Honda recalls 134 CR-Vs for potential fuel leaks
Fuel leaks are pretty much guaranteed to increase the risk of a fire.
It should go without saying that, if there's a new vehicle out there that might potentially leak fuel, it's worth a recall. That's the case with Honda's latest recall, but thankfully, it's limited to a small handful of vehicles.
Honda has issued a recall for 134 examples of the 2019 CR-V crossover. The affected vehicles carry build dates between Dec. 12, 2018 and June 27, 2019. Despite this rather large spread of dates, Honda was able to narrow down its recall substantially, because it was able to match the cause of the recall to specific VINs.
The fuel tank is at the heart of Honda's latest recall. According to documents the automaker filed with NHTSA, a joint weld between the fuel tank and the fuel vapor return line is insufficient. Vibrations and heat cycling from regular use can, over time, cause the weld to fail. At that point, fuel may begin to leak from the tank, and if there's a source of ignition anywhere nearby, it can turn into a fire. While Honda has received one warranty claim and two field reports related to the recall, it is unaware of any injuries or fires related to the defect.
Honda first discovered the issue in late May, when it received a claim about a fuel leak. After sending the part back to the supplier for analysis, the bad weld was discovered. As it turns out, two replaced welding stations did not get checked for quality, allowing the bad welds to make their way to production. Honda tracked down the corresponding vehicles in which the potentially bad tanks were installed and then initiated the recall.
In order to remedy the problem, owners will have to take their vehicles back to Honda dealerships, where technicians will replace the fuel tank free of charge. No owner should have paid for this out of pocket, considering the new-vehicle warranty still applies to all affected models. Honda will mail recall notifications to owners in mid-September.
