NHTSA Complaint #11278284 — 2014 JEEP PATRIOT

THE HORN STOPPED WORKING ON THIS CAR ABOUT FIVE MONTHS AGO. I LOOKED FOR A FUSE OR RELAY AND DISCOVERED ON THE WEB THAT THIS WAS A COMMON CHRYSLER PROBLEM ACROSS ALL PRODUCTS. I REPLACED THE CLOCK SPRING WHICH APPEARED TO BE IDENTIFIED AS MOST PROBABLE PROBLEM ON THE WEB; NOT SO. TWO MONTHS AGO I WENT TO THE DEALER AND SAID FOR $150 THEY WOULD IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. THE HORN ITSELF WORKED, WHICH I TESTED. I TOOK THE STEERING WHEEL APART ONCE AGAIN AND TRACED THE TWO OPERATIONAL HORN WIRES BACK TO THE THE STEERING WHEEL MOUNTED CRUISE CONTROL MODULE. FOR GRINS I WENT TO THE LOCAL SERVICE YARD AND OBTAINED SAID MODULE. REPLACED THE MODULE AND NOW THE HORN WORKS. FIRST, WHY WOULD THE HORN CIRCUIT BE SO CONVOLUTED SINCE A RELAY AND FUSE WAS THE NORM SINCE THE 1940'S. SECOND, FOR SAFETY'S SAKE, THE COMMON ITEMS NEEDED TO BE WORKING IN A CAR ARE HORN, LIGHTS, BRAKES; THESE ARE COMMON MINIMUM INSPECTION ITEMS. CHRYSLER SHOULD MAKE GOOD AND REPAIR/ REPLACE CARS WITH THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE THIS MAJOR FAILURE COULD HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES BECAUSE THE MINDSET OF MOST BACKYARD MECHANICS IS THAT THEY CAN FIX IT AND MANY HAVE CONCEDED FAILURE AND HAVE PUT A HORN BUTTON ON THE DASH AND WIRED TO A BETTER HORN , FUSE AND RELAY. CHECK THE WEB AND YOU CAN SEE THE MULTITUDE OF TRAFFIC ON THE CHRYSLER HORN PROBLEMS. I TRIED TO GET WIRING DIAGRAMS FOR THIS CAR WHICH COST $100 BUT I STOPPED WHEN I FOUND THAT THEY WERE NOT COMPLETE. I BELIEVE THAT CHRYSLER LIKE PROBABLY ALL MANUFACTURERS HAVE LET THE ELECTRONICS TAKE OVER COMMON SENSE.