Thomas Built Buses preliminary evaluation PE10011
Dash Fires. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the wiring on 2 model years (2009–2010). Opened Apr 21, 2010, closed May 26, 2010 after 35 days. It led to safety recall 10V183000, 10V184000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThis investigation was opened after ODIlearned of two dash fires that occurred on model year 2008 rear engine school buses. This investigation was opened to further study these fires and assess the risk. On April 30, 2010, Daimler filed a defect report concerning this matter. School buses built between November 15, 2007, through June 15, 2009, and non-school buses built between November 20, 2007, through May 8, 2009 will have thedash heater actuator replaced with a more robust actuator to prevent leakage of coolant. This safety recall resolves the issue raised by this investigation and 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: 2009 Thomas Built Buses HDX; 2010 Thomas Built Buses HDX.
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 PE10011 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 10V183000, 10V184000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE10011 still open?
No. It closed on May 26, 2010 and led to recall 10V183000, 10V184000.
Which vehicles does PE10011 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 2 model years: 2009 Thomas Built Buses HDX, 2010 Thomas Built Buses HDX. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.