The gear shifters in over 1.8 million Ram pickup trucks may accidently shift out of park and cause a rollaway, which has triggered Fiat Chrysler to announce a recall.
The automaker announced on Friday that it was recalling the vehicles, which covers a broad spectrum of the heavy-duty Ram pickups that date back to the 2009 model. It includes some of its light-duty Rams as well.
The Italian-American carmaker said it identified seven injuries and a few crashes that could be potentially related to this defect. This recall represents approximately 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. and another 300,000 internationally.
The carmaker added that the issue was not related to a defect in gear shifting that hit Fiat Chrysler and caused a federal investigation during 2016 after Anton Yelchin an actor was killed in an accident with his Grand Cherokee.
This issue arises when a brake pedal is pressed for long periods while the driver idles in park, disabling the shift interlock in the brake transmission and allowing column installed shifters to move out of its park mode.
Fiat Chrysler, which said it is repairing the defect free of charge, advised Ram owners to use their parking brake all the time when they are parking.
Fiat Chrysler said this issue appears more apt to take place when the vehicle has been subjected to higher temperatures for a long period of time.
Owners are going to be notified by the carmaker when they can bring their vehicle to a dealership for the free fix, which involves repairing the shift interlock of the brake transmission.
The vehicles affected included certain versions of the Ram 2500 and 3500 from 2010 through 2017; Ram 3500, 4500 and 5500 chassis cab between 2011 and 2017; Ram 350 chassis cabs that have a gross weight rating of less than 10,000 pounds for years 2016 and 2017; and some Ram 1500 pickups between 2009 and 2017.
Fiat Chrysler also said that all its model-year trucks for 2017 built after December 31, 2016 were not included in this recall.
Recalls have hit several automakers the past few years with the biggest being the defective air bags that caused many different brands to be recalled.
