Last week, Toyota recalled 1.53 million Lexus and Toyota models to replace a brake master cylinder that can slowly leak out brake fluid. Turns out that fellow Japanese carmaker Honda uses the same supplier for the affected component – it has recalled 528,000 vehicles worldwide including 470,000 units in the US. Affected models are the 2005-07 Acura RL and 2005-07 Honda Odyssey. The latter is not the same MPV as the one sold here despite the same name.

The internal rubber seal of the brake master cylinder, which is supplied by Advics Co. Ltd. in Japan, can leak out brake fluid to the brake booster, resulting in illumination of the brake warning lamp. This problem arises when non original brake fluid is used. The genuine brake fluid contains polymers that act as lubricant, something that non genuine brake fluid don’t have or have only in small amounts.

Honda says that there’s no safety issue here. “It will result in the brake fluid light illuminating before there is any loss of brake system performance. Although one brake circuit could gradually lose performance due to this cause, there would be no effect on the other brake circuit,” a company spokesperson said. Honda will replace the master cylinder seal in all affected cars, and if leaking has already started, the brake booster as well.

The recall season continues, this time over in Brazil. Late last week, Honda issued a recall on close to 127,000 units of its City and Fit models made by Honda Automoveis do Brasil over potential problems with accelerator pedals that could lead to unwanted acceleration.

Specifically, the company said that dust particles might get inside the accelerator pedal’s sensor, causing the pedal to become stuck in some cases. Though there would be a noticeably higher than normal engine RPM, the driver would be able to maintain control of the vehicle and brake safely to a stop, the company added.

A single accident has been reported related to the defect, though there were no injuries. The cars being recalled, 126,774 in total, were assembled in Brazil from May 2008 to October 2010 and were sold only in Brazil, so the recall doesn’t apply to cars in markets elsewhere.

The Accord is still a global name, but it has stopped being a true global car since the sixth-generation model. Since then, Honda created an Accord for each major type of market: Japan, Europe and North America. Japan and Europe started sharing a more compact version of the Accord since the seventh generation, while the US Accord joined the size race. And since bigger is better in our part of the world, ASEAN got the North American body.

In Japan, the Accord as we know it is called the Inspire, and it has just received a mid life facelift. Our Accord was launched back in April 2008, so it will be three years old next year. Could be time for a facelift, so let’s look at the refreshed Inspire to see what we can expect.

It’s a mild rework similar to the facelifted US Accord, and the changes are most obvious up front. The latest Inspire gets a new grille with a rounder bottom half compared to the current car, and the look is consistent with Honda’s recent products like the RB3 Odyssey. The bumper is also new, and there’s more sculpture work on it. The new grille combines with the strong chin to create a narrower and more prominent “U” shape. At the back, the bumper is reprofiled and there are chrome strips flanking the number plate.

The cabin looks pretty much the same, but this 3.5 V6 Inspire has a full colour sat nav system that uses the main central display, so the climate and audio info are shown on a separate strip just above the air con vents. I’ve always thought that the vast screen is rather “wasted” in our Accord, as it shows very basic information. The centre console is still a button fest on the Inspire, but the layout is slightly different. All these should not make it here as it’s unlikely that our Accord will include built in sat nav as standard.

Images taken from Honda’s Japanese website are after the jump.
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