Thanks for the update - you're the first among us to complete.

1.4 million Hondas are affected globally across multiple models (and millions more cars by other manufacturers - Ford, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, and Mitsubishi - using the same Denso fuel pump supplier), so I'm sure we'll start hearing more from those repairs. But I have many questions for you, to start...

• Did Honda notify you already, or did your dealer proactively notify you of the recall?
• Did you notice any engine (revving/stalling) or electrical issues before the recall repair?
• Did fuel tank need to be run down or drained before bringing to dealer?
• Do you notice any engine performance or mpg difference after the repair was made?
• Were your infotainment and DII settings preserved, or did you need to reset and/or re-select?

 

Thanks for the update - you're the first among us to complete.

1.4 million Hondas are affected globally across multiple models (and millions more cars by other manufacturers - Ford, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, and Mitsubishi - using the same Denso fuel pump supplier), so I'm sure we'll start hearing more from those repairs. But I have many questions for you, to start...

Some Answers for you. Also, i scheduled my service. They said they had multiple people attempt to have it fixed without scheduling, but scheduling is key due to the parts (especially for the insight). But as i mention later, it is not a complex service to complete. The tech had no issue completing it/

• Did Honda notify you already, or did your dealer proactively notify you of the recall?
  • I got an email as well as a hondalink notification about the recall.
• Did you notice any engine (revving/stalling) or electrical issues before the recall repair?
  • No issues noticed, but as mentioned it was replaced so they must have noticed some swelling.
• Did fuel tank need to be run down or drained before bringing to dealer?
  • Nope! I got it back with the same amount of gas in the tank. Car didn't even smell of fuel, as the repair took place underneath the rear seats.
• Do you notice any engine performance or mpg difference after the repair was made?
  • Slightly higher MPG (1-2) but its only been a few days so i cant comment specifically.
• Were your infotainment and DII settings preserved, or did you need to reset and/or re-select?
  • No info was changed. I believe it was just a parts swap. It takes time to get to the fuel pump, but after that they said it was a breeze

 

I did my Fuel Pump Recall on Friday, 06/19/2020. After driving for few miles, I noticed low acceleration. Soon the Engine Light Turned On.
The dealership which I towed my vehicle to said, “ the mechanic who did the recall service, didn’t do it properly; the new fuel pump on my vehicle is not pumping enough gas to engine”.

I did some research and found that low fuel pressure will make engine work harder as it is not receiving enough fuel. It means that engine was suffering for about 120 miles from low fuel pressure. This definitely damaged the engine.
I want your suggestions. Do you know a Honda Licensed Mechanic to give me his opinion?
I want to make sure if I need my engine replaced.

Thanks for your kind comments.

 

I’m going through the same issue right now with a 2019 Honda fit. I had the recall done on June 28. Couple days later I start the car it does a shutter and all of the lights on my dashboard come on. Take the car back to Honda they say they fix the problem, day and a half later it’s doing the same thing. Now I have an appointment to take the car there today at 11 AM. The whole reason I buy new cars it so I don’t have to go through this issue.
Something told me I should not have done the recall, I wish I would’ve listened to that intuition.

 

It is doubtful any damage occurred. Honda will check everything out when the finally get around to doing the recall correctly. The ECU takes into account fuel delivery and would adjust accordingly. This is why power was reduced and you went into a pseudo "limp mode." Please keep us posted as to developments! I'm holding off on this recall until Honda gets a little more experience with it. I'm sorry you had to be a "guinea pig" for this one.

 

I think its hard to tell what (if any) damage occurred, but you have at least noted this in your Honda service record and can refer to it if a potentially 'engine related' issue occurs in future. Be sure to keep copy and that dealer documents the reason(s) correctly.

If you learn of any "validation" steps that the dealer (or owners) should take to confirm that their fuel pump replacement goes well, please also let us know. I'd expect your service center will make extra steps or recommendations to ensure this second replacement goes right.

