Caterpillar Engine and Engine Cooling

Caterpillar is recalling about 55,794 vehicles over a problem with the engine and engine cooling. Oil line wear may cause an oil leak and a potential fire hazard.

Campaign
05E078000
Manufacturer
CATERPILLAR INC.
Reported
12 December 2005
Vehicles
55,794
Built between
Not published
Models
1
Recall type
Equipment
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
17 April 2006
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.

  • 2004-2005 Caterpillar C15

What the defect is

Certain 2004 and 2005 C15 diesel engines manufactured by caterpillar between october 2003 and april 2005. The variable valve actuation oil line (vva line) used on 6 cylinder, 15L turbocharged and air-to-air aftercooled diesel engines of 435-550 horsepower may wear against the sharp edge of the cylinder head if not oriented correctly.

What could happen

Oil line wear may cause an oil leak and a potential fire hazard.

What gets fixed

OWNERS OR DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE VVA LINE FOR WEAR. IF VVA LINE WEAR IS NOTED, DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE LINE. A CLIP WILL BE ADDED TO PREVENT FUTURE LINE WEAR. THE RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 17, 2006.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA12 December 2005
  2. Owners notified17 April 2006

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 December 2005.

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
CATERPILLAR 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

Customers may contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236; (tty: 1-800-424-9153); or go to http://www.safercar.gov.

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.

Same component

Same brand