Caterpillar Engine and Engine Cooling: Diesel

Caterpillar is recalling about 33,700 vehicles over a problem with the engine and engine cooling. If not identified and corrected, engine speed control could be lost due to rivet disengagement.

Campaign
99E021000
Manufacturer
CATERPILLAR, INC.
Reported
23 June 1999
Vehicles
33,700
Built between
Apr 1996 – Mar 1998
Models
1
Recall type
Equipment
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
9 August 1999
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between April 1996 and March 1998. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 1996-1998 Caterpillar 3116Built April 1996 to March 1998

What the defect is

Equipment description: mechanically unit injected diesel engines. The governor of the engine controls the unit injector fueling by way of a control assembly. In this assembly, a link to the governor is joined to the control rod using a rivet. This rivet can loosen and then wear resulting in engine speed instability.

What could happen

If not identified and corrected, engine speed control could be lost due to rivet disengagement.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE CONTROL ASSEMBLY AND REPLACED IF NECESSARY.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtApril 1996 to March 1998
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA23 June 1999
  3. Owners notified9 August 1999

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 23 June 1999.

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
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

Owner notification began august 9, 1999.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 caterpillar at 1-309-675-5658. 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.

Same component

Same brand