FCA, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has announced that it is recalling almost 67,000 older-model pickup trucks due to issues with a faulty clutch switch that is said to have caused one death.
The company says the recall is for a total of 66,819 pickup trucks from model years 2006 and 2007 which are equipped with spring wire that is different from the spring wire used in earlier switches.
"The alternate wire may break and, as a result, the vehicles may not start," says FCA in a statement. "In rare cases, a vehicle may - if recommended starting procedures are not followed - exhibit unintended movement when its ignition key is turned."
The recommended starting procedures include activating the truck's parking brake, placing the shift lever in neutral position and stepping on the clutch pedal before turning the ignition. This procedure was not followed in the single known incident involving a casualty linked to the problem.
The incident, which was investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), involves a young child who somehow was able to get inside a 2006 Ram 3500 truck and start the ignition without engaging the clutch pedal. The vehicle lurched forward, killing another child who was in front of it.
The recall is for trucks manufactured between July 2005 and June 2006, including certain models of Dodge Dakota, Mitsubishi Raider and Dodge Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500. FCA no longer makes the Dakota and the Raider, which were developed in agreement with Mitsubishi.
Majority of the vehicles, or more than 54,000, are found in the United States. Another 4,300 are in Canada and 7,600 in Mexico. The rest are found elsewhere in the world.
FCA says it will start sending individual notices to its customers on Feb. 15, 2015 and will provide free replacement for their clutch ignition switches. In the meantime, the company advises all customers to turn on their vehicle ignition using the standard procedure.
So far, FCA has recalled around 900,000 older Dodge Rams, Jeep Commanders and Jeep Grand Cherokees for various issues, adding to the record-breaking 60 million vehicles that have been recalled worldwide this year, the most prominent of which were General Motors' problematic vehicles and vehicles of various automakers equipped with Takata airbags.
The NHTSA has pushed car companies to quickly fix the flaws in their vehicles, with the threat of subpoenas and millions of dollars in fines imposed upon those who refuse to cooperate.
