I recently received a letter in the mail from Honda, saying that there may be a software problem in the PCM (in the Clarity Plug-in), and that I need to take the car to a dealer to have a software update, at no charge. It doesn't seem to be classified as a recall, rather it just says "Product Update". I checked the HondaLink app, and I had no messages, and also I couldn't find anything on the Honda recall site. I am wondering if anyone else has received this notice or completed the update? Anything I should know before I take the car in for the update? Thanks!
Just yesterday, Saturday, I received a pack of 4 notices that all said Product Update and one was the one you mentioned. The four were: Warranty Information CD (only corrects info for state of Oregon, LOL) Driver Display Update (Milage) (I already had that done) Climate Control Unit Replacement Running heater may turn on malfunction light. (Not happened to me but I only used the heater to precondition.) EVTC & 3-Way Valve Software Update (P100C/P0010/P26A3) Says there is a problem in the PCM software, causing a malfunction indicator light to come on and store one or more diagnostic trouble codes. (Hasn’t happens to me in 8,500 miles and 13 months.) Since the general consensus is that these don’t have any negative effects, I’m going to have them done even though to my knowledge my Clarity (ending VIN -1660) is working fine. I will also ask for the SB 18-097 that fixes the problem of over sensitivity to power fluctuations at public “chargers” just in case the local utility owned EVSEs ever start charging reasonable rates. And I will show my Service Advisor, with whom I have a very good relationship, all the SBs listed below and try to get everything done in one trip. Although someone mentioned the climate control fix requires a part, so I may have to wait till it’s ordered and is delivered. Here is everything I have copied from posts on the forum about the Service Bulletins. (Hope this is helpful): Service Bulletins: My info: 17-093 is the Clarity specific PDI 6-20-18 SB 18-069 fixes HV range error Applied (J-20-18 for Canada 1/2/19 SB18-090 not applied but I did run it’s AC diagnostic by turning in ignition, holding down Climate on-off button and pressing RRdefrost 5 times. All came up normal. 7-14-18 SB 18-079 fixes multiple warning msg Not applied 17-093 is the PDI that came out in March of 2018. 18-097 fixes error msgs from public chargers with “dirty” power. Reported on 9/25/18 by weave By Dmiko on 1/5/18 EVTC Failure Misdetection: SB 18-089 HV Range Display: SB 18-091 (seems different from the one others reported) Abnormal water temperature reading: SB 18-090. For this one, they ordered a part and said it will take several hours and they would have to disassemble the entire dashboard. In my case, the service advisor went to his computer, looked up my car by vin and said: you have 4 product updates available. Posted by leop on 10/5/18: It appears that the fix for the DTC P26A3 is now a software update mentioned in Service Bulletin 18-089, dated 10/4/2018. I was told that this Service Bulletin supersedes Service Bulletin 18-079. Another Service Bulletin, 18-090, calls for the replacement of the Climate Control Unit. I suspect that this may also be related to problems with the heating water control since the issue corrected is described as coming up when running the heater. These two Service Bulletin updates are to be done at the same time along with a new software update, 18-091, to correct the HV mileage issue. All three (3) Service Bulletins are part of a recall campaign for the affected Clarity automobiles. Also Yesterday (10/4/2018), my wife had another Multiple Systems Warnings episode. This time I was not there to reset things so I decided to call the dealer and get the fix (TSB 18-079) and well as the HV mileage update (TSB 18-069). The service adviser was surprised at my call as just a few minutes earlier, he was given notice of a recall campaign to fix these (and a couple of other) issues. I had the software updates done this afternoon (10/5/2018) and got paper copies of the four (4) relevant Service Bulletins: 18-089: EVTC & 3-way Valve software update for DTC's P100C, P0010, and P26A3 (this replaces 18-079) 18-090: Climate Control Unit Replacement 18-091: Driver Display Software Update (Mileage) (this replaces 18-069) 18-096: Warranty Information CD The parts were ordered so that the service needed for 18-090 and 18-096 could be done in a future visit. All the Service Bulletins are dated 10/4/2018 except for 18-091 which is dated 9/21/2018. The four mentioned Service Bulletins are all lumped together (all mentioned in all Service Bulletins) and the owners all affected vehicles (determined by VIN) will be sent a notification of the campaign. Posted by lorem101 on 10/7/18 as received by his Honda Link (Canadian) PS: They also installed service bulletins 18-090 and 18-091, and ordered parts for 18-089 and 18-096. By Vezz66 on 10/22/18 Here are the codes that came up with my VIN for my first service appointment next week (Canada) ManufacturerCampaignId:N44 eVTC and 3-Way Valve Software ManufacturerCampaignId:N45 Climate Control Unit Replacement ManufacturerCampaignId:N46 Incorrect Vehicle Range Display Hope they know how to handle these. Includes