If you took delivery of a 2027 Kenworth or Peterbilt in the last few weeks, your truck may already be on a recall list. Paccar is calling back 5,919 trucks built between June 9 and July 13 because oil got into their power distribution boxes at the factory — a defect that can kill drive power, ABS, exterior lights, wipers, and defrost. And here is the uncomfortable part: only the ABS failure turns on a warning lamp. Everything else fails silently.
What Went Wrong at the Factory
According to the recall report Paccar filed with NHTSA on July 27, a damaged air compressor filter leaked oil into the circuit-board soldering process at supplier PKC Group North America. The contaminated boards went into power distribution center (PDC) boxes — the hub that routes electricity to core truck systems — and those boxes went into new trucks rolling off the line this summer.
Paccar estimates fewer than 1% of the recalled trucks actually carry a defective box, and as of the filing it had received zero warranty claims and zero field reports. But because the failure modes touch braking, lighting, and drive power — violations of three separate federal safety standards — every truck in the production window gets inspected.
Which Trucks Are on the List
All affected trucks are 2027 model year, built roughly June 9 through July 13, 2026:
Recalled models (NHTSA campaign 26V485000)
Kenworth: T280, T380, T480, T680, T880, W990
Peterbilt: 536, 537, 548, 567, 579, 589
No dash light for most failures
Of everything this defect can take out — drive power, exterior lighting, wipers, defrost, ABS — only the ABS malfunction shows up on the dash. A truck with a contaminated PDC box can look perfectly healthy right up until something quits. That is why the inspection matters even if your truck feels fine.
What Owners Should Do
Run your VIN through the NHTSA recall lookup — the campaign number is 26V485000 (Paccar's internal number: 26PACD).
Dealers will check the PDC box serial number and replace the box if needed, free of charge.
Interim owner letters are expected to mail September 25, 2026, with a second letter to follow once the final remedy is ready.
This is not a park-it order — NHTSA has not told owners to stop driving. But do not sit on the inspection.
Questions: Peterbilt customer service 1-940-591-4220, Kenworth customer service 1-425-828-5888.
It has been a rough recall year for Paccar: earlier in 2026 the company recalled roughly 221,000 Kenworths and Peterbilts from model years 2021–2025 over defective Bendix brake-system ECUs, part of an industry-wide campaign that swept up more than 744,000 trucks across several brands. That one was a software reflash. This one is a hardware swap — but a far smaller net.
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