Acura Engine and Engine Cooling: Engine

Acura is recalling about 17,551 vehicles over a problem with the engine and engine cooling. If the timing belt breaks, the engine will stall, increasing the risk of a crash.

Campaign
02V226000
Manufacturer
AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.
Reported
28 August 2002
Vehicles
17,551
Built between
Jun 2002 – Jul 2002
Models
6
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
30 August 2002
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between June 2002 and July 2002. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2003 Acura CLBuilt July 2002 to July 2002
  • 2002 Acura MDXBuilt June 2002 to July 2002
  • 2003 Acura TLBuilt June 2002 to July 2002
  • 2002 Honda AccordBuilt July 2002 to July 2002
  • 2002 Honda OdysseyBuilt July 2002 to July 2002
  • 2003 Honda PilotBuilt July 2002 to July 2002

What the defect is

On certain minivans, sedans, coupes, and sport utility vehicles equipped with V6 engines, a timing belt tensioner pulley on the water pump is misaligned and could cause the timing belt to contact a bolt on the cylinder head. Eventually the belt could be damaged and fail.

What could happen

If the timing belt breaks, the engine will stall, increasing the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE WATER PUMP AND IF IT IS ONE OF THE DEFECTIVE PUMPS, THE WATER PUMP AND TIMING BELT WILL BE REPLACED. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN AUGUST 30, 2002.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtJune 2002 to July 2002
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA28 August 2002
  3. Owners notified30 August 2002

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 28 August 2002.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact honda at 1-800-999-1009 or acura at 1-800-382-2238.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Also, customers can contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand