- Honda is recalling more than 720,000 of its most popular cars after discovering the high pressure fuel pumps can leak.
- Certain Accord, CR-V and Civic models built between September 2021 and September 2024 will need to return to dealers to have new fuel pumps fitted.
- An error during production caused cracks in the pump solenoid, forcing Honda to warn drivers to pay attention to fuel odors.
Last week, Honda issued a recall for the CR-V that affected just 98 units. This time, things are rather more serious. Almost three quarters of a million of its best-selling vehicles, including the CR-V, need to return to dealerships over fears that faulty fuel pumps could lead to fires.
A total of 720,810 Accord, Civic and CR-V models are caught up in the recall that affects both straight gas and petrol-electric models. The cars at risk of fire are the 2023-24 Accord and Accord Hybrid, 2023-25 CR-V Hybrid and the 2025 Civic and Hybrid.
Related: Honda’s Massive Steering Defect Recall Hits 1.7 Million Cars In The US
The part at fault is the Hitachi high-pressure fuel pump, which Honda engineers discovered was incorrectly made, potentially causing cracks to form at the pump’s solenoid, from which fuel can leak. The automaker received its first warranty claim in February 2023 and has amassed a further 144 claims since, none of them, fortunately, leading to any fires, injuries or deaths.
Hitachi has since come up with a redesigned pump with improved dimensions and a better plating process for the solenoid. That part was introduced to new vehicles coming down production lines from September, but the much bigger task of retrofitting the new parts to over 720,000 existing cars hasn’t even begun.
Though dealers were getting a heads-up this month, Honda isn’t planning to tell owners about the problem until early December. Those owners will still be allowed to drive their cars until their local service center has had the opportunity to swap the pumps, but Honda is warning anyone with access to one of the affected models to keep a nose out for gasoline odors.
Last week’s 98-unit CR-V recall was also due to a risk of fire, but one caused by a defect in the hybrid model’s Panasonic battery that could cause terminal fractures. Around the same time Honda also announced a recall of 1.7 million vehicles due to faulty steering systems.
