Honda Electrical System: Software

Honda is recalling about 1,082 vehicles over a problem with the electrical system. A loss of power can increase the risk of a crash.

Campaign
18V921000
Manufacturer
Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Reported
20 December 2018
Vehicles
1,082
Built between
Nov 2016 – Feb 2018
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
14 February 2019
Repaired
98%
Unrepaired
18

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between November 2016 and February 2018. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2017-2018 Honda Clarity Fuel CellBuilt November 2016 to February 2018

Repair progress

18 of 1,082 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2020.

98% repaired — 1,061 of 1,082 reported

Scrapped or exported
3

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Clarity Fuel Cell vehicles previously repaired under recall 18V-068. The previous software remedy may have been incomplete. As a result, the fuel cell control unit (FC-ECU) may misinterpret a small cell voltage drop, causing the vehicle to have a partial or complete loss of power.

What could happen

A loss of power can increase the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

Honda has notified owners, and dealers will update the FC-ECU software, free of charge. The recall began February 14, 2019.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtNovember 2016 to February 2018
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA20 December 2018
  3. Owners notified14 February 2019
  4. Latest repair reportQ2 2020 — 98% repaired

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 20 December 2018.

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 may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is A3O.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
A3O
Recalling manufacturer
Honda (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

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

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