Itasca Steering: Hydraulic Power Assist System

Itasca is recalling about 1,699 vehicles over a problem with the steering. Sudden loss of steering assist without warning involving a motor home could be a problem for certain drivers increasing the risk of a crash.

Campaign
08V223000
Manufacturer
WINNEBAGO INDUSTRIES, INC.
Reported
19 May 2008
Vehicles
1,699
Built between
Mar 2005 – Dec 2006
Models
4
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
Not yet
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between March 2005 and December 2006. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2005-2009 Itasca EllipseBuilt March 2005 to December 2006
  • 2005-2009 Itasca MeridianBuilt March 2005 to December 2006
  • 2005-2009 Winnebago JourneyBuilt March 2005 to December 2006
  • 2005-2009 Winnebago TourBuilt March 2005 to December 2006

What the defect is

Winnebago is recalling 1,699 my 2005-2009 winnebago journey, tour and itasca meridian and ellipse motor homes built on the freightliner xc chassis. The chassis contains steering filters that can plug due to failure of the screen adhesion to the filter housing causing a rise in return line pressure potentially leading to a hose separation from the filter or steering gear fitting resulting in a sudden loss of steering fluid and power assist.

What could happen

Sudden loss of steering assist without warning involving a motor home could be a problem for certain drivers increasing the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

FREIGHTLINER IS CONDUCTING THIS RECALL AND WILL REPLACE THE AFFECTED FILTERS WITH A LARGER FILTER (PLEASE SEE 07V570).

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtMarch 2005 to December 2006
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA19 May 2008

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 19 May 2008.

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 freightliner at 1-800-547-0712 or winnebago at 1-641-585-3535.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
WINNEBAGO INDUSTRIES, 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