“Sticky” steering sparks huge recall for Honda, 1.7M cars affected
Honda is recalling almost 1.7 million vehicles due to a steering defect. An improperly made part can cause certain cars' steering to become "sticky"-never an attribute one wants in a moving vehicle.
The problem affects a range of newer Hondas and an Acura; the earliest the defective parts were used on any vehicle was February 2021. But it applies to the following:
- 2022-2025 Honda Civic four-door
- 2025 Honda Civic four-door hybrid
- 2022-2025 Honda Civic five-door
- 2025 Honda Civic five-door Hybrid
- 2023-2025 Honda Civic Type-R
- 2023-2025 Honda CR-V
- 2023-2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid
- 2025 Honda CR-V Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle
- 2023-2025 Honda HR-V
- 2023-2025 Acura Integra
- 2024-2025 Acura Integra Type S
Honda says that a combination of environmental heat, moisture, and "an insufficient annealing process and high load single unit break-in during production of the worm wheel" means there's too much pressure and not enough grease between the worm wheel and worm gear. On top of that, the worm gear spring isn't quite right, "resulting in higher friction and increased torque fluctuation when steering.