 

I brought my 2019 insight (12800 miles) in for my second oil change to the dealer. Well without even telling me first they changed out the fuel pump due to a recall. When I got the car back the idle was rough and my mph went waaay down to the less than 20mpg range. Then the check engine light came on. I brought the car back to the dealer. They ran some tests and said it was fine now. They claimed maybe some air was in the fuel line and that it would clear up in a few engine cycles. Well the problems never went away and the next day the light came back on. Well its back at the dealership today getting checked out again.

So, has anyone else had any of these problems?

How should I move forward if they give me back a not working correctly car? I understand if they do this again I'm getting into lemon law territory. Has anyone ever been through a buyback situation?

This is my first new car and I'm super pissed that I'm dealing with this kind of thing. I am in NY during covid so haven't let off to the workers how pissed I am though because I know everything sucks now. I wouldn't have let them mess with the fuel pump if they had asked. Also this dealer doesn't have loaners so I'm screwed while its in the shop. I have the lifetime power train warranty so I could go to a different dealership if need be. I wanted to give them as many chances as I could to get it squared away though.

 

Im currently dealing with the same issues! Did they get it squared away?

 

I don't know what to do. It was also my first new vehicle. They didn't do their job as they should do; they didn't connect fuel injectors. I drove for about 80 miles with very low fuel pressure. The engine was working very hard to compensate this low pressure of fuel. It's obvious that the engine was damage, but I can't tell the extent.
The Service Manager apologized, and said that every thing is fine. If something happened to engine, it would have warranty. The issue is that the warranty is only for 60k miles. I definitely expect my Insight to run for me at least up to 200k.
Should we together contact www.automobile.honda.com? What's your suggestion?

 

I've just gotten back my insight and everything is running like it was before now. The cabin does smell like fuel though. They changed the O rings for the whole fuel pump assembly. My guess is they reinstalled it incorrectly and the pump was unable to maintain its seal. The fuel tank is pressurized on the insight so that would explain the fuel mix too lean warning.

I had already contacted honda this morning in regards to how I think they've rolled out this recall very poorly and I think you should absolutely do the same to start a paper trail now. If it turns out your engine is indeed damaged from this work then tracing it is important because you'll need to prove the issue started before your warranty runs out. I've got the lifetime power train warranty so luckily all of this stuff would be covered anyways.

 

I will definitely contact Honda and let them know what dealership did to my Insight.

 

I hope dealers are sharing info among themselves and/or back to Honda on how to perform the repair. 1.4 million Hondas are affected worldwide ('only' 15k Insights) and they need to be getting this right the first time.

I read a recent article that mentioned the 'official' start date for fuel pump recall repairs is 7/22/20 - probably accounting for time Honda needs to notify owners. But also indirectly meaning that there's little experience among Honda Techs doing it before then.

Did the dealer document everything on the work order / invoice you received copy of?

 

@Pb42 and @Bezhan
1-888-234-2138 is the number for Honda recalls. After you go through all the prompts it will give you the option to dial 4 to reach a customer service agent responsible for recall campaigns.

1-888-327-4236 is the safety hotline for the NHTSA which is responsible for enforcement on recalls. They might want to hear from owners about recalls not being done properly.

The first wave of letters will be sent out on July 22 according to Honda.

I'm undecided on whether to do it early or later right now. If I see covid-19 spiking again in Massachusetts I will probably do it early to get it over with. If not I will wait until the Fall when I'm due for my next oil change.

 

Sitting in the Honda dealership going on 3 hours for the recall repair.

 

~3 hours wait is what most people have reported, but the actual warranty document only lists 1.1 hours of billable work. - https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2020/RCRIT-20V314-7514.pdf

If it actually takes twice as long to do as Honda estimated, dealers might start deprioritizing scheduling of these jobs... OR (hopefully) get better and more efficient at learning as they go, to keep it a short job.

 

My service dealership called me today and said he's ordered the part. I have to call him back to see when it will be in and I can get it installed. . . .