brake service (A9), which I don't mind as I've had to replace discs twice on other cars due to frozen pads and that's more expensive than maintenance service. Posted by D. Red on -0/26/18 He still brought the car in and check the CEL, and it came back with the following: 18-089: 6SV00, PHEV Abnormal Water Temperature Reading PUD 18-091: 6PH00, Range Display Incorrect PUD 18-090: 6VT00, EVTC Failure Misdirection PUD 18-096: 6CW00, Emissions Warranty CD Product Update 18-069 superseded by 18-091 according to Steven B on 11/19/18 Posted by Sandroad on 12/11/18 Last October, Honda grouped the software updates and some defective parts into some sort of service campaign. I'm not sure about the specifics. Although someone else on this forum called it a recall, my VIN shows nothing official for a safety recall. I should not have used the word recall in my post above. Here are the open service bulletins that I THINK are included: 18-089: 6SV00, PHEV Abnormal Water Temp Reading 18-091: 6PH00, Range Display Incorrect 18-090: 6VT00, EVTC Failure Misdirection 18-096: 6CW00, Emissions Warranty CD Product Update 18-097: charging problems (sensitivity to power fluctuations at public chargers) And on 12/13/18 They did 4 updates (descriptions in a post above) for our VIN: 18-091 18-090 18-096 18-089 The 18-089 update required a part, a CPU assembly 06999 that is part number 06796-TRW-A00 The 18-096 update is also a “part” because it’s a new warranty CD. 1/11/19 posted by vice SB 18-090 PHEV EVTC Failure Misdirection PUD SB 18-091 PHEV Range Display Incorrect PUD SB 18-096 PHEV Emissions Warranty CD Product Update as OPEN RECALL and SB -097 PHEV Clarity Fails to Charge or Finish Charging as a CUSTOMER REQUEST They couldn't perform SB 18-089, due to a back-order on the CPU part, but they will call & schedule that as soon as it is availabl
Thanks KentuckyKen, Yes, mine is the EVTC & 3-Way Valve Software Update (P100C/P0010/P26A3). The letter also says that the DMV will not renew the registration until the update is completed, so I imagine that I will have to do it. Thanks again.
You’re quite welcome. Also, the warning about the DMV not registering the vehicle is only for those living in the Socialist Republic of Sunny California. The good news is that so far my Clarity has had bullet proof reliability so I don’t mind a trip in for the 4 updates.
Got my letter yesterday; I've got an appointment for the updates this coming wednesday at a dealer near where I work. Here's hoping they've seen a Clarity before (smirk). KentuckyKen, thanks for the full list! Eager for the updates. Just took my Clarity on it's first road trip. 3 days of driving about 5 hrs a day, lots of back roads in the mts of central PA, 720 miles. Total gas: 14.2 gallons, roughly $39. Comfortable and fun; only bad part was a few "angry bee" episodes in some very steep climbs up ridges. Having an accurate range would have been nice.
I got my letter on Friday. I had to bring my Pilot to the shop on Saturday and I asked the advisor about the SB's. He told me that it will take an entire day
I went to my dealer today and all 4 of the updates pulled up on his computer without me having to give him the Service Bulletin numbers that have been shared here. I had to specifically ask for the 18-097 (overly sensitive to power fluctuations). Found out the magic words to get this done are “I’m having problems at public chargers.” Then the Service Advisor was happy to include it. I was in and out in 10 minutes and made an appointment for the 12th to give the parts time to arrive so it can all be done in one morning.
It's been a while since I looked at the billed time for each update, but takes a lot less than a day to do them all. In fact, one of them is literally just putting a new CD in the glovebox. The "...it will take and entire day." statement is just for their convenience. That way they don't have to prioritize your car to get it done while you wait.
Thanks for the tip. Frankly, I will be surprised if the folks at my local dealership even understand the term "public charger". I hope I am pleasantly surprised. I have no incentive to install any of the fixes but will likely do so the first time I go in for service.
The copy of Service Bulletin 18-097 for charging problems listed the reimbursement as 0.2 hours of labor. I take that to mean under 15 min! So all four software updates will be quick. Inner the longest time is the climate control part replacement. But even that should be no more than an hour. My service dept said only a few hours and with an early appt, I should be out by lunch.
Same thing as Kentucky Ken received. Took mine in Yesterday and had changes applied. I am in California, and my notice said on two of the changes that unless I had the changes done I wouldn't be able to renew the registration. I assume because those changes affect emissions somehow. I already had the HV mileage issue fixed, but they reapplied the change anyway. I wasn't experiencing any of the problems before, and everything seems to be running fine now
Funny how in the SRoSC the EVTC & 3-way valve issue is called a "recall" and for the rest of us capitalist it's an "update". Thanks KK for your time (putting together the list of items). Sent from my SM-G955U using Inside EVs mobile app
