2016 Accord Coupe EX+Sensing, 4cyl CVT...


1. With trunk open, when I look at side of left tail light that's inside the trunk, there's a ~1/4" gap between the top of the light housing and the painted sheet metal above it, along that entire edge. (Open trunk and look left, in direction of white arrow in attached image.) The metal looks jagged like it's a bad stamping or got broken during assembly. The same location on the right tail light is totally flush. I opened the trunk after washing the car and noticed water runs down between trunk lid and the fender and flows into that gap which can't be good. Anybody else see this on either side? Got appointment with dealer next week (he thinks I'm crazy. )


2. If I turn the ECO Assist setting off, the climate control fan speeds up (climate control in manual mode), but the number of bars stays the same on the LCD display and it slows down again when ECO is turned back on. Anybody explain that to me?


3. The right side Lane Watch camera has option to show "reference lines". Is there any info to indicate the distances those lines actually represent?


4. Sometimes I notice the cruise control speed setting number on the display is blinking. Anybody know what that means?


Thanks!

 

#1. Definitely should not be that way
#2. The engaged ECO will reduce the AC and other functions. With my vehicle (V6 sedan) and the way that I drive, I only realize about 4 extra miles per tank of gas by running the ECO... hence, I don't use it, but 'to each their own'
#3. Don't know the exact distance, but red lines = NO. Amber lines are OK. Use at your own discretion and risk.
#4. The blinking light is explained in the owner's manual, I'd look it up for you but do not have my car's manual with me at the moment

 

Thanks for the responses.


I wonder if others have a similar "defect" in their tail light installation. They should probably check both sides before things start rusting inside the body. And what other spots that I haven't seen aren't sealed correctly..? I'll post back after the dealer inspects the car and comes up with a plan of action.


Haven't compared having ECO on vs off for mpg, but in my situation the AC is off (system entirely in manual mode) so I'm surprised that ECO still controls the fan speed.


Probably won't use the reference lines in the Lane Watch camera. Was just curious what they meant.


Guess I didn't see the explanation of the blinking cruise control number. The manual on the CD is over 600 pages so it's easy to miss things...

 

As to the reference lines, I thought the same way at first, however the more I drive the car (especially on the Interstate) the more I find the 'lines' to be helpful... for instance: in a tight situation the lines have become more dependable than the "objects are closer than they appear" in the standard mirror.

Did you not also get a paper manual? Both the paper and the CD came with my car... actually, I've not been able to get the CD to play in my PC, so I rely on the 'old school'

Plus, there is a downloadable version of the manual available from Honda

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the blinking light while in Cruise Control is associated with Sensing and is some kind of distance alert between your car and a vehicle ahead... seems to me that I read somewhere that the distance sensing can be adjusted... perhaps in Settings (?)

 

Thanks again for the responses.


Got both a paper manual and a disk. The disk only works in the DVD drive in my PC. Once I figured that out, I copied the manual's pdf file onto my hard drive.


So are the red lines in the right-side camera telling me how close an object is side-to-side from my right side or how far that object is behind my car?


I looked through the entire manual from the disk today. I only see where it mentions the set speed number, but nothing about it blinking. I searched the entire file for "blink" and didn't find anything related to that indicator.


You can change the distance ACC maintains behind the car ahead with the button at "3 o'clock" on the steering wheel cruise control cluster. I usually set it at the middle distance (111 feet) and leave it there. I'll ask the dealer about the blinking set speed indicator when I take it in to check the tail light fit/finish.

 

The lines are about distance behind your vehicle. If the top red line is touching the car in the right lane, it is not safe to merge right. The amber lines are indicators of clearance.

i.o.w. = Red/No, Amber/Ok

As we all know, safety is the driver's responsibility

 

Took my '16 Accord Coupe to dealer today. The service manager said the gap between tail light and body is "normal", but he couldn't explain the absence of a gap on right side (see photos). They didn't have another '16 Coupe in stock to compare.

He said tail light housing is sealed so water can't get in and uses a waterproof connector to the main wiring harness. Water going down the gap is supposed to drain out under the rear bumper, and since everything inside is painted there's nothing to worry about. Why am I not convinced?


I'm really interested to hear what other '16 Coupe owners see on their cars. And maybe 4-door owners might also want to look.


Any thoughts or comments about me sealing the gap with some clear silicon caulking?


As for the blinking set speed number on the cruise control, the service manager had no answers. He looked through the owner's manual and all his tech docs but found nothing about that number blinking. He'll have to contact Honda and get back to me. I'll post his response when I get it...

 

No such gap (as you've described) on my '16 Sedan

 

Drove by another Honda dealer today so I stopped off and asked their service manager about the gap between the left tail light and the body. He was a bit surprised so he took me out on the lot to look at my car's twin, another silver '16 Accord Coupe EX CVT. It has exactly the same gap on the left side, and virtually none on the right, just like mine.


This service manager also said water will just drain out under the rear bumper, and while the gap isn't "pretty", it shouldn't be a problem. He suspects the robot working on the right side puts more welding compound there so everything is flush when the right tail light is installed. Ya thinks maybe, perhaps, possibly the left side robot needs some adjusting..??


Unfortunately, he also didn't know what the blinking cruise control set speed number means. He took my VIN and promised to call when he gets a response from Honda. So we'll see if either dealer comes up with an answer...

 

I finally figured out what the blinking cruise control set speed number means...

I spoke to 2 levels of tech support at American Honda (4 techs in total), and none really understood the question.

Here's what I figured out on my own:

When ACC sees a vehicle within sensing range, the car symbol on the speedometer changes from an outline into a solid white car.

If necessary, ACC will slow my car below the set speed to maintain distance from the vehicle in front. If the other vehicle moves out of range or gets out of my lane, and the lane ahead is now clear (as far as ACC can see ahead), the car symbol goes back to being an outline and the set speed number blinks to indicate my car is resuming the set speed.

But if ACC can see another vehicle in range that was ahead of the one that got out of the way, the car symbol stays solid and even though ACC may accelerate my car to a faster speed, or to the set speed, to maintain distance, the set speed number doesn't blink. (Got that? )

Once I knew what makes the set speed number blink, the question was if that blinking number means (1) ACC thinks it lost track of the vehicle ahead (eg, it's gone blind / failed), or (2) it really knows there's no other vehicle in range and it's ok to resume the set speed.

The Honda techs waffled on (1) vs (2), and just said I need to pay attention to my surroundings. Well gee, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?

As far as I can tell, the blinking number means the lane really is clear and it's safe to resume the set speed.

And if your curious, I starting understanding this when a slower car ahead suddenly took the exit ramp and the lane was now totally empty ahead. ACC started accelerating to the set (blinking) speed. I reproduced this when a slower car ahead moved into the slow lane leaving mine unobstructed. So now I can make it blink by setting up the right conditions.

And of course, always pay attention to traffic, weather and road conditions. The dent you cause will be your own...