Automotive

Anyone else having FCW/LDW/etc problems with their Honda

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  • Apr 7th, 2019 1:19 pm
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Deal Addict
May 28, 2007
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Anyone else having FCW/LDW/etc problems with their Honda

Two days ago, the FCW and LDW warning lights came on as I drove into the street from my driveway. There was an "FCW System Failed" warning message in the dash. Starting the car and staying put, there's no warning lights. Once I drive off, the lights come on. Also noticed the needle on the speedometer doesn't move when the car is in motion and the wipers don't work. The car was bought new in 2015 (2015 Honda Accord EX-L) and has only 11,750 km on it. The only thing is, I had driven it through about a foot or more of water from melted snow about a week before. Don't know if that's what caused the problem, but looking on the web, it seems like other people have had problems with the FCW warning also, but with no common fix. Anyone else experience this issue too and what did they do to fix the problem?
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Feb 11, 2007
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Probably water in your ABS/speed sensors and/or electrical loom.
You can try opening the connections and cleaning them, hoping drying them out still fix it.
Otherwise you may need Honda's diagnostic software to pinpoint it. But my guess is the dealer would just start replacing things.
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Jun 26, 2009
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2015 car with 12K? That Accord forgot what the wheels are for, never mind fancy electronics Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes
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RCML27 wrote: The car was bought new in 2015 (2015 Honda Accord EX-L) and has only 11,750 km on it.
Sorry I don't have a solution to your issue.
But just a a positive comment about your low mileage: WOW! 4 year old car and you have less than 12K
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Member
Nov 20, 2014
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Stouffville, ON
Could be a sign that your battery is on its way out, modern cars are very sensitive to this. At 4 years with only 12 k seems like a lot of short distance driving or your car sits a lot so I wouldn’t be surprised if your battery is dying.
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May 28, 2007
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4drsprt wrote: Could be a sign that your battery is on its way out, modern cars are very sensitive to this. At 4 years with only 12 k seems like a lot of short distance driving or your car sits a lot so I wouldn’t be surprised if your battery is dying.
My original battery only lasted 2.5 years. Had it replaced with a slightly bigger one at the dealer a year ago. Tested it a few days ago and the battery is at about 12.4V-12.6V. It's about 14.4V or so with the engine running.

Dealer hasn't called me back yet to schedule an appointment. Hopefully it's just a loose connection somewhere or something simple like a wheel speed sensor, which could account for the nonworking speedometer. Just don't know how that would affect the wipers not working though.
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May 28, 2007
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Webhead wrote: Sorry I don't have a solution to your issue.
But just a a positive comment about your low mileage: WOW! 4 year old car and you have less than 12K
Yes. I bought the car in June 2015. Then had to go for surgery in January 2016. Took about 1.5 years to gain most of my strength back. So was off on sick leave and didn't drive the car much. Tried to go back to work gradually for a few days a week at 3 hours/day, but was not able to. Was put on long term disability, and after 3 years, my position was closed with my employer. Got approved for QPP disability pension and SSQ disability insurance. So now only use the car for groceries and appointments. Less than 3,000 km/year.
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May 28, 2007
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Went to the Honda service department yesterday. Turns out it was one of the main electrical wires that was cut. Showed me a couple of photos and they said it looks like there's teeth marks on it. Must be squirrels or something. Cost to replace that wire is going to be $1800. Called Honda Canada to see if there's anything they can do and they said no, it's regular wear and tear. Googled and found some insurance companies would cover it, so I called mine. An evaluator would have to look at it first, and the service manager at Honda said insurance would probably cover only a third party part and not an original Honda part. Insurance said my premium could go up by 30% if I decide to file a claim. So decided to just pay for it myself. What's with this change to soy based wiring housings? Environmentally friendly, but not friendly for my wallet. See a lot of other complaints about this on YouTube also. What's to stop it from happening again. Wonder if those ultrasonic mouse repellents with flashing LED lights will work?

