Honda has issued a recall of nearly 1.2 million vehicles produced between 2017 and this year due to a defect related to the vehicles’ rearview backup camera.
Vehicles included in the recall are 2018 to 2023 Honda Odysseys, 2019 to 2022 Honda Pilots and 2019 to 2023 Honda Passports. As of June 8, the company had received 273,870 warranty claims related to the issue. There have been no reports of injuries or deaths related to the problem.
A communication cable for the Media Oriented Systems Transport was “improperly designed and manufactured,” according to a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration recall notice.
This problem also resulted in “deformed terminals,” that could cause poor or lost connections between the cable and the monitor.
“If the MOST communication is lost for more than 20 seconds, the rearview camera function will fail when the vehicle is in the reverse gear, increasing the risk of a crash or injury,” said the NHTSA.
Warning signs of the malfunction include popping or crackling sounds from the audio system and flickering of the display screen. Honda received a quality report regarding these flickering issues in February 2019.
At that point, the company began to investigate the potential cause. By June 2020, the MOST terminal supplier began to adjust the terminals and cable length to improve the connection and the following January, extended the warranty to vehicles affected by the issue. That February, Honda also began to utilize a waterproof coupler mechanism to address the connection issue.
Last April, Honda began to analyze recurring issues after the use of the waterproof couplers. This April, Honda observed that rearview cameras were failing to display images and earlier this month, the company determined that a defect related to motor vehicle safety and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards noncompliance existed. Honda then decided to conduct a safety and noncompliance recall.
Going forward, “all registered owners of all affected vehicles will be contacted by mail and asked to take their vehicle to an authorized Honda dealer,” said the safety recall. Dealers will then install an improved MOST cable harness between the existing display audio and vehicle terminal connections. Straightening cover over the vehicle cable connector to properly connect the audio display unit will also be included.
The dealer notification process started in mid-June and the owner notification process is scheduled to begin July 24 and end around Aug. 2.
“Owners who have paid to have these repairs completed at their own expense will be eligible for reimbursement, in accord with the recall reimbursement plan on file with NHTSA,” said the recall.
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