The defect
CERTAIN MY 2002-2005 THOMAS BUILT SAF-T-LINER ER SCHOOL BUSES AND ER TRANSIT BUSES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN NOVEMBER 2002 AND FEBRUARY 2005 AND EQUIPPED WITH JOHN DEERE 8.1L COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS ENGINES MODELS HFN01 AND HFN03. THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT AND THROTTLE CAN UNEXPECTEDLY SURGE. THESE UNITS FAIL TO CONFORM TO FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 124, ACCELERATOR CONTROL SYSTEMS.
The risk
A SUDDEN ENGINE SURGE COULD POSSIBLY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
The remedy
JOHN DEERE WILL NOTIFY THE CUSTOMERS OF FREIGHTLINER/THOMAS BUILT AND WILL UPDATE THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT SOFTWARE FREE OF CHARGE. OWNERS MAY CONTACT JOHN DEERE AT 1-800-JD-ENGINE.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Thomas ER | 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner ER | 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas ER | 2002 | 0 | 5 |
| Thomas ER | 2003 | 1 | 6 |
| Thomas ER | 2004 | 0 | 6 |
| Thomas ER | 2005 | 0 | 6 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner ER | 2002 | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner ER | 2003 | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner ER | 2004 | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner ER | 2005 | 2 | 1 |
Other vehicle speed control recalls in 2005
14 of the 562 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2005 concerned the vehicle speed control; FREIGHTLINER LLC filed 99 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. |
| 05V162000 20 Apr 2005 | JAGUAR CARS LTD |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2005