https://www.amazon.ca/MouseBlocker-Pro- ... XGFRB67SHE
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Aug 3, 2005
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RCML27 wrote: Went to the Honda service department yesterday. Turns out it was one of the main electrical wires that was cut. Showed me a couple of photos and they said it looks like there's teeth marks on it. Must be squirrels or something. Cost to replace that wire is going to be $1800. Called Honda Canada to see if there's anything they can do and they said no, it's regular wear and tear. Googled and found some insurance companies would cover it, so I called mine. An evaluator would have to look at it first, and the service manager at Honda said insurance would probably cover only a third party part and not an original Honda part. Insurance said my premium could go up by 30% if I decide to file a claim. So decided to just pay for it myself. What's with this change to soy based wiring housings? Environmentally friendly, but not friendly for my wallet. See a lot of other complaints about this on YouTube also. What's to stop it from happening again. Wonder if those ultrasonic mouse repellents with flashing LED lights will work?

https://www.amazon.ca/MouseBlocker-Pro- ... XGFRB67SHE
I really hope this is a joke....$1800? The hell are they smoking?
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May 28, 2007
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ekcivichb wrote: I really hope this is a joke....$1800? The hell are they smoking?
No joke. What choice do you have at this point. The car is not functioning as it should. Found out that this has been happening for years since the manufacturer switched to soy based from petroleum based wiring housings. Apparently the soy based products are attracting the rodents. Called Honda Canada and they never mentioned this. I read others complaints and it's even on YouTube. Honda just plays dumb and says they've never heard of this. But as someone else mentioned, if they've never heard of this, then why start selling a anti-rodent repellent tape under the Honda name?

https://www.amazon.ca/Honda-4019-2317-T ... B00AJTG3N0
Last edited by RCML27 on Apr 3rd, 2019 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Banned
Aug 3, 2005
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RCML27 wrote: No joke. What choice do you have at this point. The car is not functioning as it should. Found out that this has been happening for years since the manufacturer switched to soy based from petroleum based wiring housings. Apparently the soy based products are attracting the rodents. Called Honda Canada and they never mentioned this. I read others complaints and it's even on YouTube. Honda just plays dumb and says they've never heard of this.
Agreed....I just dont see how 1 main wire (hell, even if it was 20 wires), could possibly cost $1800....
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Jul 17, 2008
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But it's a Honda! It's Japanese! It's bullet proof! I mean you didn't buy one of those shitty korean cars, you shouldn't have this problem...

(OP, I totally feel for you and this is not directed at you, but to all those members here who trash Euro/Korean cars and high praise the piece of shit that Honda has become in the last 2 decades, they know who they are)
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May 28, 2007
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ekcivichb wrote: Agreed....I just dont see how 1 main wire (hell, even if it was 20 wires), could possibly cost $1800....
Maybe it's the labor that cost the most? They showed me some photos and it doesn't look like an easy area to get to.
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May 28, 2007
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Now I'm just trying to find a way to prevent it from happening again once it's fixed. Like that ultrasonic pulsating LED contraption from Amazon I linked above or peppermint oil spray, moth balls, and dryer sheets that I saw online and in YouTube. Figure spending the $144 on the contraption, if it actually works, is better than a potential $1800 bill again.
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Feb 24, 2019
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Messerschmitt wrote: But it's a Honda! It's Japanese! It's bullet proof! I mean you didn't buy one of those shitty korean cars, you shouldn't have this problem...
(OP, I totally feel for you and this is not directed at you, but to all those members here who trash Euro/Korean cars and high praise the piece of shit that Honda has become in the last 2 decades, they know who they are)
Seriously dude WTF is your angle? ANY vehicle that sits for a long time will succumb to some form of rodent problem, what the fu*king hell does it have to do with Honda?
Your imaturity shows more and more everytime there's a thread related to Honda's. Your credibility on this forum is garbage imo. Go back to selling POS Kia's. The only thing thats chitty in here is YOU!
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May 28, 2007
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Xtrema wrote: u got picture of said wire?
No pictures yet. They just showed me a couple of pictures they took. I couldn't take any pictures before bringing it in because I didn't know what the problem was. Plus, I think it's underneath somewhere. I just called the service department to ask how much the part was and they said the wire harness cost $900. I did ask them to include copies of their photos and to retain the damaged part for me when it's all fixed just in case I want to try to claim it through insurance. Still undecided on that.

