Auto Safety Regulator Investigating Honda, Jeep And Ram

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened three new safety probes across over 2 million vehicles into the loss of power and failing braking systems.

The vehicles currently being investigated include approximately 1.72 million Hondas, 230,000 Jeeps and 390,077 Ram trucks. The preliminary evaluation is the first step before the NHTSA decides whether or not to enforce a recall of the affected vehicles.

NHTSA's Honda probe focuses on an alleged power loss for more than 1.7 million U.S. (2018-2022) Honda CR-V and HR-V models. Filed reports allege that drivers lost power while at highway speeds without warning.

There also were reports of differential seal leaks that resulted in rear differential lock-up. Some also reported that the rear lock-up caused the driveshaft to fracture while the vehicle was in motion, forcing to the car being towed.

Honda has said that it "will cooperate with the NHTSA through the investigation process, and we will continue our own internal review of the available information."

Other models under investigation are 390,000 (2017-2018) Ram 2500-3500 pickup trucks and close to 230,000 (2019-2020) Jeep Compass SUVs.

Reports involving the Ram pickup allege that there is an intermittent or permanent loss of braking. Some of the reports claimed that replacing the Anti-lock Braking System module and Hydraulic Control Unit appeared to correct the issue.

Power loss while driving is also a reported issue for the Jeep Compass SUV. Another problem reported was that a high coolant temperature message would appear on the Jeep's dashboard.

Stellantis NV, the parent company of Jeep and Ram, has stated that it is fully cooperating with the NHTSA investigation.

There have been no crashes or injuries reported in any of the vehicles in these investigations related to the reported issues.