Multiple System Warnings

[Clarity Warning Lights]

The warning light malfunction has correlated with hotter than normal weather for us, but certainly could be coincidence.

 

[AnthonyW]

Attached is a list of all of the system warnings that certain DTC's will throw. It seems to give credence that if the car senses a slight deviation in the camera system, it will give the Multiple Sensor Warnings even if it doesn't store a permanent DTC. Someone on Facebook indicated that the dealership cleaned the camera systems and her warnings went away.

 

[StanS]

Last night I had multiple warnings while sitting in my driveway trying to learn many of the features of the car. We have had it for less than 3 weeks and it has under 400 miles on it. The following warnings came up:

◆ Brake hold system problem
◆ Brake system problem
◆ Electric parking brake problem
◆ Hill start assist problem
◆ Plug-in charging system problem. Range limited
◆ Power steering system problem
◆ Power system problem. Stop Driving when safe
◆ Road departure mitigation system problem
◆ Tire pressure monitor problem
◆ Vehicle stability assist problem

Theses cycled on through several stop and restarts of the car and then they just disappeared. What remained on after they disappeared was the amber warning light that looks like an engine. The manual (page 90) calls that a "Malfunction Indicator Lamp". I made an appointment to take the car into the dealer on Monday. This morning I went out to the car and everything went back to normal. The car apparently reset itself and I am going to cancel the appointment. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end of the problem, but having read this thread, I am not optimistic. Other than that we like the car, so far.

 

[NJClarity]

I was having this issue when charging at home. For the moment, it seems to have corrected itself and the only thing I have been doing differently is to make sure that I unplug the charger from the 120V after use. Hopefully, it holds.

 

[StanS]

Took it to the dealer this morning. They confirmed that there were stored codes in the car. They cleared them and took it for a drive. They said it was an intermittent failure and that all systems are ok. That is pretty much what I expected based on comments by others on this and other threads. I have it documented now and will just keep my fingers crossed that it does not happen again.

 

[Texas22Step]

Add one more to the list. My Clarity is about 3 weeks old from the dealer and has just over 1,000 miles on the odometer. Today we drove the car to a restaurant for lunch, and when we came out and turned the car on, we got several spontaneous warnings and lights (check engine, lane departure malfunction, ACC malfunction, brake system malfunction). Rebooting the car several times did nothing, so I took it to a local Honda dealer. After 4 hours in the shop, all they could do is a reset of all the warnings and told me that Honda is aware of this problem (which they said involved P0010-VTC Solenoid Valve Malfunction & P100C- E-VTC Motor Speed Circuit Malfunction, although these parts passed all normal function testing in the shop). Further, they said that "American Honda is releasing an update to repair concern, will be late July at earliest. No repair available or recommended at this time. If code returns will need clear and return to customer until repair is available by Honda."

As it is quite some distance to a Honda dealer from our place rural Central Texas, I asked how I would be made aware that a "fix" is available. The service agent replied that I would receive a letter from Honda. A letter? Snail mail? I wonder why a disclosure letter didn't find its way to my mailbox before I purchased this car, or the selling dealer didn't inform me of this glitch? I like to try new technologies, but I don't appreciate being a Beta tester for the manufacturer.

 

[Robin]

...Further, they said that "American Honda is releasing an update to repair concern, will be late July at earliest.

(As someone who constantly deals with support organizations on a daily basis) Can you get a reference to a Technical Support Bulletin or whatever they call it? It’ll help us all track this for our vehicles.

 

[Thomas Honey]

Add one more to the list. My Clarity is about 3 weeks old from the dealer and has just over 1,000 miles on the odometer. Today we drove the car to a restaurant for lunch, and when we came out and turned the car on, we got several spontaneous warnings and lights (check engine, lane departure malfunction, ACC malfunction, brake system malfunction). Rebooting the car several times did nothing, so I took it to a local Honda dealer. After 4 hours in the shop, all they could do is a reset of all the warnings and told me that Honda is aware of this problem (which they said involved P0010-VTC Solenoid Valve Malfunction & P100C- E-VTC Motor Speed Circuit Malfunction, although these parts passed all normal function testing in the shop). Further, they said that "American Honda is releasing an update to repair concern, will be late July at earliest. No repair available or recommended at this time. If code returns will need clear and return to customer until repair is available by Honda."

