2019 Blue Bird All American

I am writing to bring to your attention several persistent issues we have encountered with the Blue Bird student seating in our buses. The seat backs, constructed from a black mesh material welded at all four corners and secured with a top bar, have repeatedly failed. We have observed that nearly all of our seats have broken seat backs, necessitating multiple repairs at Central States of Lexington. Despite these efforts, we continue to find broken seat frames. This is particularly concerning as, in the event of an accident, these seats would not adequately provide the necessary compartmentalization for student safety. We are in the process of replacing the seat frames in the buses that are currently damaged, but given our experience, we believe that using the same materials will only result in further issues in the near future. To date, we have identified a total of six buses affected by this problem. The Kentucky Department of Education has conducted a review of our district's situation and expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the seats provided by Blue Bird. This leads us to believe that this issue may not be limited to our district or state. Please advise on how you would like to proceed with the investigation of this complaint. We currently have one bus out of service at our shop, available for in-person inspection. Additionally, I can provide photographs that document the problems we have encountered with the seating in our Blue Bird buses. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to your prompt response.

NHTSA ID

11617188

Incident

Feb 28, 2024

I am writing to bring to your attention several persistent issues we have encountered with the Blue Bird student seating in our buses. The seat backs, constructed from a black mesh material welded at all four corners and secured with a top bar, have repeatedly failed. We have observed that nearly all of our seats have broken seat backs, necessitating multiple repairs at Central States of Lexington. Despite these efforts, we continue to find broken seat frames. This is particularly concerning as, in the event of an accident, these seats would not adequately provide the necessary compartmentalization for student safety. We are in the process of replacing the seat frames in the buses that are currently damaged, but given our experience, we believe that using the same materials will only result in further issues in the near future. To date, we have identified a total of six buses affected by this problem. The Kentucky Department of Education has conducted a review of our district's situation and expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the seats provided by Blue Bird. This leads us to believe that this issue may not be limited to our district or state. Please advise on how you would like to proceed with the investigation of this complaint. We currently have one bus out of service at our shop, available for in-person inspection. Additionally, I can provide photographs that document the problems we have encountered with the seating in our Blue Bird buses. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

NHTSA ID

11617175

Incident

Feb 22, 2023

A motor high temperature error can display on the instrument cluster when the OEM coolant valve in the closed position restricting coolant flow through the high voltage propulsion motor.

SM2203: EV Recommended Starting Procedure This Service Memorandum is to announce the proper starting procedure to be followed for all Cummins EV powered units. The sequence is required due to multiple electronic modules required to wake up and start communicating over the CAN (Controller Area Network) on EV Power Train Product”.

SM2022 EV Maintenance and Service Documentation This Service Memorandum is to announce information on Cummins Power Electric buses now available at Quickserve Online. Dealer must have access to Quickserve to obtain these service maintenance and repair procedures.

Cummins recently issued Temporary Repair Practice (TRP2484) for certain vehicles with DEF sensor failures in which DEF sensor replacement parts are not available. This provides a temporary ECM calibration that inhibits engine warning messages for communication errors with the DEF sensor allowing continued operation without engine derate. Regulators are allowing for this temporary calibration to be loaded in the engine ECM by a Cummins authorized repair location if the DEF sensor fails. This temporary calibration does not repair the failure therefore a final repair must be performed and the original calibration be re-installed. Field Service has been requesting an ECM image be uploaded within the support ticket as part of the diagnostics and is carried over into Service Update 2201 (SU2201). In order to receive an authorization code and utilize Cummins TRP2484, you must follow the process, as outlined in SU2201. The specific component affected is Assembly Code: 35-300 Emissions Components.

The intent of Service Memorandum SM1906 is to make Blue Bird dealers aware that Cummins has released a calibration update improvement to reduce occurrence of “Engine fault codes 3555 and 3556” on Cummins diesel engines with the following base ECM calibrations, "HC80145 thru HC80250 and HB80104 thru HC80195"

Models Affected: 2010 thru 2021 All American Subject: This update provides information on the new surge tank fill necks for All American Instructions: There is a new kit available from Part Sales; 10066291 - Kit, Neck, Surge Tank. This kit is available for use with the All American & TX4 surge tanks. Remove and discard existing neck from tank Install new neck using items in Kit 10066291 Kit, Neck, Surge Tank