- Vehicles
- 35
- Built between
- Jan 1999 – Nov 1999
- Models
- 4
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- 20 February 2001
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between January 1999 and November 1999. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 1998-1999 Featherlite H3Built January 1999 to November 1999
- 1998-1999 Featherlite H3-45S1Built January 1999 to November 1999
- 1998-1999 Featherlite H3-45S2Built January 1999 to November 1999
- 1998-1999 Featherlite XLBuilt January 1999 to November 1999
What the defect is
Vehicle description: recreational vehicles equipped with vanner 60 series battery equalizers. The equalizer could fail to operate properly and cause malfunction of the battery charging system.
What could happen
Without fusing, the equalizer may melt, burn, or smoke, possibly resulting in a fire or a smoke filled bus, thus necessitating a passenger evacuation of the bus. The failure mode can cause operator distraction, and/or possible personal injury.
What gets fixed
FEATHERLITE WILL NOTIFY OWNERS TO INSPECT THEIR BUSES FOR CERTAIN EQUALIZERS BY THE DATE CODE. THE AFFECTED EQUALIZERS WILL BE REPLACED. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN FEBRUARY 20, 2001.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtJanuary 1999 to November 1999
- Recall reported to NHTSA7 February 2001
- Owners notified20 February 2001
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 7 February 2001.
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.
Manufacturer contact
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 featherlite 1-888-826-8273 or vanner at 1-800-227-6937.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- FEATHERLITE, INC.
- Recall initiated by
- ODI
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
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.