U.S. opens new safety probes into 1.72 million Honda vehicles

WASHINGTON - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA is opening new safety probes into 1.72 million Honda vehicles, 230,000 Jeeps and 390,077 Ram trucks.

The auto safety regulator said it would begin preliminary investigations into issues involving loss of power and braking, a first step before it can seek to compel recalls.

The biggest probe covers reports that there was a loss of power for more than 1.7 million U.S. model year Honda CR-V and HR-V vehicles. Some drivers lost power at highway speeds without warning and some reported differential seal leaks, which resulted in rear differential lock-up, according to the reports. Some reports claim that the rear lock-up caused the driveshaft to fracture while the vehicle was in motion, resulting in the vehicle being towed.

Honda will cooperate with the NHTSA through the investigation process, and we will continue our internal review of the information. NHTSA is also investigating 2018 model year Ram 2500 -- 3500 pickup trucks after received 134 reports indicating an intermittent or permanent loss of braking performance. Some reports said that replacing the Anti-lock Braking System ABS module and Hydraulic Control Unit HCU seemed to correct the issue.

The agency is looking at the nearly 2020 model year Jeep Compass SUVs after 15 complaints about a loss of power while driving, accompanied by a high coolant temperature message on the vehicle's dashboard.

A U.S. spokesman for Stellantis NV, the parent company of Jeep and Ram, said it was fully cooperating in the investigations.

There aren't any injuries or accidents reported in the three new investigations to date. Before NHTSA could demand a recall, it must decide whether to upgrade each probe to an engineering analysis at a later date.