or is it really a problem??
Nearly 900 Jeep Wrangler owners have filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the last two years about fuel "spit-back" during fill-ups. Consumers also are reporting the problem in other Chrysler and Dodge models, according to an Edmunds analysis of complaints NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI).
According to the complaints, the fuel system does not respond to a shut-off mechanism. Gasoline overflows the tank, sometimes in a spill and sometimes in a spray.
Chrysler has recalled more than 45,000 2005 Dodge Durango models for the problem, and said it had resolved the issue with its fuel-tank supplier. In August 2010, citing 217 complaints, NHTSA opened an inquiry into a similar problem in the 2007 and 2008 Jeep Wrangler. Between January 2009 and January 2011, 891 owners of 2005-2010 Jeep Wranglers filed fuel spit-back complaints with NHTSA. The majority of those reports concerned the 2007 and 2008 model years.
In one complaint filed last month with the federal agency, the owner of a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited said the vehicle "has an overfilling problem every single time I fill up at the gas station."
"It doesn't matter if I use the lowest setting on the gas pump or if I manually use as little pressure as possible," the owner wrote. "It overfills every single time and gas pours out of the fill spout running down the body of the vehicle on my hand on my clothes and on the ground."
The owner of a 2007 Chrysler Sebring reported that "during refueling, when the fuel nozzle stops, there was an overflow of fuel spaying out of the fuel tank neck. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they informed that the fuel tank assembly would need to be replaced. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired."
In August 2009, Jeep issued a technical service bulletin for the 2007 and 2008 Wrangler.
It said that consumers were noting that it was hard to fill their vehicles, or that they had to fill them at a very slow rate. The bulletin does not specifically mention fuel spit-back, however. Jeep said it would replace the vent line tube vent line filter, vent line and recirculation line. The problem was that the vent system was not able to provide enough tank ventilation, according to the bulletin.
In October 2010, Chrysler responded to the NHTSA's request for information about the problem. It said it had been made aware of complaints about fuel spills for 191 vehicles (including six in which legal claims had been filed). It noted that "it is possible for fuel spills to occur as a result of users erroneously overfilling a fuel tank by continuing to fill after the automatic shut off mechanism kicks in."
"It is not possible to discern how many of the subject vehicle complaints are a result of user error," Chrysler said. "Such complaints are obviously not a result of a vehicle design issue." And because there was "not a single allegation of crash, fire, property damage or injury" as a result of the spit-backs, there was no safety defect, the automaker said. It told the agency that it should close the investigation.
In its reply, Chrysler said that the only "plausible" explanation for the spit-backs was that the fuel system in the affected cars had been exposed to gasoline with ethanol levels of more than 10 percent -- a higher percentage than the system was designed to handle. In the presence of higher levels of ethanol, components in the inlet check valve (ICV) can swell, causing it to stick and fail to close properly, Chrysler said.
Coincidentally, the Environmental Protection Agency in January waived a limitation on selling gasoline that contains more than 10 percent ethanol for model year 2001 through 2006 passenger vehicles, including cars, SUVs and light pickup trucks. The waiver applies to gasoline that contains up to 15 percent ethanol, known as E15.
Despite Chrysler's call for an end to the investigation for the 2007 and 2008 Jeep Wrangler, it is still open. Complaints of fuel spit-back peaked in January with 211 complaints across Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, according to Edmunds analyst Panee Segal, who studies the NHTSA complaint database. Most of the reports pertain to the Jeep Wrangler.
"There has been a continuous and increasing amount of complaints submitted month to month on this topic and we feel this should be brought to consumers' attention," said Segal, part of the team that does the monthly analysis of complaints that can be found at the Edmunds AutoObserver Data Center.
Federal investigators might be receiving more reports about the issue because some Jeep Wrangler owners are using social media to encourage reporting of the problem. Wrangler spit-back has been discussed in the Edmunds 2008 Jeep Wrangler discussion forum. There is a Facebook page dedicated to the issue. Both that page and a post at JeepForum.com encourage vehicle owners to submit complaints to federal investigators.
