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NHTSA campaign 16V344000 · manufacturer recall KA0, KA1, KA2, KA3

2002–2011 Acura and Honda: air bags recall

An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

high 1,790,894 vehicles affected 58% reported repaired

What was reported

Source: manufacturer filing, 49 CFR Part 573
Problem Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2011 Acura RL, 2005-2006 Honda CR-V, 2003-2011 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2002-2004 Odyssey, and 2006-2011 Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or that have ever been registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, Honda is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2005-2008 Acura RL, 2005-2006 Honda CR-V, 2003-2008 Element, 2007-2008 Fit, 2003-2008 Pilot, 2002-2004 Odyssey, and 2006-2008 Ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or that have ever been registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Lastly, unless included in "Zone A" or "Zone B" above, Honda is recalling model year 2002-2004 Odyssey and model year 2003-2004 Acura MDX, Honda Element, and Honda Pilot vehicles originally sold, or registered, in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling. Risk An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death. Fix Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 27, 2016. Owners may contact Honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are KA0, KA1, KA2, and KA3.

Reported to NHTSA May 23, 2016 by Honda (American Honda Motor Co.), owners notified Jun 29, 2016.

Which vehicles are covered

Source: NHTSA campaign 16V344000
Model yearOn WhichTrim
2003 Acura MDXevery Acura on this site
2004 Acura MDXevery Acura on this site
2005 Acura MDXevery Acura on this site
2006 Acura MDXevery Acura on this site
2005 Acura RLevery Acura on this site
2006 Acura RLevery Acura on this site
2007 Acura RLevery Acura on this site
2008 Acura RLevery Acura on this site
2009 Acura RLevery Acura on this site
2010 Acura RLevery Acura on this site
2011 Acura RLevery Acura on this site
2005 Honda CR-Vevery Honda on this site
2006 Honda CR-Vevery Honda on this site
2003 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2004 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2005 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2006 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2007 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2008 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2009 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2010 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2011 Honda Elementevery Honda on this site
2007 Honda FITevery Honda on this site
2008 Honda FITevery Honda on this site
2002 Honda Odysseyevery Honda on this site
2003 Honda Odysseyevery Honda on this site
2004 Honda Odysseyevery Honda on this site
2003 Honda Pilotevery Honda on this site
2004 Honda Pilotevery Honda on this site
2005 Honda Pilotevery Honda on this site
2006 Honda Pilotevery Honda on this site
2007 Honda Pilotevery Honda on this site
2008 Honda Pilotevery Honda on this site
2006 Honda Ridgelineevery Honda on this site
2007 Honda Ridgelineevery Honda on this site
2008 Honda Ridgelineevery Honda on this site
2009 Honda Ridgelineevery Honda on this site
2010 Honda Ridgelineevery Honda on this site
2011 Honda Ridgelineevery Honda on this site

None of the vehicles this campaign names has a page on WhichTrim: every model year it names is older than the catalogue, which begins at 2016. The campaign record above is complete as filed, and whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by its VIN. Other campaigns on vehicles without a page here →

How much of it has been fixed

Source: manufacturer quarterly report, 49 CFR 573.7
Reported repaired 58%

of the campaign

The final figure: the six quarters of reporting that 49 cfr 573.7 requires have closed.

This is the manufacturer's own cumulative count of vehicles it has inspected and repaired, divided by the vehicles the campaign covers. It files that count with NHTSA every quarter for six consecutive quarters, starting from the quarter in which owners were told a remedy was ready, and then the obligation ends — so a figure on an older campaign is where the count stopped, not where it stands today.

It rarely reaches 100%, and not because the work was not done. The same report asks manufacturers to count vehicles they could not reach at all — exported, stolen, scrapped, or simply never located — and those stay in the denominator. A low number means a lot of these vehicles are still out there unrepaired; it does not tell you which ones.

The federal paperwork

Source: nhtsa.gov

Filed documents

NHTSA has not published the scanned filings for this campaign, or has not published them yet. The campaign record itself is on their site.

Check one specific vehicle

A recall applies to a build range, so year, make and model cannot settle it. NHTSA checks a VIN against the manufacturer's own list and tells you whether the repair is still outstanding on that vehicle.

NHTSA VIN recall lookup →

Campaign 16V344000 · the manufacturer calls it KA0, KA1, KA2, KA3

Own one, or run a fleet? Recall Watch checks each VIN against every new NHTSA campaign and emails you when one lands, this one's expansions included. Or take a free one-line alert by model year.

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Common questions

Source: NHTSA, 49 CFR Part 573

Is KA0, KA1, KA2, KA3 the same recall as 16V344000?

Yes. KA0, KA1, KA2, KA3 is the number Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) uses for this campaign in its own paperwork and in the letter it sends owners. 16V344000 is the number NHTSA files it under. One recall, two references — dealers and service departments generally quote the manufacturer's.

Does this recall repair cost anything?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to remedy a safety defect or a compliance failure at no charge, for vehicles up to 15 years old measured from the date of first sale. A dealer that asks you to pay for a recall repair is in the wrong.

How do I know whether my vehicle is included?

By VIN, not by model year. The manufacturer files a build range with NHTSA and only vehicles inside it are covered, so two identical-looking cars from the same year can differ. NHTSA's own lookup checks a VIN against the manufacturer's list.

What if the repair is not available yet?

It happens, and often. Manufacturers must notify owners when a defect is found even if the parts or the software are not ready, then notify them a second time once the remedy exists. The remedy filed for this campaign is described above.

What did the manufacturer say was wrong?

The problem, risk and fix quoted on this page are the manufacturer's own words as filed with NHTSA under 49 CFR Part 573. WhichTrim does not paraphrase them.

Who started this recall?

NHTSA's record credits NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. A recall can begin with the manufacturer's own testing, with a defect investigation, or with a compliance test against a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard.