NHTSA campaign 05V208000 · Part 573 safety recall report

Freightliner LLC: Vehicle Speed Control

Freightliner LLC reported this defect to federal regulators on Apr 27, 2005 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 153. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.

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.

8 model years covered

Newest first

Vehicle	Complaints	Recalls	Fires
2005 Thomas ER	0	6	0
2005 Thomas Saf-T-Liner ER	2	1	2
2004 Thomas ER	0	6	0
2004 Thomas Saf-T-Liner ER	0	1	0
2003 Thomas ER	1	6	0
2003 Thomas Saf-T-Liner ER	0	1	0
2002 Thomas ER	0	5	0
2002 Thomas Saf-T-Liner ER	0	1	0

What this page is, and what to do next

A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.

This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 05V208000.

Full record for the 2005 Thomas ER → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →