A number of units from a certain line of emergency vehicles are being recalled due to the threat that they could pose to driver safety.
The recall was announced by the Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corporation and concerns the Predator, Predator Panther, Predator SS, and Predator XL emergency vehicles of the 2010 and 2011 model years. Each of the recalled vehicles contains Meritor Wabco Electronic Stability Control (ESC) with a feature code of 04AZX. They were all produced between March 1, 2010 and October of last year. 78 vehicles in total are affected by this particular recall.
At issue is the fact that the calculations the ESC uses to determine slip angle can be compromised by road conditions, road incline, and vehicle body roll. The system may then falsely intuit that the vehicle has been placed in an oversteering situation. As such, the ESC will attempt to correct this by applying the front axle’s outer wheel brake. This could cause the vehicle to slide out of line with how the driver intended to operate it, thus posing a crash hazard.
Vehicle owners can expect to receive a notification from Kovatch at some point this week. Once owners are notified of the problem, they’ll be able to bring their vehicles in to a dealer to get a new ESC. This will be done without cost to the consumer.