As it is quite some distance to a Honda dealer from our place rural Central Texas, I asked how I would be made aware that a "fix" is available. The service agent replied that I would receive a letter from Honda. A letter? Snail mail? I wonder why a disclosure letter didn't find its way to my mailbox before I purchased this car, or the selling dealer didn't inform me of this glitch? I like to try new technologies, but I don't appreciate being a Beta tester for the manufacturer.

Hey Texas, Welcome to the party! Thanks for all of the information that you provided. It's nice to hear the Honda is aware of this issue and working on a fix.
Even with this irritating glitch, I still think this is a great car.
Best regards, Thomas

 

[Robert_Alabama]

One more as well. Less than 500 miles on mine when warnings showed up. Everything reset after shutdown for 15-20 minutes, so I did not take it into the dealer. I set up a case with Honda last week and talked to a representative at their toll free number. Like Texas22step said, supposedly since I filed a case they will let me know when they find the resolution. I did copy the link to this string of owners that have this issue in the case I filed. I agree with most here that this is an exceptional car. Hopefully Honda can sort out this warning glitch.

 

[K8QM]

Just as a reminder (I hope I'm not cursing myself).

I have not had these errors reoccur since I started this thread and the clarity is now at 11,000 miles.

The only things I've done differently are to be a little more deliberate when charging and starting the vehicle - no plugging and immediately unplugging or pressing start while almost simultaneously pressing drive or reverse. I have no way of knowing if any of that is related to the fact that the errors have not reoccurred.

geo

 

[Texas22Step]

geo, I think you have been blessed by the Clarity gods not to have had a re-occurrence of these errors.

I posted my first occurrence just last Friday and, as an update to that post, the problem occurred again less than 2 hours later, same day. I took the car back to a local dealer on Saturday and gave the service rep a link to this thread. That time, instead of just "clearing" the OBD of the warnings, they forced a "hard" reset of the vehicle's computer by removing the 12V battery leads (both + & -), waiting 10 minutes, then reattaching them. That seems to have cleared the problem for the time being, at least. Now I am waiting for the next random occurrence and for a real fix from Honda.

If you haven't had any re-occurrence, keep doing whatever it is you are doing!

 

[kent335]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Clarity/comments/8sou9j/multiple_system_warnings_issue_fix_incoming/

There's a post on Reddit for the Honda Clarity Electric in which an owner of that vehicle had a problem with Multiple System Warnings. That owner took the car to the dealer, and was informed Honda knows about the issue, and the issue is a buffer overload error, with an anticipated fix in August.

 

[K8QM]

the issue is a buffer overload error

Thanks for sharing that.

If that is the case then it fits my suspicions as to the type of issue it is and limiting the number of inputs the processor has to deal with at start up could possibly help prevent it's occurrence.

geo

 

[GrayRed]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Clarity/comments/8sou9j/multiple_system_warnings_issue_fix_incoming/
There's a post on Reddit for the Honda Clarity Electric in which an owner of that vehicle had a problem with Multiple System Warnings. That owner took the car to the dealer, and was informed Honda knows about the issue, and the issue is a buffer overload error, with an anticipated fix in August.

Wow, that's great news!

I was concerned that it was a cabling/mechanical/design issue.
If there was a problem with the CAN-bus connectors, wiring, wire routing, etc, then that's a much bigger issue. Also, it would've meant that even if a car worked fine "today", then in x-amount of time, the owner could be looking at a dealer-only very expensive fix.
The sad fact is that many independents still "throw up their hands", when there is a CAN-bus wiring/connection issue.

 

[KentuckyKen]

Knock on faux wood and rub faux suede, but like K8QM, I’ve never had the multiple warnings and I don’t take any precautions as to charging or startup.

