Honda to recall CR-Vs over unexpected door opening

Honda's U.S. division is recalling more than 170,000 CR-Vs and Acura ILXs because the front doors can open unexpectedly. American Honda said there have been no reports of accidents or injury resulting from the problem so far. The automaker said it will replace both front door latches on 166.000 CR-Vs from the 2012 model year and 6,200 Acura ILXs from the 2013 model year. It will also replace the interior front door latches on some CR-V cars. The U.S. division of Honda Motor Co. (HMC) said that operating the driver's or passenger's inner-door handle at the same time as the manual or power lock leads to a problem that causes the door to not latch properly. As a result, the door could open unexpectedly.

Honda recalls nearly 53,000 Acura TL sedans in US

Honda says it's recalling nearly 53,000 Acura TL sedans in the U.S. to fix a problem with power steering hoses.

The hoses can deteriorate over time and leak fluid. That can cause the cars to lose power steering or even cause a fire.

The sedans are from the 2007 and 2008 model years. Honda says there have been no reported crashes, injuries or fires related to the problem.

Honda Motor Co. recalled 273,000 TLs in in 2008 for a similar problem. They were from the 2004 through 2008 model years.

Owners will get letters in mid-June telling them to take their cars to an Acura dealer.

Side Curtain Airbag Recall: 2012 Honda Accord, 2012 Honda Civic, 2012 Honda Crosstour and 2012 Acura MDX

Feb. 17, 2012 – American Honda has voluntarily expanded its January 31, 2012 recall of 347 model-year 2012 Honda Accord and Honda Crosstour vehicles in the U.S. to replace a side curtain airbag assembly to include additional Accord and Crosstour vehicles and to add certain model year 2012 Honda Civic and Acura MDX vehicles, increasing the total recall size to 974 affected vehicles. An incorrect propellant mixture was prepared when manufacturing the initiator component of the side-curtain airbag inflator. Use of the wrong initiator propellant may result in a failure of the pressurized gas that inflates the side-curtain airbag to be released from the airbag inflator, which in turn would cause non-deployment of the side curtain airbag during a crash. No crashes or injuries have been reported related to this defect, which was identified during internal production testing by a supplier.
Honda is announcing this recall to encourage owners of all affected vehicles to take their vehicles to an authorized dealer as soon as they receive notification of this recall from Honda. Mailed notification to customers will occur on February 24, 2012. In addition to contacting customers by mail, after February 24, owners of these vehicles will be able to determine if their vehicles require inspection by going on-line to www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com or by calling (800) 999-1009 for Honda owners or (800) 382-2238 for Acura owners, and selecting option 4.

Front Lower Control Arm Recall: 2006 Honda CR-V

March 23, 2012 – Honda will voluntarily recall 1,316 model-year 2006 CR-V vehicles in the United States to inspect and, if necessary, replace the right front lower control arm. Over time and with extended use, an improper welding process used when manufacturing the control arm may allow the right front lower control arm to break at the weld. If the lower control arm breaks, vehicle handling could be affected, increasing the risk of a crash. No crashes or injuries have been reported related to this issue.
Honda is announcing this recall to encourage owners of all affected vehicles to take their vehicles to an authorized dealer as soon as they receive notification of this recall from Honda. Mailed notification to customers will begin in mid-April 2012. In addition to contacting customers by mail, in mid-April, owners of these vehicles will be able to determine if their vehicles require repair by going on-line to www.recalls.honda.com or by calling (800) 999-1009, and selecting option 4.

Honda recalls 554,000 SUVs in U.S. over headlights

Honda Motor Co. is recalling about 554,000 sport utility vehicles in the United States to inspect for faulty wiring in headlights.

Honda said in a statement that the recall affects CR-V SUVs from model years 2002 to 2004 and Pilot SUVs from model year 2003. The Japanese automaker will inspect and replace parts of the headlight wiring system that could fail, causing the low-beam headlights not to work and increase the risk of crash.

