Pierce preliminary evaluation PE13022
Parking Brake Failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the air on 1 model year (2013). Opened Jun 20, 2013, closed Oct 30, 2013 after 4 months. It led to safety recall 13V435000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn June 20th, 2013, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation on 2013 Pierce Arrow fire trucks based on a single Vehicle Owners Questionnaire (VOQ #10512931), which reported five unique allegations of parking brake failures. The VOQ indicated that while the parking brake was activated, the fire trucks unexpectedly started to roll. On July 1st, 2013, an ODI investigator met with Pierce field engineers at an authorized Pierce facility located in Maryland to duplicate the alleged failure. The Pierce field engineers were able to duplicate the issue and pinpoint the failure mechanism. A quarter turn ball valve installed between the glad hands connector and the parking brake can cause a restriction and build up of air pressure in the parking brake circuit. This increased air pressure can prevent the application of the spring-loaded parking brake allowing the truck to roll when the operator believes the parking brake is applied As a corrective action, Pierce will remove the quarter turn ball valve and reconnect the glad hand signal hose into the primary air tank. This Preliminary Evaluation has been closed with a safety recall (13V435).
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: 2013 Pierce Arrow.
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 PE13022 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 13V435000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE13022 still open?
No. It closed on Oct 30, 2013 and led to recall 13V435000.
Which vehicles does PE13022 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2013 Pierce Arrow. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.