Jeep Clutch Defect Lawsuit Says Wrangler, Gladiator Pressure Plate Can Crack, Posing Fire Risk

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A proposed class action alleges certain model year Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators are plagued by a clutch defect that, if left unfixed, could lead to a vehicle fire. 

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The 96-page lawsuit says that the critical clutch pressure plate found in 2018-2023 model year two-door and four-door Jeep Wranglers and 2020-2023 Jeep Gladiators with defendant FCA US’s six-speed manual transmission can overheat due to friction and fracture, which can then crack or fracture the transmission case. If this occurs, heated debris can come into contact with ignition sources inside the vehicles’ 3.6L V6 engine, causing a loss of propulsion, ejection of debris onto the roadway, or a vehicle fire, the complaint states. 

According to the suit, the safety risk posed by the Jeep clutch defect prompted the automaker to recall the vehicles at issue in February 2023, FCA’s third such recall related to the problem. 

“The Third Recall explicitly acknowledged that Defendant still has not fixed the Clutch Defect,” the filing says. “To date, Jeep has not been able to remedy this dangerous Clutch Defect.” 

A clutch is a driver-operated linkage mechanism that couples a vehicle’s engine to its transmission and allows the driver to engage or disengage gears to move the car, the suit explains. Importantly, a clutch and its component parts, namely the friction plate and pressure plate, must be designed and manufactured to be strong enough to stay engaged with the engine flywheel in order for the engine to transmit power to the ground and propel the car, the case relays. 

When a clutch is unable to handle the power, its friction plate will begin to slip on the flywheel and create high temperatures, which can, in turn, “create a failure condition that causes the vehicle to be unusable,” the suit stresses, alleging that the foregoing is “precisely what is happening” to the Wranglers and Gladiators at issue. 

The lawsuit alleges FCA has known about the Jeep clutch defect for years yet has been unable to fix the issue, despite two previous recalls, in March 2020 and January 2021, that resulted in the automaker simply swapping the clutch with “identical, failure prone units and installing ineffective software.” In the relevant time period, FCA has continued to maintain that the vehicles at issue are safe, reliable and fit for their ordinary purpose, damaging owners and lessees financially, the suit says.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs, who in February 2021 filed a since-dismissed proposed class action against FCA over similar allegations, each report having smelled a burning clutch odor during normal operation of their vehicles. 

Per the case, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their initial suit based on FCA’s claim that the clutch defect was fixed through the second recall. The plaintiffs allege FCA “knew and intentionally misled the Court, or at least remained willfully blind to the fact that the remedies offered in the Second Recall were insufficient.” 

“The Court relied on FCA’s false statements,” the suit reads. “Even after a Third Recall consumers are still not being offered a proper repair for their unreasonably dangerous vehicles.” 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons in the United States who bought, leased or owns a 2018-2023 model year two-door or four-door Jeep Wrangler or 2020-2023 Jeep Gladiator. 

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