This Jeep Fire Recall Is So Large It Could Be One Of Stellantis’ Biggest Safety Actions This Year
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed its investigation into fires in Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators, capping off one of the largest safety actions Stellantis has taken in years. The closure, announced September 29, 2026, follows a recall covering nearly 1.08 million vehicles built for the 2021 through 2025 model years.
The recall doesn’t disappear just because the federal probe is over. NHTSA’s action simply confirms that Stellantis’ existing recall already covers the vehicles and defect regulators were examining. Owners of affected Wranglers and Gladiators still need to get the fix done, and the agency’s park-outside guidance for unrepaired vehicles remains in effect.
What Started The Investigation And Why It Grew
NHTSA opened its preliminary evaluation in September 2024 after receiving reports of engine-compartment fires in parked Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators with the ignition off. That original probe covered roughly 781,500 vehicles from the 2021 through 2023 model years. Several of the fires reportedly started near the power steering pump, on the passenger side of the engine bay.
The root cause traces to the electric-hydraulic power steering pump, a design that uses an electric motor to drive hydraulic assist rather than a traditional belt-driven pump. Stellantis found that the pump’s electrical connector could be manufactured outside spec, making it harder to fully seat. A loose or improperly seated connection raises electrical resistance, and at high current, that resistance generates heat, enough in some cases to melt the connector and ignite nearby material. By June 2026, Stellantis had expanded the recall well beyond the original investigation, covering all 2021-2025 Wranglers and Gladiators built between June 24, 2020, and December 2, 2024, a population of nearly 1.08 million vehicles.
How This Recall Stacks Up Against Other Fire-Risk Actions
A 1.08 million-unit recall puts this action among the largest fire-related campaigns any automaker has run recently. For comparison, Ford’s Transit Custom fuel-leak recall in Australia, tied to insufficient clearance between a bulkhead bolt and the fuel tank, affected just 777 diesel vans. That’s a rounding error next to the Jeep numbers, though it addresses a similarly serious risk: fuel leaking near an ignition source. Fire-risk recalls tend to scale with how widely a shared component, like a steering pump or fuel line, gets used across model years and trims, and the Wrangler/Gladiator recall’s size reflects just how many trucks and SUVs share that electric-hydraulic steering architecture.
What The Closure Actually Means For Owners
Closing a preliminary evaluation isn’t the same as declaring the defect never existed. NHTSA said the recall addresses the vehicles and conditions it was examining, which let the agency wrap up its review, but the agency will keep monitoring field performance and can act again if new issues surface. Stellantis reported dozens of field incidents tied to the steering pump connection as it investigated the problem, and the recall remedy, which became available in July 2026, involves inspecting the connector and repairing or replacing parts as needed, free of charge.
Owners of 2021-2025 Wranglers and Gladiators built in the affected window should check their VIN through NHTSA’s recall lookup or Stellantis’ Mopar system, since matching the model year alone doesn’t confirm a specific truck is included. Until the repair is done, the guidance is to park outside and away from structures or other vehicles.
Why This Recall Matters For Stellantis’ Turnaround
Stellantis has been working to rebuild trust with dealers and owners amid a broader company-wide restructuring, and a recall of this size lands squarely in that conversation. The scale here isn’t a sign of a rushed fix; Stellantis says it spent more than a year investigating the failure, using vehicle buybacks, CT scans, and bench testing before confirming the connector issue in April 2026. Whether that level of scrutiny becomes the norm for future safety actions is something owners and regulators alike will be watching, but for now, the fire investigation is closed and the recall repair is what actually protects the truck in your driveway.
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