When the car is fixed and if they give me pictures, then I'll post it.
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May 28, 2007
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Here's the pictures they gave me. This ended up costing $1720.
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Deal Addict
May 28, 2007
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Here's a couple of things I didn't like.

1) when I picked up my car, there's was a plastic cover piece I couldn't figure out where it belonged. I was looking all over the dash. Went back inside to ask my rep and she went to the back to ask a mechanic. She came back out saying she'll try to figure it out herself. I asked her what they said, did they say their shift was over? She said yes. I figured as much. She came with me to the car and then I spotted it after she opened the door, it was the cover for the driver's seat belt housing.

2) I keep my car clean and I expect it to be returned that way. The plastic on the door sills were filthy and there was some dirt smudges on the plastic of the A pillars. Some kind of flaky shavings on the shifter lever area too. My driver's side floor mat was filthy too.

3) The mechanic used my car to go home at the end of the repair and brought it back the next morning when he came back to work. Is this the policy to test the car after it's been repaired to see he needs to tweak anything? Hooked it up to my battery terminals with what I assume is a battery charger (I don't know if this also hooks up to their computers) and was checking the computer for about 2 hours. Then he took it for a test drive around the area and came back and hooked it up again for another few hours while checking his computer. Then he took it out again and came back and parked it in the spot where I picked it up after they called me to say it's ready. I only have a 32GB memory card in my dashcam so the first video footage is of him getting on the highway to go home. That's the day before I picked it up. So unfortunately, no footage of the repair being done.

4) When he used it to go home, he picked up his neighbor that lives across the street from him and started to drive off. When they got out to the main streets, I guess the neighbor forgot something, so they turned around to go pick up what he forgot. Then he drove him to a building that looks like a school. Don't know if that's where the guy works for the evening or it's some kind of community center. Then he drove himself home. When he got back on his street, instead of just turning into his driveway on his left, he goes a couple of houses forward to in front of his neighbor's place and pulls a U-turn. There was a pile of hard packed snow in front of the driveway and as he makes the turn, you can see that he rolls up over the corner of that pile of snow and hear the thump when the wheel came back on the street. There was plenty of room to turn to avoid that snow pile. Then he drives down a couple of houses and turns into his driveway. In the morning, he drives himself to work. Since it's not his car, I guess he doesn't give a $#it about potholes because you don't see him slowing down for them or going around them. Now I'll have to go out to see if he scrapped up the underside of my passenger side bumper area or not.

5) Here's another thing I noticed when I got home. The plastic cowl(?) for the windshield wiper area on the driver's side was not put back flush with the windshield. There's a big gap there. Also, this rubber piece beside it at the top corner of the hood area and this plastic piece is not put back flush either. Will have to go back Monday morning for them to fix it. Tried pushing it down myself, but it wouldn't budge. Don't want to force it though in case I end up breaking it. That's why I don't like bringing the car to mechanics when you need to fix something. They almost always lose pieces or don't put things back the way they were. Dealer or independent, it's mostly been the same experience. But then again, you don't have a choice when something needs to be fixed. Here's a few pictures of what I'm talking about.
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Feb 6, 2011
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Rodents can get into hidden areas that are not easily accessible. I'm not surprised at the cost and how much they disassembled.
Its a problem on Hondas and that's why they sell the rodent tape. But other cars with soy wiring will have the same issue.
When the car was apart, I hope they used that rodent tape to protect the wiring or else its likely to have the same problem. Try and park the car in a clean, uncluttered area.

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