NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE12-006: Turbocharger Failure
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE12-006 on March 14, 2012 and closed it on August 17, 2012. NHTSA's investigations file lists the John Deere ALL 8.1L CNG ENGINE for it and links 4 recalls to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE12-006 (also written PE12006)
- Investigation type
- Preliminary Evaluation The first stage of most defect investigations: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation gathers basic information about a possible safety defect, including from the manufacturer.
- Status
- Closed August 17, 2012
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- John Deere
- Components
- Engine and Engine Cooling — Engine — Other Fuel Types — Turbo/Supercharger; Engine and Engine Cooling — Exhaust System — Emission Control — Gas Recirculation Valve (EGR VALVE); Engine and Engine Cooling — Exhaust System — Manifold/Header/Muffler/Tail Pipe
- Recalls linked by NHTSA
- 12V-447: Turbocharger/Compressor Wheel Failure (CNG Models), reported
- 12V-466: Failure of the engine turbocharger, reported
- 12V-469: TURBOCHARGER/COMPRESSOR WHEEL FAILURE, reported
- 12E-026 (NHTSA record)
- Vehicles and equipment
- John Deere ALL 8.1L CNG ENGINE
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE12-006.
The Office of Defects (ODI) received a Product Improvement Program (10RG264) from John Deere in January 2011 concerning failed turbochargers on transit buses.
This Product Improvement Program (PIP) was exclusive to their 8.1L compressed natural gas (CNG) engine.
However, the PIP only covers transit busses in the state of California.
John Deere indicated that in the event of a failure, the entire turbocharger was to be replaced as part of the repair.
The ODI contacted consumers (supplied by the manufacture as complainants) and most described a condition that once the turbo failed, the vehicle became stranded.
One consumer detailed a failure where the cab started to fill up with smoke while the vehicle was stalled, subsequently the turbo was on fire.
The fire was eventually extinguished however the vehicle was stranded and needed to be towed.
On June 11, 2012 ODI received John Deere's response to an ODI Information Request (IR) letter.
From the responsive information it was determined that the risk of turbo fires as related to stalling/abandonment warranted an equipment safety recall.
John Deere made ODI aware of 265 complaints and 22 possible vehicle fires for a population of approximately 3,500 vehicles.
ODI notes that John Deere had not determined the exact number of affected vehicles, or a specific recall remedy at the closing of this investigation.
However all vehicles (not just the vehicles located in California.) similarly configured and within the scope of this investigation will be recalled.
This investigation is closed with John Deer's announcement of a safety recall. The Product Improvement Program cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/tsbs/ under the following NHTSA Item Number: 10034925.
Updates on the recalled vehicle population and defect remedy can be viewed in the manufacture's 573 document online at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallsearch.cfm under the following NHTSA Campaign ID Number: 12V056 (use the Document Search button to locate the 573 document).
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE12-006. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
John Deere
John Deere ALL 8.1L CNG ENGINE
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE12-006
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.