The 2005 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner Er has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 153 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 2 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.
CERTAIN MY 2002-2005 THOMAS BUILT SAF-T-LINER ER SCHOOL BUSES AND ER TRANSIT BUSES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN NOVEMBER 2002 AND FEBRUARY 2005 AND EQUIPPED WITH JOHN DEERE 8.1L COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS ENGINES MODELS HFN01 AND HFN03. THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT AND THROTTLE CAN UNEXPECTEDLY SURGE. THESE UNITS FAIL TO CONFORM TO…
Consequence
A SUDDEN ENGINE SURGE COULD POSSIBLY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
Remedy
JOHN DEERE WILL NOTIFY THE CUSTOMERS OF FREIGHTLINER/THOMAS BUILT AND WILL UPDATE THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT SOFTWARE FREE OF CHARGE. OWNERS MAY CONTACT JOHN DEERE AT 1-800-JD-ENGINE.
Complaints by component
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS
2
2fires
Total complaints2
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Printed circuit board overheats and catches fire. This problem has occurred before and we have had a 50% failure rate on this model bus. This part is covered under recall 06v-136 but does not cover the manufacture date of this bus. *nm”
“Printed circuit panel located under side panel of bus overheated and had a small fire. This problem is covered under recall 06v-136 but does cover this particular vehicle. It appears that this recall needs to be expanded to cover more vehicles, we have had a 50% failure rate of this particular…”
Defect investigations
InvestigationEA07002 Opened 2007-01-30 · closed 2007-07-12
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…
InvestigationEA07002 Opened 2007-01-30 · closed 2007-07-12
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…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2005 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner Er as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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