[LulzChicken]

Guess my K&N Intake will mitigate this problem.

 

[Miker]

On December 24, 2020, Honda released TSB 20-053 for the 2019-2021 Acura RDX (which shares the Accord 2.0T's engine).

POSSIBLE CAUSE
Humid air within the intake tract may condense and accumulate excessive moisture during steady driving.

Hmmmmm !! HUMID air huh?

 

[cweaver06]

I just drove 4 hours to get my car back from the dealer after 15 days. They replaced fuel injectors and spark plugs.

Codes stored were:

PO300​

PO301​

PO304​

Diagnostic says air/fuel ratio out of range​

As of now, I can only hope the issue doesn’t happen again. Obviously I will post again if more problems arise.

 

[Taz69]

Yes the K&N intake being farther back under the hood will help a lot on pulling in water. I would get a CAI there are few nice ones. I will not name which ones but I have seen 2 on a dyno make 10 to 12 hp less over the stock box with a aFe filter so I am not doing one. They do sound good and I am sure less prone to getting wet.

 

[zroger73]

It may not be an issue with liquid water entering the intake - it may be an issue with water vapor condensing and accumulating in the intercooler and eventually making its way into the cylinders in liquid form where it causes misfires or soaks the MAF sensor causing an incorrect air flow reading. If so, it wouldn't matter where the air was being pulled from (i.e. factory air intake location or aftermarket intake system).

At least in the case of the RDX, the key appears to be humidity. When you take air and compress it (which is what the turbocharger does), the air heats up. You don't want to feed hot air into the engine, so you pass the compressed air through an air-to-air heat exchanger (the intercooler) which dissipates most of the heat back to the ambient air so you have cooler, compressed air going into the engine. When the hot, humid air moves inside the intercooler, the water vapor can condense and turn into liquid. If this liquid can't vaporize before getting sucked into the engine, the engine may misfire.

I suspect the same thing is happening here that happened with Ford's EcoBoost. Condensation in intercoolers is physics 101 and something that manufacturers have to deal with. It looks like Honda missed a particular condition during testing and has now devised a workaround - at least for the RDX. I'd be very surprised if this same fix doesn't come to the Accord.

 

[cweaver06]

Made it halfway home before my car broke down again. Currently en route to a dealership.
Edited to say that it’s rained on me the entire 135 miles I’ve driven since I got it.

 

[Taz69]

zroger73 now that you explained like that you are right. The TSB for the RDX has a different intercooler and it must be designed different to vaporize better. Wonder if a aftermarket intercooler would also do a better job of this than the OEM one.

 

[skisurf1]

Made it halfway home before my car broke down again. Currently en route to a dealership.
Edited to say that it’s rained on me the entire 135 miles I’ve driven since I got it.

It rained after you picked it up? Should open your airbox like I did take pictures of the water inside.

 

[hondanpt]

I'm following this thread. Just picked up a new 2020 accord 2.0t exl and it has only 1200 miles. Yesterday I was driving on the highway, and passed a car in the left lane . When I went to get back in the right lane after passing the car, my car hesitated and felt like it lost power for a few seconds. It was quite scary. Power then went right back to normal. Not sure what happened. Continued driving home another 2 hours, and no further issues. After reading this thread, it sounds like my car went into limp mode. I just checked the air filter and it appears dry. I'm going to bring my car into the dealer and have them check it out. Kind of concerned after reading this thread! I did not notice any messages on dashboard.

 

[sfx]

Yesterday I was driving on the highway, and passed a car in the left lane . When I went to get back in the right lane after passing the car, my car hesitated and felt like it lost power for a few seconds. It was quite scary. Power then went right back to normal. Not sure what happened. Continued driving home another 2 hours, and no further issues. After reading this thread, it sounds like my car went into limp mode

No, it didn't go into limp mode, as it would not recover until it was powered down and restarted at a minimum...

All conjecture...

it may be an issue with water vapor condensing and accumulating in the intercooler and eventually making its way into the cylinders in liquid form where it causes misfires or soaks the MAF sensor causing an incorrect air flow reading. If so, it wouldn't matter where the air was being pulled from (i.e. factory air intake location or aftermarket intake system).

There's no MAF, IIRC on the 2.0T at least...

I suspect the same thing is happening here that happened with Ford's EcoBoost. Condensation in intercoolers is physics 101 and something that manufacturers have to deal with.

And they have for the most part...

 

[zroger73]

All conjecture...

Of course - that's why I used the word "may".

Got any better ideas?

There's no MAF, IIRC on the 2.0T at least...

Part number 37980-5BA-A01

 

[Sonny1988]

Hello there- recently purchased 2.0 accord 6 spd mt. 2019 , no modifications. 51000 kms on it. When it rains all the error messages come on, the map lights don't work, and the car will suddenly lose power when driving. Taking it into the dealer tomorrow and will let you know what they say.

Has anyone else had the dealer fix this issue? Thanks all

 

[garebear]

i just experienced this issue last sunday. driving on highway in cruise control in eco mode, went to push gas to pass somebody and suddenly power cut off and car lurched, went into limp mode with check engine light flashing. i pulled over and restarted the car and it was like nothing happened. it was raining and i had been driving about 40-50 minutes by that point. OBD scanner reads p0300, p0301, and p0304 so cyl 1 and 4 misfires. i called my local dealer and they said yea idk what could cause that, if the cars running fine just keep an eye on it and let us know if it happens again. was kind of hoping for more but i dunno, dont wanna waste time schlepping back and forth to play part swap. i want a solid answer that will fix and prevent it from happening again. would upgraded intercooler/air intake be the solution or is it related to fuel injectors?