 

I just had this repair completed today. It took about five hour Between dropping the car off and the repair being completed, although I’m not sure how much actual time was spent working on my car. There was definitely a fuel smell in the vehicle afterwards, and the fuel level is run down a bit. I’m hoping that’s just because They need to remove some fuel or something. Looking at the repair instructions that were posted earlier, there’s a warning to be very careful with the fuel level meter arm. So I’m just concerned maybe that was damaged and actually the reading on my dash is not accurate. I guess we’ll find out when I fill it up.

 

There was definitely a fuel smell in the vehicle afterwards, and the fuel level is run down a bit. I’m hoping that’s just because They need to remove some fuel or something. Looking at the repair instructions that were posted earlier, there’s a warning to be very careful with the fuel level meter arm. So I’m just concerned maybe that was damaged and actually the reading on my dash is not accurate. I guess we’ll find out when I fill it up.

Welcome to the forum... and sorry your first post isn't under better circumstances.

What level was your gas tank before and after drop off? Each bar is ~1 gallon so hopefully you were on the low-end of prior bar, rather than a full gallon being drained (?).

Any small amount of gas that got on upholstery will linger for a long time... as we've all experienced if even trace amounts get on clothes or skin while refueling. Do you smell it in both the cabin and the trunk, or moreso in the trunk? The fuel tank access point is behind the seats, so something else happened during the repair if you're smelling it in cabin with the seats back in place. If the smell is strong, pinpointing this may help if you choose to reloop with dealer to request specific location(s) for upholstery detailing.

 

Since the repair is done from INSIDE the car, the smell is not unexpected. One drop of fuel from the old pump falling anywhere in the car will wreak for a few days.

I'm not about to undertake the recall anytime soon, but when I do, will give the dealer a heads' up when dropping the car off, of hearing of complaints of the fuel smell. I will also will ensure this is noted on the work order.

 

I originally try to schedule my fuel pump replacement earlier this week (local dealer was scheduling appointments online two weeks out and had originally wanted it done before July 4th road trip). Got to the dealership and they first asked if I had a full tank of gas. (After a road trip, did refuel after empty and didn't connect one to the other).

The service advisor explained full tank requires about 2 hours to hand pump the gas out and pump it back in. I rescheduled for month down the line and will reschedule if I run out my tank sooner. Doing this repair while I wait rather than getting shuttled home with COVID risk to driver or myself, so keep the repair to minimum 2 hours with empty tank is best. Hoping the lounge is sparsely occupied...live close enough to the dealer that shuttling within 2 hours is waste of time, but too far to walk.

Both service advisors at the desk at the time were a little astonished (could be they were just affirming my car choice) about the range when we discussed how long it'd take for me to run out a tank when I started guessing 4-5 weeks to knock out 400 miles (typical with highway) to 500 miles (local city).

 

The service advisor explained full tank requires about 2 hours to hand pump the gas out and pump it back in. I rescheduled for month down the line and will reschedule if I run out my tank sooner. Doing this repair while I wait rather than getting shuttled home with COVID risk to driver or myself, so keep the repair to minimum 2 hours with empty tank is best. Hoping the lounge is sparsely occupied...live close enough to the dealer that shuttling within 2 hours is waste of time, but too far to walk.

So... this kind of speaks to the inconsistency and inexperience of Honda service with this recall repair... and why I won't be getting mine done until dealers have more experience with at least the Civic Hatchback and HR-V.

Prior posters in this thread mentioned that gas level was unchanged and did not need to be bled down for the recall repair. Honda's instructions for the recall repair make no mention of removing gas or a target gas level, and you can bet they would've communicated it to dealers it if it was a safety or required action!

Overall, it makes sense to keep fuel level low to facilitate the repair, but from the otherwise successfull examples in this forum, it seems like an extra/unnecessary step requested by your dealer. The overall job should only take 1.1 hours per Honda, so the extra time spent by dealers to pump out fuel is wasted time on their part.

