I own a 2019 Accord LX. I have replaced my millimeter wave radar once (in 2020) and am now waiting (three months+) on my second replacement unit. Both recommendations from Honda to replace these units occurred while under warranty and will ultimately cost me around $4,000. Honda’s diagnosis was that I must have hit something on the road, and it wasn’t covered by the warranty. My question is, how does a technician determine that the unit is bad versus needing alignment? Is there bench test equipment that you plug the unit into to test it, and is that type of equipment standard at most Honda dealerships? My concern is that my unit just needs to be aligned and I am shelling out big bucks to replace solid state equipment that should last longer than a year or two. Does anyone know of a third-party testing facility for these radar units? Thanks

PS - I did search the threads and didn't find anything related to testing the units, sorry if I missed anything.

 

I have a friend who does this for a local collision repair business. They have a very expensive machine that can only do a handful of cars and sensors and then they call in a 3rd party to align things the machine can't. Apparently it's very complex and tedious.

Anyway, try some collision repair places.

 

Thanks for the information and suggestion. Yeah, I imagine the calibration process is thorough and time consuming, and I understand that expensive test equipment is an overhead cost that must be passed on. I just wish there was some way to verify that the radar component was good or bad, it just seems odd (or a bad reflection on design) that two (expensive) units have failed within 3 years. Maybe a local collision shop can tell me if my unit is operating properly. Thanks again for the helpful suggestion.

 

Generally, the car should be scanned for trouble codes.

There are various trouble codes that may be stored, for example here are a few:
P2583-54 Millimeter Wave Radar Aiming Incomplete
P2583-76 Temporary stop of Integrated Driver Support System (Misalignment Millimeter Wave Radar)
P2583-92 CMBS or FCW Over Working
P2583-97 Dust or Dirt On The Millimeter Wave Radar
P2583-98 Millimeter Wave Radar Temperature Too High
P2583-9A Temporary stop of Integrated Driver Support System (Jammed Millimeter Wave Radar)


Similar to what is described in these service bulletins, there should be an inspection of the millimeter wave radar and the mounting bracket, and confirm that they are not deformed or damaged. The mounting clip should also be inspected for damage.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...00833-0001.pdf
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...44375-9999.pdf

 

Thanks for the service bulletins and inspection suggestions. I'll see if I can get a printout of the trouble codes as well.