Sometimes I’d push D too quickly after start and have to wait and push again. So now my “preflight” is push start, fasten seat pelt, hit brake/push D.

And am I the only one who is annoyed that if you previously used brakehold (which I love), then at next start up you have to take off the parking brake? This always messes up my quick start when I forget.

 

[L.L.]

Just over a week old with 545 miles on the clock, the multiple systems error messages popped up tonight on our Clarity. Can't say temperatures played a part as we are under 72 degrees right now and it was during the evening when it occured. The car was last driven over 10 hours ago.

Since this seems to be a known issue with no solution yet, I'll try a hard reset by unplugging the 12v battery for now.

 

[L.L.]

And just like that the warning messages are gone. I plugged my charger in for a minute and removed. Started back up and all seems to be normal again.

 

[Sul]

I am in Los Angeles. Just got the Clarity Touring PHEV 5 days ago on a 3 yr lease.
Have been loving and enjoying the car so far...
And then today, at 300 miles, had the car parked outside for an hour during lunch. Started the car back up and multiple malfunctions happened. Adaptive Cruise Control Problem, Emissions System Problem, Road Departure Mitigation System Problem, Road Departure Mitigation System Problem. Bunch of Orange lights on.
Freaked out, drove to dealership and they were busy. While waiting found this newsgroup, and it was relief to see I am not alone with this issue. Have an appointment with Carson Honda tomorrow, as I didn't wanted to leave the car overnight.
Meanwhile tried everything on this post, lock-unlock car - that got rid of the error, and then it came back. Also tried charging for a minute or so but that didn't work.
Wife's car is Toyota RAV4 and that has been super reliable (just oil changes, brakes, tires). I had a pre-owned CPO Audi Q7 for about 2 years before Clarity and got really tired with it, as it was back at the dealership every 2000 miles/2-3 months with some new problem. Long story short got so fed up with frequent visits at Audi (although they provided complimentary loaner) - refitting 2 car seats back, and taking time off work for appointments really weighed on me. I couldn't trust the Q7 to take a road trip. Finally, I decided to replace it with reliable, green and money saving vehicle. Wifey insisted on Prius Prime or Mirai, but I picked Clarity. Now 300 miles later, its Deja Vu.
Just made a promise to myself- all future cars will be either Toyota or Lexus.
This is my first Honda ever after having Toyotas, Mazdas, Audi, Mitsubishi, and must say I am disappointed with the reliability.

 

[Billglee]

Just joined this unfortunate club. We have had the Clarity for a couple of months, has 3200 miles on it. Multiple warnings started last night, still there this morning after being plugged in all night as usual. Taking the car in for service later today at Phil Hughes Honda in Athens, GA (we purchased at Milton Martin Honda in Gainesville, GA) and will direct the service manager to this forum. It sounded like the guy who took my call has no prior experience with this problem so I am very grateful to all of you for posting. We are getting 8 different warnings, including Brake System Problem and Power Steering Problem, but I am going to drive the car in anyway because I really don’t want the car to be towed in, which is all Honda Roadside Assistance offers. I was hoping they would send out someone who could try the fixes mentioned on this forum such as disconnecting the battery, but they only tow.

 

[diggidy]

Also a member of this unfortunate club. Curious if anybody has been successful getting this through Lemon laws and getting a refund. Most states seems to have lemons laws that will trigger if there are significant safety concerns with the car -- I would argue steering and brake system issues are a significant safety issue. It's really not inspiring in terms of long term reliability that within the first few months of ownership of this car we've had to have it towed multiple times. Honda clearly sent a car into production without working out all of the issues - there's not a single chance this was not discovered during initial product testing, and they sent it out to be sold anyways. On top of that, now it's a known issue and it's going to take them until August to fix? That's unacceptable -- if this is a programming issue like they seem to say it is and that it can be fixed with a firmware update, there's no excuse for taking 3+ months to correct that.

Like someone said about this post -- it's very insulting that Honda is using its customers as beta testers.