Honda Recalls 250,000 Vehicles for Faulty Brakes

Next month Honda Motor Co. will begin a global recall of about 250,000 vehicles produced in 2004 and 2005 with stability control systems that may spontaneously apply the brakes.

In the U.S., the recall will cover about 101,000 Honda Pilot SUVs, 60,000 Acura MDX crossovers and 21,000 Acura RL sedans all built during the 2005 model year and 800 MDX units made during the 2006 model year.

Affected vehicles in Japan reportedly include the Odyssey minivan, Legend luxury sedan, StepWgn MPV and Elysion minivan. The campaign also involves small numbers of vehicles in Australia, Canada, Germany and Mexico.

Honda blames the problem in part on an electrical capacitor that was damaged during production. If the device malfunctions, it could cause a brief and mild application of the brakes without driver input. The same defect also could apply stronger-than-expected force when the driver brakes intentionally.

Honda also will check for a loose electrical ground connection in the recalled Pilots that could cause similar brake system misbehavior.