The Facebook page's creator, Rod LaFleur, has posted videos of overflows in his 2005 Jeep Wrangler TJ Unlimited on YouTube to document the problem. The videos include a link so owners can file a complaint with the federal agency.
LaFleur, who lives in Chicago and commutes 60 miles a day, said he has filed complaints about the problem with both Chrysler and federal safety investigators. He estimates that he loses 2 to 5 ounces of gasoline every time he fills up. To avoid being splashed, "I make sure I'm far enough away and I make sure no one is standing by it," he said.
He said Chrysler has not offered to replace his fuel tank, and he said that unless there's a design change, Chrysler would only be "replacing one defectively designed part with another defectively designed one."
Chrysler said in its reply to federal investigators that despite its belief that there was no design defect in the Wrangler's inlet check valve, it was going to make changes to it.
Chrysler said it was "working toward a more robust ICV design for production and service that is planned to be implemented in Feb. 2011" to accommodate the swell that apparently occurs in the presence of ethanol levels above 10 percent.
Edmunds analyst Segal, meanwhile, questions why the federal government's previous recall was limited to the 2005 Dodge Durango and why the current investigation only concerns the 2007 and 2008 Jeep Wrangler.
Whether or not other Chrysler-branded vehicles have the same fuel-tank system as the 2007-2008 Jeep Wrangler, Segal said that federal investigators should extend their inquiry to the 2006 to 2009 Dodge Durango, all model years of the Jeep Wrangler and other Chrysler vehicles that have been the subject of consumer complaints of fuel spit-back.
In an e-mail, NHTSA said that its investigation into the issue "is still active."
"In many investigations, NHTSA looks at peer vehicles to see if they experience similar issues," the agency said. "If the agency's assessment indicates similar problems in other vehicles, NHTSA will take action to ensure they are remedied." It said any new information would be posted on its Web site, safercar.gov.
Chrysler spokesman Vince Muniga said that the automaker is "cooperating fully" with NHSTA's investigation. "And until the investigation is closed, we can't get into any details," he said.
Carroll Lachnit: is Edmunds.com Features Editor
Nearly 900 Jeep Wrangler owners have filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the last two years about fuel "spit-back" during fill-ups. Consumers also are reporting the problem in other Chrysler and Dodge models, according to an Edmunds analysis of complaints NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI).
According to the complaints, the fuel system does not respond to a shut-off mechanism. Gasoline overflows the tank, sometimes in a spill and sometimes in a spray.
Chrysler has recalled more than 45,000 2005 Dodge Durango models for the problem, and said it had resolved the issue with its fuel-tank supplier. In August 2010, citing 217 complaints, NHTSA opened an inquiry into a similar problem in the 2007 and 2008 Jeep Wrangler. Between January 2009 and January 2011, 891 owners of 2005-2010 Jeep Wranglers filed fuel spit-back complaints with NHTSA. The majority of those reports concerned the 2007 and 2008 model years.
In one complaint filed last month with the federal agency, the owner of a 2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited said the vehicle "has an overfilling problem every single time I fill up at the gas station."
"It doesn't matter if I use the lowest setting on the gas pump or if I manually use as little pressure as possible," the owner wrote. "It overfills every single time and gas pours out of the fill spout running down the body of the vehicle on my hand on my clothes and on the ground."
The owner of a 2007 Chrysler Sebring reported that "during refueling, when the fuel nozzle stops, there was an overflow of fuel spaying out of the fuel tank neck. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they informed that the fuel tank assembly would need to be replaced. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired."
In August 2009, Jeep issued a technical service bulletin for the 2007 and 2008 Wrangler.
It said that consumers were noting that it was hard to fill their vehicles, or that they had to fill them at a very slow rate. The bulletin does not specifically mention fuel spit-back, however. Jeep said it would replace the vent line tube vent line filter, vent line and recirculation line. The problem was that the vent system was not able to provide enough tank ventilation, according to the bulletin.
In October 2010, Chrysler responded to the NHTSA's request for information about the problem. It said it had been made aware of complaints about fuel spills for 191 vehicles (including six in which legal claims had been filed). It noted that "it is possible for fuel spills to occur as a result of users erroneously overfilling a fuel tank by continuing to fill after the automatic shut off mechanism kicks in."
