Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. is recalling 182,756 Civics, the automaker's second-best selling U.S. model, to fix a wheel-bearing seal that may leak and cause the wheel to fall off.

The recall, covering 2006 and 2007 model-year Civic sedans and coupes, was reported on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Web site. The affected models were made from March 24, 2005, through Feb. 8, 2007, Honda said.

Water may be able to seep past an O-ring seal on the wheel bearing, damaging the bearing, Tokyo-based Honda said in a letter on the NHTSA Web site. ``This could cause a wheel to fall off of the vehicle, possibly resulting in a crash,'' Honda said.

Honda, No. 5 in U.S. sales this year, said it will notify owners by mail starting Sept. 17 and replace any damaged parts for free. No injuries or accidents have been reported, said Honda spokesman David Iida, who is based in Detroit.

The automaker also is recalling 19,904 2006 model-year Civic sedans and hybrids to repair a brake-light switch that may fail, according to a letter on the NHTSA site. Honda said it will notify owners beginning Sept. 27.

Grease can build up on the steering column and allow oil to drip onto the switch, preventing the brake lights from illuminating and ``potentially resulting in a crash,'' Honda said. The extra grease may also prevent drivers from shifting gears out of the ``Park'' position, Honda said.

The two recalls don't overlap because the models affected were built in different places, said Iida, who declined to say what the recalls would cost. No accidents or injuries have been linked to the brake-light switch, Iida said.

NEWS:    Honda recalls 45,000 Civic Hybrids

TOKYO (AP) -- February 9, 2007 -- — Honda Motor Co. plans to recall 45,335 Civic Hybrid sedans worldwide to repair an electrical defect that could stop the cars’ engines, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Japan’s No. 2 automaker plans to recall 7,219 of the vehicles sold domestically and another 38,116 sold overseas, mostly in the U.S., a Honda spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing company policy.

Honda learned about the defective voltage converters — which could cause a short circuit that would stop the engine and prevent it from restarting — from overseas reports, the company said in documents filed Thursday with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.