Honda Is Recalling Ridgeline for Electrical Issue

Nov 29, 2023

Honda is recalling about 76,000 of its 2006–7 Ridgeline pickups because of the possibility of a fire under the dash.

Honda says it has determined that a front passenger could kick a wiring-harness connector under the dash and damage it. That could lead to a short circuit and either the failure of the blower motor or possibly a fire, the automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The recall comes about six months after the safety agency ended an investigation into consumer complaints of under-dash fires on the Ridgeline, having decided no action was necessary.

"This investigation did not find that failure of the H.V.A.C. fan motor connector, which can result in smoke, would also lead to a fire. Similarly, no defect trend was identified from examination of the six reported fires," an agency report said, referring to the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning connector.

In informing the agency of the recall, Honda said it started its own investigation late in the summer, based on additional information it received. Honda said it concluded that a short circuit would probably "self-extinguish," but that a fire was possible, and it decided on a recall.

An agency spokesman had no comment on the recall.

In other actions:

• Honda's luxury division, Acura, is recalling about 650 of its 2010 MDX S.U.V.'s because a piece of trim on the front windshield pillars may not have been properly installed. Should the side-curtain air bags deploy, the trim could be hurled at an occupant, the automaker says.

• The agnecy has agreed to consider a request from a consumer to investigate if the fuel-tank sensor in almost 640,000 2005-6 Chevrolet TrailBlazers and GMC Envoys is defective. The consumer says the gauge is unreliable, increasing the chance a vehicle could stall or run out of fuel. The safety agency has almost 260 complaints from consumers about faulty gauges.

"The fuel gauge continues to fluctuate and stay on empty, causing me to run out of gas on the interstate," wrote one consumer. "A policeman pulled up behind me and told me to report the problem. It's a safety hazard, had the policeman not been polite enough to sit behind me with his lights on I would have been rear-ended."

• The safety agency has began investigating gasoline leaks on 56,000 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavors. The agency is responding to complaints from five consumers who said gas leaked from the filler pipe to the gas tank. On some vehicles it appeared the filler pipe rusted.

For more information or to report a safety defect, go here.