2013 Forest River Forester problems

What is wrong

Forest River Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Georgetown, Sunseeker, Forester, Cross Country, Pathfinder, Cardinal, Blue Ridge, Cedar Creek, and Brookstone recreational vehicles manufactured March 11, 2013, through April 26, 2013 and equipped with certain Frigidaire Convection Microwave models CFMV152CLB and CFMV154CLS. The microwave may start on it's own and begin heating when unattended.

Risk

If the microwave starts on its own and there are contents inside, a fire could result.

Remedy

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will repair the membrane/keypad component, free of charge. The recall began in February 2015. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑800‑353‑7383.

Recall number 14V449000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Forest River is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Forest River models Blue Ridge, Cardinal, Cherokee, Columbus, EVO, Georgetown, Flagstaff, Forester, Lexington, Puma, Rockwood, Sabre, Salem, Sandpiper, Sandstorm, Sierra, Stealth, Sunseeker, Wildcat, Wildwood, Work and Play and XLR; Coachmen models Brookstone, Catalina, Chaparral, Concord, Encounter, Freedom Express, Freelander, Leprechaun, Mirada, Pursuit, and Sportcoach; Prime Time models Avenger, Crusader, Lacrosse, Saniber, and Tracer; Palomino model Maverick Truck Camper; Cargo Mate model Eliminator and Shasta models Revere, Phoenix recreational vehicles manufactured from February 13, 2013, through April 18, 2013. Due to a design change in the power awning motor assembly, the motor assembly screws may unknowingly shear.

Risk

If the motor assembly screws shear, it is possible that the awning can unfurl unexpectedly, either while the vehicle is at rest or while in transit, increasing the risk of personal injury or a vehicle crash.

Remedy

Forest River will notify owners and Dometic staff will replace the affected motors with motors of a different design. The safety recall began on July 29, 2013. Owners may contact Forest River at 1‑574‑389‑4600 or Dometic at 1‑888‑447‑0003 for more information. Owners are being instructed not to drive their vehicle until repairs can be performed.

Recall number 13V203000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Forest River is recalling certain model year 2013 Concord, Leprechaun, Freelander, Lexington, Forester and Sunseeker class B and class C motor homes built on Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana chassis. It may be possible to remove the key from the ignition when the vehicle is running or the transmission is not in the Park position. As such, these vehicles fail to conform to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 114, "Theft Protection."

Risk

If the ignition key is removed while the vehicle is still on and/or the vehicle is not in Park, the vehicle may rollaway and the unintended movement of the vehicle may result in a possible crash or injury to pedestrians.

Remedy

General Motors (GM) will notify owners on behalf of Forest River. GM dealers will replace the ignition lock cylinder and the two associated keys. This service will be performed free of charge. The recall began on February 28, 2013. For more information, GMC owners may call 1‑866‑996‑9463 and Chevrolet owners may call 1‑800‑630‑2438. Owner's may also contact Forest River at 1‑574‑389‑4600.

Recall number 13V037000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Forest River, Inc., (Forest River) is recalling certain model year 2010-2013 Sunseeker 2860, 3120, 3170, Forester 2861, 3121, 3171, and Lexington 283 Class C motorhomes, manufactured from August 18, 2009, through September 12, 2012. The liquid propane gas (LPG) fuel line that supplies fuel to appliances in the slide out, can become damaged.

Risk

A damaged LPG fuel line can lead to an explosion and/or fire, increasing the risk of injury or death.

Remedy

Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will repair the affected vehicles free of charge. The recall began on, or about October 23, 2012. Owners may contact Forest River at 1‑574‑206‑7600.

Recall number 12V458000 · Recall details

ODI opened RQ14-004 based on 3 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) which reported a condition similar to recall 13V‑554.This recall addressed insufficient clearance between the tire and trailer floor.The condition was due to a frame supplier change which resulted in reduced clearance between the top of the tire and the bottom of the wheel wellOf the three VOQs reported in the opening resume two were not included in recall 13V‑554 and one was.Both of the vehicles not included used a different frame than the recalled trailers.Upon thorough examination of the condition experienced by the owners it was found that neither unit exhibited insufficient tire clearance between the bottom of the floor and top of the tire.Forest River's initial Information Request Response (IRR) submission did not adequately address all the questions asked by ODI.Following a meetingwith Forest River personnel on March 20, 2015 an IRR was submitted on May 22, 2015, which satisfied ODI.This submission is included in the public repository.When asked how Forest River identified the recall population they used a production change to determine the start and end dates.On February 3, 2012 Forest River introduced a new frame.The engineering drawings used to launch this new frame failed to identify the frame rail height.Furthermore, Forest River failed to verify that the new frame rail height was the same as the one it replaced.This created a half inch reduction in clearance.This issue was not identified and remedied untilFebruary 4, 2013 which is the end of the recall population. A thorough review of the complaint and warranty informationreceived during this investigation was preformed.After removing claims that could be associated with recall 13V‑554 a defect trend was not identified on the remaining population.The only crash which also included an injurycould not be positively associated with the alleged defect. This investigation is closed.The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that no safety-related defect exists.The agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at: http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following complaint identification numbers: 10598458, 10598344, 10538519.

RQ14004