Freightliner preliminary evaluation PE21004
Engine Electrical Wiring Harness Chafe. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the electrical system on 5 model years (2017–2021). Opened Feb 25, 2021, closed Jan 14, 2025 after 3.9 years without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedThe Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation to investigate reports of engine electrical wiring harness chafe on the subject vehicles. ODI analysis found thousands of unique harness part numbers, spanning the two generations of vehicle chassis assembled at multiple vehicle assembly plants in two different countries, with multiple sub-models, incorporating over thirty powertrain choices. Each wiring harness could contain several dozen individual wires for power, ground and communication purposes depending on the multitude of equipment options available for custom vehicle configuration. ODI identified three primary areas where a wiring harness bundle may chafe: the air compressor support bracket, the transmission case, or the coolant surge tank. In each case, the root cause was some combination of inadequate design clearance, installation variability and relative motion between the wiring harness and the point of contact, such as from vibration. The chafing could result in a range of consequences from none to various diagnostic fault codes, telltale illumination, driver warning center messages, erratic electrical component operation, difficult or no engine start condition, engine de-rate (power reduction), engine shut down, inoperative transmission gear selection, or an unexpected shift to neutral. These potential consequences vary depending on the specific damaged wire in the harness and the exact failure mode, such as intermittent short circuit to ground or open circuit. Generally, the chafing resulted in a progressive series of driver warnings with high levels of detectability over the course of several days and ignition cycles. Drivers usually heed warnings before an engine shutdown condition occurs and the driver may override an engine shutdown countdown timer using the override switch. If the driver allows the shutdown event to occur, the engine can almost always be immediately restarted. Incident rates for an engine shutdown with no warning or a transmission shift to neutral while driving are both very low. ODI received one complaint (NHTSA ID Number 11366557) from a fleet mechanic, who reported in a subsequent interview that he repaired at least six subject vehicles that experienced the alleged defect condition. However, there have been no new Vehicle Owner Questionnaire complaints received by ODI since opening this investigation, and there are no known crashes, fires or thermal events, or injuries or deaths related to the alleged defect. Accordingly, no safety-related defect trend has been identified. Based on available information, this investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI report cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Numbers document, go to NHTSA.gov.
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 resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2021 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2021 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2021 | 2 files 12 |
| Manufacturer's response — full submission | INRL | 2021 | 3 files 123 |
| Memo to the investigation file | INME | 2021 | 2 files 12 |
| Memo granting a response extension | INRE | 2021 | 2 files 12 |
| Filed document | INCV | 2021 |
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Feb 25, 2021, owners had filed 46 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 5 named the electrical system, engine NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
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: 2017 Freightliner Cascadia; 2018 Freightliner Cascadia; 2019 Freightliner Cascadia; 2020 Freightliner Cascadia; 2021 Freightliner Cascadia.
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 PE21004 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 PE21004 still open?
No. It closed on Jan 14, 2025 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE21004 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 5 model years: 2017 Freightliner Cascadia, 2018 Freightliner Cascadia, 2019 Freightliner Cascadia, 2020 Freightliner Cascadia, 2021 Freightliner Cascadia. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.