KnownCarProblems2002 Honda Accord Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 1,050 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Honda Accord, most often about the transmission (46% of complaints, typically around 87,500 miles). It is 6th of 27 Accord model years by number of complaints and has 5 recalls.
Most common 2002 Honda Accord problems
Transmission
478 complaints · 46%Half of these problems showed up before 87,500 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, manual transmission, driveline, clutch assembly.
I have started to experience problems with the transmission on 2002 Honda Accord ex v6, (purchased new. I felt sudden jerks while starting after stopping at lights or stop signs. I knew Honda did do free transmission replacement for 2001 models. I would like to know if this has been problem with other people too and a…
While starting from a stop, the transmission will not engage..then as the RPM begin to increase, the car will jerk into gear with severe force..causing your head to snap back.
Air bags
273 complaints · 26%Half of these problems showed up before 85,500 miles. Parts named most often: frontal, side/window, alleged counterfeit air bag.
Involved in serious head on mva where my vehicle was totaled, injuries sustained. Spent 24 hrs in icu due to head trauma, memory loss, contusions, and abrasions. Air bag did not deploy, driver seat fractured while seat belt held, which allowed forward thrust into windshield.
- the contact owns a 2002 Honda Accord. The air bag sensor light illuminated for over a month. The mechanic stated that they need ed to replace it. However, the dealer didn't give her a written copy of the estimate and diagnosis, only a verbal estimate. The current and failure mileage were 82000.
Body and structure
75 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 121,000 miles. Parts named most often: body, frame and members.
The contact owned a 2002 Honda Accord. While at an independent mechanic for repairs, the mechanic stated that the front passenger side wheel well was corroded and the front subframe needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 121,000.
The contact owns a 2002 Honda Accord. The contact stated that after hearing a news report about rust in the sub frame of his model vehicle, he decided to take the vehicle to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. The techinian verified that the sub frame was severelly corroded and there was a danger that the engine…
Electrical
69 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 97,000 miles. Parts named most often: ignition, 12v/24v/48v battery, instrument cluster/panel, alternator/generator/regulator.
Tl contact owns a 2002 Honda Accord. The contact stated that she was able to remove the key from the ignition switch without the vehicle being in park. He stated that a relative was able to remove the key without it rolling forward or backwards. Nhtsa recall campaign id number 10v364000, electrical system, ignition is…
The contact owns a 2002 Honda Accord. The contact stated that she was able to remove the key out of the ignition while the vehicle was still in drive. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who stated that due to the mileage on the vehicle, it surpassed the statue of…
Engine
52 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 102,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, cooling system, exhaust system.
At first instance, the car began to show sluggish conditions when shifting gears. As time went on, the 'slips' began to grow more and more dangerous to the point that the car could barely shift between gears at all and was a safety hazard for both driver and to anyone around me as I was vulnerable to be rear-ended by…
The contact owns a 2002 Honda Accord. While driving, the vehicle failed to accelerate and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The…
Speed control
46 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 58,500 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal, cruise control, cables.
Vehicle lurked into on coming traffic causing vehicles to slam on brakes and a near miss on interstate 10. 3 or four vehicles had to go to the median,entering on-ramp headed west on i10. Not the first occasion this situation has happened.
Accelerator pedal sticks every morning. You need to strongly depress pedal and the car lurches forward and then it is ok. I presently have it in a shop for repair. Repairman said it looked like Honda tried to fix this as there was yellow paint on throttle hood and a gasket had been replaced? I never took it to Honda…
Seat belts
39 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 90,500 miles. Parts named most often: front.
The contact owns a 2002 Honda Accord. While driving at speeds of 5 MPH and abruptly depressing the brake pedal, the seat belt failed to engage and lock the contact into position. The SRS air bag warning light also illuminated on the instrument panel. The dealer replaced the seatbelts at the owners expense. They were…
I started my car one morning and the SRS light came on. I had I t tested via computer and it showed drivers side seat belt buckle sensor, Honda on 500 yonkers ave, yonkers will not repair at no cost, american Honda explained that as well to me on case # n012015-07-2000208, I do not understand as it is a safety problem…
Brakes
34 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 59,500 miles. Parts named most often: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, foundation components, pedals and linkages, power assist.
I pushed on the brake and the car would not stop. I was only going probably 5-10 miles per hour as I was approaching a stop sign. After pushing on the brake several times, the car slowed. As I recall, this happened once before over a year ago. I thought I might have been wearing too big of shoes and not hit the brake…
Dt: while driving, the vehicle ran great until 57000 miles, when the ABS system failed. When driving 55 MPH, came to a railroad crossing and applied when the brakes failed. Brakes pressure was felt but brakes did not grab and extended stopping distance was needed, and driver to engage the emergency brake in order to…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2002 Honda Accord recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began august 12, 2019. Owners may contact honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are q5a and y58.
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling certain 2003 acura 3.2cl, 2002-2003 3.2tl, 2003-2006 mdx, 2001-2007 honda accord, 2001-2005 civic, 2003-2005 civic hybrid, 2001-2005 civic gx ngv, 2002-2006 cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2002-2004 odyssey, 2003-2008 pilot and 2006 ridgeline vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with driver frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An explosion of an inflator within the driver frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver, front seat passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began april 10, 2019. Honda owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is o41. Acura owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is u40.
