The defect
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2011-2017 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX buses manufactured April 28, 2010, to April 15, 2016. The affected vehicles have a transmission retarder that may increase coolant system pressure high enough to cause hose fatigue and lead to premature failure of the hose, resulting in a coolant leak inside the bus body.
The risk
If the heater hose fails, hot coolant may leak inside the bus body increasing risk of injury to the passengers.
The remedy
DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the heater hose, free of charge. DTNA distributed interim notifications to owners on July 6, 2016. The recall began on September 20, 2016. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-709.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
Components: POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
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 Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2011 | 0 | 23 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2012 | 0 | 19 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2013 | 0 | 23 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2014 | 0 | 30 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2015 | 0 | 31 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2016 | 0 | 29 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2017 | 0 | 32 |
Other power train recalls in 2016
57 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the power train; Daimler Trucks North America LLC filed 213 campaigns in all.
| 16V926000 22 Dec 2016 | Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. |
| 16V900000 14 Dec 2016 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 16V856000 28 Nov 2016 | Maserati North America, Inc. |
| 16V800000 3 Nov 2016 | Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA |
| 16V755000 19 Oct 2016 | Polaris Industries, Inc. |
| 16V705000 3 Oct 2016 | Kia Motors America |
| 16V701000 29 Sept 2016 | Gillig LLC |
| 16V697000 27 Sept 2016 | Eldorado National- California, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016