- Vehicles
- 865
- Built between
- Sep 1997 – Aug 2001
- Models
- 7
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- Not yet
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between September 1997 and August 2001. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2000-2001 Van Hool A508Built October 1999 to August 2000
- 1999-2001 Van Hool C2045Built June 1999 to June 2001
- 1999-2001 Van Hool S2145Built June 1999 to September 2000
- 1998-2000 Van Hool T2140Built March 1998 to November 1999
- 1998-2002 Van Hool T2145Built October 1997 to August 2001
- 1998-1999 Van Hool T945Built September 1997 to October 1998
- 1999 Van Hool T945SBuilt November 1998 to November 1998
What the defect is
On certain transit buses 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
VANNER IS CONDUCTING THE OWNER NOTIFICATION AND REMEDY FOR THIS CAMPAIGN. DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE BUSES FOR CERTAIN EQUALIZERS BY THE DATE CODE. THE AFFECTED EQUALIZERS WILL BE REPLACED BY VANNER.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtSeptember 1997 to August 2001
- Recall reported to NHTSA26 February 2002
No owner-notification date has been published yet. Manufacturers normally write to registered owners within 60 days of reporting a recall.
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 26 February 2002.
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 vanner at 1-800-227-6937 or van hool/abc coach at 407-656-7977.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- VAN HOOL, N.V.
- 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.