Air conditioning could cause inadvertent airbag deployment in Chrysler minivans

August 8, 2011 12:00 AM

Chrysler has announced that it will be recalling nearly 300,000 minivans in the United States due to a problem that could cause airbags to deploy inadvertently.

The automaker says the safety flaw affects 299,718 vehicles from 2008, including the Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country and Chrysler Grand Voyager, reports the Detroit News.

Although the issue is related to the airbag, it is actually the automotive air conditioning system that causes the safety problem. Chrysler believes that a leak in the heating and air conditioning unit can cause a safety module within the car to fail, which would trigger the airbag.

The company said it had no evidence of any accidents or injuries related to the problem.

"Despite the lack of field reports, we believe it is in the best interest of our customers to replace these modules to ensure the proper functionality of the minivan's advanced safety system," said David Dillon, Chrysler's head of product investigations and campaigns.

Recalls will be fixed by a manufacturer for free. However, other issues that could affect a vehicle's safety can only be found through diagnostics and tune-ups, so owners should be sure to keep up with their maintenance schedules. 

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