, 11091564, 11091393, 11091281, 11091020, 11090036, 11089573, 11076058, 11065459, 11065269, 11062915, 11052748, 11048770, 11044852, 11042996, 11039243, 11036080, 11034038, 11032924, 11032648, 11030319, 11023610, 11022744, 11022444, 11019294, 11012467, 11011841, 11005297, 11000632, 10990483, 10981413, 10971121, 10966138, 10965838, 10958790, 10924285, 10894153, 10883998
Documents (4)

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Date Opened
SEP 09, 2019
Date Closed
NHTSA Recall #
No recall yet
  • Status:
    PENDING
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