FL968 Loss of Drive Power from Switch Failure – 2021-2023 Thomas Built Bus SAF-TLINER C2 JOULEY School Buses

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March 28, 2023 NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 23V209000

Loss of Drive Power from Switch Failure

A loss of drive power, power steering, or vehicle lighting can increase the risk of a crash.

 

NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V209

Manufacturer Daimler TruckseBay North America, LLC

Components ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Potential Number of Units Affected 380

 

Summary

Daimler TruckseBay North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Thomas Built Bus SAF-TLINER C2 JOULEY school buses equipped with an automatic low voltage disconnect switch. The automatic low voltage disconnect switch may fail, resulting in a loss of drive power, power steering, or vehicle lighting.

 

Remedy

Dealers will remove the automatic low voltage disconnect switch, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 18, 2023. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA’s number for this recall is FL968.

 

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.

 

Check for Daimler Trucks North America Recalls

 


October 2023
FL968A-B
NHTSA #23V-209 (School Bus)

Subject: Automatic Low Voltage Disconnect Switch

Models Affected: Specific model year 2021-2023 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school buses, manufactured between December 11, 2019, through October 12, 2022.

 

General Information

Daimler Truck North America LLC (DTNA), on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary, Thomas Built Buses, has decided that a defect that relates to motor vehicle safety exists on the vehicles mentioned above.

On the affected vehicles, the automatic low voltage disconnect switch could fail, resulting in a loss of power without warning. This may result in loss of drive power with inability to restart, loss of lights, and loss of power steering, which can increase the risk of a crash.

The automatic low voltage disconnect switch will be removed. Vehicles equipped with a wheelchair lift (FL968-B) require the installation of a new jumper cable.

There are approximately 381 vehicles involved in this campaign.

 

Additional Repairs

Dealers must complete all outstanding recall and field service campaigns prior to the sale or delivery of a vehicle. A dealer will be liable for any progressive damage that results from its failure to complete campaigns before sale or delivery of a vehicle.

Owners may be liable for any progressive damage that results from failure to complete campaigns within a reasonable time after receiving notification.

 

Work Instructions

Please refer to the attached work instructions. Prior to performing the campaign, check the vehicle for a completion sticker (Form WAR260).

 

Replacement Parts

Replacement parts are now available and can be obtained by ordering the part number listed below from your facing Parts Distribution Center (PDC).

If our records show your dealership has ordered any vehicle(s) involved in campaign number FL968, a list of the customers and vehicle identification numbers will be available on the DTNA Portal. Please refer to this list when ordering parts for this recall.

Table 1 – Replacement Parts for FL968

Campaign NumberPart DescriptionPart NumberQty.
FL968BCABLE-BATTERY,JUMPER,POS,4/0A66-19607-0121 ea
BLANK COMPLETION STICKERWAR2601 ea

Table 1

 

Removal of the Automatic Low Voltage Disconnect (ALVD) Switch

1. Park the vehicle on a level surface, place the vehicle in neutral, shut down the vehicle, and set the park brake. Chock the tires.

2. Turn off the manual battery disconnect switch.

3. Disconnect the positive and negative battery cables on the batteries.

4. Remove the fasteners from the jumper cable (A66-22793-005) that connects the ALVD switch to the power distribution module (PDM/PDC), then remove the jumper cable. See Fig. 1.

 

5. Remove the fastener that attaches the jumper cable (A66-19607-015) to the ALVD switch, then remove the jumper cable from the ALVD switch.

6. Remove the fasteners that hold the ALVD switch in place, then remove the ALVD switch. See Fig. 2.

 

7. Disconnect the ALVD switch harness from the toggle switch, located beside the manual battery cut-off switch.

8. Remove the fasteners and the clipping points from the harness, then remove the toggle switch. See Fig. 3.

 

9. Remove the harness from the ground stud on the chassis rail. Install the fastener and tighten 37 lbf·ft (50 N·m). Apply varnish on the ground stud that is on the rail.

10. Is the vehicle equipped with a wheelchair lift?

YES → Instead of the existing jumper cable (A66-19607-015), use the new one (A66-19607-012).

NO → Use the existing jumper cable (A66-19607-015).

11. Install the jumper cable on the PDM using the original lock washer and fastener. Tighten the fastener 24 lbf·ft (33 N·m).

IMPORTANT: Battery cable installation should correspond with the illustrations shown in the drawing D66-35173.

NOTE: Grease all the ring terminal connections.