 

I had a fuel pump done in my Odyssey a few years ago. The dealer made it a point to tell me to bring it in with 1/4 tank or less. I would assume the same would apply for any vehicle for safety reasons. I believe, in the case of the Odyssey, they needed to drop the tank. This is not the case with the Insight.

 

Hi, I’m new to the forum, and thought I’d post about my fuel pump recall experience. I have a 2019 Insight Touring, purchased in August of 2019. I’m mostly a city driver and just crossed 8k miles. I had gotten my oil changed at the dealership in February and am still at 70%, but wanted them to check out a persistent rattle in my sunroof that was cramping my style. I was informed of the recall when calling to schedule a time for the sunroof investigation, last Thursday. They scheduled me for service on Monday. When I arrived, my service advisor stated, “I hope they ordered the parts for this because they’re controlled-access parts.” They in fact had not, but my SA had ordered another set for a car that was scheduled for the replacement the next day which they ended up using for my car. I dropped it off for the day (around 9, my drop off time was scheduled at 10:30 but needed to car share with my husband and get him to work) and didn’t check in until around 3:30, at which point my SA said they were just finishing up and getting paperwork together. I received the official text that it was ready around 4:10 or so.

I didn’t really think too much about this recall repair, and am fortunate to have had a serendipitous experience with regard to the parts ordering. I had 2-3 bars on my fuel gauge also; I wasn’t really aware that less fuel would be better, so this was another coincidence. I did notice that my MPG had dropped by .8 or so for my tank when I picked it up (someone must have been racecar driving when diagnosing or testing it), but quickly recouped some of that on my way home. No fuel smell whatsoever.

Although I only drove about 15 miles home via city streets, I noticed that my acceleration was crisper when I had to quickly merge into traffic...and maybe quieter too. Prior to the repair, I noticed my idle to be a bit funky when starting up the car, and I think that has improved as well.

I am very glad that I had this repair done, and that I didn’t overthink it and get stressed out because of others’ experiences. My dealership is well-established and has taken very good care of me, so they’ve earned my trust.

And the sunroof rattle was fixed too! It’s like I’m driving a brand-new car again!

 

I had my fuel pump replaced last Wednesday (July 15). Took about 5 hours, had a full tank of gas. . . they didn't say anything about having to pump the gas out.
But boy, the fuel smell in the cabin lasted for 2-3 days. Driving with the windows all open!

 

So I just took my 2019 insight in for the recall, let me just say, what a nightmare this has been.

First, I noticed they moved some stuff around in the back seat, thought they maybe vacuumed, but then I looked down at my feet and it was definitely not vacuumed. While at a red light, I looked at back seat and something didn't look right. After a few red lights I decided to wiggle my 5 month olds car seat and the whole thing moved! Then I looked down at the latch, and the car seat wasn't even installed!! The service guy mentioned nothing about the car seat being removed! What if I would've put my son in there and something happened!? I was gonna give them a call the next day to complain.

Then, about 2 mins later I heard a weird rattle-ish noise and thought maybe I ran over something on the road. Then 2 mins later, my engine revved up while my foot was barely on the pedal. Then I tried braking, but it was telling me I was going 40mph even though I was actively braking and slowing down. I tried accelerating a few times and it was just stuck at 40. Then it revved again. I immediately turned back around to the dealer (I was about 5 miles, if that, away from the dealer).

I explained to service manager and he drove the car from the parking lot to garage and said he felt nothing ( literally like 50 yards). I kept insisting there was something wrong and wouldn't leave until I had an answer. He had a senior technician go for a ride with me. He immediately noticed all sorts of things wrong right off the bat, and during the ride:
*engine revving up for no reason(well making the sound) and Ron going up but the speedometer staying at 40.

* Rumbling noise/ feeling (like driving over the rumbling strips on side of highway)

A few other odd things happened and he explained to the service manager everything that happened on our very very short ride around the neighborhood across the street from the dealer.

The service manager kept insisting and trying to push that it wasn't related to the recall-even stating my transmission is slipping-yea...ok... Cuz that makes sense, smh.