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling specific 2003 acura 3.2cl, 2013-2016 ilx, 2013-2014 ilx hybrid, 2003-2006 mdx, 2007-2016 rdx, 2002-2003 3.2tl, 2004-2006, and 2009-2014 tl, 2010-2013 zdx and 2001-2007 and 2009 honda accord, 2001-2005 civic, 2003-2005 civic hybrid, 2001-2005 civic gx ngv, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2007 fit, 2002-2004 odyssey, 2003-2008 pilot, and 2006-2014 ridgeline vehicles. The affected vehicles received a replacement driver air bag inflator as part of a previous takata inflator recall remedy or a replacement driver air bag module containing the same inflator type as a service part. Due to a manufacturing error, in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver frontal air bag, these inflators may explode.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on july 1, 2015. Owners may contact honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Owners may contact acura customer service at 1-800-382-2238, select option 4. Note: vehicles that have had their driver frontal air bag replaced previously as part of a recall remedy prior to september 12, 2014 need to have their air bag replaced under this recall as well. Vehicles that, on or after september 12, 2014, received a remedy for a prior driver frontal air bag inflator recall already rec
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2007 accord, 2001-2005 civic, 2001-2004 honda civic gx, 2003-2005 honda civic hybrid, 2002-2006 cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2002-2004 odyssey, 2003-2008 pilot, 2006 ridgeline, 2003 acura 3.2cl, 2003-2006 acura mdx, and 2002-2003 acura 3.2tl vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including manufacturing variability that, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Electrical: switch
Risk: If the driver does not shift to park before removing the key and fails to engage the parking brake, the vehicle could roll and a crash could occur.
Fix: Dealers will perform an inspection procedure that confirms interlock function. Vehicles will be updated with a redesigned interlock lever free of charge. The recall began on march 7, 2005. Owners may contact honda at 1-800-999-1009 or acura at 1-800-382-2238.
Full defect summary
On certain passenger vehicles, the interlock operation of the ignition switch may not function properly, making it possible to turn the ignition key to the "off" position and remove the key without shifting the transmission to park.
Engine
Risk: If the timing belt breaks, the engine will stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the water pump and if it is one of the defective pumps, the water pump and timing belt will be replaced. Owner notification began august 30, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact honda at 1-800-999-1009 or acura at 1-800-382-2238.
Full defect summary
On certain minivans, sedans, coupes, and sport utility vehicles equipped with v6 engines, a timing belt tensioner pulley on the water pump is misaligned and could cause the timing belt to contact a bolt on the cylinder head. Eventually the belt could be damaged and fail.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Rupturing driver's air bag inflators
Summary
This rq investigation was opened to collect and analyze additional information to better evaluate the scope and timeliness of honda's two safety recalls addressing rupturing of the driver's side air bag inflators (08v-593 and 09v-259).in an earlier response to rmd's request for information, honda indicated that the second recall (09v-259), essentially an expansion of the first (08v-593), was necessary since later information informed that the source of the defect was different than originally postulated, and so the scope of the vehicles affected changed. Honda indicated that it had relied on its supplier of the air bag inflators, takata, inc. (takata), in studying the possible sources of the
Ignition park-shift interlock
Summary
Odi has received 16 complaints alleging failures of the ignition park-shift interlock that allowed the ignition key to be removed from the ignition switch without the transmission being shifted to park in model year (my) 2002 and 2003 honda accord vehicles with automatic transmissions.eleven of the complaints allege that the failure of the interlock resulted in a rollaway crash.one owner alleged that she was almost into her house when she noticed the car rolling out of the garage and down the driveway and that when she tried to stop the car it almost ran over her, before crashing into a cable box at the end of the driveway.another owner alleged that the vehicle rolled out of the driveway and
Ignition-park interlock
Summary
The above failure report counts are for model year (my) 1999 - 2001 honda accord models that were not within the scope of a related honda recall action (NHTSA 03v423); these vehicles were investigated by odi under defect petition (dp) 04-006.complaint information for other models and model years was not obtained by odi.the noted population indicates the number of vehicles (including the my 2002 accord plus the prelude and tl models) that are within the scope of honda?s new recall (NHTSA 05v-025, honda p68, p69); 402,525 of these were investigated in dp04-006.seepart 573 documents related to 05v-025 for further detail on other models and mys.odi notes that, according to honda?s analysis, inte
Seat frame bracket failure
Summary
This pe was opened based on 10 consumer complaints in the odi database alleging that the power assisted seats were failing in certain 1998-2002 honda accord vehicles.failures are concentrated in the 1998-99 model year vehicles.the bracket that attaches the seat bottom to the seat base is fracturing due to: 1-the weld condition of bracket, 2-the drivers weight, and 3-the impact on the seat when the driver enters the vehicle and sits down.over time the bracket that attaches the seat may fail at the left front corner of the seat bottom.the other 3 points of attachment of the seat bottom to the seat base stay attached and the seat movement is limited.the attachment of the seat bottom to the seat
Questions about the 2002 Honda Accord
- What are the most common problems with the 2002 Honda Accord?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: transmission (478 complaints, typically around 87,500 miles); air bags (273 complaints, typically around 85,500 miles); body and structure (75 complaints, typically around 121,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2002 Honda Accord have?
- 5 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from June 27, 2019 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2002 a bad year for the Honda Accord?
- It is 6th of 27 Accord model years by number of complaints, with 1,050 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.