- Vehicles
- 2,030
- Built between
- Not published
- Models
- 3
- Recall type
- Equipment
- Initiated by
- NHTSA compliance test
- Owners notified
- 10 February 2005
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.
- 2003 Orion Orion VII
- 2002 Orion VII
- SCI ALT823D
What the defect is
Certain compressed natural gas fuel containers, model ALT823D, p/n 1273147, equipped on certain 2003 and 2004 orion vii buses. The nvg container's pressure relief devices fail to timely and fully activate as required by federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 304, compressed natural gas fuel container integrity.
What could happen
In the event of a vehicle fire with the fuel system roof enclosure removed or opened, the fuel container's pressure relief devices may not activate as they are designed to do and the fuel container could rupture and explode. Such an explosion, if it were to occur, could cause serious injuries or death to occupants of the bus or to persons outside the bus.
What gets fixed
STRUCTURAL COMPOSITES WILL REPLACE THE PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE FREE OF CHARGE. STRUCTURAL COMPOSITES IS EXPECTED TO NOTIFY THE OWNERS OF AFFECTED ORION VII BUSES IN JUNE 2004. THE RECALL BEGAN FEBRUARY 2005.
Timeline
- Recall reported to NHTSA20 May 2004
- Owners notified10 February 2005
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 20 May 2004.
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
- Recalling manufacturer
- STRUCTURAL COMPOSITES INDUSTRIES
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 304
- Recall initiated by
- OVSC
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, customers can 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.