Important Recall Notice to Honda Owners
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. has determined that a defect relating to motor vehicle safety exists in certain ignition switch assemblies in some of their models.
While the majority of the affected units of models were sold in Japan and North America, it has also been found that a large number of cars sold in Malaysia are also affected. DRB-Oriental-Honda Sdn. Bhd. (DOH) is therefore issuing an official notice to all owners of Honda CR-V, Prelude, Integra, Odyssey, Inspire, Lagreat, Life, Capa, S-MX and Saber models which were manufactured in Japan from August 1996 to December 1999. However, it is not necessarily the case that 100% of the imported (CBU) models are affected.
“We are unable to determine how many units are affected as the majority of the vehicles were imported through non-franchise holders,” said Mitsuru Ozaki, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of DOH. He added that all Honda models which were assembled and sold in Malaysia during that period are not affected.
“We hope that the Honda owners will react immediately to this notice and follow our request to come to an authorised service centre,” he said. The company would like to assure Honda’s customers that their safety remains Honda’s topmost priority, and the recall policy is primarily intended as a preventive measure to ensure customers’ safety”.
Authorised Honda Service Centres will do a free inspection & install an upgraded ignition switch, free of charge, in all affected Honda vehicles. Honda owners are advised to call the DOH Customer Service Hotline at 1800-88-2020 or log on to www.honda.net.my to check their vehicle type and VIN range.
THE DEFECT IN DETAIL
The defect is premature failure of the ignition switch that can cause the vehicle to stall without warning. The electronic control units (ECU) used on the affected vehicles have a higher current demand at start-up compared to the previous ECU. The higher current surge through the ignition switch during initial start-up eventually degrades the switch contacts. Worn contacts could cause the engine to stall without warning, but the engine can be restarted immediately.
The affected vehicles have an ECU which was supplied by a specific parts supplier that has higher current draw during engine start-up. Unaffected vehicles were equipped with an ECU that has a lower current draw on start-up, supplied by another parts supplier.
When charging current flows to a back-up condenser of the SRS control unit, starting current increases because a current-restricting circuit is not provided. When the switch is turned on, increased rush transiently flows and a large arc discharge is generated on the contact point. By increasing the number of operations more than the presumption, under the condition in which large arc is generated, wear of the contact point is facilitated.
It is estimated that it needs about 3,500 times of switch operation (use of over 8 months) after the first engine stall takes place until an engine cannot be restarted. During this period, users are advised to visit a dealer and get inspection.
It is certainly most commendable of DOH to provide this crucial support to owners of privately-imported cars – a vast difference from the days when the previous distributor refused to have anything to do with Hondas not sold by them. It is a well known fact that most of the privately-imported units (also known as ‘gray imports’) are bought from dealers in Japan and technically, should not have left Japan. Thus, as far as Honda is concerned, they would supply the part to the dealer in Japan – but the dealer would have no idea who the actual owner is since the owner is in another country!
That has always been the danger of buying a reconditioned car that is meant for another country. When such things happen, the owner has difficulty getting assistance to change parts. If it is not a safety-related item, that’s not so serious but if it is something like a brake component, then failure to change it can be fatal. But the manufacturer can’t be blamed since they would have sent any recall notice and the replacement part to the dealer in the country where the car was first delivered.
In offering the replacement service to all Honda owners in Malaysia, DOH is showing that it is living up to its promise of superior customer care for all Honda owners, regardless of where they got their car from. This policy was already clear from the time DOH started operations when it clarified that after-sales and service support would be available for any Honda model. This is particularly important for the newer cars which have a lot of high-tech devices and need more technical support from the factory. Detailed information to diagnose and rectify a fault is usually only made available to official service centres and therefore they would be the only ones who can really fix a problem. Of course, for the imported models, there may be cases when the support is not as quick as other locally-assembled models due to the need to check with the factory in Japan and get certain parts, but the situation today (for owners of recond models) is much better then before.
So if you are the owner of one of the models stated above and which was manufactured (not registered) in the period mentioned, do go to an authorised Honda service centre and let them do the necessary. It’s free so don’t drag your feet on this important matter.
