- Vehicles
- 9,687
- Built between
- Oct 1997 – May 2000
- Models
- 6
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 14 June 2000
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between October 1997 and May 2000. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 1997-2000 Blue Bird ALL AmericanBuilt October 1997 to May 2000
- 2000 Blue Bird CommercialBuilt October 1997 to May 2000
- 1997-1999 Blue Bird Commercial SeriesBuilt October 1997 to May 2000
- 1997-2000 Blue Bird LTC 40Built October 1997 to May 2000
- 1997-2000 Blue Bird Q-BUSBuilt October 1997 to May 2000
- 1997-2000 Blue Bird TC2000Built October 1997 to May 2000
What the defect is
Vehicle description: school and transit buses equipped with bendix air brakes. Bendix changed the internal design of the QR1C relay valve by adding a hole in the internal diaphragm. When the hole in the diaphragm aligns with the hole in the valve body, the brake application time increases.
What could happen
Under certain conditions, such as parked on an incline, driver activates the parking brake but removes foot from the threadle valve, the bus could roll before the parking brake is fully engaged.
What gets fixed
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DIAPHRAGMS WITH HOLES WITH SOLID DIAPHRAGMS FOR THE QR1C VALVES.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtOctober 1997 to May 2000
- Recall reported to NHTSA12 June 2000
- Owners notified14 June 2000
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 12 June 2000.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- R00DX
- Recalling manufacturer
- BLUE BIRD BODY COMPANY
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Owner notification began june 14, 2000.OWNERS who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact blue bird at 1-912-825-2021. Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.