NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Preliminary Evaluation PE13-005: Windshield Wiper Failures
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Preliminary Evaluation PE13-005 on March 18, 2013 and closed it on August 29, 2013. NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2011–2012 Volvo VNL for it and links recall 13V-349 to it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- PE13-005 (also written PE13005)
- 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 29, 2013
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Volvo Trucks North America
- Components
- Visibility/Wiper; Visibility — Windshield Wiper/Washer; Visibility — Windshield Wiper/Washer — Linkages; Visibility — Windshield Wiper/Washer — Motor
- Recall linked by NHTSA
- 13V-349: Wiper Motor May Fail, reported
- Vehicles and equipment
- 2011–2012 Volvo VNL
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Preliminary Evaluation PE13-005.
Through regular communications with heavy truck fleets, ODI learned of a potential issue involving failures of both the windshield wiper motor or linkage on model year 2011-2012 Volvo VNL trucks.
ODI searched its Early Warning Reporting (EWR) database and identified a significant number of claims of wiper system problems reported by Volvo.
In some cases the windshield wiper linkage separated and in others the wiper motor failed.
In both failure modes, the visibility of the driver is significantly diminished.
In response to an ODI Information Request (IR) dated 25 March 2013, Volvo provided warranty data that identified three distinct windshield wiper failure modes on the subject vehicles: wiper motor, wiper linkage, and wiper arms.
Analyzing the warranty data revealed elevated rates of wiper motor and wiper arm failures.
The warranty data further showed that the wiper arm failures occurred early in the vehicle service life suggesting that those that were likely to fail had already doneso.
However the wiper motor failures were found to be an ongoing concern.
Owners continued to file warranty claims at an elevated rate at the time of this investigation.
Following a meeting on 25 July 2013, Volvo notified ODI on 9 August 2013 they had determined the wiper motor drive gear may prematurely fail on subject vehicles manufactured from 1 February 2010 through 30 September 2010 and 1 June 2011 through 30 November 2011.
Volvo states that the failure presents a risk of decreased visibility through the windshield, which may result in a vehicle crash.
Volvo initiated a safety recall (NHTSA Recall No. 13V-349) to address the safety defect in approximately 17,824 Model Year 2011 and 2012 VAH, VHD, VNL, and VNM Trucks.
Volvo?s action to remedy the subject vehicles for the defective wiper motor resolves the issue raised by this investigation and therefore this investigation is closed.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Preliminary Evaluation PE13-005. 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.
Volvo
All Volvo recallsWhat 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.
Volvo VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for PE13-005
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.