Jeep is telling the owners of 1,076,999 Wranglers and Gladiators to keep parking outside

Owners of 1,076,999 Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators from the 2021 through 2025 model years have been told by the manufacturer to leave their vehicles outdoors, clear of garages and other buildings, until a wiring repair is done. That instruction has not lapsed. It was attached to a June recall, and it stayed in force when federal regulators closed their separate defect probe on September 24.

The fire risk can begin with the engine off. The recall paperwork describes overheating at an electrical connection on the power steering pump, which is why the guidance concerns where a Jeep is parked overnight rather than how it is driven.

The power steering pump connector at fault

FCA, the Stellantis unit that builds the vehicles, filed recall 26V363 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency’s campaign record puts the potential population at 1,076,999 vehicles and names the Wrangler, the Wrangler 4XE and the Gladiator. NHTSA’s recall report splits that total into 787,887 Wranglers and 289,112 Gladiators, and traces the problem to high electrical resistance at the electric hydraulic power steering pump connection, with out-of-specification headers and terminals that can push out of their housings listed as manufacturing causes. FCA estimated that about 0.1 percent of the vehicles actually carry the defect.

The hazard the report describes is unusual because it does not wait for the Jeep to be in use. NHTSA’s summary says the wiring “may overheat and cause a vehicle fire, even when the vehicle is parked with the ignition in the ‘Off’ position,” and its stated consequence is that a vehicle fire increases the risk of injury. The report ties the fires to a specific part, the electric hydraulic power steering pump assembly, which is why the repair centers on that pump and its wiring rather than on a software update or a general inspection.

The incident counts in the filing are modest next to the population. As of May 18, 2026, FCA reported 72 field reports, 35 of them confirmed to originate at the pump interface, along with 63 customer assistance records and one injury, with fire incidents documented from July 2019 through March 2026. The company said its Vehicle Regulations Committee determined on May 28 that a safety defect existed. In its September 29 update, ProStreet repeats NHTSA’s June consumer alert figure of 51 fires and one injury.

The park-outside wording from NHTSA and FCA

The two documents phrase the advice differently, and both are explicit. NHTSA’s record says owners “are advised to park outside and away from structures, until their vehicle is repaired.” FCA’s own filing to the agency says that “out of an abundance of caution,” the company is advising owners to park away from structures or other vehicles until the remedy is obtained. Each ties the advice to the repair rather than to a calendar date, so it lasts until a dealer completes the work.

The September 24 closure changes nothing about that. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation had opened preliminary evaluation PE24-024 into underhood fires in 2021 through 2025 Wranglers and Gladiators that occurred with the vehicle turned off, many starting at the pump’s connector. In its closing document, the agency concluded that recall 26V363 addresses the vehicles and conditions it examined, while reserving the right to act again as field performance is monitored. ProStreet adds the reminder, attributed to NHTSA, that safety recalls do not expire.

Repair steps and the timeline from May to September

The sequence ran quickly once FCA reached its decision. The company’s committee found a defect on May 28, the recall report is dated June 4, dealers were told on June 11, owner letters were due from July 9, and NHTSA closed PE24-024 on September 24. That is 119 days from the committee’s finding to the probe’s closure, and the parking advice has run unchanged for all of them.

Dealers were notified on June 11, 2026, the date VINs became searchable on NHTSA’s site, and owner letters were scheduled to begin July 9 with a phased rollout through August 3. The remedy is an inspection followed by replacement of the wiring and the pump assembly as necessary, at no charge. ProStreet says the repair became available in July.

Owners with questions can call FCA at 1-800-853-1403 and cite recall 21D, or enter a 17-character VIN in NHTSA’s recall lookup to see whether a particular Jeep is included.

A 0.1 percent defect rate and the park-outside order

The arithmetic explains the caution. A defect rate of 0.1 percent applied to 1,076,999 vehicles works out to roughly 1,100 Jeeps, each with a pump connector that can heat combustible material while parked. A fire that starts in a closed garage can spread to the house, which is the reasoning behind distance from “structures” in both documents rather than a warning limited to the vehicle itself.

NHTSA’s closing document leaves one door open. The agency said it may take further action if the repaired vehicles do not perform as the recall assumes, and the 1,076,999-vehicle campaign remains the only repair path on record for the connector fires.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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