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Transmission and drivetrainPart report

2011 Freightliner Cascadia Transmission and drivetrain Problems

Complaints
3about this part
Share
25%of 12 total for the year
Median mileage
30,000miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 3 complaints about the transmission and drivetrain of the 2011 Freightliner Cascadia, 25% of the 12 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 30,000 miles. 1 recall campaign on record is filed under a similar system.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“1. At first, I felt the vehicle hesitate when I up-shift. I got into the highway and the engine started to miss gradually and getting worse. I pulled into a freight-liner and the say that fuel line is contaminated because the fuel pump broke inside. They said they have to flush out the lines and replace the filter, injectors, fuel pump and high pressure fuel lines. I just bought a full tank of diesel before the incident. All the fuel will be dumped and fuel tanks will be cleaned. I have the estimated repair to cost over $10,000 dollars. …”

NHTSA complaint #10691274, filed 2015-02

“The contact owns a 2011 Freightliner Cascadia. The contact stated that the hydraulic clutch in the vehicle would cause a decrease in engine rpms and the vehicle would attempt to stall. The failure would prevent the contact from shifting gears. The contact stated the jake, which is the engine compress brake, as to be released in order to get the vehicle to shift. The contact has taken the vehicle to the manufacturer several times and was told they do not know how to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer stated they would have to send an engineer to further assess the failure. …”

NHTSA complaint #10421029, filed 2011-08, 30,000 miles

“This vehicle it's having power train problems causing the vehicle been hard to control on the road plus its braking wrong at times. Some times it brake well, most of the times it don't brake. Onguard system too intrusive making very hard braking in false ( bridge detected as stoped objet, onguard it full aligned. Transmission it's not smooth at backing or pulling slowly. More than 70,000 dollars invested in repairs in a time of 2.5 years and the problems persist. Freightliner dealers seems careless about it and stated it's not fault on it. …”

NHTSA complaint #11123999, filed 2018-09

Related recalls

Related service bulletins

Transmission and drivetrain: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
202318%
201618%
201418%
2011325%
201018%
200915%

Other parts of the 2011 Freightliner Cascadia

Electrical system
5 complaintsFuel system
4 complaintsBrakes
2 complaintsEngine
2 complaintsExterior lighting
2 complaintsSeats
1 complaintsSteering
1 complaintsBody and structure
1 complaintsVehicle speed control
1 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2011 Freightliner Cascadia

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 29, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology