The defect
ON CERTAIN MOTOR HOMES AND TOUR COACHES, A 'CHECK TRANS' WARNING LIGHT WHICH IS REQUIRED BY ALLISON TRANSMISSION INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS WAS OMITTED. IN THE EVENT THE TRANSMISSION SHIFT SELECTOR MALFUNCTIONS (LOOSES POWER OR SENDS ERRONEOUS SIGNALS TO THE TRANSMISSION ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT), THE COMPUTER WILL STOP ACCEPTING INPUT FROM THE ELECTRONIC SHIFT SELECTOR UNIT. IF THIS CONDITION OCCURS, THE TRANSMISSION WILL BE HELD IN THE LAST VALID RANGE SELECTED. ALTHOUGH THE SINGLE DIGIT RANGE SELECTED DISPLAY ON THE SHIFT SELECTOR WILL BE BLANK OR A DASH, THE DRIVER MAY NOT BE AWARE THAT A MALFUNCTION HAS OCCURRED.
The risk
THE DRIVER MAY SHIFT THE TRANSMISSION SELECTOR TO CHANGE DIRECTION AND THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE IT AND REMAIN IN THE ORIGINAL DIRECTION RESULTING IN THE POTENTIAL FOR A CRASH.
The remedy
DEALERS WILL INSTALL A "CHECK TRANS" WARNING LIGHT ON THESE VEHICLES. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN JULY 31, 2002. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT BLUE BIRD AT 1-478-822-2242.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird LTC 40 | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 |
| Blue Bird Wanderlodge | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 |
Components: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Bird LTC 40 | 1998 | 0 | 7 |
| Blue Bird LTC 40 | 1999 | 0 | 8 |
| Blue Bird LTC 40 | 2000 | 1 | 5 |
| Blue Bird LTC 40 | 2001 | 0 | 4 |
| Blue Bird LTC 40 | 2002 | 0 | 3 |
| Blue Bird Wanderlodge | 1998 | 0 | 5 |
| Blue Bird Wanderlodge | 1999 | 0 | 9 |
| Blue Bird Wanderlodge | 2000 | 0 | 5 |
| Blue Bird Wanderlodge | 2001 | 0 | 3 |
| Blue Bird Wanderlodge | 2002 | 1 | 2 |
Other power train recalls in 2002
23 of the 434 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2002 concerned the power train; BLUE BIRD BODY COMPANY filed 251 campaigns in all.
| 02V336000 13 Dec 2002 | FREIGHTLINER CORPORATION |
| 02V319000 27 Nov 2002 | BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE |
| 02V313000 21 Nov 2002 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY |
| 02V282000 30 Oct 2002 | SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. |
| 02V272000 3 Oct 2002 | HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTOR COMPANY |
| 02V261000 23 Sept 2002 | KAWASAKI MOTORS CORP. |
| 02V201000 25 Jul 2002 | BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE |
| 02V192000 23 Jul 2002 | CHANCE COACH, INC. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2002