RoadVitals

1989 Peterbilt 320 Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
1
Latest Jun 9, 2001
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
1
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Jun 9, 2001

What this page shows

Our database holds 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 1989 Peterbilt 320. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–1 of 1

Transmission
Filed Jun 9, 2001
Crash reported1 death reported

THE PETERBILT 320 - WITH AN ALLISON 754 HT TRANSMISSION (AUTOMATIC MECHANICAL) HAS TWO (2) SEPARATE DEADLY DEFECTS: ILLUSORY NEUTRAL DEFECT - SHIFT INDICATOR IN CAB READS NEUTRAL AND VIBRATION OF VEHICLE CAUSES THE TRANSMISSION TO GO INTO GEAR. THIS VEHICLE IS USUALLY USED AS REFUSE VEHICLES. THIS DEFECTS OCCURS USUALLY WHEN PTO IS ON, WHICH CAUSES HIGH RPMS. THE DRIVER THINKS THE TRANSMISSION IS IN NEUTRAL BECAUSE THE SHIFT INDICATOR IN THE CAB SHOWS NEUTRAL AND THE TRANSMISSION IS NOT ENGAGED (THAT IS, THE VEHICLE WILL REMAIN MOTIONLESS ON LEVEL GROUND). . INSTEAD, THE TRANSMISSION IS REALLY IS IN BETWEEN THE NEUTRAL AND DRIVE POSITIONS. THE VIBRATION FROM THE PTO CAUSES THE TRANSMISSION TO UNEXPECTEDLY DROP INTO DRIVE. THE ALLISON AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION DROPS INTO DRIVE (WITH HIGH RPMS) AND THE PARKING BRAKE DOES NOT HOLD VEHICLE. THUS, THE BRAKES ARE DEFECTIVE AND THE TRANSMISSION IS DEFECTIVE. IN ADDITION TO A FATALITY, WE HAVE MANY DRIVERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS SAME DEFECT. THE ILLUSORY NEUTRAL DEFECT OCCURS AFTER SHIFT CABLE STRETCHES AND/OR BECOMES MAL-ADJUSTED. *AK

NHTSA ID
746615
Incident
Jan 22, 1999

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.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .