NHTSA Engineering Analysis EA03017

SIX OF THE ODI COMPLAINTS ARE DUPLICATIVE OF HONDA COMPLAINTS, AS WELL AS FOUR OF THE CRASHES.THE ONE INJURY OCCURRED WHEN A ROLLAWAY VEHICLE STRUCK THE EXITING OPERATOR WHO HAD INADVERTENTLY PARKED THE VEHICLE IN AN UNSECURED STATE (NOT IN PARK, BRAKE NOT ENGAGED).HONDA IDENTIFIED THE WARRANTY CLAIMS FROM COMPLAINT DESCRIPTIONS THAT CONTENDED THE INTERLOCK SYSTEM FAILED TO OPERATE PROPERLY.HONDA PRESENTED THE RESULTS OF THEIR INVESTIGATION INTO INTERLOCK SYSTEM FAILURES AT AN OCTOBER 16, 2003 MEETING WITH ODI IN WHICH HONDA IDENTIFIED A SUPPLIER AND AN ENGINEERING SPECIFICATION CHANGE FOR THE IGNITION CYLINDER BODY (CB), A SUBCOMPONENT OF THE IGNITION LOCK ASSEMBLY.RESULTS FROM HONDA?S ANALYSIS DEMONSTRATED A STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN THE PRODUCTION DATE RANGE OF VEHICLES THAT EXPERIENCED HIGHER INTERLOCK WARRANTY CLAIM RATES AND THE IMPLEMENTATION DATES OF THE CHANGES.AN ENGINEERING SPECIFICATION FOR A SURFACE TREATMENT PROCESS FOR THE CB WAS ELIMINATED AT THE BEGINNING OF MY 1998.THE SUPPLIER OF THE CB WAS CHANGED IN FEBRUARY 1999.VEHICLES BUILT WITHIN THIS TIME PERIOD CONTAIN A CB WITH POOR SURFACE HARDNESS THAT CAN WEAR PREMATURELY.AS THE WEAR PROGRESSES, THE INTERLOCK SYSTEM BECOMES INCAPABLE OF PREVENTING KEY REMOVAL WHEN THE SHIFTER IS IN A NON-PARK POSITION.INTERLOCK FAILURE INCREASES THE RISK OF A VEHICLE ROLLAWAY AND SUBSEQUENT CRASH OR INJURY WHEN VEHICLES ARE PARKED UNSECURED.HONDA ACCORD VEHICLES SUBJECT TO THIS CHANGE INCLUDE MY 1998 AND MY 1999 THROUGH FEBRUARY 1999 PRODUCTION.VEHICLES PRODUCED AFTER THIS DATE ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THIS CONDITION AND THUS ARE NOT CONSIDERED AT RISK FOR FAILURE.ODI NOTES THAT 12 OF THE 13 VOQ REPORTS FALL WITHIN THIS PRODUCTION RANGE (THE 13TH DOES NOT HAVE A VIN AND CANNOT BE VERIFIED).THE ABOVE POPULATION REPRESENTS THE NUMBER OF THE ACCORD VEHICLES TO BE RECALLED.HONDA ALSO REPORTED THAT CERTAIN ODYSSEY AND ACURA CL AND TL MODELS WERE AFFECTED AND WOULD ALSO BE RECALLED.A TOTAL OF 570,120 VEHICLES WILL BE RECALLED.U