Eldorado Steering: Tie Rod Assembly

Eldorado is recalling about 80 vehicles over a problem with the steering. This premature wear-out of the ball socket assemblies may result in the separation of the tie-rod assembly which, in turn, could lead to a loss of control of the bus and possible injury of death to the occupants of the bus in the event of such crash.

Campaign
05V021000
Manufacturer
ELDORADO NATIONAL - CALIFORNIA, INC.
Reported
21 January 2005
Vehicles
80
Built between
Oct 1999 – Nov 2001
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
28 May 2005
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between October 1999 and November 2001. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2000-2001 Eldorado Escort REBuilt October 1999 to November 2001
  • 2000-2001 Eldorado Transmark REBuilt October 1999 to November 2001

What the defect is

On certain transit buses equipped with arvin-meritor and trw 20-EDL ball socket assemblies have a less robust bearing design, which leads to higher wear rates and more rapid wear-out than previous designs.

What could happen

This premature wear-out of the ball socket assemblies may result in the separation of the tie-rod assembly which, in turn, could lead to a loss of control of the bus and possible injury of death to the occupants of the bus in the event of such crash.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE BALL SOCKET ASSEMBLIES FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 28, 2005.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtOctober 1999 to November 2001
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA21 January 2005
  3. Owners notified28 May 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 21 January 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.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact eldorado at 909-591-9557.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
ELDORADO NATIONAL - CALIFORNIA, INC.
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 may also 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