The defect
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Vision and All American school buses. The drivetrain may experience an electromagnetic noise on the Control Area Network (CAN) bus, which may cause a loss of electrical power to the power steering pump.
The risk
A loss of assisted power steering increases the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Cummins will replace the High Voltage Low Power Inverter Harness, and install an overlay harness, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on May 22, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on October 25, 2021. Owners may contact Blue Bird customer service at 1-478-822-2242.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018, 2019 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020, 2021 |
Components: STEERING | POWER TRAIN
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 | 2018 | 0 | 19 |
| Blue Bird ALL American | 2019 | 2 | 26 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2020 | 4 | 20 |
| Blue Bird ALL American School Bus | 2021 | 0 | 18 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2018 | 0 | 35 |
| Blue Bird Vision | 2019 | 0 | 41 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2020 | 0 | 29 |
| Blue Bird Vision School Bus | 2021 | 1 | 26 |
Other power train recalls in 2021
32 of the 988 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2021 concerned the power train; Blue Bird Body Company filed 162 campaigns in all.
| 21V978000 16 Dec 2021 | Ford Motor Company |
| 21V955000 9 Dec 2021 | Subaru of America, Inc. |
| 21V939000 2 Dec 2021 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 21V905000 19 Nov 2021 | Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. |
| 21V910000 19 Nov 2021 | Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc. |
| 21V904000 19 Nov 2021 | E-One Incorporated |
| 21V899000 18 Nov 2021 | Spartan Fire, LLC |
| 21V817000 18 Oct 2021 | Braun Corporation |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2021