Door Handles

[EEEE]

After thinking the issue wouldn't affect me, it now seems that my door handles are getting stiffer, and failing to retract. This seems to have happened quite quickly. In cold weather they could stick out a little bit but generally sort themselves out. However now every day on the commute to work, I see them mocking me in the side mirror screens. They stick out almost as much as fully open, a good inch.

This leads to the annoying 'doomph' noise and relay click every time you come to a stop and pull away again, as the solenoid fires to try and close them again. This is not the window noise thankfully.

You can feel the mechanism is seizing up. Eg, after you have locked the car, the handles half retract. You push them home and can feel that the 'detent' feels rusty and unsmooth, and it is this friction which prevents them sitting flush (they are not directly actuated, but spring loaded to prevent damage to the actuators).

Before I go down the no doubt painful route of a warranty claim, has anyone attempted a repair themselves? It's dark in the morning and evenings so I haven't had much chance to inspect them from outside the car.

[peniole]

Replaced passenger side under warranty. Take a video or image of them in mirror while driving for easy proof. Quick job. Although there's an interior trim piece inside the handle recess that they left with a broken clip, fell out later on.

[vulgaris_magistralis]

Replaced passenger side under warranty. Take a video or image of them in mirror while driving for easy proof. Quick job. Although there's an interior trim piece inside the handle recess that they left with a broken clip, fell out later on.

Same here, got the drivers side replaced under warranty. I guess Honda is already aware of this problem because they did it without any questioning

[ZoeDave]

Same here too - Passenger side was replaced about a year ago and I'm having the driver's side replaced next week. The handles really seem to be the one major weak point in what otherwise seems to be a reliable car. Maybe the new ones fitted will be modified versions and last for decades, but I have my doubts.

Due to the low sales, my worry is that the car will become a bit of an orphan, and parts and service will be hard to find once all of them are out of warranty. I can only hope that an enthusiast somewhere in the UK takes pity and sets up a Honda e centre as that would be a really disappointing reason to have to get rid of it.

As for the handles themselves, if they become a recurrent problem, I wonder if there might be a way to make them semi-manual? After all, it seems like the popping in and out is the only real problem, and I can't see how that affects any other function.

[hondaero]

sad to see a known issue hasn't been fixed from version to version.

~amo~

[EEEE]

I don't think there would have been any revisions or changes to the models in any shape or form. Given the low volume of production, it is unlikely to benefit from any iterative design improvements.

So todays update is that at lunch time yesterday, the dash displayed that the keyfob battery was low. It showed it on the journey home as well. At home I then replaced both my fob batteries as a matter of course. I then used both fobs to unlock and lock the car. All was well. Perhaps this is just a coincidence...

This morning the car was completely dead. I managed to unlock via the fob, but the window did not drop, and the car did not turn on. I jumped the 12v battery with my little jump pack and the car came to life. The low keyfob battery warning error was displayed, but suspect this may have been left over message from yesterday.

The dash also displayed numerous errors (PS, ES, ABS etc) as a result of the tiny jumppack not being a proper replacement for a battery.

On the previous occasion that this happened last winter, the jump pack was enough to bring the car to life, and once removed the car was happy enough to sustain itself and charge the 12v. I guess it was not so deeply discharge that time.

This time however, the car died as soon as the jump pack was removed. The battery voltage measured 11.01v when off the car, so completely flat.

I removed the 12v battery from the car this morning (helpfully, the battery terminal bolts, and strap stay nuts are both 10mm) , and have put it on charge in the garage on my ctek charger. Be aware that the battery is SLA and not AGM as far as I can tell, so make sure you use the correct mode on your charger as AGM mode charges at higher voltage and will most likely cause damage to the SLA battery. The battery tray is also not affixed, it just came out by itself.

That's twice now in 2 years of ownership the car has left me unable to go anywhere and the car isn't even 3 years old yet (from registration). Might be time to get rid of it I think!

[EEEE]

Luckily the 12v battery appears to be accepting and completed its charge since this morning. I'll refit the battery tomorrow morning and I'm sure it will be fine (Will be sure to press the handles back in!).

Car is booked for Aylesbury Honda diagnostic visit 8am Monday - told them it needs 2 new door handles, will see what happens.

[EEEE]

12v Battery refitted this morning, car behaved as normal after a quick spin. Handles still not retracting and feel notchety when pressed closed.

Noticed that the infotainment said a software update was available. Seemed to install itself but I didn't catch the release notes.

Left the car connected to the mains as I'm away this weekend and need it to absolutely be working very early Monday morning so I can take it to the dealers.

If the battery tray was replaced, I recon you could get a slightly bigger battery in there, but perhaps a 65ah to replace the 45ah will be too large.

Also ordered a cheapy bluetooth monitor/logger for the 12v battery. Whilst a pain, its better to know about a flattening battery the evening before you need to be somewhere, rather than in the morning!

[EEEE]

2 new handle mechs ordered, hopefully fit week after week after next. Will fit the CM2 in the meantime and keep an eye on the 12v battery.

[upsilon]

12v Battery refitted this morning, car behaved as normal after a quick spin. Handles still not retracting and feel notchety when pressed closed.

Noticed that the infotainment said a software update was available. Seemed to install itself but I didn't catch the release notes.

Left the car connected to the mains as I'm away this weekend and need it to absolutely be working very early Monday morning so I can take it to the dealers.

If the battery tray was replaced, I recon you could get a slightly bigger battery in there, but perhaps a 65ah to replace the 45ah will be too large.

Also ordered a cheapy bluetooth monitor/logger for the 12v battery. Whilst a pain, its better to know about a flattening battery the evening before you need to be somewhere, rather than in the morning!

Is Li-ion starter battery avaliable at your area? they are smaller, lighter but stronger, some even come with reserve capacity for startup when the main got drained.

We have this in Singapore; https://www.tsapa.sg/