This deals with what appears to be an intentional ongoing fraud against the federal safety agency and owners of some 9,000 international school buses sold throughout the u.s. Between 8/2002 and 8/2003. As of march 2014 it appears that many of the 9000 buses (standard and handicapped) involved in this apparent fraud continue to put all occupants at risk of injury and possibly death. In 8/2002 ic corporation (ic) installed acq treated plywood subfloors in its buses knowing it was more corrosive than untreated wood to metal fasteners (per its own testing). Ic intentionally chose not to use properly protected fasteners, in part due to cost. By 2003 ic was aware of unprecedented corrosion of seat bolts, wheelchair tracks and fasteners in its buses, causing wheelchair tracks and seats to come loose. In 2/2004 ic declared a safety defect and notified the federal safety agency. It appears ic internationally understated their knowledge/concerns. In 3/2004 a the federal safety agency recall was issued (the federal safety agency recall # 04v‑097) limiting the recall to those containing a ?sur-loc? Wheelchair track, which appeared intentionally erroneous, as all fasteners were/are corroding per ic?s own representations made in litigation they filed against others. Further, a number of the buses included in the recall were not repaired/improperly repaired based on eye witness accounts during repair inspections. Counsel for ic, threatened an individual by stating that if a certain party did not offer substantial monies to settle the case, they would likely need to increase the recall to some 9,000 buses, making clear ic knew the recall should have included all 9,000 buses from the outset. To date ic has not notified the federal safety agency of this concern. This was taken as an attempt of blackmail or extortion. Discovery taken in the two suits filed by ic in both federal court (indianapolis, in.) and state court (conway, ak.) will confirm the above.
The worst 2004 Ic Ce problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Seats1
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Seats1
Recalls 9
Equipment: electrical
- What is wrong
- Navistar is recalling 61,316 my 2001 through 2009 ic be, ce, and fe model commercial and school buses manufactured between february 2, 2000 and june 2, 2008, equipped with an entrance door stepwell heater feature code 0048pms or 0548001 and/or a rear wall mounted heater feature code 0048tar or 0048psx. The affected heater units may fail in low speed operation causing elevated temperatures.
- Risk
- Elevated temperatures can result in a fire, possibly resulting in property damage, personal injury, or death.
- Remedy
- An interim letter was mailed on february 20, 2009, to communicate the defect and recommend action to mitigate the risk until the final remedy and customer notification could be provided at a later date. The manufacture filed an amended defect report dated march 27, 2009 advising that a final remedy has been developed and parts are being manufactured. The safety recall began on june 2, 2009. Owners may contact navistar toll-free at 1‑800‑448‑7825.
Recall number 09V052000 · Recall details
Engine and engine cooling
- What is wrong
- Navistar is recalling 24,975 my 2003 through 2008 ic be, ce, hc, and re school and commercial buses and 2002 through 2008 international 3200 and 3300 model buses manufactured between september 21, 2001 through december 14, 2007, equipped with international vt365 engines. These vehicles may exhibit engine hard start, no start, or stall conditions due to possibly damaged terminals in the fuse holder connector of the injector drive module (idm) clean battery power circuits. The terminals may have been damaged during electrical continuity testing in the manufacturing process.
- Risk
- These conditions could result in a vehicle crash, possibly resulting in personal injury.
- Remedy
- Navistar will notify owners and replace the idm fuse holder free of charge. The recall began on october 3, 2008. Owners can contact navistar toll-free at 1‑800‑448‑7825.
Recall number 08V353000 · Recall details
Electrical system
- What is wrong
- Navistar is recalling 51,588 heavy trucks, commercial buses and school buses manufactured between november 21, 2000 and may 21, 2008, equipped with one or more remote power modules. The potting material that encapsulates the circuit board of the vehicle's remote power module may not sufficiently seal the circuit board from water and contamination intrusion. If the encapsulation is compromised, water and contaminants may cause an internal electrical short, possibly resulting in a fire.
- Risk
- A fire could cause personal injury or death.
- Remedy
- Navistar will notify owners and repair the vehicles free of charge. The recall began on july 10, 2008. Owners may contact navistar at 1‑280‑461‑1890.
Recall number 08V258000 · Recall details
Parking brake
- What is wrong
- Certain my 2004 through 2007 ce and be school buses and 1300 and 3300 model vehicle chassis manufactured by ic corporation between march 17, 2004, and may 15, 2006. The park brake system may activate while the vehicle is under normal operation. Although the vehicle is brought to a stop, the activation may occur without warning or input from the driver and may strand the vehicle in an active lane. The spring applied, hydraulic release (sahr) park brake actuator could experience a hydraulic lock condition that will not allow the park brake to apply.
- Risk
- Should the park brake activate and strand the vehicle, it may contribute to a vehicle crash, possibly resulting in property damage, personal injury, or death. Should the park brake not apply, a vehicle roll away can occur and may result in a crash, possibly resulting in property damage, personal injury, or death.
- Remedy
- Dealers will repair the buses free of charge. The recall began july 7, 2006. Owners may contact ic corporation at 800‑322‑2884 or owners may contact international at 1‑800‑448‑7825.
