Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is likely to recall about 1 million Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge vehicles in the U.S. for excess tailpipe emissions, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.
Internal testing by FCA revealed the 2.4-liter “Tigershark” inline-4 used in vehicles such as the Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Renegade, Jeep Compass, Chrysler 200, and Dodge Dart was exceeding emissions thresholds, and FCA notified the EPA and the California Air Resources Board.
It is unclear what model years are affected, what the remedy is, and when the recall will be begin. For now, FCA acknowledged some vehicles are out of compliance and they are working on a fix to be provided free to owners, according to Automotive News.
“As this population ages, some vehicles exceed in-use emission requirements, depending on drive cycle and mileage,” an FCA spokesman said in a statement. “This is not a safety issue and there are no enforcement actions.”
Emissions-related recalls are not uncommon. In the wake of the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” scandal in which VW cheated emissions testing, the EPA “decided to adapt and change our compliance programs to become less predictable,” the agency wrote in a 2019 compliance report. That report, which is the latest conducted, showed a high number of 86 emissions-related recalls in 2017 encompassing nearly 5 million vehicles. FCA also faced a diesel emissions scandal of its own with the 3.0-liter turbodiesel in the Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The Tigershark engine was launched for model year 2013 and fitted in about 1.6 million vehicles, but has been replaced in the Fiat 500X. The Tigershark engine is the source of a class-action lawsuit for excessive oil consumption, according to the Detroit Free Press.
This story will be updated as details are made clear.