Myself and service tech repeatedly said it needs to be looked at as in seems to be related to recall.

They gave me a loaner 2020 accord, and they will look at my car today.
I will have to say, the tech was upfront that he was not well versed on his the insight/hybrids drive normally, specially since they don't have many around being worked on.

I'm glad I found this topic as reference when they call me later today. I will keep you all posted.

 

First, I noticed they moved some stuff around in the back seat, thought they maybe vacuumed, but then I looked down at my feet and it was definitely not vacuumed.

The seat cushions are removed to access the fuel tank below. It sounds like the tech working on your Insight botched the repair and your fuel pump is not providing the correct amount of fuel when requested like @Bezhan's Insight.

Fuel Pump Recall - repair experiences

Got mine inspected and then fixed last week. 3 hour job to get it fixed, 1 hour to get into the car's fuel pump. The failure is due to a material used by the supplier, which can fail and absorb fuel, causing the fuel pump to fail. Not Honda's fault, supplier probably didnt correctly tread the...

www.gen3insight.com

1-888-234-2138 <--- You might want to report this to Honda's recall hotline about your dealership.

 

I took my 2019 Insight EX to the dealer recently to complain about the wind noise on both the passenger and driver's side window. They had an Insight LX in the shop that they took me for a ride in to compare. It made the same wind noise, so they decided it was just normal for the car and not anything wrong with mine. I really didn't want them changing seals for no reason cause it could make things worse.

Anyway, the reason the LX was there was for the fuel pump recall and the technician told me they could only replace it after it was less than half full of fuel, so he'd been driving it home and back and around during lunch to burn up fuel. I noticed we were driving in ECO mode and I suggested to him he drive it in SPORT mode to burn fuel quicker. He was shocked and did not know that was even an option and it was right there in the middle console. Note to self: Don't let him work on my car. But seriously, wow. I guess they don't see many of those vehicles in the garage.

 

Anyway, the reason the LX was there was for the fuel pump recall and the technician told me they could only replace it after it was less than half full of fuel, so he'd been driving it home and back and around during lunch to burn up fuel. I noticed we were driving in ECO mode and I suggested to him he drive it in SPORT mode to burn fuel quicker. He was shocked and did not know that was even an option and it was right there in the middle console. Note to self: Don't let him work on my car. But seriously, wow. I guess they don't see many of those vehicles in the garage.

Uh, no way I'd leave my car at dealer for them to burn fuel down; I can put miles on and burn gas myself. And if they insisted on keeping it, I would pull out the fuel pump recall instructions for the Civic, which mentions lifting the front end and not needing to drain the tank even at 90+% full.

 

...the technician told me they could only replace it after it was less than half full of fuel

I hope he realizes the recall is for the fuel pump which they can pull out even if the gas tank is full.

 

Finished a road trip where I got the range down to 30 miles (half gallon before the 1.6 reserve for me). Got 60+ mpg for two hours driving at 60+ mph without ACC following a truck. (must have been tailwind since I have a Touring and usually can't get that kind of MPG on highway though my gas tank was light).

So with that little fuel, I rescheduled my fuel pump replacement. Continued to run the tank down until I rolled into the dealership with 5 miles in range left. Came in at 9:30 a.m. appointment and intended to wait rather than bus back home (no shuttle due to COVID). Original estimate of 2 hours came to be closer to 3 hours. Slight smell of fuel dissipated after opening windows and not noticed the next day. Might have lost some fuel, but not enough to knock it down past 0 range. Will see what kind of performance impact if any I get out of the new tank of fuel - felt like it ran pretty much the same as before.

 

Honda just called me back and said that it is indeed the Fuel Pump like the 2019 recall, they said they contacted Honda of America to order the part and HoA called them back immediately asking why they needed this part for a 2020 and asked them to look over a TON of other stuff on the car (guessing to see if they need to issue another recall)

My car didnt show up on any recall VIN search and even the dealership said it didnt show up any recalls on their system. they ordered the part and it should be here and installed tomorrow so hopefully It will be done by tomorrow.

