Honda Tech Line

Is there anyway for us common folk to access the Honda Tech Line?

 

not if you don't work for a dealership.
Chip

 

That's what I thought. Thanks.

Bearman

 

Hehe, then we would have no need for mechanics...

 

Not really. Honda even tries to keep it's published Technical Service
bulletins hidden from the customer, unlike most other companies.

John

 

Some of the TSBs are available here as ESBs (Export Service Bulletins):
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/

It's odd that Honda is so secretive when Toyota will grant anyone the same
access (and LOTS more!) for ten bucks a day.
http://techinfo.toyota.com/
Everything from TSBs to EWDs and everything in between.

 

Thanks for the link. Honda is really pig-headed about this issue and it
makes a person wonder what Honda wants to hide.

John

 

John,
It's possible that the reason they do it is to save millions of dollars.
For example, if millions of people that own Honda cars never learn about
TSBs related to their vehicles--Honda will never have to pay any money for
the parts and labor needed to repair their vehicles. It's clear proof that
Honda cares more about profits than they care about their customers. Most
companies are like Honda--they care more about profits than they care
about their customers.

 

(Jason) wrote in

Ohhhhh, I get it...It's a c-o-n-s-p-i-r-a-c-y.

Why on earth would Honda bother issuing a TSB, then keep it secret? Do you
have any idea how many TSBs there are overall?

I think it's more likely that Honda is afraid of alarmed people storming
the dealership demanding that the work be done to their car, even though
their VIN does not fall within the affected range. Most TSBs are fairly
minor.

IOW, the non-publicity is done to preserve people's peace of mind. If it's
a safety-related TSB or recall, the owner of record is notified either by
phone call or by mail.

If you call up the dealership, they will be quite happy to tell you if
there are any TSBs relating to your car, and what the TSB says.

 

Tegger,
No, I don't think that it's a conspiracy--just normal business practices
for most companies. Early last year, I found a list of the TSBs related to
my Honda. During the tune-up, I asked the person at the Honda service
department to correct any problems related to the TSBs. He said that he
was not aware of any TSBs related to my Honda. He was shocked when I
showed him the list. After looking at the list, he said that he would have
the mechanic check those items. Service writers (or whatever they are
called) should be required to check those TSBs on every car they repair. I
know that they don't do that at the local Honda dealership--even when a
complete tune-up is done.
Jason

 

And this is exactly why Honda doesn't publish the TSBs for general
consumption. People seem to think a TSB is a secret recall. It is not.
The fact that a TSB exists relating to a specific repair does not provide
for any free repair work outside your warranty. They are simply amendments
to the shop manuals with updated troubleshooting and repair procedures. It
is pertinent only to the continuing education of the tech trying to diagnose
and repair a problem with your car, not a laundry list to be checked on
every car brought into the dealer.

 

Well, actually, a lot of TSBs are issued as fixes for minor problems that
have been experienced and reported by dealerships in the field. Have a
browse through some of these:
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/#list

TSBs can not be issued unless somebody reports them. The famous ignition
switch recall, and the famous CR-V brake click TSBs, were issued because
Honda was getting boatloads of reports about these from the dealers, and
they realized there was a systemic problem there. Unlike Mistubishi, Honda
is concerned about their public image, since they rely on continued sales
to stay in business.

Speaking of Mitsubishi, remember how their CEO publicly admitted they had
in fact covered up actual defects in their cars? Just look what the market
has done to them since; nobody trusts Mitsu any more. Mitsu is in trouble
now and will probably go under if the Japanese governemnt does not bail
them out.

The problem is, there are so many TSBs, and most are specific to certain
VINs, that it would be a lot of work for the Service Adviser to dig them
all up and determine by reading them whether or not the car in question is
covered (and has not had the work performed already!).

Honda wants you to call the dealer with the TSB number, so you can be dealt
with in a rational manner before you go ballistic over absolutely nothing.

The OP's ranting about "business practices" illustrates the common public
view that corporations are evil, thieving, selfish entities, interested
only in covering up wrongdoing. And these people VOTE. Scary.

 

Tegger,
Thanks for your interesting report. I learned some things that I did not
know before about TSBs. I only have one remaining question on this issue:
If the service writers at Honda dealerships--do not check their data base
for TSBs related to the vehicles that are in the shop for service--and
make hard copies for the mechanics--why even have TSBs? It appears to me
that only us people that know about TSBs would ever benefit from them.
What about the thousand of Honda users that don't even know what a TSB
actually is?
Jason

 

tsb's are just informational. when you bring your car in they run
a VIN status, that lets us know about open recalls or warranty
extensions. just because there is a tsb on your car doesn't mean it
applies....
Chip

 

Sometimes what you say is true, and sometimes TSBs are published to
address problems which have shown up and are real.

Honda is nearly alone in not allowing the public to have access.
Defending them is silly.

John

 

The problem is that there are many cases where this is indeed what is
going on.

Reference your earlier discussion about Mitsubishi.

John

 

Whoa! Hang on, TeGGeR. I'm the original poster (OP) and I didn't rant at
all.

 

John,
Great post. I agree with you. Within the past 12 months, various CEOs of
huge companies such as Enron have been arrested. In almost all of those
cases, the CEOs kept company secrets from the stock holders and employees.
When various car companies don't post their TSPs on their websites, it's
appears to many people that they are keeping secrets from their customers.
I'm sure that all of those car companies that do it are able to come up
with some excellent reasons for NOT posting the TSPs on their websites.
It's up to each person as to whether or not to believe them.
Jason

 

(Jason) wrote in

You "agree"? How much do you even know about Enron? Nothing, I'll wager.

Enron went broke largely because of botched government electricity
"deregulation", and because of botched government monetary policy. Enron
got into trouble as they shuffled money around in order to look good to
investors and to prevent lawsuits (brought on by botched governmental tort
reform).

From http://www.reason.com/0402/fe.gc.in.shtml :
"The Houston energy company did not go bankrupt because it lost money in
derivatives trading. In fact, Enron was tremendously successful in its
trading operations, racking up billions of dollars in profits. As
documented by economic historian Frank Partnoy, the company went under not
because it was losing money but because it tried to use these profits to
disguise heavy losses in its consulting and technology businesses. When the
accounting shenanigans were exposed, the company’s credibility evaporated,
as did its sources of credit and cash. The company was killed by a lack of
cash flow, not a lack of profits."


Governmental incompetence and iniquity made Enron's environment.

 

Tegger,
Your post provided proof that I was correct in that Enron it did "disguise
heavy losses...". My point was that Enron did keep secrets from its own
employees and the stock holders. Several months ago, there was a lady on
television saying that she was an Enron employess with over $500,000
invested in Enron stock. The CEO of Enron failed to tell their employees
that the company was in serious financial trouble. Many of theose
employees could have at least cashed in their stocks. Stockholders and
employees lost millions.