Front Seat Belt Assemblies may be Missing the Rivet that Secures the Quick Connector and Wire Plate

Summary

On April 4, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened RQ24006 to investigate American Honda Motor Co.’s (Honda’s) proposed remedy for recall 23V-782 as well as scope of the vehicles involved. Honda issued recall 23V-782 on November 21, 2023, which concerns certain model year (MY) 2023-2024 Honda Accord, Honda Accord Hybrid, and Honda HR-V vehicles. Recall 23V-782 states that the driver and front passenger seat belt pretensioner assemblies may have been manufactured without a rivet that secures the pretensioner quick connector and wire plate. Recall documentation states that seat belt pretensioner assemblies that are missing the rivet will not properly restrain the occupant in the event of a collision, increasing the risk of injury.Subject defective seat belt assemblies are installed as original equipment for both the driver and front passenger positions for the HR-V, but only for the driver position for the Accord and Accord Hybrid. The recall remedy for 23V-782 instructs the technician to inspect both front seat belt pretensioner assemblies and, if necessary, replace them. The inspection procedure requires the technician to utilize a pull force gauge to determine whether the subject component is missing the subject rivet and requires replacement. Parts requiring replacement are determined by whether the pretensioner quick connector separates from the pretensioner assembly while the technician is pulling on the seat belt. If no separation occurs, then the part is determined to be not defective and not require replacement. There have been no reports alleging a failure of seat belt pretensioner assemblies after the inspect and replace remedy for recall 23V-782 was performed. Additionally, no comparable failures have been observed in field data for similar vehicles outside of the scope of the recall. As of the 4th quarter of 2024, the recall completion rate is at approximately 84% of the total recalled population. In view of the lack of failures after the remedy for recall 23V-782 was performed, and the lack of failures in similar vehicles outside of the scope of the recall, ODI is closing this Recall Query (RQ). The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances.

Vehicles under investigation (6)