2016 Civic engine recall - piston pin snap ring issue affecting some VINs

dick w said:

Another way to look at this, especially if you are concerned about the maybe real or maybe not break-in oil issue, is that there really is no rush to get this done for a car that already has lots of miles--a likely "no problem found" inspection--so maybe you just wait until MM says the oil needs changed anyway. At some point, the only reason to get the recall closed is to get the recall closed. It's an inspection recall for the vast majority of cars. So it isn't going to make those cars any better.

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Good suggestion. I think this is what I may actually do. Spring is just around the corner here (another 4 or 5 weeks) and I know when the snow and salt ends I'll be putting more miles on mine, driving it more and the truck less. If I can time the inspection to have >3K miles or so on it I'll be totally OK with changing out the oil.

Keith said:

I think this is what I may actually do.

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There is one potential problem that's come to mind with the "if it has more than a few hundred miles it's fine" theory that hasn't been covered yet. If it's a mis-set situation (not seated in the groove but square in the wrist pin bore ) it would be that the snap ring is under an extreme amount of tension (2.1mm vs 6.4mm end gap) and this may be sufficient surface tension to resist the lateral forces of the connecting rod to wrist pin from moving it outwards. Most of the forces involved in a running engine are along the axis of the connecting rods (up and down). Also that the wrist pin to piston is an interference fit and wrist pin to connecting rod is a lubricated plain bearing. Just my theory but I think under these conditions an engine might run many thousands of miles with mis-set snap ring(s).

axreyb said:

A lot of stuff needs to be unbolted/removed to get to the pan. Ugh.

Looks like they changed the snap ring design from an actual circlip:

to a simple wire snap ring design:

I wonder if this change was a potential source of the hiccup on the line (slightly buggy new sequence)?

The newer ring is the same that was used in the motocross bikes I raced. The one thing I did not see in the inspection instructions is making sure the ring gap is NOT in the "removal" notch in the piston. That is a big no-no and when we assembled our bikes we made sure we rotated the ring gap 180* from the removal notch.

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OK I confess I've had too much French press coffee this morningbut here's something else to consider: If Honda did indeed change retaining ring types during engine production then this could also have potentially contributed to the problem. The cross section of one clip is square and the other round. It would mean that the groove machining profile would need to match the type of retaining ring being used so that a full, proper seating would be achieved and a round style retaining ring would not fit into a square groove fully. It has me wondering if somehow the discontinued, differently machined pistons got inadvertently put on the line.

Keith said:

OK I confess I've had too much French press coffee this morningbut here's something else to consider: If Honda did indeed change retaining ring types during engine production then this could also have potentially contributed to the problem. The cross section of one clip is square and the other round. It would mean that the groove machining profile would need to match the type of retaining ring being used so that a full, proper seating would be achieved and a round style retaining ring would not fit into a square groove fully. It has me wondering if somehow the discontinued, differently machined pistons got inadvertently put on the line.

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Different bore size, completely different piston, so no. The "good" thing about this issue is it is NOT a design issue. There is nothing wrong with the design or manufacturing or the parts. It is a simple (albeit costly) assembly issue that once verified /rectified will never be a problem again.

I tried taking my car into the dealership, I was informed they haven't received all the parts yet, just the tools to conduct the inspection. He preferred to wait till everything came in just in case they did find something wrong, they didn't want to hold my car for weeks. They were currently inspecting a Civic in their inventory as well when I got there. He told me to just go ahead and wait till I get the notice in March. He noted my account that I showed up and noted as well they will take full responsibility if anything happens till than. He also reiterated that if nothing has happened in the first few hundred miles I'm most likely good.

Picked up my car today and no issues. They put on the service ticket they replaced with break in fluids, so Im assuming thats a good thing with 300 miles. I was going to ask to see the 8 photos but my SA was off today.

Dealership called me today to tell me there is a recall on my 2016 civic. I informed them i already have an appointment for Monday she sounded surprised. The lack of communication at some dealerships concerns me sometimes.

The service manager of my local dealership emailed me to say that they're ready to inspect (and if necessary, repair) my vehicle, and I'm dropping it off in the evening of Tue Mar 1. I own a 2016 Honda Civic EX, assembled in Alliston Nov 2015, VIN ending in 16xxx, around 250 miles on the odometer (which will be around 300 by the time I take it in). I previously called the Honda recalls line, which confirmed that my VIN was included in the recall.

Sushimaster said:

What rental car? Driving for a month in a Honda Fit is not fun.

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They offered me full covered rental until my civic is done from inspections/repairs. And luckily it wasn't no Honda Fit.

Boz said:

This is truly hard to understand. The dealers near me have already done lots of inspections and claim that there have been no repairs beyond the inspection necessary.

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Every dealer is different pal. I'm just going by what they're telling me. Better be safe than sorry.

Dropped off this morning at 8am. Got a call around 3:30pm that the car was ready to go. She checked out all clear the 2012 EX loaner that they gave me is nice but it sucks when compared to the 10th gen.

Picked up my Civic a few hours ago. I asked about the recall just to make sure and the dealer said mine wasn't on the list. Looking through a bunch of Canadian VIN and it look like everything higher than 11500 is good for now.

I got my car back last night and theh said everything was good, I had about 3500 miles and they replaced it with 0-20 oil. I was given a '15 Toyota camry as a rental car from enterprise, it was quicker than my car but style, comfort, and interior was lacking so much compared to the civic. Made me appreciate my car so much more. And driving a car with gears again felt weird, I actually like the smoothness of the cvt.
I tried to ask for the pictures of my Pistons but he said that he couldn't give them to me.

Jamm_95 said:

I got my car back last night and theh said everything was good, I had about 3500 miles and they replaced it with 0-20 oil. I was given a '15 Toyota camry as a rental car from enterprise, it was quicker than my car but style, comfort, and interior was lacking so much compared to the civic. Made me appreciate my car so much more. And driving a car with gears again felt weird, I actually like the smoothness of the cvt.
I tried to ask for the pictures of my Pistons but he said that he couldn't give them to me.

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Lucky! I'm still here waiting for the call to pick up my civic from the inspection

Jamm_95 said:

I got my car back last night and theh said everything was good, I had about 3500 miles and they replaced it with 0-20 oil. I was given a '15 Toyota camry as a rental car from enterprise, it was quicker than my car but style, comfort, and interior was lacking so much compared to the civic. Made me appreciate my car so much more. And driving a car with gears again felt weird, I actually like the smoothness of the cvt.
I tried to ask for the pictures of my Pistons but he said that he couldn't give them to me.

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Just curious did you see if they reset the maintenance minder?