Recalls Involve Possible Stalling,
Defective Wheelchair Lifts

(Aug. 25, 2008) — Both Navistar International, the parent company of IC Bus, and Blue Bird Corporation have implemented voluntary recall campaigns for certain models of school buses, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Navistar is currently recalling 24,977 school and commercial buses (recall No. 08V353000) because of a potential stalling condition defined as "hard starting," which is caused by "damaged terminals in a fuse connector that is part of the fuel injector system," according to the NHTSA Web site. The models include: 2002, 2004 and 2008 IC/BE; 2003-2008 IB/CE; 2003-2008 IB/HC; 2003-2005 and 2007-2008 IC/RE; 2006 RESB; 2002-2008 International/3200 and 2002-2008 International/3300.

Blue Bird's recall of a total of 2,503 commercial buses and All American, conventional and Micro Bird school buses with model years of 2006-2008 (recall No. 08V395000) is due to installed Ricon platform style wheelchair lifts that do not comply with federal motor vehicle safety requirements.

"The pressure sensing switch that detects the presence of weight on the platform was not adjusted to the necessary sensitivity level," reads the NHTSA report.

Anyone affected by these recalls can contact Navistar at 1-800-448-7825, or Blue Bird at 1-478-822-2242 for more information.