No injuries or crashes have been reported relating to the issue, Honda said.

Letters will be mailed to affected owners in late April, but consumers can see if their vehicles require repairs by going to www.recalls.honda.com or calling 800-999-1009.

Honda widens airbag fixes to 917,000 more vehicles

U.S. accounts for 90% of affected models

Honda Motor Co. widened its biggest recall to fix flaws related to airbags in models including the Civic and Accord produced as long as a decade ago.

The recall covers an additional 917,267 vehicles worldwide, said spokesman Keitaro Yamamoto. That brings the total to more than 2.77 million, the company's biggest recall for an individual flaw, he said.

More than 90 percent of the affected vehicles are in the United States.

"Affected driver's airbag inflators may deploy with too much pressure, which can cause the inflator casing to rupture and could result in injury or fatality," the company said in a statement.

The models include the 2001 and 2002 Accord, the 2001 to 2003 Civic, the 2001 to 2003 Odyssey, the 2002 and 2003 CR-V, the 2003 Pilot, the 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL and the 2003 Acura 3.2 CL vehicles, according to the statement.

Honda recalled more than 300,000 Pilot SUVs in September for seat-belt stitching that could unravel during a crash.

The latest move is a blow to Honda, the only large carmaker to report a sales decline in the U.S. last month, as it seeks to recover from natural disasters in Japan and Thailand this year.

Toyota Motor Corp. posted a drop in U.S. sales last year after the recall of millions of vehicles undermined its reputation for quality.

"A recall will definitely have a negative impact on Honda," said Masatoshi Nishimoto, a senior manager for IHS Automotive in Tokyo. "Honda is behind on production due to the impact of the Japanese earthquake and the Thai floods."

Honda recalls 2.5 million vehicles globally for software issue

- Honda Motor Co. said today it will recall 2.49 million cars, small SUVs and minivans worldwide, including its popular Accord sedan, to repair a software problem that could damage the automatic transmission.

The recall includes 1.5 million vehicles in the United States, 760,000 in China and 135,142 in Canada, the automaker said in a statement.

Globally, the recall affects four-cylinder Accord sedans for the model years 2005 to 2010.

The company is also recalling vehicles in parts of Europe, the Middle East, South America, Mexico and Puerto Rico. The recall did not affect vehicles sold in Honda's home Japan market.

In the United States and Canada, the recall also includes the CR-V crossover for the model years 2007 to 2010 as well as the small SUV Element from 2005 to 2008.

In China, the recall also includes more than 160,000 Odyssey minivans from 2005 to 2009 and about 4,000 Spirior cars, which are based on the European version of the Accord, for the 2010 model year.

Without updating the software, the automatic transmission in these vehicles could be damaged if the driver quickly shifts between gears. That might cause the engine to stall or make it difficult to put the car into park.

This week, Consumer Reports said it was not recommending the 2012 Honda Civic. This has led some industry analysts to ask if that is a symptom of larger problems at the automaker, which ranks fifth in U.S. sales this year.

The company has said it disagreed with the influential U.S. consumer advocate's assessment.

Chris Martin, Honda spokesman at the company's U.S. headquarters in California, said today the recall was not a sign of deeper difficulties.

Martin said the current recall was the result of "extremely unusual circumstances. The far majority of our consumers would never really encounter this. It's software programing. It's not a weakness in the transmission per se."

No injuries or deaths have been reported from this problem, Martin said.

Honda said the problems might arise if the transmission were quickly shifted between the reverse, neutral and drive positions. A driver might do this in an attempt to dislodge a vehicle in mud or snow.

The automatic transmission secondary shaft bearing could be damaged in this scenario.

An update to transmission control module software will ease the transition between gears and reduce the possibility of damage.

Honda will begin informing U.S. consumers at the end of August. It did not disclose expected cost of the recall.

The software update will take about a half-hour, but customers may have to leave their cars at Honda dealerships for a longer period, Martin said.