ChiefQM

I was unable to find any documentation of any one else having this issue, so I am posting here.

My wife was driving our 2014 CR-V, which had just turned over 20,000 miles, last Thursday evening in heavy traffic when it suddenly stopped running at a red light. She immediately restarted the engine and it ran for a few moments, not long enough to put it into gear to move it. The dashboard lights, all of them, came on and flashed quickly for about 15 seconds, then stopped. A couple of good Samaritans pushed her across three lanes of traffic into a parking lot. She tried repeatedly to start the engine without success. I drove to her location and looked under the hood; nothing was amiss: the drive belt was in place and there was no signs of any component failure. I used a "jump box" to try to boost the battery, but when she turned the key, the only result was that the lights on the dash flickered. The driver's side window, which she had managed to lower, would not rise, and the window motor clicked for about 15 seconds after the button was pulled. It stopped clicking when the button was pushed down. We called Honda Roadside Assistance (after that experience I would strongly urge owners to carry AAA or some other auto club service as it took the customer service person 20 minutes to get the details from my wife, only then did she contact a towing service. We waited 2 and a half hours for a wrecker to arrive) and had the vehicle towed to the nearest dealer.

The service department ran diagnostic tests on the charging and starting system and first announced that the battery had shorted out, and that they were going to replace the battery. The service adviser admitted being baffled by the failure. After having done so, they reported that they started the car and smoke rose from the serpentine belt, which flew off after a few moments. Investigation revealed that the water pump had seized up. They had to order a water pump and drive belt (really?!?) and those parts were installed the next day.

Upon picking up the vehicle, service adviser stated that they had charged up the battery. The repair order made no mention of the battery replacement, and when I checked under the hood, our original battery had been returned to the vehicle. It started and ran fine, and we drove it home without incident. The battery is still suspect in my mind, and I cannot see the connection between the electrical failure that drained the battery and the water pump.

Has anybody else had a water pump failure of this nature?

LDForget

i work at a honda dealership as a technician. i havent seen this issue arise as of yet. If the service adviser said the battery shorted out and it needed a new one, theres no reason they shouldnt have put a new one in there. keep watching the vehicle for any type of electrical issue and if it comes up, bring it back to the same dealership.

ChiefQM

@LDForget

Thanks, I will watch for any electrical issues. I smelled hot antifreeze last night after I got home, and after I drove it this morning and smelled it again. I looked for any leaks on the ground and around the engine and didn't find any, I figure some coolant must have splashed out when they refilled the system.

LDForget

yeah, its pretty likely that there is some coolant left near the radiator that likely hit the fan then splashed everywhere and is causing the smell. it should go away soon.

OneBadTurboCRV

Either way, welcome to the new Honda. I bought a new 2013 Civic Si and a few friends bought new 2013 and 2014 Accords... needless to say, I traded mine in at 15k miles after multiple trips to back to the dealer including topend failure at 5,500 miles. My friends all have less than 30-40k on theirs and the ones that still have them have to go back for issues and TOSB's quite often.

Personally, I would definitely look into other options and get rid of the clunker before you start having other issues like the VTC that they can't seem to get right eve after a decade now... I couldn't be happier getting rid of my new Honda stuff and my friends feel the same way. There are other options out there, and Honda just isn't what it used to be - reliable.

Todd00

Do tell what your other suggestions are for a more "reliable" manufacturer.

For the record, I have both a 2014 CRV and a 2014 Accord and neither have been back to the dealership for anything.

ChiefQM

It's a lease, so we are in it for another year. Honestly, this is the first problem I have ever had with a Honda. My last one was a 2011 Accord that only had its oil changed and gas tank filled the entire 3 year lease term. I had 3 Hondas before that, mostly 80s models, and that experience is what caused me to lease this one and the last one.

Admittedly, there are some features that I liked better on other vehicles, but the value of the Hondas at the end of the lease term was the deciding factor both times.

I did have to take this back to the dealer a week after the repair was made, because of a persistent smell of coolant, but the tech put it up on the rack and showed me all the joints were dry, it was just spilled coolant that was burning off, even after being pressure washed. No complaints, really.

