Steering column or shaft failure on the 2002 Honda CR-V
When steering column or shaft failure gets reported
Owners of the 2002 Honda CR-V report steering column or shaft failure at a median of 145,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 130,000 miles and a quarter after 160,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 120,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 165,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 43,292 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 121,245 miles | 127,500 miles | 142,500 miles | 160,903 miles | 164,537 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $600–$2,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2015, at a median of 200 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 165,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
My wife and I own an 02 honda cr-v that has headlight failure problems. I have researched online and found that there is an issue noted at different forums concerning the steering column electrical connection at the dimmer/turn signal switch. Our headlights failed during normal use in june of 2011. I took my steering column cover off and looked at the electrical connection to the dimmer/turn signal switch and found it to be partially melted. I cleaned the connections and reinstalled the connector. The repair lasted only temporary (2 months) and then the lights failed again. I have determined that the replacement of the wiring connector is the only complete repair, but since I have heard there is an investigation, I wanted to acknowledge that my 02 honda suffers this problem of a faulty wiring connector from the manufacturer at the dimmer/turn signal switch. Updated 09/07/11*bf *tr updated 2/23/12 *cn
My wife and I own an 02 honda cr-v that has headlight failure problems. I have researched online and found that there is an issue noted at different forums concerning the steering column electrical connection at the dimmer/turn signal switch. Our headlights failed during normal use in june of 2011. I took my steering column cover off and looked at the electrical connection to the dimmer/turn signal switch and found it to be partially melted. I cleaned the connections and reinstalled the connector. The repair lasted only temporary (2 months) and then the lights failed again. I have determined that the replacement of the wiring connector is the only complete repair, but since I have heard there is an investigation, I wanted to acknowledge that my 02 honda suffers this problem of a faulty wiring connector from the manufacturer at the dimmer/turn signal switch. Updated 09/07/11*bf *tr updated 2/23/12 *cn
Both headlights went out simultaneously while driving. High beams still work. Low beams work again after being out for about 5-10 minutes. It tends to happen after headlights have been on for roughly an hour of driving. A damaged connector was found in the steering column. *kb updated 06/04/12
Also reported on the 2002 Honda CR-V
Other electrical problem
Other body or interior problem
Headlight failure or clouding
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Air conditioning failure
Other engine problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 13 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does steering column or shaft failure happen on the 2002 Honda CR-V?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 145,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 130,000 miles and a quarter after 160,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is steering column or shaft failure on the 2002 Honda CR-V?
13 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed