2006 Honda Civic

I BACKED UP MY CAR AND LIQUID WAS LEAKING OUT AT A FAST RATE. I IMMEDIATELY TOOK MY CAR TO BREAKAWAY HONDA. THEY CALLED AND SAID MY ENGINE BLOCK WAS CRACKED. THIS IS A 2006 CAR! I RESEARCHED AND FOUND THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO A LARGE NUMBER OF THIS MAKE AND MODEL. I HAD TO PAY $881 AND DO NOT FEEL I SHOULD HAVE HAD TO PAY ANYTHING. THE CAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECALLED. *TR

DURING WARMER TIMES OF THE YEAR (60-90 F), MY 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID WILL SUDDENLY LOSE 75-100% OF THE CHARGE IN THE HIGH-VOLTAGE HYBRID IMA BATTERY WITHOUT WARNING. THE IMA HYBRID SYSTEM THEN FAILS TO FUNCTION AND LEAVES THE VEHICLE DEPENDENT UPON THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE ENTIRELY FOR PROPULSION. WHILE THE BATTERY DOES HAVE SAFEGUARDS BUILT IN TO PROTECT IT DURING EXTREMELY HIGH TEMPERATURES, IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, I HAVE HAD THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY TEMPORARILY FAIL AT TEMPERATURES AS LOW AS 60 DEGREES F, WHILE GARAGED AT MY HOME OR PARKED IN A SHADED, LOWER SPACE IN A PARKING DECK. DURING COLDER PERIODS, THE PROBLEM APPEARS INTERMITTENTLY AT MOST. THE VEHICLE MUST THEN RECHARGE THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY, WHICH CAN TAKE VARYING AMOUNTS OF TIME FROM SEVERAL MINUTES TO OVER A HALF HOUR. THE IMA HYBRID SYSTEM WILL FUNCTION ON A LIMITED LEVEL WHEN THE HYBRID BATTERY IS PARTIALLY CHARGED, THOUGH OBTAINING FULL FUNCTION OF THE IMA SYSTEM FOLLOWING A "CRASH" CAN BE A PROLONGED EXPERIENCE. THIS IS A SAFETY CONCERN BECAUSE THE CIVIC HYBRID IS MARKEDLY SLOWER WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF THE ELECTRIC MOTOR, CREATING A HAZARD IN ADVERSE TRAFFIC CONDITIONS, SUCH AS WHEN ATTEMPTING TO TURN LEFT ACROSS TRAFFIC. I HAVE EXPERIENCED AT LEAST 1 NEAR MISS WHEN THE ELECTRIC ASSIST FAILED WITHOUT WARNING WHILE ATTEMPTING SUCH A TURN. CURRENTLY, HONDA HAS NOT ISSUED ANY TSBS OR RECALLS REGARDING THE ISSUE. *TR

