Exploding Jeeps

Well, I had a great vacation last week. I did a lot of hiking and had nice clear weather for a couple of days. Here's a few of the pics.

However, I did have a little bit of excitement when I took a side trip out to Olympic National Park. What I didn't know at the time was that exactly one week earlier, Jeep announced a recall for the particular 2005 jeep cherokee that I had rented from Alamo:

DaimlerChrysler has recalled over 100,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs due to the potential for the vehicles to develop serious engine fires, resulting in accident, injury, or even death. The recall affects 2005 models with 3.7-liter engines and automatic transmissions.

The recall is due to a faulty air conditioning system that can cause fluid to leak into the engine part that stores transmission fluid. The mixtures of the fluid can become heated quickly. When this area over-heats, the transmission can expel fluid onto other parts of the engine. When this hot fluid comes in contact with an already heated exhaust system, an engine fire could occur.

Four reports of serious engine fires have already occurred. The motor company says that if a driver experiences a shaking sensation in the car they should bring it to a dealer immediately.

And that is exactly what happened to me halfway up the mountain at Olympic National Park. After the explosion, I pulled off to the side of the road and jumped out of the jeep.

Luckily, the fire went out on its own after the transmission oil burned up. A passerby could not help but notice the huge plume of smoke emitting from my rental. They were kind enough to call the park ranger for me. After letting the jeep cool off a bit, the ranger followed me in his truck while I limped the defective jeep down the mountain where I called Alamo roadside assistance.

After four hours, a nice old Ukrainian man came with a Chevy Trail Blazer in tow to swap out for the Jeep. Unfortunately, by that time it was too dark to drive up the mountain so I took the 2+ drive/ferry back to my hotel in seattle. Oh well, shucks, dagnabbit.

Besides that little incident I had no complaints. The day before it exploded, the Jeep was able to get me up to Mt. Saint Helens and back for a great day of hiking.


Washington is definitely a beautiful state even with a few sprinkles every now and then or even the occasional explosion.