2017 Kenworth T880 Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 2017 Kenworth T880, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Exterior lighting1100.0%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Exterior lighting
Reports naming headlights, tail lights, turn signals and other exterior lighting.
From owner reports, verbatim
TURN SIGNALS FAIL TO CONTINUE TO FLASH EVEN AFTER SELECTED. DASH INDICATOR LIGHT WILL RAPID FLASH BUT NOTHING OUTSIDE THE TRACTOR OR THE TRAILERS WILL ILLUMINATE. TRACTOR HAS BEEN BACK TO DEALER SEVERAL TIMES. THEY "REFLASH" THE TRUCK CAB CONTROL COMPUTER BUT THAT HAS NEVER YET FIXED THE PROBLEM. THE DEALER MECHANICS AND TECHS SIMPLY SHRUG AND SAY IT IS A "KENWORTH THING" AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT. THE COMPANY I WORK FOR HAS TWO OF THESE TRACTORS WITH SERIAL NUMBERS ONLY ONE NUMBER APART AND BOTH TRACTORS HAVE THE IDENTICAL PROBLEM. IT IS AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM AND SOMETIMES THE TRACTOR WILL RUN SEVERAL DAYS AND NEVER FAIL TO ILLUMINATE THE TURN SIGNAL LIGHTS AND THEN IT WILL SUDDENLY FAIL AGAIN. USUALLY THE TURN SIGNALS FLASH A FEW TIMES AND THEN BEGIN THE RAPID FLASH SEQUENCE AND STOP WORKING. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL CLOSE CALLS WITH SURROUNDING MOTORIST NOT UNDERSTANDING THAT I STILL INTEND TO BEGIN OR COMPLETE A TURN BUT THEY GET CONFUSED BECAUSE THE TURN SIGNALS STOP WORKING. SOMETIMES SELECTING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION WILL GET THEM WORKING AGAIN. SOMETIMES PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL TO ILLUMINATE THE BRAKE LIGHTS (IF NOT ALREADY PRESSED) WILL GET THEM FLASHING AGAIN. VEHICLE CAN BE IN MOTION OR STATIONARY, PULLING ONE TRAILER OR TWO (I USUALLY PULL DOUBLES OR TWO TRAILERS). I HAVE SPOKEN WITH SEVERAL OTHER T880 KENWORTH DRIVERS FROM OTHER COMPANIES AND THEY TOO HAVE NOTICED THE PROBLEM. DEALER IS MICHIGAN KENWORTH GRAND RAPIDS MI. THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER 3 YEARS AND 219000 MILES. I HAVE WRITTEN IT UP ON OUR DVIR FORMS AND IT HAS YET TO BE CORRECTED. OUR SHOP DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO FIX AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM LIKE THIS. OF COURSE IT NEVER FAILS IN THE SHOP DURING A ROUTINE SERVICE.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .