Check a VIN

1998 Honda CR-V electrical complaints

Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 38 of 38, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 1998 Honda CR-V electrical problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Dec 12, 2011 · Electrical · VA

1.-3. Have been happening slightly for years...when I asked, it seemed I would get the same old answer, older cars have quirks, don't use a big key chain(I never have)... 1. Has happened on & off for years...my will get stuck in the ignition, not going left or right 2. Driving & the gauges( speedometer...)jump, drop than go back to normal. 3. Will start up for a sec, then turns off. Occurred on saturday evening 12/10/2011. Had car towed after trying to have it jumped to no avail 4. Engine wont turn on/over. On sunday, 12/11/2011 in the morning, I tried my crv to see if would turn over, & it started right-up. While driving back to an auto shop by my house the following happened. 5. Stalls when idling...stuck in traffic, then got it run again. 6. Stalled when driving! Very scary!...to be safe got another tow.

Filed Dec 3, 2010 · Electrical · 146,000 miles · CA

My wife called around 8:15pm on wednesday 12-01-2010. She told me her car just stopped on the road. She gave me info of her whereabouts. I was only about 5 minutes away thank goodness. As I approached her vehicle I saw in my horrified state her car stalled 30 to 40 feet from the nearest stop light on the far left lane. She was able to stay on an island in the middle of the busy street with my 5 year old daughter!. I parked my car to their right and ran across the street when it was cleared. My brother was behind her with his car with emerg. Lamps on. My wife also had her emerg. Lamps on and I tried starting the car. You could hear it start up but the engine would not kick on. With the help of my brother in law I finally put car in neutral through that bypass switch and we pushed it to the other side of the lane to the right where we could be out of harms way of the violent on coming traffic. I had a close call on the last lane on the right when a on coming car nearly hit the car and my brother in law who was pushing in the back. I called a mechanic I knew a he showed up about 10-15 minutes. He asked for what exactly happened and my wife told him the car just stopped and stalled out of no where. She said the engine and battery indicator lights went on as well. She turned off the ignition and tried to start the crv again and she says alot mort indicating lights turned on but can't remember which ones. My mechanic looked under the hood and told me to start up the car. I started it and low and behold it started up! From the story my wife told him he instantly blamed the ignition wire>>?>?. I told him to come with me to kragens but he said "no, you can only get it at the dealers. I had talked to co-workers and classmates and one said to look for safety issues online while I had one classmate say he had a similar problem with his acura, the luxury brand for honda! My wife's ride is a honda crv 98. Very unsafe situation that my wife and my 5 year old daughter survived! }: [[

Filed Jul 8, 2010 · Electrical · 112,000 miles · PA

Without warning our 1998 honda crv (112k miles) died one afternoon while wife was taking kids to the pool. There was no warning signs or dash lights to warn of a problem. The engine stopped. Fortunately she was waiting for the light to change at an intersection with no traffic behind her. Vehicle started again after a minute and she was able to get it to the pool lot. After a few attempts, engine would start, but just caught off. Vehicle was towed to local mechanic who first assumed it was a bad distributor. After reviewing possible causes on internet, our mechanic found complaints about faulty ignition switches. Fortunately this was the problem and could be replaced. Honda dealer said they had replaced 4 of these switches in the last 4 weeks. Prior to this car ran fine, except one morning my wife discovered when she turned the key in the ignition, the dash lights flickered and there was a series of rapid clicks before engine started. This was several months before this incident. Mechanic has replaced the defective switch and car starts and runs fine. Honda should warn owners of older model crv's that this switch should be replaced after 100k miles. We were lucky car was not moving in traffic when this happened, as you have little control when engine shuts off and steering is difficult and dangerous.

Filed Mar 26, 2010 · Electrical · 119,461 miles · NV

Tl*the contact owns a 1998 honda crv lx. While driving at approximately 62 MPH, the vehicle completely shut off. There were no warning lights before or after the failure.the contact was able to coast over to the emergency lane. The vehicle re-started after the contact attempted four times. While the contact was driving the vehicle to the dealership, the vehicle shut off three additional times. The dealer replaced the ignition switch for a second time. The failure mileage was 119,461. The current mileage was 123,922.

