The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain model year 2008-2009 Vision school buses manufactured from May 10, 2007, through March 5, 2008 and equipped with Caterpillar C707 engines. In the affected buses, the positive starter cable may be incorrectly attached to the same Power Distribution Unit (PDU) stud as the battery cable, exposing the smaller battery cable to a higher current draw during cranking.
The risk
Exposure to high current draw may cause the battery cable to overheat, melt the wire insulation and increase the risk of a short circuit and a fire.
The remedy
Blue Bird will notify owners, and dealers will relocate the starter cable to the chassis power stud. Any damaged battery cables will be replaced. These repairs will be made free of charge. The recall began on March 10, 2016. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's recall number for this campaign is R16YL-SB.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird Vision | 2008, 2009 |
Components: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY:CABLES
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 Vision | 2008 | 1 | 30 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2009 | 6 | 28 |
Other electrical system recalls in 2016
92 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the electrical system; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 16V936000 28 Dec 2016 | Maserati North America, Inc. |
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| 16V951000 27 Dec 2016 | Kalmar Solutions, LLC |
| 16V950000 23 Dec 2016 | ARBOC Specialty Vehicles, LLC |
| 16V923000 22 Dec 2016 | Pierce Manufacturing |
| 16V920000 21 Dec 2016 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 16V915000 21 Dec 2016 | Bluecar SAS |
| 16V919000 21 Dec 2016 | BMW of North America, LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016