Champion Equipment: Electrical

Champion is recalling about 598 vehicles over a problem with the equipment. High resistance may cause the board to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire.

Campaign
13V422000
Manufacturer
Champion Bus, Inc.
Reported
12 September 2013
Vehicles
598
Built between
Aug 2009 – May 2011
Models
11
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
22 October 2013
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between August 2009 and May 2011. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2010 Champion American CoachBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2010 Champion American CrusaderBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2009-2010 Champion ChallengerBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2009-2010 Champion CrusaderBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2010 Champion CTSBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2010 Champion CTS-FEBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2010 Champion CTS-REBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2009-2011 Champion DefenderBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2009-2011 Champion EZ-TransBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2010-2011 Champion IC High FloorBuilt August 2009 to May 2011
  • 2010 Champion IC LOW FloorBuilt August 2009 to May 2011

What the defect is

Champion Bus is recalling certain model year 2010 American Crusader, American Coach, CTS-FE, CTS-RE, and IC Low Floor buses; and 2009-2010 Challenger and Crusader buses; and 2009-2011 Defender and EZ Trans buses; and 2010-2011 IC High Floor buses. The buses are manufactured from August 1, 2009, through May 19, 2011, and equipped with A&M Systems door headers containing model 3230 circuit boards. Voltage spikes may damage electrical components and electrical circuits, causing the circuit board to develop high resistance.

What could happen

High resistance may cause the board to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire.

What gets fixed

Champion Bus will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the door header and replace any defective circuit board, free of charge. The recall began on October 22, 2013.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtAugust 2009 to May 2011
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA12 September 2013
  3. Owners notified22 October 2013

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 September 2013.

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 Champion at 1-810-724-6474.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
Champion Bus, 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

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to 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