Safety agency expands its Jeep Liberty air-bag probe

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been investigating 2002 and 2003 Jeep Liberty SUVs since September. Enlarge

DETROIT -- Federal safety regulators say they have stepped up their investigation into the Toledo-built Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicle after 50 people reported they were injured when the air bags inflated even though the vehicle was not involved in a crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started investigating Libertys from the 2002 and 2003 model years -- the first two years of the SUV's existence -- in September. The investigation was upgraded to a full engineering analysis last week.

Nearly 387,000 vehicles are under investigation.

Documents on the agency Web site say Chrysler Group LLC, which manufactures the vehicle, and regulators have received 87 complaints of air bags going off by surprise. Drivers reported burns, cuts, and bruises. No deaths have occurred. Forty-two of the incidents involved the driver's front air bag and the remaining 45 involved both the driver and front passenger air bags, the documents say. In some cases, the incidents occurred as the vehicle was being started; in others, the bags deployed while a vehicle was being driven. The agency said some of the Liberty owners reported that the air bag warning light illuminated just before the bags inflated. Others said they did not see a warning light.

The agency says in the documents that Chrysler inspected the air bag control computer chip and found that it fails because of a possible electrical voltage spike.

The company said no incidents have happened in vehicles made after March 19, 2003. But regulators say Chrysler cannot explain that, so they are starting an engineering analysis.

Chrysler spokesman Vince Muniga said Monday that the company is fully cooperating with the agency and is trying to determine the cause of the problem. He said he has asked company engineers about what owners of the SUVs should do if they fear the air bag might inflate unexpectedly, but he had not received a reply.

In 2006, the former DaimlerChrysler AG voluntarily recalled 2002 and 2003 Jeep Liberty models because of front suspension problems, a problem that also led to a 2003 recall.

In 2006, the safety agency investigated reports of a front-seat-belt latch problem in the 2002 Liberty.