2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID DURING HOT WEATHER THE AIR CONDITIONING WAS OPERATED ON THE COLDEST SETTING, THIS CAUSED THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY TO LOOSE CHARGE .WHEN I WENT TO ACCELERATE INTO TRAFFIC THE CAR LOST POWER AND HAD TROUBLE GETTING UP TO SPEED (I WAS ALMOST HIT BY ANOTHER CAR COMING UP IN THE LANE) THE CAR WAS TAKEN INTO THE DEALER ON 7/17, 8/14, 8/18, 8/27, 9/9 THROUGH 9/30/08 DURING WHICH TIME NO PROBLEMS WERE FOUND WITH THE CAR. ON 9/30/08 I TOOK A TEST DRIVE WITH THE TECHNICIAN AND WITHIN 5 MINUTES HE WAS ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. UPON RETURNING TO THE DEALER HIS MANAGER TOLD HIM NOT TO DOCUMENT HIS FINDINGS BECAUSE HONDA, ALTHOUGH AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, DID NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX IT. BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT FIX THE PROBLEM AND BECAUSE I COULD NOT SELL THE CAR WITH THIS PROBLEM TO SOMEONE ELSE I TRADED THE CAR IN. I LATER FOUND THE CAR ON THE USED CAR LOT FOR SALE. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY WHEN I HEARD A SQUEALING NOISE, THEN THE SMELL OF RUBBER BURNING, AND THEN LOSS OF POWER FROM THE ENGINE. WHEN I PULLED OVER, THERE WAS SMOKE COMING OUT FROM THE SIDES OF THE HOOD AND I DID NOT OPEN IT. I CALLED AAA AND THEY TOWED ME TO A DEALERSHIP FOR THE CAR TO BE REPAIRED. WHEN THE DEALER ADDED ENGINE COOLANT TO THE CAR, IT RAN RIGHT THROUGH AND ONTO THE GROUND. THE DEALER SENT IT OUT TO A MACHINE SHOP TO SEE IF THE CYLINDER HEAD COULD BE SAVED. DUE TO THE EXTREME HEAT CAUSED BY LACK OF COOLANT, THE DIP STICK MELTED AS WELL AS THE SPARK PLUGS AND OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE ENGINE. THE DEALER HAD TO INSTALL A BRAND NEW ENGINE BLOCK, CYLINDER HEAD, NEW SPARK PLUGS, NEW TIMING CHAIN AND OTHER PARTS. THE COST WAS OVER $6000! IT HAD ONLY 80,000 MILES ON IT AND WAS 27 MONTHS OLD. I AVERAGE 100 MILES PER DAY TO GET TO AND FROM WORK VIA THE FREEWAY, 3000 MILES PER MONTH, 36,000 MILES PER YEAR. I HAD THE INTERMEDIATE SERVICE DONE AT 47000 MILES AND ANOTHER ONE AT 70000. I DON'T BELIEVE THAT AFTER ONLY 80000 MILES AN ENGINE WOULD GIVE OUT LIKE THAT. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT AND THE MAINTENANCE MINDER ON THE DASH NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THE ENGINE OVERHEATING OR NO COOLANT. WHEN I GOT HOME AFTER THE INCIDENT, I FOUND A POOL OF BRIGHT BLUE FLUID ON THE GARAGE FLOOR. I THOUGHT IT WAS WINDOW WASHER FLUID, BUT IT WAS THE ENGINE COOLANT! DEALER SAID IT MAY HAVE BEEN A BAD SEAL AT THE BASE OF THE COOLANT RESERVOIR. THE CAR TOOK A LITTLE OVER A WEEK TO FIX AND IT'S RUNNING FINE NOW. *TR

AFTER ABOUT 16 MONTHS OF OWNING THE CAR, BEGINNING IN OCTOBER 2007, THE IMA (INTEGRATED MOTOR ASSIST) ELECTRIC ASSIST MOTOR IN MY 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID HAS BEEN ACTING ERRATICALLY. AN WARNING LIGHT CAME ON DUE TO IMA PROBLEMS, AND SOME COMPONENTS OF THE IMA COMPUTER AND CONTROL SYSTEM WERE REPLACED (I AM NOT SURE IF ANY OF THE OLD PARTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE). SINCE THAT TIME, THE IMA BATTERY THAT POWERS THE ASSIST MOTOR HAS BEEN UNPREDICTABLE. IT SOMETIMES WOULD FULLY DISCHARGE, AND THE CAR WOULD RUN ONLY ON THE UNDERPOWERED 1.3 L GAS ENGINE. THE CAR IS VERY SLUGGISH, CAUSING SAFETY ISSUES WHEN ACCELERATION IS NEEDED IN CITY OR INTERSTATE DRIVING. THE PROBLEM IS WORSE IN WARMER WEATHER, 85 DEGREES OR HIGHER. SINCE THE PROBLEM FIRST WAS OBSERVED IN EARLY OCTOBER 2007, SOME PARTS AND COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY THE DEALERSHIP. ON OCTOBER 29, 2007 THEY REPLACED THE MCM RELAY AND THE BATTERY CONTROL UNIT. AROUND JULY 9, 2008 THE ORIGINAL IMA BATTERY WAS REPLACED WITH A NEW EXPERIMENTAL IMA BATTERY. ON SEPTEMBER 5, 2008 THE OXYGEN SENSOR WAS REPLACED AT THE SUGGESTION OF ANOTHER CIVIC HYBRID OWNER WHO THOUGHT THAT REPLACING THE SENSOR ON HIS CIVIC HAD HELPED SOME OF THE ERRATIC BEHAVIOR. HOWEVER THE SERVICE MANAGER OF THE DEALERSHIP ADMITTED TO ME THAT AMERICAN HONDA CANNOT FIX THE PROBLEMS THAT MY CAR HAS. HE TELLS ME THAT THE PROBLEMS ARE DUE TO A CHANGE IN PROGRAMMING OF THE SOFTWARE THAT CONTROLS THE IMA, A PROBLEM THAT STARTED WITH THE SOFTWARE UPDATES INSTALLED ON MY CAR IN OCTOBER, 2007. HE SAYS THAT HONDA IS WORKING ON A NEW SOFTWARE UPDATE TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS, BUT NO ONE HAS AN IDEA OF WHEN IT WILL BE AVAILABLE. THE ONLY SUGGESTION THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME WAS "WHEN YOU RUN THE AIR CONDITIONING, DIRECT THE VENTS UPWARDS TOWARD THE CEILING TO SEND THE COLD AIR BACK TOWARD THE IMA BATTERY". I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THE PROBLEM WILL CAUSE AN ACCIDENT WHEN ACCELERATION IS NEEDED AND THE IMA WILL NOT WORK PROPERLY. *TR

