2021 Freightliner Cascadia & Western Star 4700 Recall FL881 Clutch Flange

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Defect Information Report
(Section 573.6)
FL-881
Date of Submission: March 24, 2021
Manufacturer: Daimler Trucks North America LLC
P.O. BOX 3849
Portland, Oregon 97208
Type of Report: X Safety Defect ⃝ Non-Compliance
Vehicle Information
Model Yr. Start: 2021 Model Yr. End: 2021
Make: Freightliner
Model: Cascadia
Model Yr. Start: 2021 Model Yr. End: 2021
Make: Western Star
Model: 4700
Production Dates: Begin: 07/08/2020 End: 12/14/2020
Descriptive Information: Freightliner Cascadia vehicles built with an Automated Manual Transmission
(AMT) with certain clutches between the affected build dates.
Number potentially involved: 6,105 Estimated percentage of involve with defect: 1%
Defect / Noncompliance Description
For this Defect/Noncompliance:
Describe the defect or noncompliance: Clutch damper failure at low miles.
Describe the safety risk: Flange failure may cause loose parts to fall into the clutch pressure plate
assembly and potentially affect clutch disengagement. Even though this has not been reported in the
field, this may cause the vehicle to lurch and cause unexpected vehicle movement.
Identify any warning which can precede or occur: It is expected that a failure would happen over a
period of time with increasing noise and vibration.
If applicable, identify the manufacture of the defective or noncompliant component: Schaeffler
Involved Components
Component Name: Clutch
Component Description: Automated Manual Transmission Clutch
Component Part Number: A02-14108-001
Chronology of Defect / Noncompliance Determination
Provide the chronology of events leading up to the defect decision or test data for the
noncompliance decision: In late 2020, DTNA became aware of a potential clutch failure and promptly
began a recall (FL869, a/k/a 20V-742) while still investigating root cause and population, and while still
trying to determine if any vehicles in the field were actually affected. January 2021, DTNA received the
first report of a clutch failure, at low miles. DTNA began investigation to understand the contributing
factor of this failure and sent parts to the supplier for analysis. March 2021, DTNA received a second
report of a clutch failure. DTNA sent the second set of failed parts to the supplier for analysis. March 18,
2021 out of an abundance of caution, DTNA decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall while continuing
to investigate root cause and population. Though the failures seem similar to the defect in FL869, DTNA
chose not amend that recall so the vehicles could be tracked for their completion of the revised remedy.
At this time, the analysis of these parts has not been completed and root cause has not been established.
Identify the Remedy
Describe the defect/noncompliance remedy program, including the manufacture’s plan for
reimbursement. On affected vehicles, the clutch will be replaced. Repairs will be performed by Daimler
Trucks North America authorized service facilities. Details of the reimbursement plan will be included in
the owner’s notification letter.
Identify the Recall Schedule
Describe the recall schedule for notifications: Customer notification will be made by first class mail
using Daimler Trucks North America records to determine the customers affected.
Planned Dealer Notification Begin Date: 05/22/2021
Planned Dealer Notification End Date: 05/22/2021
Planned Owner Notification Begin Date: 05/22/2021
Planned Owner Notification End Date: 05/22/2021
Manufacture’s identification code for this recall (if applicable): FL-881
DTNA Representative;
Larissa Stoffels
Executive Manager, Vehicle Safety
Compliance and Regulatory Affairs

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Amended Defect Information Report
(Section 573.6)
FL-881
Date of Submission: May 7, 2021
Manufacturer: Daimler Trucks North America LLC
P.O. BOX 3849
Portland, Oregon 97208
Type of Report: X Safety Defect ⃝ Non-Compliance
Vehicle Information
Model Yr. Start: 2021 Model Yr. End: 2021
Make: Freightliner
Model: Cascadia
Production Dates: Begin: 11/13/2020 End: 12/16/2020
Descriptive Information: Two specific Freightliner Cascadia vehicles built with an Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) with certain clutches between the affected build dates.
Number potentially involved: 2 Estimated percentage of involve with defect: 100%
Defect / Noncompliance Description
For this Defect/Noncompliance:
Describe the defect or noncompliance: Clutch damper failure at low miles.
Describe the safety risk: Flange failure may cause loose parts to fall into the clutch pressure plate assembly and potentially affect clutch disengagement. Even though this has not been reported in the field, this may cause the vehicle to lurch and cause unexpected vehicle movement.
Identify any warning which can precede or occur: It is expected that a failure would happen over a period of time with increasing noise and vibration.
If applicable, identify the manufacture of the defective or noncompliant component:
Company Name: Schaeffler
Country: USA
Address 1: 3401 Old Airport Road
Address 2:
City: Wooster
State: OH
Zip/Postal Code: 44691
First Name: Ed
Last Name: Rocha
Position: Quality Director – Business Division Transmission Systems and Automotive Customer Quality-North America
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 330-202-6246
Involved Components
Component Name: Clutch
Component Description: Automated Manual Transmission Clutch
Component Part Number: A02-14108-001
Chronology of Defect / Noncompliance Determination
Provide the chronology of events leading up to the defect decision or test data for the noncompliance decision: In late 2020, DTNA became aware of a potential clutch failure and promptly began a recall (FL869, a/k/a 20V-742) while still investigating root cause and population, and while still trying to determine if any vehicles in the field were actually affected. January 2021, DTNA received the first report of a clutch failure, at low miles. DTNA began investigation to understand the contributing factor of this failure and sent parts to the supplier for analysis. March 2021, DTNA received a second report of a clutch failure. DTNA sent the second set of failed parts to the supplier for analysis. March 18, 2021 out of an abundance of caution, DTNA decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall while continuing to investigate root cause and population. Though the failures seem similar to the defect in FL869, DTNA chose not amend that recall so the vehicles could be tracked for their completion of the revised remedy. At this time, the analysis of these parts had not been completed and root cause had not been established. May 2021, DTNA has since received information clarifying that the Schaeffler-LUK Damper Flange failures were not a result of a supplier-manufacturing defect. Rather, during the root cause analysis process, it was discovered that these failures were due to an installation issue specific to these two units and not known or believed to be on any other units. The failure of the two clutches were caused by improper installation of the transmission to the engine flywheel housing, which mimicked a hardness and hydrogen embrittlement issue. Due to this information, DTNA has reduced the scope of this recall to the two vehicles that had reported failures.
Identify the Remedy
Describe the defect/noncompliance remedy program, including the manufacture’s plan for reimbursement. On both affected vehicles, the clutches have been replaced. Repairs were performed by Daimler Trucks North America authorized service facilities at no charge to the customers.
Identify the Recall Schedule
Describe the recall schedule for notifications: All of the suspect vehicles in this population have been repaired and Daimler Trucks North America does not plan to issue a notification to customers for this recall.
Planned Dealer Notification Begin Date: 05/22/2021
Planned Dealer Notification End Date: 05/22/2021
Planned Owner Notification Begin Date: 05/22/2021
Planned Owner Notification End Date: 05/22/2021
Manufacture’s identification code for this recall (if applicable): FL-881
DTNA Representative;
Larissa Stoffels
Executive Manager, Vehicle Safety
Compliance and Regulatory Affairs

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