2004 Thomas School Bus
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Have the VIN?
Vehicles › Thomas › School Bus › 2004
These records cover every 2004 Thomas School Bus. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
Recalls
1 recall names the 2004 Thomas School Bus. Newest first.
Certain freightliner trucks and thomas school buses equipped with holland/neway air suspension systems, a transverse beam casting may fracture under normal loads. if a casting breaks when the vehicle IS traveling on a roadway there IS the potential for pieces of the casting to become projectiles and the suspension's transverse beam may drop down low enough…
Risk and remedy
Risk
This will cause sparks that could potentially ignite and cause a fire.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the defective transverse beam assemblies. the recall began for thomas built owners on february 10, 2006; and for freightliner owners on april 14, 2006. owners may contact freightliner at 1-800-547-0712.
Owner complaints
1 complaints1 involved a fire
Latest complaints
- Electrical system
TL* the contact owns a 2004 thomas school bus body equipped with an international chassis. The contact stated that burning fumes were emitted from under the dashboard and within minutes, the vehicle had become engulfed in flames. There were no injuries and a fire report was filed of the incident.…
TL* the contact owns a 2004 thomas school bus body equipped with an international chassis. The contact stated that burning fumes were emitted from under the dashboard and within minutes, the vehicle had become engulfed in flames. There were no injuries and a fire report was filed of the incident. The vehicle was destroyed. a preliminary investigation was conducted and the contact stated that the fire was caused by an electrical failure under the dashboard. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was unknown.
Defect investigations
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
- Steering column weld cracks
As a result of the odi investigation, freightliner has agreed to recall (number 07v-289) all of the vehicles manufactured with steering columns potentially missing welds.the recall remedy will involve inspecting the recalled vehicles for missing welds and if found replace the steering column.early warning aggregate…
As a result of the odi investigation, freightliner has agreed to recall (number 07v-289) all of the vehicles manufactured with steering columns potentially missing welds.the recall remedy will involve inspecting the recalled vehicles for missing welds and if found replace the steering column.early warning aggregate data submitted to nhtsa by freightliner suggested that a steering problem (ewr code 01) existed for the 2004 and 2005 century and columbia class vehicles.the count of field reports submitted for the first quarter of 2006 was higher than the average of the previous 6 quarters for the aggregate steering data.odi's further review of the ewr data foundfield reports that described steering column failures as a result of steering column welds cracking or breaking.information received from freightliner detailed failures of the steering columns on the subject vehicles.these failures were the result of missing and cracked welds on the steering column assembly.during testing of vehicles containing defective steering columns, odi determined that weld failures in the steering column create a situation where the vehicle becomes difficult to steer or may startle the driver upon failing, thus presenting a safety risk.a copy of the recall IS attached.freightliner's action resolves the issues raised by this investigation and, therefore, this investigation IS closed.
Service bulletins
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
- 10036588Thomas built bus: all models of thomas buses using automatic slack adjusters. The automatic slack adjusters are routinely being adjusted by some operators and service technicians to make brake pushrod stroke appear to be with legal brake adjustment limits, or to compensate for mis-diagnosed out of adjustment conditions caused by worn or damaged foundation brake components.
Every Thomas School Bus model year
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.