Dear Honda,
I'm a new owner of a 2014 Honda CRV EX. This is the 4th Honda vehicle and 5th Honda product my family has purchased. My Mom has also purchased a 2014 CRV EX-L, this is her 3rd CRV.
I purchased another Honda due to your reputation for reliabiliy and quality control. You also have a reputation for stepping up to take care of your customers in every possible way, which I really apprecaite.
To say I'm extremly dissapointed that my brand new, 2014 CRV with 200 miles on it has an engine noise on cold-start up would be an understatement. If you search You Tube, for "2012 Honda CRV, Cold start noise" you will hear exactly what noise I'm referring to. Through research, I've found that this problem affects all recent model 2.4L engines, CRV's and Accords. It's a metal on metal sound, like a grinding noise, or to me sounds like the timing chain is hitting the valve cover.
I called my local Honda dealer who told me this noise is normal and that he could go out on his lot and start several random 2.4L Accords or CRV's and they would likely make the noise. He told me his personal 2013 Accord 2.4l does it, as does the dealershiop's general manager's new Accord! It lasts for a second or so and then is gone. Clearly this is a known problem. I also heard videos of several 2008 Accords making the same noise. I have 23+ years of mechanical experience working on a variety of makes and models and I can ASSURE you the noice is NOT normal.
The noise is brief, lasting a second or so, and if you get in the car with all doors closed you cannot hear it. You can only her it if you crank the car with the doors open (I had to warm it one day after a snow event which is the first I heard it), so a LARGE number of people probably are totally unaware it's even occuring.
With Honda's reputation for quality and reliability, how in the world has this problem gone on for the past 6 years without Honda getting to the root of the problem and addressing it? I understand the problem gets progressively worse and eventually will stretch the timing chain. I cannot believe that with all of your engineering and R&D, the cause of this noise has not been identified and a repair outlined.
I have found that in the morning, if you cycle the ignition key to the on position, then off for a moment, then back on and leave it on for a few seconds before cranking, it sometimes does not make the noise. I'm not intimately familiar with the 2.4L engine so I'm not sure what issue that would point towards, but hopefully that may give your engineer's a place to start. Occasionally it will not make the noise if I turn the key on, then wait a few seconds, then crank, however when I tried that tecnique after work yesterday, it still made the noise.
Honda, if you want to save your reputation for quality and reliabiliy, invest the time necessary to identify the exact cause of this problem and institute a re-call for all models affected. I really like my CRV, but after investing $26,000+ on a new vehcile, to have one that makes engine noise just because it's cold out when you first start it, is completly unacceptable.
Thank you.
I'm a new owner of a 2014 Honda CRV EX. This is the 4th Honda vehicle and 5th Honda product my family has purchased. My Mom has also purchased a 2014 CRV EX-L, this is her 3rd CRV.
I purchased another Honda due to your reputation for reliabiliy and quality control. You also have a reputation for stepping up to take care of your customers in every possible way, which I really apprecaite.
To say I'm extremly dissapointed that my brand new, 2014 CRV with 200 miles on it has an engine noise on cold-start up would be an understatement. If you search You Tube, for "2012 Honda CRV, Cold start noise" you will hear exactly what noise I'm referring to. Through research, I've found that this problem affects all recent model 2.4L engines, CRV's and Accords. It's a metal on metal sound, like a grinding noise, or to me sounds like the timing chain is hitting the valve cover.
I called my local Honda dealer who told me this noise is normal and that he could go out on his lot and start several random 2.4L Accords or CRV's and they would likely make the noise. He told me his personal 2013 Accord 2.4l does it, as does the dealershiop's general manager's new Accord! It lasts for a second or so and then is gone. Clearly this is a known problem. I also heard videos of several 2008 Accords making the same noise. I have 23+ years of mechanical experience working on a variety of makes and models and I can ASSURE you the noice is NOT normal.
The noise is brief, lasting a second or so, and if you get in the car with all doors closed you cannot hear it. You can only her it if you crank the car with the doors open (I had to warm it one day after a snow event which is the first I heard it), so a LARGE number of people probably are totally unaware it's even occuring.
With Honda's reputation for quality and reliability, how in the world has this problem gone on for the past 6 years without Honda getting to the root of the problem and addressing it? I understand the problem gets progressively worse and eventually will stretch the timing chain. I cannot believe that with all of your engineering and R&D, the cause of this noise has not been identified and a repair outlined.
I have found that in the morning, if you cycle the ignition key to the on position, then off for a moment, then back on and leave it on for a few seconds before cranking, it sometimes does not make the noise. I'm not intimately familiar with the 2.4L engine so I'm not sure what issue that would point towards, but hopefully that may give your engineer's a place to start. Occasionally it will not make the noise if I turn the key on, then wait a few seconds, then crank, however when I tried that tecnique after work yesterday, it still made the noise.
Honda, if you want to save your reputation for quality and reliabiliy, invest the time necessary to identify the exact cause of this problem and institute a re-call for all models affected. I really like my CRV, but after investing $26,000+ on a new vehcile, to have one that makes engine noise just because it's cold out when you first start it, is completly unacceptable.
Thank you.