Australian operators are not being impacted by the recall of Bendix brake valves in North America
By Gary Worrall | February 17, 2012
Australian operators are not being impacted by the recall of Bendix brake valves in North America, which is only affecting trucks operating at minus 18 degrees Celsius.
Bendix has recalled 131,221 ATR-6 traction relay valves in the US and Canada after reports of brakes spontaneously applying in sub-zero operating temperatures, affecting more than 64,000 heavy duty trucks.
The valve went into production in December 2010, although the problem was only reported to manufacturers in January 2012, prompting the massive recall.
Volvo Trucks had the most with 22,383 trucks manufactured between December 2, 2010, and January 18 of this year, plus more than 3500 trucks in Canada.
Navistar made 18,946 US trucks and 1738 in Canada with the valves, Peterbilt had 9946 US trucks and 350 in Canada, while Kenworth had the valves on 5986 US trucks and 1084 in Canada.
Commercial Vehicle Systems General Manager for Knorr-Bremse Australia Rodney Clark says although the ATR-6 unit is supplied in Australia, there are no issues for local operators.
In North America, where operators do work in sub-zero temperatures, a rubber ball seal in the solenoid can become stiff and allow air to flow through the valve, causing unwanted braking.
“We have not experienced any issues with the valve in Australia at all,” Clark says.
“The technical fault defined by the US only occurs when the product is operating in temperatures at or below minus 18 degrees.”
Clark says even operating at below minus 18 degrees does not mean the fault will occur automatically, only that there is a chance of it happening.
“In Australia and NZ we do not operate trucks in these extreme temperatures and as such there is no recall or technical inspection required in our country,” he says.
Clark says the supply of stock from Bendix is good and he does not foresee any supply issues while replacement parts are manufactured for the North American market.