Thomas Built Buses preliminary evaluation PE09047
THROTTLE STICKS ON FLOOR PLATE. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the accelerator pedal on 5 model years (2006–2010). Opened Sep 30, 2009, closed Jan 4, 2010 after 3 months. It led to safety recall 09V462000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedTHIS INVESTIGATION WAS OPENED AFTER AFLEET SUPERVISOR SUBMITTED A VOQ ON A MODEL YEAR 2008 THOMAS BUILT EF SCHOOL BUS AND REPORTED THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WILL STICK AND WON'T RELEASE. THIS PROBLEM OCCURRED ON ONE OF THE FLEET BUSES AND THE DRIVER HAD TO FREE THE PEDAL BY HAND. ODI CONDUCTED A FIELD VISIT AND CONFIRMED BY INSPECTION THAT PUSHING AT THE PEDAL'S BASE (POSITION NEAREST THE DRIVER) WOULD SOMETIMES ALLOW IT TO STICK AT THE METAL SCUFF PLATE (ON THE FLOOR) WITHOUT RELEASING. A SECOND FLEET WAS CONTACTED AND THEY WERE ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. ODI CONVEYED ITS FIELD FINDINGS TO DAIMLER IN LATE NOVEMBER 2009 AND THEY FILED A SAFETY RECALL (09V-462) ON DECEMBER 1, 2009 OUTLINING THEIRREMEDY PROGRAM. DAIMLER WILL RAISE THE MOUNTING POSITIONOF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL 0.75 INCHES TO RESOLVE THE CLEARANCE ISSUE. DAIMLER IS RECALLING THE SUBJECT VEHICLES PLUS MODEL YEAR 2011. THE ACTION TAKEN BY DAIMLER (THOMAS BUILT)RESOLVES THIS INVESTIGATION. ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2006 Thomas Built Buses EF; 2007 Thomas Built Buses EF; 2008 Thomas Built Buses EF; 2009 Thomas Built Buses EF; 2010 Thomas Built Buses EF.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE09047 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 09V462000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE09047 still open?
No. It closed on Jan 4, 2010 and led to recall 09V462000.
Which vehicles does PE09047 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 5 model years: 2006 Thomas Built Buses EF, 2007 Thomas Built Buses EF, 2008 Thomas Built Buses EF, 2009 Thomas Built Buses EF, 2010 Thomas Built Buses EF. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.