NHTSA complaint #11627666

Owner complaint summary

We were exploring some remote mountain roads on Saturday 11/23/2024. The Jeep was running fine and nothing abnormal was observed. We stopped for lunch at an area with a nice view. We made sandwiches and took our time eating. After packing up, we jumped back into the Jeep to continue our journey. I started the Jeep and we immediately smelled fuel. I turned the Jeep off to investigate and found a large amount of fuel on the ground under the rear area of the engine. I had my wife start the Jeep again briefly to see where the gas was coming from. As soon as she started it, an ALARMING volume of fuel began to spray all over the exhaust and turbo. The high pressure fuel line from the gas tank to the high pressure fuel pump on the rear of the motor had ruptured and was dangerously spraying an enormous amount of fuel all over the rear driver side area of the engine bay. We were lucky in that we had stopped for lunch and the exhaust had cooled down and did not ignite the gas. We were unlucky because we were stranded in the backcountry with a vehicle that was inoperable. Fortunately, we were able to get the Jeep off of the mountain and back onto the trailer 5 hours after the incident and before dark. Had the timing of the failed fuel line been different, I could have been driving down the road or highway with a hot exhaust and the Jeep would have ignited and caught fire very quickly. What is even scarier to me is that I take my two toddlers to day care every day in this Jeep. Had a vehicle fire ignited with the amount of fuel that was spraying (and would have continued to spray if the Jeep was left on) would have engulfed the Jeep very quickly. Who knows if I would have been able to get both kids out of their car seats in time to save them. This is very dangerous! I know there have been many Jeep JLs that have caught fire. I have an example of the failure that is likely causing these fires! The part is available for inspection.