MY 2006 HONDA CIVIC HAS 55,000 MILES ON IT. I WENT TO DROP MY DAUGHTER OFF AT KARATE WHEN STEAM CAME OUT FROM UNDER THE HOOD. I BROUGHT IT DOWN THE STREET TO A CERTIFIED MECHANIC, HE LOOKED AT THE CAR AND FOUND IT HAD A CRACKED BLOCK. IN HIS OPINION IT WAS THE CASE OF A DEFECTIVE CASTING. I CONTACTED MY DEALER , AND AFTER FIGHTING OVER WHO WOULD PAY FOR TOWING THEY TOWED IT TO THE DEALER THEY ALSO CONFIRMED THAT THE BLOCK WAS CRACKED. THEY TRIED TO MAKE ME PAY FOR THE DEFECT AND WHEN THEIR MECHANIC FOUND OUT THE CAR HAS A 5 YEAR 60,000 MILE WARRANTY THEY TURNED AROUND AND WILL REPLACE THE ENGINE FOR FREE. MY CONCERN IS IF THIS HAPPENS WHEN DRIVING THERE WAS SO MUCH STEAM THAT I PROBABLY WOULD NOT SEE WHERE I WAS DRIVING. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 HONDA CIVIC. THE CONTACT EXPERIENCED FAILURE WITH THE MOTOR IN HER VEHICLE. WHEN SHE STARTED THE VEHICLE AND PUT ON THE SEAT BELT, SHE NOTICED THAT THE MOTOR WOULD PULL REALLY FAST AS IF IT WOULD MOVE FORWARD. WHILE AT A STOP LIGHT, THE MOTOR REVVED EXTREMELY FAST AND THE VEHICLE JERKED FORWARD. THE CONTACT TURNED OFF THE MOTOR. ON ONE OCCASION, THE MOTOR EVEN CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO ACCELERATE BACKWARDS. SHE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER THREE TIMES, BUT THEY COULD NOT FIND THE SOURCE OF THE FAILURE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 20,965 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 18,000.

1. ACCORDING TO THE MECHANIC, A RANDOM ROAD PEBBLE PUT A HOLE IN OUR CAR'S AIR CONDITIONER CONDENSER UNIT. 2. THE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT DOES NOT WORK; 3. THE DEALER SAYS THE DAMAGE IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY AND WILL COST $800 TO REPLACE THE CONDENSER. WE HAVE NOT REPLACED THE UNIT AS WE FEEL THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW THAT SHOULD BE COVERED BY THE CAR MANUFACTURER. BASED ON OUR RESEARCH, THIS IS A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM AMONG HONDA VEHICLES. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 HONDA CIVIC HYBRID. THE CONTACT SPENT THREE HOURS AT THE DEALER BEFORE HE WAS INFORMED THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE THE PARTS TO REPAIR HIS VEHICLE FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER 07V034000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). THERE HAD BEEN NO FAILURE TO DATE. THE VIN, ENGINE SIZE, NUMBER OF CYLINDERS, AND POWERTRAIN WERE UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 11,193.