Filed Jan 23, 2010 · Electrical · 130,000 miles · 00

1998 honda crv stalls at highway speeds and at city speeds... Highway speeds are particularly dangerous in that should I have been overtaking a vehicle when mine stalled it could have created a horrific accident and fatalities started at about 130,000 km happened 4 times without notice. Ignition switch was failing... Replaced at a cost of $65 for the part plus 1 hour labor @ !00. Plus shop supplies and taxes. The old part is available.

Filed Jan 15, 2009 · Electrical · 160,000 miles · NC

Several years ago on mycarstate.com I found information that was helpful with my 1998 honda cr-v. But I haven't specifically seen information about this "next" issue. For the past year or so, on occasion, I can't get my car key out of the ignition switch. The car will not turn all the way off. I can't get the key to turn all the way to the left. If I restart the car, put it in any gear, move the car slightly (even an inch), turn the car off again, then I can remove the key. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to do all this, so there is no leaving the car immediately. Where this becomes a big issue is when I valet park the car. The valet's can't get the key out, therefore they either have to park my car near than and watch or park it elsewhere and I take my chances on the car not being entered by someone else. I'm 2 hours away from a honda dealer, I think. I'll try to find a dealer this week, as the problem seems to get worse in this colder weather. Any help would be appreciated.

Filed Jan 1, 2009 · Electrical · 124,100 miles · PA

I am the owner of a 1998 honda cr-v, which I purchased new. The vehicle had no serious performance issues until september 2008. At this time my daughter, who was driving the vehicle, began to experience isolated occurrences during which the cr-v would stall while in motion. These incidents were at first infrequent. My daughter took the vehicle to a local garage. There, the mechanics replaced the battery, believing that to be the problem. However, these incidents persisted, resulting in the cr-v being taken to two different garages in the statesboro, georgia area. Mechanics had difficulty in diagnosing the trouble because of the irregularity of the quixotic events. During the week of december 8, 2008, the stalling of the vehicle became more persistent, prompting my daughter to return the vehicle to the local garage once again. Upon further research of the matter, the mechanics informed her that the problem was the cr-v's key lock ignition switch, and that the particular item fit the paramters of a honda recall item. My daughter scheduled an appointment for december 13, 2008 at the nearest honda dealer, savannah honda, which was two hours away. However, on december 9, 2008, the cr-v experienced this problem three times. The final stalling-out occurrence resulted in the vehicle's inability to be restarted. The entirety of this event was occasioned on a major highway. The vehicle had to be towed to the nearest garage which, as noted on the attached invoice, was statesboro garage. There, mechanics replaced the key lock ignition switch before the precarious operation of the vehicle could lead to still more disastrous mishaps. This recall item resulted in a total bill of $245.77 plus the cost of towing. Though a honda owner, I have never received any notification of this particular recall. This particular problem is to be considered very serious, and could have resulted in loss of life. I await your response to this very serious matter.

Filed Jun 18, 2008 · Electrical · 97,000 miles · MI

I am complaining about an ignition problem on a 98 honda crv. My car has 97,000 miles on it. I am filing this complaint because honda should have informed every owner that these switches were failing on almost all of their vehicles. This causes your car to stall randomly in traffic. It is a hazard. We owners deserved to know that this ignition switch was failing on all their cars. I would have replaced it before it stalled permanently in downtown ironwood if I had been informed. It is not expensive to repair but the symptoms are a mystery to any mechanic who has not read about this problem. I was fortunate enough to find a web page posted by a kind soul who explained what was happening to all these hondas. Http://www.visualimpressions.ca/switch/ I hope you can kick honda in the pants and make them inform their owner and just as importantly their dealers. Can you believe, their dealers have not been informed.

