- Vehicles
- 2,740
- Built between
- Feb 1998 – Nov 1998
- Models
- 3
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 17 December 1998
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between February 1998 and November 1998. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 1998 Blue Bird Q-BUSBuilt February 1998 to November 1998
- 1998 Blue Bird TC1000Built February 1998 to November 1998
- 1998 Blue Bird TC2000Built February 1998 to November 1998
What the defect is
Vehicle description: school and transit forward and rear engine buses equipped with cummins isb and isc engines. The wiring harness to the combustion air intake grid heater can chafe against the engine and wear through causing an electrical short in the grid heater power supply. The short causes the fusible link to fail.
What could happen
When the fusible link fails, insulation on the fusible link can ignite, creating a fire risk in the engine compartment.
What gets fixed
OWNERS WILL BE ADVISED TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL GRID HEATER POWER SUPPLY HARNESS WITH FUSIBLE LINKS WITH A NEW GRID HEATER POWER SUPPLY HARNESS EQUIPPED WITH FUSES. IN ADDITION, A CLAMP WILL BE ADDED TO SUPPORT THE HARNESS AWAY FROM THE ENGINE COMPONENTS.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtFebruary 1998 to November 1998
- Recall reported to NHTSA14 December 1998
- Owners notified17 December 1998
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 14 December 1998.
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.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- BLUE BIRD BODY COMPANY
- 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
Owner notification is expected to begin december 17, 1998. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact blue bird at 1-912-825-2021.ALSO contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).
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.