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More Hondas, Acuras to be recalled over deadly air bag problem

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Honda Motor Co. plans to recall 273,000 Honda and Acura vehicles because of an air bag problem that can kill drivers.

It also will inspect an additional 603,000 vehicles to see whether the same defective parts were used in repairing autos that have been in accidents. Honda said it doesn’t know how many of those vehicles might have been repaired with the defective parts.

In the recalled vehicles, from the 2001 through 2003 model years, the driver’s side air bag can deploy with too much force in an accident, causing a metal inflator casing — the part that holds and channels explosive propellant — to rupture.

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“The propellant was packed improperly, and that allows the propellant to burn off too quickly and it explodes, and pieces of the casing are causing the injuries,” said Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman.

Honda has had four previous recalls over the same issue, and the latest recall raised the total to more than 2.5 million vehicles in the U.S. The problem does not affect any vehicles newer than the 2003 model year.

Altogether, there have been 18 injuries and two deaths caused by the faulty air bags.

“This is a very serious thing; people need to get their cars fixed. This is not something to wait on,” Martin said.

The latest recall now includes certain 2001 and 2002 Accord, 2001 through 2003 Civic, 2001 through 2003 Odyssey, 2002 and 2003 CR-V, 2003 Pilot, 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL and 2003 Acura 3.2 CL vehicles.

For more information, Honda owners can go to https://www.recalls.honda.com or call (800) 999-1009 and select option 4; Acura owners can go to https://www.recalls.acura.com or call (800) 382-2238 and select option 4.

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com

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