Filed Jul 3, 2006 · Electrical, Lights · GA

This spring, while driving on the interstate my 1998 honda cr-v suddenly stalled. No warning at all. Luckily, I was able to pull to the shoulder. Turn the ignition off, wait a while and restart the car without another problem. A week or so later the same thing happened on local roads once one day and twice another day. Each time, I was blessed to be able to get to the center turn lane or off onto the shoulder without getting rear ended. It happened several more times before we could figure this out. My mechanic checked out the car and could find nothing "wrong". He looked on this site the federal safety agency and found the ignition switch recall. I took it to a curry honda in chamblee, ga and they fixed it and the tail light assembly harness recall also. I've referred a few folks back to this site for future reference. Thanks, you may have saved my life. Btw- I love my cr-v!!!.

Filed Aug 15, 2005 · Electrical · MD

Dt: consumer owns a 1998 honda crv. She said the vehicle just shut off. This happened several times in the last three months. When it shut down vehicle was in traffic a couple different times, and this almost caused an accident. The vehicle shut down on august 15, 2005 while she was in traffic on hilton avenue in baltimore maryland. She was almost struck in the rear, she did not panic, put on emergency flashers, notifying the traffic she was having problems. The contact was not hit, but it did scare her. When this happened the vehicle shuts down, and it appeared to shut down everything electrical. The flashers were the only thing she working. She placed the vehicle in park and put foot on the brakes then had to try twice before vehicle would start. When vehicle was on level ground or facing up hill it usually would not start as quickly. Had to pat the gas a few times and tried to start vehicle a couple times before it will start. When vehicle was on a hill it seemed to start back much easier, if vehicle was facing down hill she does not have to pump gas or try as many times to start vehicle. She was aware of a recall 02v120000 on same make/model and year concerning electrical system ignition switch. She has not yet checked with honda to see if this vehicle was included in this recall. She became aware of this recall when she took vehicle to a garage and had a diagnostic check . The check would not register any codes, the vehicle did shut down on the mechanic, but no codes came up.

Filed May 31, 2005 · Electrical · FL

Dt: the contact owns a 1998 honda crv. She states that the mechanic is unable to find a problem with her vehicle. But while she is driving it doesn't matter what speed car will shut off. She has seen other complaints on the federal safety agency website for this problem.

Filed Nov 18, 2004 · Electrical · CT · fire

I recently read the press regarding fires starting underneath honda crvs. Last year, following an oil change, I was stopped at a light and heard people screaming at me from their cars-there was a fire under my car. I quickly pulled over and, by then, the fire was out. I immediately drove back to my mechanic-they examined the car, which still smelled of smoke, but they were stumped. The garage is very reputable and aaa rated. I recently read another article that indicated the federal safety agency reopened an investigation of this problem. My car is a 1998-I believe this problem is more widespread than the 2003-2004 models. I'm extremely concerned whenever my oil is changed. This problem should be rectified by honda-quickly.

Filed Sep 2, 2003 · Electrical · 88,097 miles · SC

While driving my 1998 honda cr-v I noticed power surges and deeming of lights. The car ultimately shut down. It started right back up and I drove it to a local mechanic. He looked it over hooked it up to his computer and got a reading that the solenoid on the transmission was going bad. He thought this was incorrect and suggested maybe something else was wrong. He drove the car for a while and nothing happened. He suggested I drive the car and let him know if something went wrong. Later that day as I was driving home from work solder dropped from under the dash onto my foot. Tuesday morning I had the car towed to the same mechanic that looked at it on friday. He was shocked that something under the dash could get that hot and not catch on fire. He looked under the dash and discovered that it was the ignition switch that had got so hot that it began to melt the solder. He called cale yarborough honda in florence to get a new ignition switch. We received the part and the mechanic put it in and the car seems to be running fine. The part that startles me the most is that the car belongs to my wife and I just happened to be driving it when the problems occurred. The biggest problem I have is that if my wife would have been driving the car and hot solder would have fallen on her foot and burned her it could have possibly caused her to wreck. She always wears slip on shoes and her foot would not have been protected like my foot was. Even with shoes on it startled me enought to drive off the road. It is disturbing to me what could have happened if she were driving the car. I contacted honda and told them of the incident and they said my complaint would go to a review board and if it warrented looking into they would contact me. I am writing you because this has the potential to be fatal if this happens to someone else. I would hate to know someone got killed because solder dropped on someone's foot and caused a serious accident.

