New Whitley Sheriff’s Dept. cruisers may be recalled

Five Whitley County Sheriff’s Dodge Chargers may be on the list of 10,000 that Chrysler Corporation is recalling because of problems with the brakes and headlights.

Chrysler has announced a recall of the 2011 and 2012 model year Chargers to change and relocate the antilock brake system fuse and replace the headlamp jumper harness.

Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell said the department has five of the Chargers that may be affected by the recall, but the first he had heard of the recall was when he was contacted for this article.

Vince Muniga, a spokesperson for Chrysler said notices will be sent out to those whose vehicles are subject to the recall.
According to Chrysler officials the headlights’ jumper harnesses may overheat, resulting in the low beam headlights going dark.
Overheating of the Power Distribution Module may cause the vehicle’s anti-lock braking system/electronic stability control system to fail.

"The conditions tend to occur when police vehicles are exposed to severe police duty vehicle cycles for an extended period of time including, long durations of high speed, evasive driving when used as training vehicles for police forces and extended idling," said David Dillon, Head of Product Investigation and Campaigns. "We will continue to monitor the retail fleet for any occurrence of this condition beyond police vehicles."

In addition to Whitley County, Corbin Police, Knox County Sheriff’s Deputies and Kentucky State Police Division of Motor Vehicle Enforcement all have the Chargers in their fleet of vehicles. However, officials with each of the other department noted that none of their respective vehicles are 2011 or 2012 models.