- Vehicles
- 64
- Built between
- Jul 2002 – Aug 2004
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 25 January 2005
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between July 2002 and August 2004. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2002-2004 Pierce Custom ChassisBuilt July 2002 to August 2004
What the defect is
On certain fire trucks equipped with the all wheel steer option, the position of the front axle is sensed by an optical encoder mounted to the bottom of the front axle kingpin, which is protected from the elements by an outer case. This case shares a common grease cavity with the kingpin. Oil that leaches from the grease can migrate through the encoder seal, causing contamination of the optical encoder disc.
What could happen
Oil on the disc can cause the encoder to send incorrect wheel position information and can cause the rear wheels to steer unexpectedly causing the vehicle to crash without prior warning.
What gets fixed
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE ENCODERS WITH NEW ENCODERS WITH MORE ROBUST SEALS. THE CONTROL SOFTWARE WILL BE UPDATED TO PRODUCE AN ERROR CODE AND DISABLE THE REAR STEERING FUNCTION IF UNUSUAL ENCODER INPUTS ARE DETECTED. THE RECALL BEGAN JANUARY 25, 2005.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtJuly 2002 to August 2004
- Recall reported to NHTSA9 December 2004
- Owners notified25 January 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 9 December 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.
Manufacturer contact
Owners should contact pierce at 1-888-974-3723.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- PIERCE MANUFACTURING
- 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
Customers can 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.