Honda is recalling nearly 900,000 Odyssey minivans to fix a fault in a part of the fuel pump that increases the risk of fire. This is a temporary repair until the replacement part becomes available in summer.
Honda, one of the biggest automobile companies, issued a voluntary recall after finding a fault in Odyssey minivans' fuel pump. The recall includes nearly 886,815 minivans built at Honda's Lincoln, Alabama plant between 2005 and 2010, according to a recall notification letter sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA.
"Prolonged exposure to acidic chemicals and a high temperature environment may cause the cover of the fuel pump strainer to deteriorate prematurely in a manner that can result in cracks in the material," Honda said in a recall notification letter to NHTSA, explaining the defect in detail. "Cracks in the cover of the fuel pump strainer could lead to a fuel smell being present or to leaking fuel, increasing the risk of fire."
Honda Odyssey owners will have to wait for a longer time until the problem is permanently fixed. Due to the large volume, the car maker is short of the replacement parts needed for the problem to be fixed permanently, which won't be available until the summer. In the meantime, customers will be treated with an interim solution.
Once the replacement part becomes available in the auto dealerships, Honda will send out a second notification letter and finally fix the problem. Honda said it is not aware of any fires or injuries related to the issue in the minivans.
Honda recalled 344,000 Odyssey minivans in November last year, due to unexpected breaking problems in models between 2007 and 2008. Prior to that, the company recalled 318,000 minivans between 2003 and 2004 due to airbag deployment problem in vehicles meet with an accident.
For its current recall, Honda will start notifying all Odyssey model owners in the coming weeks.