"It is not possible to discern how many of the subject vehicle complaints are a result of user error," Chrysler said. "Such complaints are obviously not a result of a vehicle design issue." And because there was "not a single allegation of crash, fire, property damage or injury" as a result of the spit-backs, there was no safety defect, the automaker said. It told the agency that it should close the investigation.
In its reply, Chrysler said that the only "plausible" explanation for the spit-backs was that the fuel system in the affected cars had been exposed to gasoline with ethanol levels of more than 10 percent -- a higher percentage than the system was designed to handle. In the presence of higher levels of ethanol, components in the inlet check valve (ICV) can swell, causing it to stick and fail to close properly, Chrysler said.
Coincidentally, the Environmental Protection Agency in January waived a limitation on selling gasoline that contains more than 10 percent ethanol for model year 2001 through 2006 passenger vehicles, including cars, SUVs and light pickup trucks. The waiver applies to gasoline that contains up to 15 percent ethanol, known as E15.
Despite Chrysler's call for an end to the investigation for the 2007 and 2008 Jeep Wrangler, it is still open. Complaints of fuel spit-back peaked in January with 211 complaints across Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, according to Edmunds analyst Panee Segal, who studies the NHTSA complaint database. Most of the reports pertain to the Jeep Wrangler.
"There has been a continuous and increasing amount of complaints submitted month to month on this topic and we feel this should be brought to consumers' attention," said Segal, part of the team that does the monthly analysis of complaints that can be found at the Edmunds AutoObserver Data Center.
Federal investigators might be receiving more reports about the issue because some Jeep Wrangler owners are using social media to encourage reporting of the problem. Wrangler spit-back has been discussed in the Edmunds 2008 Jeep Wrangler discussion forum. There is a Facebook page dedicated to the issue. Both that page and a post at JeepForum.com encourage vehicle owners to submit complaints to federal investigators.
The Facebook page's creator, Rod LaFleur, has posted videos of overflows in his 2005 Jeep Wrangler TJ Unlimited on YouTube to document the problem. The videos include a link so owners can file a complaint with the federal agency.
LaFleur, who lives in Chicago and commutes 60 miles a day, said he has filed complaints about the problem with both Chrysler and federal safety investigators. He estimates that he loses 2 to 5 ounces of gasoline every time he fills up. To avoid being splashed, "I make sure I'm far enough away and I make sure no one is standing by it," he said.
He said Chrysler has not offered to replace his fuel tank, and he said that unless there's a design change, Chrysler would only be "replacing one defectively designed part with another defectively designed one."
Chrysler said in its reply to federal investigators that despite its belief that there was no design defect in the Wrangler's inlet check valve, it was going to make changes to it.
Chrysler said it was "working toward a more robust ICV design for production and service that is planned to be implemented in Feb. 2011" to accommodate the swell that apparently occurs in the presence of ethanol levels above 10 percent.
Edmunds analyst Segal, meanwhile, questions why the federal government's previous recall was limited to the 2005 Dodge Durango and why the current investigation only concerns the 2007 and 2008 Jeep Wrangler.
Whether or not other Chrysler-branded vehicles have the same fuel-tank system as the 2007-2008 Jeep Wrangler, Segal said that federal investigators should extend their inquiry to the 2006 to 2009 Dodge Durango, all model years of the Jeep Wrangler and other Chrysler vehicles that have been the subject of consumer complaints of fuel spit-back.
In an e-mail, NHTSA said that its investigation into the issue "is still active."
"In many investigations, NHTSA looks at peer vehicles to see if they experience similar issues," the agency said. "If the agency's assessment indicates similar problems in other vehicles, NHTSA will take action to ensure they are remedied." It said any new information would be posted on its Web site, safercar.gov.
Chrysler spokesman Vince Muniga said that the automaker is "cooperating fully" with NHSTA's investigation. "And until the investigation is closed, we can't get into any details," he said.
Carroll Lachnit: is Edmunds.com Features Editor