EK9 Airbag Recall 4646 - What's the Process?

[MidwestEK9]

Hey all. I recently acquired an EK9 and the car is still in Japan for now. Using this link here, I searched the chassis number for any recalls. A notification for recall 4646 with a notification date of 2020-01-23 shows up as "Not Implemented" for my chassis. This recall is noted for "Driver side airbag replacement".

Interestingly, when I search the Takata airbag recall at this link, it says my chassis is not a part of the Takata recall and "your car is safe to drive". I am assuming that this newer airbag recall from 2020 was not manufactured by Takata, but was made by another manufacturer who has also discovered issues with their inflators?

I am working with my broker to see if there is a way to get the airbag recall done in Japan before the car is exported. Are there any downsides to completing this recall? Because many of the cars in the recall were 20+ years old, am I correct in assuming they will only need/want to replace the actual inflator? My broker cautioned me that if the original parts were unavailable I may end up with a different type of steering wheel by getting the recall fixed. I was under the impression they would just replace the inflator and I could keep the center part of the wheel OEM, but that's a pretty high stakes gamble to take!

We are looking into this further at the moment, but has anyone completed this recall while the car was still in Japan? Are the parts generally available and is it easy enough to schedule the service? Did they just replace the inflator inside the OEM steering wheel for you and leave the rest as-is?

Thanks for any guidance!

 

[terry_em1]

I've had a 2010 Honda Insight done. Also a 2004 Honda Fit. Just took them to a Honda dealership and got the cars back with the original steering wheels.

I got letters in the post for both of those and it was free of charge. I actually have a letter for my EM1, but I'm running an aftermarket Momo with quick release and all that. No point in doing it, unless they just want to change the dash airbag on the passenger side.

 

[MidwestEK9]

I've had a 2010 Honda Insight done. Also a 2004 Honda Fit. Just took them to a Honda dealership and got the cars back with the original steering wheels.

I got letters in the post for both of those and it was free of charge. I actually have a letter for my EM1, but I'm running an aftermarket Momo with quick release and all that. No point in doing it, unless they just want to change the dash airbag on the passenger side.

Thanks for the insight! Glad to hear you got the original wheels back. Just to confirm, were both of those cars (the 2010 Insight and the 2004 Fit) included in the 2020 recall or were they part of the earlier Takata recalls?

 

[terry_em1]

Thanks for the insight! Glad to hear you got the original wheels back. Just to confirm, were both of those cars (the 2010 Insight and the 2004 Fit) included in the 2020 recall or were they part of the earlier Takata recalls?

Pre 2020.

Even if Honda did swap out the complete unit, I doubt they did because the Fit is an import. The steering wheel is different to the normal Jazz. Plus it would mean they would have to have the part ready at the dealership (It was a Hyundai dealer that dealt with Hondas). The process took 2 hours.

 

[No_Fear]

i thought the huge air bag recall did not effect ek9s since was after 2002.hmm....

thanks for the info will check later my chassic #

 

[MidwestEK9]

i thought the huge air bag recall did not effect ek9s since was after 2002.hmm....

thanks for the info will check later my chassic #

This appears to be separate (and much newer) from the Takata recalls. My chassis comes up as "safe to drive" when I use the recall search tool that ONLY searches to see if your chassis is part of the Takata campaign. So you are probably correct that our EK9's weren't a part of the old Takata recall.

However when I use the tool that searches for all open campaigns, it shows the driver side airbag recall 4646 from early 2020.

 

[MidwestEK9]

I managed to find some more information here: https://www.honda.co.jp/recall/auto/info/200123_4646.html

It looks like any E-EK9, and GF-EK9 up to EK9-1201912 (Dec 28, 99) could be effected. In total, 44,943 Honda vehicles were effected by this recall. 3,976 of them are apparently EK9's. The recall notification number is 4646, and is dated January 23, 2020.

What's also interesting is looking at the "Number of target vehicles" section. The reason I said "could be effected" above is that it looks like only 3,176 pre-facelift and facelift (but not RX) vehicles are "Targeted". 800 additional RX vehicles are also targeted. I wonder if Honda used multiple manufacturers of inflators? I could have sworn there were many more than 3,176 pre-facelift and facelift EK9's made before the RX came out.

I am curious if there are members who have a pre-facelift or facelift chassis number who AREN'T effected by this recall. Please share the results if you check your chassis via the Honda tool I linked in the original post.

 

[terry_em1]

 

[terry_em1]

Hopefully that clears things up for everyone. 1997-2002 cars and its a replacement inflator.

 

[MidwestEK9]

Hopefully that clears things up for everyone. 1997-2002 cars and its a replacement inflator.

Cheers and thanks for sharing. I suspect that your recall must be something separate than the Japanese recall, because the Japanese one effects cars from 09-1996 to 12-1999, not up until 2002. Also my car checks out "okay to drive" when I search for the Takata specific recalls. The Japanese recall I'm talking about doesn't mention which manufacturer made the inflator.

 

[terry_em1]

Cheers and thanks for sharing. I suspect that your recall must be something separate than the Japanese recall, because the Japanese one effects cars from 09-1996 to 12-1999, not up until 2002. Also my car checks out "okay to drive" when I search for the Takata specific recalls. The Japanese recall I'm talking about doesn't mention which manufacturer made the inflator.

My 2004 Fit is JDM not USDM and that had its airbags replaced.

 

[spikeyhairdude]

You will need to get in contact with you local honda dealer.

My friend had and fd2 which doesnt come up as a airbag recall on honda uk system. our warrenty department got in contact with japan warrenty which took weeks/ months and then it got authorized.

Here in the uk we do have recalls For DC2 R and Accord type r steering wheel airbags which uses the same wheel as the ek9. So aslong as your dealership can get in contact with japan warranty, the airbag inflater will get replaced.

I work in honda parts so its the only reason i know all of this.
It will not show on any other system than japan of the vehicle recalls as it was only allocated for that contry and a unique part number will need to be order(most likely back ordered due to being an import)

This is only correct if their is an outstanding safety recall on your vehicle