Back in February 2022, autoevolution wrote about no fewer than 42 complaints received by the Office of Defects Investigation over 2017 to 2018 model year Honda Ridgeline rearview camera failures. The subsequent investigation concluded with a recall totaling 117k units.
Honda became aware of this problem on July 19th, 2018 as per the report attached below. The Japanese automaker initially received a market quality report on and observed a potential trend of malfunctioning rearview cameras in the North America-spec 2017 to 2018 model year Ridgeline.
From October 2018 to November 2019, the company investigated the case to determine the prevalence of the issue and potential causes for the rearview camera going kaput. Honda’s engineering team concluded that “variations in the tightness of the zip tie holding the protective corrugated tubing in place and the depth to which the corrugated tubing was inserted into the associated harness guide could impact the RVC’s performance.”
Sometime during this period, Honda made production improvements to address the aforementioned variations. The final improvement was performed in June 2019, yet Honda continued to monitor said issue to make sure it doesn’t rear its ugly head again. Be that as it may, the Office of Defects Investigation contacted the Japanese automaker over this very condition in July 2021. The company informed the federal watchdog that the concern was under study, a reply that obviously called into question the effectiveness of the production improvements mentioned a bit earlier.
Honda tried to weasel its way out of a recall by passing this condition as a quality rather than a safety issue, which is malarkey considering that rearview cameras are mandatory in the United States of America to improve safety. The ODI told Honda exactly that, forcing the Japanese automaker to issue a safety recall comprising no fewer than 117,445 units.
Honda is currently aware of at least 3,437 warranty claims related to rearview camera performance in the Ridgeline. No reports of injuries or deaths have been related to this issue. The affected population of vehicles spans the 2017 to 2019 model years, with build dates ranging from October 29th, 2015 through June 1st, 2019 as per the attached recall report.
The remedy is a replacement rearview camera tailgate harness. The remedy component features an improved design that eliminates any possibility of wire harness damage caused by opening and closing the tailgate. Owners will be informed of this recall by first-class mail on January 16th.
From October 2018 to November 2019, the company investigated the case to determine the prevalence of the issue and potential causes for the rearview camera going kaput. Honda’s engineering team concluded that “variations in the tightness of the zip tie holding the protective corrugated tubing in place and the depth to which the corrugated tubing was inserted into the associated harness guide could impact the RVC’s performance.”
Sometime during this period, Honda made production improvements to address the aforementioned variations. The final improvement was performed in June 2019, yet Honda continued to monitor said issue to make sure it doesn’t rear its ugly head again. Be that as it may, the Office of Defects Investigation contacted the Japanese automaker over this very condition in July 2021. The company informed the federal watchdog that the concern was under study, a reply that obviously called into question the effectiveness of the production improvements mentioned a bit earlier.
Honda tried to weasel its way out of a recall by passing this condition as a quality rather than a safety issue, which is malarkey considering that rearview cameras are mandatory in the United States of America to improve safety. The ODI told Honda exactly that, forcing the Japanese automaker to issue a safety recall comprising no fewer than 117,445 units.
Honda is currently aware of at least 3,437 warranty claims related to rearview camera performance in the Ridgeline. No reports of injuries or deaths have been related to this issue. The affected population of vehicles spans the 2017 to 2019 model years, with build dates ranging from October 29th, 2015 through June 1st, 2019 as per the attached recall report.
The remedy is a replacement rearview camera tailgate harness. The remedy component features an improved design that eliminates any possibility of wire harness damage caused by opening and closing the tailgate. Owners will be informed of this recall by first-class mail on January 16th.