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I received a phone call and letter in the mail from American Honda. It looks like they will be replacing my DC-DC converter?

"Honda has decided that a defect, which relates to motor vehicle safey, exists in certain 2006 and 2007 model year Civic Hybrid vehicles. There is a potential for the voltage converter that relays power from the IMA system to the vehicles electrical components to fail, which will cause the headlights to turn off, the engine to stall, and prevent the vehicle from being restarted, thereby increasing the risk of a crash."

I don't remember reading about anyone having this issue so I was surprised getting this.

Hi Hunter;

I don't quite remember exactly when we reported this (definitely a 2-3 years ago) but there have been instances where DC-DC converters were indeed replaced on some HCH-II's.

Our initial suspicions pointed to unusual loads placed upon the DC-DC converter due to car boosting (HCH-II boosting another car), failing EPS and out-of-spec 12V battery replacements. We're glad to see Honda addressing this issue as well even if it is supposed to apply to some VIN ranges only. My current HCH-II is not affected by this recall.

Cheers;

MSantos

Hi Hunter;

I don't quite remember exactly when we reported this (definitely a 2-3 years ago) but there have been instances where DC-DC converters were indeed replaced on some HCH-II's.

Our initial suspicions pointed to unusual loads placed upon the DC-DC converter due to car boosting (HCH-II boosting another car), failing EPS and out-of-spec 12V battery replacements. We're glad to see Honda addressing this issue as well even if it is supposed to apply to some VIN ranges only. My current HCH-II is not affected by this recall.
MSantos
Is there a place to look up the VIN range of the recall? My daughter has a 2007 bought used, so I'm not sure Honda has us in their lists on that one.

Jon

You can sign up for Honda's Owner Link. It is a free service and you can look up any recall info along with a few other things.

https://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/login.asp?brand=honda

You can sign up for Honda's Owner Link. It is a free service and you can look up any recall info along with a few other things.

https://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/login.asp?brand=honda

Thanks for the link, our HCHII is not on the list!

Jon

Mine wasn't on the list either, but I called my dealership and they did the recall for me w/o checking my VIN. Worth a shot...

I had the service done today. I was first 'Guinea pig' to get the new DC-DC converter at this dealer. They said it was a very expensive re-call. $780 credit to the dealer

Its nice to know this is fixed because it was causing cars to stall.

Our "still in the family" 06 HCII is included, recall letter received from Honda.

I am aware of several local HCH-II owners who also received their letters and some have already had the work performed on their cars (one of them uses it as a commercial driver's ED car).

Fortunately, the local dealers have become quite good at servicing these cars and those that have had the fix applied have not reported any ill behaviors. Newer software updates were also included with module replacement. ;)


Cheers;


MSantos