NHTSA recall 12V136000
A recall listed here may apply to a vehicle of this year, make and model. Only the manufacturer can say whether it applies to one vehicle: check the VIN with the official lookups.
| Published by | NHTSA (United States) |
|---|---|
| Campaign number | 12V136000 |
| Manufacturer's number | S34, S51 |
| Manufacturer | HONDA (AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.) |
| Reported | 2012-03-30 |
| Owners notified | 2012-04-27 |
| Component | EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:SWITCH |
| Units potentially affected | 1375217 |
What is wrong
HONDA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2002 THROUGH 2004 CR-V; MODEL YEAR 2003 THROUGH 2005 PILOT; AND MODEL YEAR 2002 AND 2003 CIVIC VEHICLES. IN MARCH 2012, HONDA FILED A DEFECT REPORT TO RECALL CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2002 THROUGH 2004 CR-V AND CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2003 PILOT VEHICLES. IN AUGUST 2012, HONDA INFORMED THE AGENCY THAT IT WAS INCLUDING AN ADDITIONAL 820,789 VEHICLES INCLUDING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2004 AND 2005 PILOTS AND MODEL YEAR 2002 AND 2003 CIVICS. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VEHICLES BEING RECALLED IS NOW 1,375,217. DUE TO TENSION FROM THE COMBINATION SWITCH WIRING HARNESS, WEAR ON THE SURFACE OF THE ELECTRICAL TERMINAL CAN OCCUR, YIELDING COPPER OXIDE, WHICH INCREASES ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE. INCREASED ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE MAY CAUSE THE TERMINAL ENDS TO MELT WITHIN THE WIRING HARNESS CONNECTOR.
What can happen
IF THE TERMINAL ENDS MELT WITHIN THE WIRING HARNESS CONNECTOR, THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS MAY BECOME INOPERATIVE, REDUCING DRIVER VISIBILITY AND INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
The remedy
HONDA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPAIR THE LOW BEAM TERMINAL HARNESS OR REPLACE THE LIGHTING SWITCH AS NECESSARY, FREE OF CHARGE. THE ORIGINAL RECALL BEGAN IN APRIL 2012. OWNERS OF VEHICLES INVOLVED IN THE SEPTEMBER 2012 EXPANSION WILL BE NOTIFIED IN SEPTEMBER 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HONDA CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-800-999-1009.
Notes
HONDA'S RECALL CAMPAIGN NUMBER FOR THE ORIGINAL RECALL IS S34.HONDA'S RECALL NUMBER FOR THE ADDITIONAL VEHICLES IS S51.CUSTOMERS MAY CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153); OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.
| 2002 HONDA CIVIC | Built 2001-11-05 to 2002-09-10. |
|---|---|
| 2003 HONDA CIVIC | Built 2002-03-05 to 2003-09-11. |
| 2002 HONDA CR-V | Built 2002-02-19 to 2002-09-26. |
| 2003 HONDA CR-V | Built 2002-09-09 to 2003-09-02. |
| 2004 HONDA CR-V | Built 2003-07-21 to 2004-08-24. |
| 2003 HONDA PILOT | Built 2001-11-26 to 2003-08-19. |
| 2004 HONDA PILOT | Built 2003-08-08 to 2007-09-07. |
| 2005 HONDA PILOT | Built 2004-07-29 to 2005-08-29. |
A vehicle with no link is not in this site's catalog, which covers cars, multipurpose vehicles and trucks by model year. The campaign is from data as of 2026-10-19.
Investigated as EA11012
This recall followed 1 NHTSA investigation. An investigation is NHTSA looking into a possible defect. It is not a finding that a defect exists, and it does not say that any one vehicle is affected.
| EA11012 | Engineering analysis, opened 2011-09-12, closed 2012-09-17. Low Beam Headlights Stop Illuminating. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:INTERIOR/UNDER DASH; EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:HIGH/LOW BEAM DIMMER SWITCH; EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS; EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS:SWITCH. |
|---|
From NHTSA's investigation file, as of 2026-10-19. The JSON has NHTSA's summary of each.
Bulletins for the same vehicles and component
| SB-12-025 | 2012-07-28. Service bulletin. HONDA: TO DETERMINE IF HEADLIGHT SWITCHES NEED TO HAVE CONNECTORS, AND HARNESS WIRES REPLACED, ON CERTAIN VEHICLES, AN INSPECTION IS REQUIRED, WITH PERMISSION FROM OWNERS. MODELS CIVIC GX, HYBRID SI AND PILOTS. MODEL YEARS 2002-2005. *PE |
|---|---|
| 07027 | 2007-06-27. Service bulletin. LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS INTERMITTENTLY DO NOT COME ON. *KB |
| 04015 | 2004-07-29. Service bulletin. SAFETY RECALL: COMBINATION LIGHT SWITCH. *MJ UPDATE. *TT |
| 022404 | 2004-05-11. Service bulletin. THE LOW-BEAM TERMINAL ON THE HEADLIGHT WIRE HARNESS CAN OVERHEAT AND MAY CAUSE THE LOW BEAMS TO FAIL WITHOUT WARNING. CAMPAIGN ON HEADLIGHT SWITCH REPAIR KIT. *TT |
A bulletin is the manufacturer's note to its dealers. It is not part of this recall.