Stellantis is recalling 113,000 hybrid Jeep SUVs after discovering the engines could be contaminated with sand from the casting process
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- Jeep recalls 76,000 Wrangler and 37,000 Grand Cherokee 4xe hybrids.
- Engines could fail from internal sand contamination during production.
- Last month Jeep recalled 320,000 hybrids over potential fire risk.
Jeep’s 4xe hybrids proved so popular that the electrified Wrangler was America’s best-selling PHEV for two years running and accounted for a quarter of all of the model’s sales. But that popularity is under threat as the automaker announced a third hybrid-related recall in less than a month.
What’s Going Wrong?
The latest callback is for 76,019 Wrangler 4ex plug-ins built for MY24-25 and 36,840 Grand Cherokee PHEVs built for MY23-25. Jeep discovered that their Mexico-built, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines could be contaminated with sand from the casting process.
Related: Jeep Warns 320,000 Hybrid Owners To Park Outside After Samsung Battery Scare
If that nasty grit gets into the wrong places it could trash the engine, causing a loss of power and maybe a loss of control, a crash or a fire. Only 4xe hybrids are affected, despite Jeep also offering 2.0-liter versions of the Wrangler during the 23-25MY period without the hybrid kit.
This is not just theory, either. As of late October, the company had received 36 customer assistance records, 144 warranty claims, and reports of 36 fires, 50 incidences where cars lost propulsion, and 50 other related reports. What’s more, three people have even been injured.
Jeep says it will begin notifying owners around December 29, though exactly what it will tell them we don’t know because it is still working on a solution.
It could mean over 100,000 Wranglers and Cherokees getting entirely new engines, which is a remedy Toyota was forced to offer earlier this year when its V6s were found to be contaminated with debris from the machining process.
Another Blow For 4xe
This new recall comes only a couple of weeks after Jeep warned more than 320,000 Wrangler and Grand Cherokee 4xe owners to park outside and away from cars and structures due to the risk of their hybrid battery packs catching fire.
And in late October Jeep recalled almost 25,000 Wrangler 4xe models after a bad OTA update made their hybrid systems go haywire, in some cases causing them to lose drive.