Filed Apr 30, 2003 · Electrical · 47,923 miles · CA

After the recall for the ignition switch 02 v 120 000 was completed the defect caused damage to the transmission.

Filed Dec 30, 2002 · Electrical · MA

The consumer was charged for labor for the ignition switch recall because the dealer stated that the aftermarket lojack alarm system made the ignition replacement more complicated, the consumer feels this charge was inappropriate and is requesting reimbursement. Nlm

Filed Dec 18, 2002 · Electrical · OR

Nar 1/15/2002. The consumer received a recall notice regarding the ignition switch. However when the consumer arrived she was told the alarm would have to be disconnected and they would not be able to reconnect it after they replaced the ignition switch since the dealership did not install the alarm. The consumer had to take the vehicle back to the business who installed the alarm and have it reconnected in which the company charged the consumer $45.00. The consumer requested reimbursment from honda.

Filed Oct 28, 2002 · Electrical · AL

After having vehicle repaired for recalls, consumer noticed the alarm system was not operating. When questioning honda service men, consumer was informed that they were not obligated to reinstall the alarm as they had to uninstall it to perform the recall.

Filed Oct 21, 2002 · Electrical · CA

Consumer states that after dealership remove alarm system to have recall done, they charged to have alarm reconnected. Ts

Filed Oct 17, 2002 · Electrical · PA

Consumer states dealer did'nt state that there would be a charge for reconnecting automatic started. Ts dealer refused to put new ignition switch in car and wanted to charge me to hook up auto lock system. Mr

Filed Oct 1, 2002 · Electrical · NC

Mfr# 02-031 & the federal safety agency# 02 v 120 000/ignition switch: consumer states that the dealer, leith honda in raleigh, nc. Phone# 919/876-5432 is unable to get an appointment until the 11th. Of nov. 2002. Nlm

Filed Sep 27, 2002 · Electrical · MA

Mfr# 02-031 & the federal safety agency# 02 v 120 000 / ignition switch: consumer states that the dealer wants to charge to reconnect the car alarm after recall repairs. Feel free to provide any futher information.

Filed Sep 27, 2002 · Electrical · CA

Prior to recall(02v120000) the vehicle was experiencing speed dropping problems while driving. Consumer stated that after he received the recall notice he felt that the ignition switch could possibly be the cause of the speed dropping.

Filed Sep 25, 2002 · Electrical · CA

Mfr# 02-032 & the federal safety agency# 02 v 120 000/ignition switch: consumer states that the dealer, weir canyon honda in anaheim, ca. Phone# 714/777-4100. Wanted to charge $36.00 to reconnect the alarm system after recall repairs were made. Consumer wants to know does the dealer have the right to charge for a reconnection fee. *ak

Filed Sep 18, 2002 · Electrical · FL

After taking vehicle into dealer to get recall 02v120000 repairs done concerning ignition switch failure vehicle was working worse then it did before repairs. Vehicle was shutting off at any time. Contacted dealer.

Filed Jul 8, 2002 · Electrical · OH

Ignition key becomes stuck in ignition and will not come out despite replacement of ignition.

Filed Nov 18, 1999 · Electrical · FL

Owner received recall notice on november 9, 1999. Dealer does not have parts available to correct recall, and refuses to look at vehicle.

Filed Nov 12, 1999 · Electrical · FL

While traveling noticed burning smell from the sterring wheel. Manufacturer has been contacted. Please provide further information.

Filed Feb 1, 1999 · Electrical · CA

Rear light fuse blew out. Yh

VIN decoder

See the problems and recalls for an exact car

Buying a used 1998 Honda CR-V?

Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.

Check its history