The plaintiff, Springfield resident Hal Pilger, brought the suit against American Honda Motor Corporation after his 2003 Honda CR-V burst into flames while he was driving it.
The suit notes that the exhaust manifold and the oil filter are positioned dangerously close to each other, and the fact that the oil filter is mounted vertically results in cases where leaking oil can spray over an extremely hot exhaust manifold, thus creating the potential for fires. Honda denies these allegations, saying that any fires that erupted were due to improper fitting of the oil filter, although it does admit that in complying with new emission-control regulations since 2002, it increased significantly the temperatures in the exhaust manifold and intake pipes, which could exacerbate the problem if oil is spraying directly on the manifold.
Various readers of the ConsumerAffairs.com website have reported similar incidents, including Matt from Columbus, Ohio, who encountered a memorable sight on his way to work one morning in October of 2004:
"In morning daylight, 8:30 AM, 50 degree temperature in Columbus Ohio, I was astonished to see a Honda CRV traveling at 65 mph beside me on the freeway with its exhaust system glowing so brightly I first mistook it for an orange neon lighting system."
"The first thing that came to mind was 'this poor guy's car is going to catch on fire,'" he recalled.
Honda is now blaming these problems on what it calls the "double gasket" theory, explaining in a letter sent in December 2004 to CR-V owners that the rubber gasket of the oil filter tends to remain stuck in the engine block (and presumably is not noticed immediately by a mechanic removing the oil filter). Because the old gasket is stuck in there, the new oil filter is not sealed properly, and that can cause oil to leak out and spray all over the super-hot exhaust manifold, creating a lot of heat and the potential for fires.
The suit asks the court to award damages to owners of vehicles which were affected by the engine fires, and to launch a campaign to recall and repair affected vehicles.
Our take? As always, we err on the side of caution. If you have one of the affected vehicles, contact your dealership--and Honda--immediately.
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