Honda’s 1.5-liter turbocharged engine apparently doesn’t produce enough heat to warm up the Civic and CR-V’s cabins, especially in colder climates.
Cabin heating has worked flawlessly in the past 50 years, and it’s only normal that customers expect every vehicle to warm the cabin properly. However, Honda failed the “warming” exam in its CR-Vs and Civics produced between 2016-2018.
Where is the Problem?
The issue revolves around the engine not heating up, subsequently not warming the inside of the car properly. See, to make its engines more efficient, Honda decreased the overall heat footprint of the engine. In other words, more of the burned fuel turns into mechanical energy rather than heat. The result is a more efficient engine, but also one that won’t heat the cabin properly.
Worth mentioning, this should be easily mitigated by using a heat exchanger system designed for the difference in generated heat. An engine might be slower to warm up the cabin, but it must do that at some point. In this case, it failed to do so.
To understand the situation, let’s see how the heating system works. So, the heat produced by the engine is absorbed by the coolant in the cooling system. The engine’s coolant carries the heat to the heater core, which behaves like a heat exchanger between the engine and the cabin, thus passing the warmth inside.
What is Honda Doing to Solve the Issue?
Now there could be a couple of reasons for this issue, including a coolant leak or a faulty heater valve. However, Honda says that the problem is in excessive engine oil dilution. If that were the case, an oil change would’ve solved it, and it didn’t.
Following the increase in complaints, the company tried to sort the issue in Canada and the USA by issuing recall campaigns. According to Honda, almost 90 percent of the States’ faulty cars have already been dealt with. Notably, the automaker updated the software, replaced the lubricants, and even changed some vehicles’ climate control units.
But the customers aren’t satisfied yet. The problem persists, and Honda has provided no other solution except for extending the warranty period for some engine components. Customers felt betrayed as they could barely use a car without a front defrost function in freezing winter.
What are Customers Saying?
“This vehicle is absolutely unsuitable to be driven in cold temps and climates. It’s a definite safety hazard to drive with your windows fogged up, and the vehicle can’t create enough heat to defrost them. I am now carrying an adapter plug and a hairdryer in case of an emergency. Who spends over $40 000 to do this?” wrote a 2017 Honda CR-V owner from Alberta, CA (source- hondaproblems.com)
Owners of these models also went to their local dealerships with the problem, but that did not turn out to be favorable either. Some customers were even told that it is not an actual issue but just a cause-and-effect relationship. They said that the models equipped with the 1.5-liter engine had been kept idle for too long in low temperatures, causing the problem. In other words, customers who put a load on the vehicle (like continuous long drives) should not face the issue, but that doesn’t seem to be the case either.
We don’t know what the real deal is, just that there is no solution yet. But it’s safe to say that Honda customers are in their own right to expect their cars to heat up, even if they let it run at idle for an extended period, don’t you think?
