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Filed under: Truck, Recalls, Safety, Dodge

2009 Dodge Ram pickup

Dodge Ram – Click above for high-res image gallery

Chrysler is recalling 76,112 Dodge Ram trucks for a problem that may result in brake pedals that don’t return as quickly as they should. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the issue is specific to 2010 and 2011 model year diesel trucks. Models made between March 2009 and October 2010 may have been built with power steering reservoir caps with “excessive vent pressure levels.” Somehow, the faulty power steering cap causes the brake pedals to be slow to return.

We aren’t entirely clear on how the power steering cap impacts the braking system, but NHTSA says that the danger isn’t that drivers won’t be able to stop their trucks – the brakes release when they should. Instead, the vehicle’s brake lights will stay illuminated for too long, increasing the likelihood of an accident.

Chrysler says it has received 175 reports of the issue, but it has received no reports of any accidents or injuries stemming from the defect. Chrysler will notify owners of affected trucks that it will inspect and replace the power steering reservoir cap for free as necessary. Hit the jump to see the full NHTSA campaign report.

Gallery: Review: 2009 Dodge Ram

[Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]

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Chrysler recalling 76,000 Ram pickups over braking concerns originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Recalls, Electric

Even though U.S. production of the Think City started off well the other day, all is not fine in Think land. The company is recalling 850 City cars throughout Europe because the brakes on the electric car can weaken under “extremely humid conditions.”

A Think representative told AutoblogGreen, “Major, prolonged exposure to water could cause a small malfunction in the electronics. The brakes would still work, but required increased pressure to use.” This problem could appear in instances of severe rain or after intense car washes. James Andrew of Think Europe tells NRK (Google Translated) that the repair includes wrapping the pump circuit in an epoxy, which “solves the problem fully.” Importantly, new models are not affected. We’ve driven the City in wet conditions and have never experienced this problem.

There are also stories floating around that say that Think has not provided City vehicles to the European crash testing organization EuroNCAP, like this one on VG Net (Google Translated). EuroNCAP needs three vehicles to crash, but VG Net reports that Think reportedly said it could not spare the vehicles. In fact, Think told AutoblogGreen, it will send vehicles to EuroNCAP in early 2011, adding, “We are of course supplying the vehicles. There is no story there.”

[Source: NRK, VG Net (both Google Translated), Think]

Think recalling 850 City EVs over braking issue in “extremely” wet conditions originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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