HondaPartsHero

Wouldn't buy a newer Honda if I had too. Friend has had two newer ones in the last 4-5 years (2007 Honda Civic, 2013 CRV). The Civic had multiple issues not prevalent on older years (pre 01 vehicles) go out pre 100k: wiper motor, starter motor, caliper, etc . The CRV had multiple issues as well before 100k: starter, cooling fan motor, catalytic. Also seen multiple vehicles have cat issues that weren't that common in older Hondas. It's like Honda around 01 said f'it were goin cheap on stuff now.

naogriv

It happened to me last week. I have a 2015 CRV EX 2wd with 14,124 miles on it. I was on the freeway when I noticed a burning smell. I looked at the instrument panel and saw that the red battery light symbol had come on also and that the needle on the engine temperature was above Hot. When I had it towed to the nearest Honda dealer service, a service advisor there opened the hood of my car and had a mechanic see what was wrong. There was no coolant left in the tank. The belt on the water pump was torn off. The mechanic knew right away that the water pump had failed.
The fix was under warranty which is fine and dandy but they replaced the waterpump with the same exact one as before. What if that one fails prematurely as well and cause more engine damage? I think I am going to trade in that car for a different model, because I dont know how long I was driving that car without coolant and I dont know if that may have caused some type of premature engine wear which may show up after warranty ends. The way that the service advisor behaved and for her to know right off the bat that it was under warranty seemed as if they encountered tbe same problem before. I asked her if she had seen the same prob in other CRVs and she told me no in a nervous way. I know body language and she had a hard time with her composure as she tried to say that what happened to my car was just a bad fluke. While she is trying to find words, I am thinking "Oh okay so you want me to believe that out of thousands of water pump that was manufactured, the one that was originally placed in my car was the only one with a defect?"

Thanks for reading,
Sunny

TyGuy88

As a dealer tech I will say I have seen this a handful of times on the newer CRVs and the 4 cyl Accords. It isn't common by any means but I suspect there was a small run of water pumps built with subpar bearings. The water pump will start making noise as the internal bearing begins to fail and then it will seize up, many times causing heavy friction on the drive belt that will burn the belt until it fails. In the case of the OP's vehicle dying and not restarting the belt maintained it's integrity and held the crank pulley so tightly that the crank couldn't turn. If the engine can't turn it can't run. Had the belt broken or been cut loose it would have started right up, however it would quickly overheated due to no coolant circulating. As far as the smell of coolant after the repair I'd agree with the sentiment above about residual coolant burning off. Coolant pours down front of the block as soon as the pump's seal is broken. Doesn't mater if the system is drained, it will still always make a mess. Sometimes it gets pooled in places that are overlooked when cleaning after the job is finished. Once on the highway or the cooling fans engage the pool gets blown onto the block or exhaust and burns off. It was definitely smart to return to ensure there were no leaks. I've yet to see any vehicles return due to the replacement pump failing.

Eric Short

My 2014 CRV had a similar water pump problem at about 20,000 miles. Repair shop said it was rather common. I bought the car in large part because of it's reliability. Very disappointed.

susanj

2014 CRV with 44,500 miles - Happened to me too - car stalled at idle, didn't want to turn over, after several tries it did start up. Made one quick stop, car started right up, and then on 3 mile drive home serpentine belt started making awful noise. Upon start next am had 3 second grinding like VTC actuator sound. Had it towed to dealer.
Told grinding noise was not VTC actuator they replaced a month prior - instead it was Water pump had failed (covered under powertrain warranty)
also told serpentine belt tensioner failed and battery they tested as fine a month prior was now shot. (these were not covered and cost me $638 in addition to the $100 tow.

The idea these were not connected is unfathomable to me. I think the tech who suggested that the water pump seizing up puts stress on drive belt may be onto something - could there be so much torque it pulled the tensioner loose? I am going to file a complaint with honda on this bc I think the tensioner fail is secondary - the timing is too coincidental - they also need to cover my tow as detailed in the warranty conditions. The battery - ces't la vie - its been in the single digits.

I bought this car 6 months ago after years of maintaining a 2004 Mercedes E500 4matic that I sold at 185,000 miles - the tensioner on that didn't fail ever - and I replaced it at 170,000 miles when it was chirping. I bought a honda to get out of repairs.

wenismaster

2016 Honda CR-V EX with 14,800 miles that had the charging system (battery) light and the AWD light come on while driving. Thankfully turned around and made it home. Popped the hood and the serpentine belt had snapped. The car is so new the auto parts store don't even stock that belt but they did think by looking at the broken belt that the water pump had seized up. Sure enough after taking the car to the honda dealership the water pump had stopped turning breaking the belt. The service tech mentioned this is a common issue and they see a lot of it. Definitely one of those components that should last more than 2 years.

holmesnmanny

talk about embarrassing, did the service techs really not laugh when they seen it

how can they, with a straight face, not laugh when they hear about what a joke it is when water pumps are failing at only 20k on a brand new car