The owner of a 2016 Honda Civic drew the attention of internet users by documenting a very unusual problem they are experiencing with their car.
Wendal posted a video on his TikTok profile to show the problem with his vehicle and ask viewers for help. “Do you know this problem?” he wrote in the text overlay on the clip.
In the footage, he appeared in his garage to demonstrate what is happening with his Honda Civic. According to him, when he closes the door and starts walking away from the car, something strange occurs.
The key proximity sensors, which are supposed to detect that the driver is moving away from the vehicle in order to proceed with the automatic locking of the doors, instead cause the car to emit a mechanical noise that sounds like a machine gun.
“What […] is this? Does anyone know?” asked Wendal, clearly perplexed by the bizarre noise coming from his car. His video has already accumulated more than 4,000 views and many comments from users who revealed that this problem is relatively common in Honda Civics.
“[It’s] the fuel door actuator, unfortunately quite common. I work for Honda,” explained one TikTok user. “It’s the machine gun they added for safety,” joked another. “I knew the sound the car would make the second the video started,” admitted a third.
The door release actuator is a small motorized component integrated into the car’s central locking system. When you lock your car, the system sends a signal to lock all entry points, including the doors, trunk, and fuel door.
However, if the door actuator is faulty or stuck, it will repeatedly try to complete its locking cycle but fail, producing the sound demonstrated in Wendal’s video as it tries to engage repeatedly.
Fortunately, the repair is usually simple, and the average cost to replace the fuel door release actuator on a Honda Civic is relatively inexpensive, ranging from US$130 to US$170.
On social media, some users reported even cheaper DIY solutions, with one owner claiming the part cost $40 including shipping and took about 10 minutes to install.
However, it’s important to note that this can become a recurring issue for some Civic owners. As reported by a member of the CivicX forum, the actuator in their vehicle failed at 40,000 km, was replaced under warranty, and then failed again just a year later at 47,000 km.
Photo and video: TikTok @lou841077. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
@lou841077 2016 Honda Civic service #fyp #honda #hondacivic #cars #troubleshooting ♬ original sound – Mr. Wendal
