NHTSA Complaint #10356770 — 2004 HONDA CR-V

ON FEBRUARY 20, WHILE DRIVING ON THE NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY OUR CAR SHIMMIED AND THEN THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. SIMULTANEOUSLY, MY WIFE HEARD A SOUND COMING FROM THE ENGINE. WE QUICKLY PULLED ONTO THE EXIT (JUST SOUTH OF BUFFALO) INTO AN AUTOMOBILE REPAIR SHOP THAT WAS RIGHT OFF THE EXIT RAMP. WHEN WE PULLED INTO THE REPAIR SHOP, THE CAR STALLED. A QUICK DIAGNOSIS BY THE REPAIR SHOP CONCLUDED THAT THE ISSUE WAS NOT REPAIRABLE THAT DAY AS THE SHOP WAS CLOSING IN 15 MINUTES. ON MONDAY, THE REPAIR SHOP REPORTED THAT THE SPARK PLUG IN CYLINDER 2 HAD BLOWN OUT. TO ATTEMPT A FIX, THEY INSERTED A HELI-COIL AND PLUG BUT WERE STILL UNABLE TO GET THE PRESSURE ABOVE 40 P.S.I ON THE CYLINDER. A DEEPER DIAGNOSIS INDICATED SCOURING/SCARRING ON THE CYLINDER 2 BORE AS WELL AS THE CYLINDER HEAD CAUSED BY THE SPARK PLUG DEBRIS. I WAS TOLD THE ONLY COST EFFECTIVE FIX FOR THIS WAS TO GET A REPLACEMENT ENGINE. TO GET ANOTHER OPINION, I CONTACTED A LOCAL HONDA DEALER IN THE BUFFALO AREA (RAY LAKS) AND THEY CONFIRMED OVER THE PHONE THAT SCARRING ON THE CYLINDER SLEEVE WOULD REQUIRE A REPLACEMENT ENGINE. THE PLUGS THAT WERE ON THE CAR WERE THE OEM FACTORY INSTALLED. I HAD PLANNED ON REPLACING THESE AT 110,000 MILES PER THE HONDA MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE. MY CAR HAD 105,713 MILES WHEN THE FAILURE OCCURRED. I AM THE ORIGINAL AND ONLY OWNER OF THIS AUTOMOBILE. THE FIX WAS TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE ENGINE. THE FAILURE OF THIS OEM COMPONENT AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH. *TR