Honda Recalls 750K Cars for Front Airbags Deploying When They Shouldn’t
In response to potential safety concerns, Honda has announced an urgent recall affecting 16 different 2020-2022 Honda models. NHTSA campaign 24V064000 addresses the frontal and knee airbags in the front passenger seat. These airbags might deploy in circumstances they shouldn’t.
The front seat weight sensors are meant to stop the front airbags from deploying during a crash if the occupant is below the airbag safety threshold weight. Airbags opened on underweight occupants could cause serious injury or even death. This applies to infants in car seats, children, or anyone under the minimum weight.
The safety issue stems from a complex chain of events rooted in a natural disaster at a tier-2 Honda supplier’s manufacturing plant. As a result, the tier-1 supplier temporarily altered the base material in the printed circuit board of the seat weight sensor without adequate verification for its intended use.
This modification introduced the possibility of increased strain on the circuit board. This could lead to the sensor cracking. A cracked sensor would not be able to tell the occupant’s weight. In a crash, the airbags could deploy on an underweight individual.
Models affected in this recall include:
- Acura MDX: 2020-2022
- Acura RDX: 2020-2022
- Acura TLX: 2020-2021
- Honda Accord: 2020-2022
- Honda Accord Hybrid: 2020-2021
- Honda Civic: 2020-2022
- Honda Civic Type-R: 2021
- Honda CR-V: 2020-2021
- Honda CR-V Hybrid: 2020-2021
- Honda Fit: 2020
- Honda HR-V: 2020-2022
- Honda Insight: 2021
- Honda Odyssey: 2020-2022
- Honda Passport: 2020-2021
- Honda Pilot: 2020-2022
- Honda Ridgeline: 2020-2021
This issue may be identified by an active SRS warning light while the passenger airbag indicator remains off.
Despite receiving a warranty claim related to the problem in August 2020, Honda’s investigation wasn’t initiated until March 2021 and did not reveal any manufacturing defects. However, ongoing monitoring and analysis prompted by subsequent warranty claims revealed a concerning trend, leading to the identification of the defect in January 2024.
As of January 25, 2024, Honda has received 3,834 warranty claims associated with this issue. Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries or deaths related to this concern between June 13, 2020, and January 19, 2024.
Owners of affected vehicles will be notified by mail with instructions to visit authorized dealerships. Honda techs will inspect and replace the seat weight sensor’s printed circuit board with an updated component free of charge.
Owners with questions or concerns regarding this recall are encouraged to contact Honda’s Customer Service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda’s numbers for these recalls are XHP and VHQ.
Source: NHTSA
