July 18, 2016—American Honda announced Friday that all vehicles involved in a collision must have diagnostic scans to ensure a proper repair.
Honda said a preliminary diagnostic scan is required to determine if any Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DCT) are present, and a post-repair scan is required to ensure that no DCTs remain. The post-repair scan will ensure that any electronic part that had to be disconnected during the repair process is reconnected and functioning properly. Honda says that damage requiring body part replacement will always require a post-repair scan as well.
Safety and driver assistance systems will also require inspection, calibration, and aiming after the repair.
Honda said the presence or absence of dashboard indicators or warning lights is not an acceptable method to determine if post-repair scans are necessary since many DCTs do not activate a dashboard indicator.
Honda recommended the i-HDS software to check the status of all Acura and Honda vehicles after the repair, though it noted that some systems, such as Honda LaneWatch, are not accessible using the i-HDS.
The i-HDS software requires a Bosch MVCI or Denso DST-i to use. More information on the i-HDS can be found on the Honda independent repair and service website.
