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February 27, 2010

Chrysler recalls 312,000 2005-2006 minivans over airbag issue *UPDATE

by Steven J. Ewing (RSS feed) on Feb 23rd 2010 at 8:27AM

Just because Toyota may be garnering the most attention for its current recall crisis, it isn’t the only automaker having issues. Chrysler has just released its own recall which affects more than 312,000 2005-2006 Town and Country, Caravan, and Grand Caravan models.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the minivan’s front crash sensors may crack “under certain environmental conditions,” which can then cause water to seep into the sensor. We’re guessing that these environmental conditions refer to cold temperatures, since the list of states affected by this recall are mostly in the northern half of the U.S. If water does enter the sensor, it can trigger the airbag fault warning light and may hinder the performance of the overall airbag system.

In the event of airbag warning light illumination, owners are asked to have their vans serviced immediately to correct the problem. The full recall campaign will begin in June of this year, and owners can contact Chrysler at 1-800-853-1403 for more information. Click through the jump to read the official NHTSA statement.

UPDATE: Chrysler informs us that this is not an official recall, but rather a “safety improvement campaign” that was reported in early January.

[Source: NHTSA]