I will ask them how they pinpointed it was the fuel pump when I pick up the vehicle and asked if they checked anything else, I did mention another user had this issue and it was the SRS and they said they checked that and it wasn't the issue on my vehicle

and yes they did tell me all 3 were Hybrid 2 being an Accord and one being a Insight

 

Honda just called me back and said that it is indeed the Fuel Pump like the 2019 recall, they said they contacted Honda of America to order the part and HoA called them back immediately asking why they needed this part for a 2020 and asked them to look over a TON of other stuff on the car (guessing to see if they need to issue another recall)

My car didnt show up on any recall VIN search and even the dealership said it didnt show up any recalls on their system. they ordered the part and it should be here and installed tomorrow so hopefully It will be done by tomorrow.

I will ask them how they pinpointed it was the fuel pump when I pick up the vehicle and asked if they checked anything else, I did mention another user had this issue and it was the SRS and they said they checked that and it wasn't the issue on my vehicle

and yes they did tell me all 3 were Hybrid 2 being an Accord and one being a Insight

Glad they were able to find the issue quickly. And honestly, almost 'better' that it's mechanical than something else, as it can be quickly (and permanently?) fixed with a part.

Some things that strike me as interesting:

• Honda only reported 10 units of 2020 models affected by low density metal on the impeller. But there's always a caveat that the scope of the recall can be expanded later. 183 cars were repaired for fuel pump issue before the recall was officially issued. Both these factors make me think Honda may not have a full handle on the magnitude and root cause of the recall issue...
• Your issue is diagnosed as fuel pump, but may or may not be due to impeller metal quality. Hopefully they send yours in for testing to see if it's part of the recall or separate 'random' failure.
• Hybrids aren't the most abundant car, so for 3 to be at dealer with same issue seems more than coincidence. I still wonder if there's some sort of temperature effect at play, even if not the battery (e.g. high temperature = high fuel vapor in gas tank?)

Any luck finding MM/YY production date (or getting from your dealer)? And do you recall what level (bars) your gas tank was when the failure occurred?

 

Honda just called me back and said that it is indeed the Fuel Pump like the 2019 recall, they said they contacted Honda of America to order the part and HoA called them back immediately asking why they needed this part for a 2020 and asked them to look over a TON of other stuff on the car (guessing to see if they need to issue another recall)

My car didnt show up on any recall VIN search and even the dealership said it didnt show up any recalls on their system. they ordered the part and it should be here and installed tomorrow so hopefully It will be done by tomorrow.

I will ask them how they pinpointed it was the fuel pump when I pick up the vehicle and asked if they checked anything else, I did mention another user had this issue and it was the SRS and they said they checked that and it wasn't the issue on my vehicle

and yes they did tell me all 3 were Hybird 2 being an Accord and one being a Insight

Thanks for the info. I would like to ask you to answer a few questions and apologize for my curiosity. ))).

1. What gas stations (brand) did you usually refuel and what type of fuel?
2. Have you filled up to a full tank? Refilled when the column stopped?
3. Did you drive with an almost empty tank? (how many divisions of fuel were on the scale when you usually stopped in for refueling?).

I ask to understand how the gasoline or the level of the tank affects the occurrence of situations with the pump.
THANKS!

 

99% of the time Costco, If I can't make it to a costco then honestly I'd go to any gas station near by but it's probably mostly 76 outside of Costco
I always fill up the car, I just let the pump click off I never pull the pump to keep pumping or to "top it off" its always full bars after a fill
and No,the car was 3/4 of the way full still when this happened, I usually refill when im at ~2 or 3 bars left

 

Honda said my fuel pump would be in today however I received no updates, i called them and they said its being worked on still, hopefully it will be done by tomorrow or at least friday and i will keep you guys updated, and @insightfully I have not had a chance to visit the dealer or get the mm/yy from them but will update you with it when I get the vehicle back