Orion preliminary evaluation PE13004
Coolant Leak Resulting in Occupant Burns. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the hoses/lines/piping/fittings on 2 model years (2011–2012). Opened Mar 5, 2013, closed Jul 12, 2013 after 4 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedODI is aware of three (3) incidents of heater hose failures on the delivery circuit (high temperature) of the engine coolant system on the subject transit buses. The failure occurs in the vicinity of the air ducts above the street-side passenger compartment. The air ducts may quickly fill with engine temperature fluids that are expelled without warning onto the seats below. ODI is aware of no injuries at this time. The heater hose in question was only installed as original equipment on fifty-two (52) buses in a single fleet. At this time all 52 hoses have had the hose replaced with a standard higher working pressure hose. Daimler Buses NA, the manufacturer of the buses, has gone out of business. Therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize NHTSA's limited resources to accomplish the agency's safety mission, ODI is closing this investigation. The ODI report cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification (ODI) number: 10500221
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 closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2011 Orion VII; 2012 Orion VII.
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 PE13004 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE13004 still open?
No. It closed on Jul 12, 2013 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE13004 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 2 model years: 2011 Orion VII, 2012 Orion VII. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.