The defect
CERTAIN 2001 THROUGH 2005 ALL AMERICAN, COMMERCIAL SERIES, AND Q-BUS SCHOOL AND TRANSIT BUSES EQUIPPED WITH JOHN DEERE 8.1 CNG ENGINES. THE SUBJECT BUSES EQUIPPED WITH THE JOHN DEERE ENGINES MAY SURGE INAPPROPRIATELY DUE TO ERRACTIC OPERATION OF THE AIR THROTTLE IF THE ENGINE IS TAKEN FROM FULL TO ZERO LOAD.
The risk
UNEXPECTED ENGINE SURGE COULD RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN PERSONAL INJURY.
The remedy
JOHN DEERE WILL NOTIFY BLUE BIRD'S CUSTOMERS AND REPAIR THE ENGINES FREE OF CHARGE. CUSTOMERS ARE BEING INSTRUCTED TO CONTACT JOHN DEERE AT 1-800-JD-ENGINE.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Blue Bird Commercial Series | 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 |
| Blue Bird Q-BUS | 2001, 2002, 2003 |
Components: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
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 ALL American | 2001 | 1 | 14 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2002 | 1 | 14 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2003 | 2 | 11 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2004 | 10 | 15 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2005 | 1 | 13 |
| Blue Bird Commercial Series | 2001 | 0 | 6 |
| Blue Bird Commercial Series | 2002 | 0 | 5 |
| Blue Bird Commercial Series | 2003 | 0 | 3 |
| Blue Bird Commercial Series | 2004 | 0 | 3 |
| Blue Bird Q-BUS | 2001 | 0 | 5 |
| Blue Bird Q-BUS | 2002 | 0 | 2 |
| Blue Bird Q-BUS | 2003 | 0 | 1 |
Other vehicle speed control recalls in 2005
14 of the 562 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2005 concerned the vehicle speed control; BLUE BIRD BODY COMPANY filed 251 campaigns in all.
| 05V565000 19 Dec 2005 | TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC. |
| 05V509000 3 Nov 2005 | HONDA (AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.) |
| 05V430000 22 Sept 2005 | HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTOR COMPANY |
| 05V388000 7 Sept 2005 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY |
| 05V380000 26 Aug 2005 | CRANE CARRIER COMPANY |
| 05V329000 20 Jul 2005 | KIA MOTORS AMERICA, INC. |
| 05V193000 3 May 2005 | ELDORADO NATIONAL - CALIFORNIA, INC. |
| 05V208000 27 Apr 2005 | FREIGHTLINER LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2005