NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation PE04053

DURING TWO OF 13 NHTSA RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT COMPATIBILITY CRASH TESTS, THE DRIVER-SIDE FRONTAL AIRBAG FAILED TO PROPERLY DEPLOY DUE TO A LARGE TEAR IN THE AIRBAG FABRIC.BOTH R&D TEST VEHICLES THAT CONTAINED A FAILED AIR BAG WERE 4-DOOR, 4-CYLINDER (L4) VEHICLES.SUBSEQUENT STATIC AND DYNAMIC TESTS CONDUCTED BY HONDA REVEALED THAT DURING SEVERE CRASH CONDITIONS, THE AIRBAG FABRIC CAN SNAG THE INSIDE SURFACE OF THE AIRBAG MODULE COVER AT THE EMBLEM ATTACHMENT POINTS.HONDA REPORTS THAT THE AIR BAG MODULE AND COVER DESIGN ARE UNIQUE TO THE 4-DOOR, 4-CYLINDER SUBJECT VEHICLES.ON NOVEMBER 17, 2004, HONDA NOTIFIED THE AGENCY THAT IT WOULD RECALL 228,932 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2004 AND 28,428 EARLY-MY 2005 ACCORD L4 SEDANS (UP THROUGH EARLY-OCTOBER, 2004).AS PART OF THE RECALL REMEDY, HONDA WILL INSTALL AN ADDITIONAL PIECE OF PROTECTIVE FABRIC/FLAP BETWEEN THE AIRBAG AND THE INSIDE AIRBAG MODULE COVER.SEE NHTSA RECALL 04V551 FOR DETAILS.IN ADDITION, THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 250 EXPORTED ACCORD VEHICLES INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL. THE V-6 MODELS AND THE 2-DOOR, 4-CYLINDER MODELS ARE NOT INCLUDED BASED ON DIFFERENT AIR BAG AND AIR BAG MODULE COVER DESIGNS.THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.