.

 

[zroger73]

It may not be an issue with liquid water entering the intake - it may be an issue with water vapor condensing and accumulating in the intercooler and eventually making its way into the cylinders in liquid form where it causes misfires or soaks the MAF sensor causing an incorrect air flow reading. If so, it wouldn't matter where the air was being pulled from (i.e. factory air intake location or aftermarket intake system).

Confirmed in TSB 21-052 dated June 3, 2021 applicable to all 2018-2021 Accord 2.0T 10AT models: The MIL Is Flashing with Loss of Power

SYMPTOM
The MIL is flashing with a loss of power.

POSSIBLE CAUSE
Humid air within the intake tract may condense and accumulate excessive moisture during steady driving.

CORRECTIVE ACTION
Replace the intercooler and intercooler gasket. Update and aim the millimeter wave radar, then update the PGM-FI software.

 

[slevemilosavich]

Lot's of good info in this thread.

This sort of issue happened to me (twice) the other day while on the highway. I had been driving for a couple of hours, in the rain, with the cruise control on. I went to pass a semi and had some other cars behind me so I pressed the accelerator for a little extra push while passing...the car sped up...and when I got in front of the semi and let off the gas so the cruise could take over the car immediately went into limp mode and the CEL was flashing. Doing this with a semi barreling down on you is a bit alarming. I was able to pull over, car restarted and it was fine. Then the same thing happened again about an hour later. Restarted, babied it the rest of the way. A couple of days later I was able to make the same drive (4.5 hours) home but didn't use the cruise at all...car was fine. Plus it wasn't raining on the way home.

After reading all of the info in here I think the humidity/rain has something to do with it. I also think it's telling that my issue only occurred when pressing the accelerator while the CC was on. Maybe that can confuse the computer/injectors and cause a misfire?

I called the dealership (car is under warranty) and they can't get me in for 2 weeks. We shall see what happens I guess.

 

[mandynola]

Confirmed in TSB 21-052 dated June 3, 2021 applicable to all 2018-2021 Accord 2.0T 10AT models: The MIL Is Flashing with Loss of Power

SYMPTOM
The MIL is flashing with a loss of power.

POSSIBLE CAUSE
Humid air within the intake tract may condense and accumulate excessive moisture during steady driving.

CORRECTIVE ACTION
Replace the intercooler and intercooler gasket. Update and aim the millimeter wave radar, then update the PGM-FI software.

I've been doing research on this issue for quite some time. My car has gone into "limp mode" twice on me. Once at 20k, and most recently at 42k. I brought my 2018 Accord 2.0 Touring to multiple dealerships in my area, and described the issue...they dismissed it. Yesterday, I found this post with the bulletin and I immediately called to say, here's the issue! I'm out of warranty but they received authorization through American Honda Rep to replace the intercooler and gasket as per corrective action for free. I'm hoping this is really the solution. I'm scared to drive my car in the rain now and I live in the south where humidity is year round! This is my 4th accord and I've never had ANY issues until this one! I appreciate your post and will follow to keep you all updated!

 

[spiff72]

Does this TSB not apply to the 6MT models? Reading the posted copy seems to state only the 10AT models are covered.

 

[slevemilosavich]

Lot's of good info in this thread.

This sort of issue happened to me (twice) the other day while on the highway. I had been driving for a couple of hours, in the rain, with the cruise control on. I went to pass a semi and had some other cars behind me so I pressed the accelerator for a little extra push while passing...the car sped up...and when I got in front of the semi and let off the gas so the cruise could take over the car immediately went into limp mode and the CEL was flashing. Doing this with a semi barreling down on you is a bit alarming. I was able to pull over, car restarted and it was fine. Then the same thing happened again about an hour later. Restarted, babied it the rest of the way. A couple of days later I was able to make the same drive (4.5 hours) home but didn't use the cruise at all...car was fine. Plus it wasn't raining on the way home.

After reading all of the info in here I think the humidity/rain has something to do with it. I also think it's telling that my issue only occurred when pressing the accelerator while the CC was on. Maybe that can confuse the computer/injectors and cause a misfire?

I called the dealership (car is under warranty) and they can't get me in for 2 weeks. We shall see what happens I guess.

Apologies for the delayed update.

I got my car into the dealer about a month ago. They didn't think it was an intercooler issue. They told me they checked the "canister" and there was no sign of water/condensation in the intake line but that there was a computer issue where the system thought it was taking in water. They said it was a software concern and ran an update to fix the problem. They say it's fixed. Unfortunately it's been rather dry in my area most of the recent weeks so I haven't really been able to to test it in rainy/humid conditions.

Fingers crossed it's fixed...and hopefully some of you can get the supposed software update to address the issue.

 

[garebear]

Apologies for the delayed update.

I got my car into the dealer about a month ago. They didn't think it was an intercooler issue. They told me they checked the "canister" and there was no sign of water/condensation in the intake line but that there was a computer issue where the system thought it was taking in water. They said it was a software concern and ran an update to fix the problem. They say it's fixed. Unfortunately it's been rather dry in my area most of the recent weeks so I haven't really been able to to test it in rainy/humid conditions.

Fingers crossed it's fixed...and hopefully some of you can get the supposed software update to address the issue.

By chance do you have the receipt from them that mentions the code for the update?

 

[slevemilosavich]

By chance do you have the receipt from them that mentions the code for the update?

So I'm not sure if this code is tied to the update or not. Under the labor and parts it lists this:

J#1 (assuming this means job #1) 10H0Z06

In the description it says "PCM is reading as if there is water in the intake. Performed available software update"

Hopefully this helps.