— The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says certain Acura and Honda vehicles can lose power steering while driving.
NHTSA has announced a recall of more than 635,000 model year 2021-2025 Acura TLX, 2022-2024 Acura MDX, and 2023-2025 Honda Pilot vehicles.
The power steering problem first popped up in November 2021 when the first report was filed. Honda is aware of at least 146 warranty claims and one report of an injury.
The problem is the software for the electric power steering (EPS) assist which may cause the EPS system to enter a failsafe mode, causing a loss of power steering.
Steering isn't lost but the steering wheel will suddenly feel hard to turn, especially at slow speeds. Honda dealers need to reprogram the electric power steering control units.
The specifics, according to Honda:
"The supplier developed incorrect EPS software containing an error in the Driver Attention Monitor road-condition compensation calculation and an improperly configured response to the resulting internal error. Under specific operating conditions, the software may perform a floating-point division with a zero denominator, triggering an internal error. The EPS software was incorrectly configured to respond to this error by disabling power steering assist."
Along with increased steering effort, a driver will notice an illuminated warning light once power steering is disabled.
Acura and Honda EPS recall letters should be mailed December 14, 2026, but concerned owners may call 866-784-1870. Honda's power steering recall numbers are KQB and TQA.
