- Vehicles
- 4,061
- Built between
- Jan 2000 – Dec 2011
- Models
- 5
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- Not yet
- Repaired
- 77%
- Unrepaired
- 680
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between January 2000 and December 2011. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2007-2009 Blue Bird L4REBuilt July 2007 to October 2009
- 2000-2011 NABI BRTBuilt January 2000 to December 2011
- 2000-2011 NABI ClfwBuilt January 2000 to December 2011
- 2000-2011 NABI LFWBuilt January 2000 to December 2011
- 2000-2009 Optima OpusBuilt January 2000 to December 2009
Repair progress
680 of 4,061 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q1 2015.
77% repaired — 3,145 of 4,061 reported
- Scrapped or exported
- 236
Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.
What the defect is
North American Bus Industries (NABI) is recalling certain model year 2000-2011 LFW, CLFW, BRT, 2007-2009 Blue Bird L4RE, and 2000-2009 Optima Opus transit buses equipped with Sure Power battery equalizers containing a particular epoxy sealing, aka 'potting', compound. The specific potting compound used in the subject products for insulation was found to be capable of conducting electricity after being exposed to heat.
What could happen
Once electrically conductive, the material is capable of melting and burning, increasing the risk of a fire.
What gets fixed
NABI will notify owners, and dealers will replace the equalizers, free of charge. An interim letter was mailed to owners on January 27, 2014.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtJanuary 2000 to December 2011
- Recall reported to NHTSA19 September 2013
- Latest repair reportQ1 2015 — 77% repaired
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 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 NABI at 1-256-831-4296. NABI's recall number is 20136.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- 20136
- Recalling manufacturer
- North American Bus 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
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.