Front grille coming apart.

[Prelude2CivicX]

So just an update on this. To make a long story short I finally took my car to Honda of Hollywood where I purchased my Honda a little over 2 years ago now. I took my car to them about 3-4 months ago. Had to leave it there a week because they work like turtles. Yes they did fix it but I noticed they used glue to keep the grill from coming off again. I dont know how long thats going to hold up but its been like 4 months and its been fine but they fucked up and now I’m waiting for them to fix something else that they caused. I think I could show you better than I could explain or at least dont feel like typing so much. Lol. Well as you can see from the pictures they forgot to reinstall a piece that keeps the passenger side foglight from lighting inside of the grill. Been waiting 4 months to get that fixed now and they just keep bullshitting me since it seems like they just dont want to redo the work again. Not to mention they left my front bumper full of hologram/swirls from bad rotary passes which you cant see from the pictures here but they’re there. Point is you’re probably better off fixing the issue yourselves instead of taking it to the morons at the stealership.

Here’s a before shot, before grill issue and foglight issue:

After all the nonsense:

 

[Mrbadwrench]

Do not zip tie behind the tabs. I did that and it just curled/pulled the upper bumper downwards, permanently damaging it.

 

[mumster]

What’s the latest on this. I just took mine in for the grill separation today and the dealer told me Honda of America doesn’t acknowledge that it is an actual issue covered by the warranty. Anyone have proof in the form of a TSB or invoice? Is there a way to contact them and dispute what the dealer said?

 

[messoroz]

21 Hatchback EX. 1600 miles and the grille is separating. Can visually see the tabs are broken. I have never hit anything and the rest of the front is pristine

 

[hikaru]

21 Hatchback EX. 1600 miles and the grille is separating. Can visually see the tabs are broken. I have never hit anything and the rest of the front is pristine

I don't think it's broken, but what happened is that the bumper cover is "spitting out" the grill because it's vertical support in the bumper cover is sagging over time.

You need to have the vertical support reinforced by correcting it's position to stay upright so that the opening of the bumper cover fits the contour of the grill.

 

[jlamb30]

What’s the latest on this. I just took mine in for the grill separation today and the dealer told me Honda of America doesn’t acknowledge that it is an actual issue covered by the warranty. Anyone have proof in the form of a TSB or invoice? Is there a way to contact them and dispute what the dealer said?

21 Hatchback EX. 1600 miles and the grille is separating. Can visually see the tabs are broken. I have never hit anything and the rest of the front is pristine

I took mine to my dealer, as well. They said they have seen it multiple times and there is no official Honda fix/repair. The dealership's repair option is to glue it like Prelude2CivicX's dealer did, or order and replace that particular bumper piece, which will probably come loose again. At some point when I get time, I'll remove the bumper and fix it with hikaru's solution.

 

[messoroz]

I don't think it's broken, but what happened is that the bumper cover is "spitting out" the grill because it's vertical support in the bumper cover is sagging over time.

You need to have the vertical support reinforced by correcting it's position to stay upright so that the opening of the bumper cover fits the contour of the grill.

I fully agree that this is the true correct fix. But the wedges on the bumper piece (not the grille) that lock with the grille tabs are truely broken which is what is allowing the grille to separate and its obvious its due to the bumper and grille warping and it eventually building up enough tension to just snap the retention mechanism off.

 

[hikaru]

I fully agree that this is the true correct fix. But the wedges on the bumper piece (not the grille) that lock with the grille tabs are truely broken which is what is allowing the grille to separate and its obvious its due to the bumper and grille warping and it eventually building up enough tension to just snap the retention mechanism off.

Can’t do much when that happens. The only thing that can be done is permanently weld the grill into the bumper with epoxy.

The reinforcement in the vertical support to stay upright is a must. I’ve seen people who put huge aftermarket front lip run into the same situation as well. The weights and drags.

 

[messoroz]

Mmm, I wish there were some dimensions given for the vertical support, i..e. ideal corner bend angle of the bracket.

 

[zspeed]

This is one thing that I hate with the 10th gen. The front grille design is just so flimsy and how I wished that the designers made it sturdier like the previous gens.

 

[hikaru]

Mmm, I wish there were some dimensions given for the vertical support, i..e. ideal corner bend angle of the bracket.

I didn't record the angle, but the point is you have to fabricate a bracket there and adjust the angle until the yellow area is flushed with each other. In other words, the grill has to sit flush with the vertical bumper support.

 

[Doc_Mello]

I'm sure that Honda is aware of the problem that the vertical support below the upper bumper piece is too weak, which eventually causes those little tabs to pop out over time.

They reinforce the vertical support by making is bulkier, wider and larger for the 2019 bumper.

Having a 2019, I found only the outside edges of the grill trim were dislocating. So, I had the bumper off for other mods, and using this thread as inspiration, I slathered the culprit tabs with twin-tube epoxy, then used some low-residue tape to hold the pieces together while it dried.

In this pic, you can see how that tap insertion point is gooed-up (technical term ?) with epoxy.

So far, so perfect! Thanks for raising awareness to this issue! ??

 

[hikaru]

Having a 2019, I found only the outside edges of the grill trim were dislocating. So, I had the bumper off for other mods, and using this thread as inspiration, I slathered the culprit tabs with twin-tube epoxy, then used some low-residue tape to hold the pieces together while it dried.

In this pic, you can see how that tap insertion point is gooed-up (technical term ?) with epoxy.

So far, so perfect! Thanks for raising awareness to this issue! ??

While you are doing so, please make sure that you reinforce the vertical center beam by placing metal bracket to correct its angle so that upper piece of the bumper cover is raised up again in the correct position.

The only reasons that these little tabs in the grill are giving up is the entire upper bumper cover is collapsing over time when the vertical center beam gives up.

You will see the upper bumper cover gets curled up like many have said because the permanent bond that you made there is pulling the upper bumper cover down.

 

[Doc_Mello]

While you are doing so, please make sure that you reinforce the vertical center beam by placing metal bracket to correct its angle so that upper piece of the bumper cover is raised up again in the correct position.

The only reasons that these little tabs in the grill are giving up is the entire upper bumper cover is collapsing over time when the vertical center beam gives up.

You will see the upper bumper cover gets curled up like many have said because the permanent bond that you made there is pulling the upper bumper cover down.

Thanks, I’ll consider this, but it’s all said-n-done at this point. Hopefully, I don’t have to go back in there. ??

 

[typeRtommy]

Add me to this list

I had Honda replace my emblem last week due to a crack from a rock chip, and noticed the gaps in my grill the next day. They tried to fix the gaps today but claimed they couldn't do anything.
I tried to demand that they were the cause of this, due to someone likely pulling on the emblem to remove it but they claim they used a heat gun and a small blade to remove it and did not "pull hard" on the grill. My word against there's I suppose.

I was relieved to see that its a large problem after finding this thread, but still sucks nonetheless.

Guess all 10th gens, regardless of year, will have this issue.