12. Connect the positive and negative battery cables to the batteries. See Fig. 4.

 

13. Use a butterfly tie band to secure the jumper cable (A66-19607-015) with the power cable connected to the chassis harness inside the battery box, as shown in Fig. 5.

 

14. Turn on the manual battery disconnect switch.

15. Verify the vehicle operation and ensure that no malfunction indicator lamps (MILs) are illuminated.

 

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Daimler Truck North America LLC
Updated Chronology – September 13, 2023

Friday, March 3, DTNA learned that our supplier (Proterra, Inc.) was investigating a potential defect with the automatic low voltage disconnect switch (Gigavac Switch) used on our SAF-TLINER C2 JOULEY. DTNA immediately began an investigation into this topic, speaking to Engineering and QA and beginning a detailed warranty analysis. At this time, DTNA knew of no vehicle shutdowns when in motion or otherwise in route.

Monday, March 13, DTNA completed a warranty analysis, finding no reports from the field from a shutdown while the vehicle was in motion. On or about that same time, DTNA questioned the supplier about possible shutdowns while in motion and continued DTNA’s own internal investigation into possible failures while in motion; nonetheless, at this time, there continued to be no known occurrences of such a failure effect. However, DTNA continued to analyze the possibility that such a shutdown was possible.

On March 28, DTNA decided that there exists a theoretical possibility of such a shutdown in motion and, out of an abundance of caution given the circumstances, decided to recall. On May 25, DTNA amended the DIR to update the remedy, stating it is currently under validation. Subsequent to submitting this Defect Information Report, in June 2023, DTNA was informed of two reports of vehicles in the recall population that had experienced a shutdown. Upon review, there was no evidence of water intrusion into the automatic low voltage disconnect switch and DTNA began to investigate further. In mid-June, DTNA received notice from a District Service Manager of some vehicles having a separate issue, one of which may have had a shutdown; DTNA promptly began investigating. Within that investigation, DTNA found 10 warranty claims (of which two are for one vehicle) and 4 field reports (of which one is ambiguous), no reported injuries nor deaths.

On August 17, DTNA determined that on this same, exact vehicle population there exists an additional failure mechanism impacting the automatic low voltage disconnect switch (Gigavac Switch) where an overload on the vehicle’s electrical system could occur, resulting in the same consequence (vehicle loss of drive power, steering or vehicle lighting) without warning. DTNA’s remedy for this issue and the issue originally described in this Defect Information Report will resolve both conditions.

On September 13, 2023, DTNA submitted this updated chronology to replace the prior version that was provided in error. All substantive information related to the recall remains unchanged.

On November 3, 2023 DTNA is providing revised planned final owner and dealer notification dates and added the final remedy.

 


3 Affected Products

Vehicle

MAKEMODELYEAR
THOMAS BUILT BUSESSAF-T-LINER C22021-2023

 


17 Associated Documents

Recall Acknowledgement

RCAK-23V209-9657.pdf 645.372KB

 


Defect Notice 573 Report

RCLRPT-23V209-4458.PDF 213.981KB

 


Defect Information Report

RMISC-23V209-4448.pdf 1116.902KB

 


Amended Defect Information Report

RMISC-23V209-9697.pdf 827.818KB

 


Recall 573 Report – May 25, 2023

RCLRPT-23V209-6061.PDF 214.048KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)

RCMN-23V209-9071.pdf 262.365KB

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ISSUED Interim Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RIONL-23V209-2898.pdf 188.907KB

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Amended Defect Information Report

RMISC-23V209-6523.pdf 268.616KB

 


Recall 573 Report – August 22, 2023

RCLRPT-23V209-2453.PDF 214.458KB

 


Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)

RCMN-23V209-8181.pdf 120.988KB

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Chronology Report

RMISC-23V209-6647.pdf 128.639KB

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Recall 573 Report – September 13, 2023

RCLRPT-23V209-8152.PDF 213.406KB

 


ISSUED Owner Notification Letter(Part 577)

RCONL-23V209-7288.pdf 146.764KB

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Manufacturer Notices(to Dealers,etc)

RCMN-23V209-3049.pdf 452.697KB

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Recall 573 Report – November 3, 2023

RCLRPT-23V209-3913.PDF 213.043KB

 


Chronology Report

RMISC-23V209-4712.pdf 76.428KB

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Recall Quarterly Report #1, 2023-4

RCLQRT-23V209-1481.PDF 211.287KB

 


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