Western Star 4900, model year 2009. Filed by Daimler Trucks North America and reported to NHTSA on 23 May 2012. 12 vehicles potentially affected.
What the notice says Daimler trucks north america (dtna) is recalling 12 my 2009 western star 4900 trucks built with dd15 engines. a new forward cab crossmember design reduced clearance for cab mounted battery disconnect switch power cables on standard cab height vehicles. during cab articulation, the new crossmember may pinch power …
Is your vehicle included? Check with your VIN at NHTSA, or ask a dealer. This page is an independent copy of the notice, kept so you can see what changed after it was published. It is not the authority, and the authority’s own text is the one to act on.
Western Star's own number for this recall: FL-551. That is the number on the owner letter and on the dealer paperwork. 12V235 is the number NHTSA gave the same campaign, and the number this page is filed under. They are one recall, written two ways.
What owners ask about this recall
- Which vehicles does recall 12V235 cover?
- Western Star 4900, model year 2009.
- What is wrong with them?
- DAIMLER TRUCKS NORTH AMERICA (DTNA) IS RECALLING 12 MY 2009 WESTERN STAR 4900 TRUCKS BUILT WITH DD15 ENGINES. A NEW FORWARD CAB CROSSMEMBER DESIGN REDUCED CLEARANCE FOR CAB MOUNTED BATTERY DISCONNECT SWITCH POWER CABLES ON STANDARD CAB HEIGHT VEHICLES.
- What can happen if it is not put right?
- CABLES THAT BECOME PINCHED BETWEEN THE CAB AND FORWARD CAB CROSSMEMBER COULD SHORT TO GROUND AND POTENTIALLY OVERHEAT RESULTING IN A VEHICLE FIRE AND INJURY TO VEHICLE OCCUPANTS.
- Is there a fix yet?
- Yes, and it is free. DTNA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REMOVE THE CABLES AND REINSTALL THEM IN A NEW SAFE LOCATION. DAMAGED CABLES WILL BE REPLACED. BOTH WILL BE DONE FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JUNE 13, 2012. THIS RECALL IS AN EXPANSION OF RECALL 09V-226.
- What should I do now?
- Check your own vehicle by its VIN with NHTSA, which is the record to act on. Western Star calls this recall FL-551, which is the number on the owner letter and the dealer paperwork.
Answered from the register this site holds. NHTSA is the record to act on.
What the authority says can happen if this is not fixed: “CABLES THAT BECOME PINCHED BETWEEN THE CAB AND FORWARD CAB CROSSMEMBER COULD SHORT TO GROUND AND POTENTIALLY OVERHEAT RESULTING IN A VEHICLE FIRE AND INJURY TO VEHICLE OCCUPANTS.”
affected
in the notice
caught
| Campaign | 12V235 |
|---|---|
| Filed by | DAIMLER TRUCKS NORTH AMERICA |
| System at fault | Electrical System:12v/24v/48v Battery:Cables |
| Reported to NHTSA | 23 May 2012 |
| Model years | 2009-2009 |
| Vehicles named | WESTERN STAR 4900 |
What the notice says today
The consequence
CABLES THAT BECOME PINCHED BETWEEN THE CAB AND FORWARD CAB CROSSMEMBER COULD SHORT TO GROUND AND POTENTIALLY OVERHEAT RESULTING IN A VEHICLE FIRE AND INJURY TO VEHICLE OCCUPANTS.
The remedy
DTNA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REMOVE THE CABLES AND REINSTALL THEM IN A NEW SAFE LOCATION. DAMAGED CABLES WILL BE REPLACED. BOTH WILL BE DONE FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JUNE 13, 2012. THIS RECALL IS AN EXPANSION OF RECALL 09V-226. OWNERS MAY CONTACT DAIMLER TRUCKS TOLL FREE AT 1-800-547-0712.
What it said before
This campaign is in the register but not yet in the dated wording archive, so we cannot yet say whether its text has moved. It enters the archive on the next pass.
This is one of 1,836 notices in the record whose component field names electrical system. Across that group the median wait before owners were written to was 41 days.
Last checked . No change has been recorded in the wording.
The models named here, across their whole recall history
How to cite this record
Quoting the wording on this page means quoting a version, so the date belongs in the citation:
CarsMultiverse, recall 12V235, wording as read on 17 September 2026. https://carsmultiverse.com/recall/12v235/
The cross-border matches used on this site are deposited as a citable dataset: doi:10.5281/zenodo.22087136. The recall wording itself is published by the national authority named above and is theirs, not ours.
The recall record and its wording are published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are US Government public domain. The dated archive, the comparison and any before-and-after above are CarsMultiverse. How fresh every engine behind this page is, is public on the status page. To check a specific vehicle, use NHTSA’s own VIN lookup.
The fingerprint of this notice
We take a SHA-256 of each of the three blocks of text the authority publishes and keep the first eight characters. As we last read campaign 12V235 on 23 August 2026, they were:
- Defect summary
efdc9830 - Consequence
5c2e3744 - Remedy
2175f4b4
We first read this notice on 21 August 2026. It has not moved since. If it ever does, these characters will not match, and the change will be dated here.
The wording we hold for 12V235 · how the whole register is watched
This notice names one vehicle among several registers that have written about it. Every notice this site holds for the Western Star 4900, in all seven, is kept on that vehicle's own page, with the newest in each.
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Owners of these cars
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