- Vehicles
- 3,873
- Built between
- Dec 2006 – Jan 2009
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Equipment
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- 23 January 2012
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between December 2006 and January 2009. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- Caterpillar C7Built December 2006 to January 2009
What the defect is
Caterpillar is recalling certain C7 diesel engines, 7L, 6-CYLINDER, turbo and air-to-air aftercooled engines with 190-300 horsepower ratings, built from december 14, 2006, through january 6, 2009, sold and installed as original equipment in certain blue bird school buses. Cooling system coolant in this application can degrade, which may cause the engine components to prematurely deteriorate possibly leading to coolant leaks.
What could happen
Loss of coolant can result in stranded vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash.
What gets fixed
CATERPILLAR IS WORKING WITH BLUE BIRD TO IDENTIFY AND NOTIFY OWNERS OF THE RECALL CAMPAIGN. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 1, 2012.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtDecember 2006 to January 2009
- Recall reported to NHTSA2 December 2011
- Owners notified23 January 2012
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 2 December 2011.
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 caterpillar at 1-800-447-4986.
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
Owners 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 <a href=http://www.safercar.gov>http://www.safercar.gov</a> .
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.