Stallion preliminary evaluation PE15004
Seat Belt Buckle Inoperative. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the buckle assembly on 1 model year (2014). Opened Feb 3, 2015, closed May 27, 2015 after 4 months. It led to safety recall 15E016000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) was in contact with a fleet that experienced multiple incidents of driver and passenger seatbelt buckle assemblies failing to unlatch. The seatbelts, manufactured by Taizhou TIANDA Rope and Belt Co, are original equipment on certain Stallion 900 motorcoaches. Preliminary evaluation suggested that two significantly different buckle assembly designs exist for a single part number 67RB1-04021. At the time of this investigation, failures appear to be limited to the earlier design. Shortly after opening this investigation, Taizhou Tianda Rope & Belt Co. Ltd decided to recall the earlier design buckles with safety recall 15E-016. An information request letter was not delivered before the recall was announced. Based on this action by the manufacturer, this investigation is closed. The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification (ODI) numbers: 10631019, 10632409, 10633199 and 10633213.
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: 2014 Stallion 900.
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 PE15004 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 15E016000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE15004 still open?
No. It closed on May 27, 2015 and led to recall 15E016000.
Which vehicles does PE15004 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2014 Stallion 900. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.