Recall number 06V189000 · Recall details
Child seat: latch strap
- What is wrong
- Certain 2004-2006 my ic corporation ce, fe, and re school buses manufactured from may 12, 2003, through march 2, 2005, equipped with child restraint anchorage systems. The diameter latch attachment bars exceed the diameter requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 225, child restraint anchorage systems, which may make it difficult to use with future car seat attachments. In addition, some of the latch attachments are located too far forward of the seat back.
- Risk
- Not attaching the child seat properly may result in personal injury or death in the event of a vehicle crash. Also, the inappropriate placement of the brackets may result in personal injury to a passenger not seated in a car seat.
- Remedy
- Ic corporation will notify its customers and (1) the brackets will be removed and replaced by a special belt system and (2) the seat frame will be replaced by a frame with a new seat attachment bracket. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on august 19, 2005. Owners may contact international at 260‑461‑1924.
Recall number 05V130000 · Recall details
Engine and engine cooling
- What is wrong
- Certain 2003-2006 my ic ce, fe, and re school buses and re commercial buses manufactured between february 4, 2003, and march 1, 2005, and equipped with webasto coolant heaters. The stainless steel walls of the burner tubes incorporated into webasto coolant heaters may be made of a material that is not within specification and may fail prematurely.
- Risk
- Should the burner tube fail, the coolant heater could overheat, possibly resulting in a fire.
- Remedy
- Ic will notify its owners and replace the burner tubes free of charge. The recall began on april 20, 2005. Owners may contact international at 260‑461‑1924.
Recall number 05V122000 · Recall details
Seats
- What is wrong
- Certain 1998, 2000-2005 my ce, fe, and re school buses built with one or more ce white 30-inch child restraint seats and manufactured between march 25, 1998 and august 24, 2004. The seat cushion retention may not retain the seat in all circumstances.
- Risk
- In the event of a sudden stop, the seat cushion may tip forward and may become unattached causing the passenger to slide off the seat and/or be trapped by the seat cushion. This action could possibly result in personal injury or death.
- Remedy
- Ic corp will notify its customers and will repair the cushion by adding a clip to the cushion tying it to the seat frame. The recall began on october 5, 2004. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ic compliance department at 1‑800‑843‑5615.
Recall number 04V498000 · Recall details
Equipment adaptive/mobility
- What is wrong
- Certain my 2001-2005 amtran/ic corporation ce, fe, and re school buses equipped with sure-lok wheelchair tie-down securement assemblies p/n 8625-13. The sprocket teeth of the retractor assembly may be out of alignment causing the load pawl not to fully seat in the sprocket teeth.
- Risk
- In the event of a vehicle crash, the wheelchair may not be adequately secured possibly resulting in injuries.
- Remedy
- Sure-lok will notify ic's customers and repair the buses on ic's behalf at no cost to the customer. The recall began august 16, 2004. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact sure-lok at 1‑908‑231‑1804.
Recall number 04V469000 · Recall details
Equipment
- What is wrong
- On certain "special needs" school buses equipped with sur-loc "l" wheelchair tracks, the lift mounting bolts could corrode if moisture occurs in the treated plywood floor.
- Risk
- This could reduce the function of the track or the strength of the lift mounting bolts resulting in personal injury to the occupants.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the sur-loc "l" tracks with protected tracks and mounting hardware. Also, lift floor-mounting bolts will be replaced. Owner notification is expected to begin march 19, 2004. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ic at 1‑800‑843‑5615.
Recall number 04V097000 · Recall details
See all 9 recalls for the 2004 Ic Ce
Defect investigations
Starter wire abrades parking cable
Odi becameaware of twobus fires that resulted from the battery/starter cable rubbing against the parking brake cable. Odivisited the fleet, inspected the buses, and found other buses withearly stages of wire/cable abrasion. Odicontacted another fleet with similar buses and they also identifiedabrading wire/cables. After completing their evaluation, navistar has decided to conduct a safety recall to inspect, repair as necessary, and reroute the battery cable away from the parking brake cable.the action taken by navistar resolves this investigation.accordingly, this investigation is closed.
PE09053
School bus stalling
This pe was opened after odi became aware of 7 events on school buses where the fuse for the ecmoverheated and burned the fuse holder and/or fuse holder terminals.once overheating of the fuse holder occurs, the fuse blades would no longerbe secured in the plastic holder, thus interrupting the electrical flow.the complaints centered aroundeither a no-start, hard start, erratic engine performance or engine stalling. Odi was also aware of reported battery box fires. Thepe was opened to examine the safety significance and gain a technical understanding of this problem.after discussions with odi and further review of field incidents, ic decided the proper way to handle this issue was to conduct a safety recall during which they willreplace the fuse holders and the power electrical connector on the affected vehicles.this recall action resolves the issues raised by this investigation. Therefore, this investigation is closed.
PE08034
Technical service bulletins for the 2004 Ic Ce 3
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
What 2004 Ic Ce owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
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Questions about the 2004 Ic Ce
Is the 2004 Ic Ce reliable?
Owners have filed 1 complaint about the 2004 Ic Ce, fewer than a typical Ce model year.
What is the most common problem with the 2004 Ic Ce?
Seats, with 1 complaint.
How many recalls does the 2004 Ic Ce have?
9 recalls, covering equipment, engine and engine cooling and electrical system.
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