(Bloomberg) -- Honda Motor Co. is preparing a recall for the2016 Civic compact in the U.S. and has ordered dealers to stopselling some versions of the car, months after beginning sales ofthe crucial new model.

The automaker issued a stop-sale notice to dealers in lateJanuary, spokesman Chris Martin said in an e-mail, declining togive specific details including the number of vehicles before theofficial recall statement. Blogs including Jalopnik and Autoblogearlier this month cited a dealer service bulletin posted on theenthusiast site CivicX.com that said about 34,000 Civics wereinvolved and the fault was with missing or mis-set piston ringsthat could cause engines to stall or fail.

Related: Top 10 vehicles with highest rates of driverdeaths

The impending recall is another setback to Honda one year afterquality issues led Japan’s third-largest automaker to changepresidents, naming Takahiro Hachigo to replace Takanobu Ito.Hachigo has vowed to improve internal communication and downplayedsales targets after recalls related to Takata Corp. air bags andredesigned Fit small cars and Vezel compact SUVs plagued hispredecessor.

One of Honda’s core models, the Civic joined the CR-V SUV andAccord mid-size sedan as the company’s three nameplates to top 1million units sold in the U.S. for the third-straight year. The2016 model was named North American Car of the Year in January by acommittee of automotive journalists.

Honda’s stop-sale is in effect on a vehicle-by-vehicle basisuntil each affected car is inspected and repaired, if a fix isneeded, Martin said. The company will issue a recall statement oncethe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration acknowledges itsrecall plan, he said.

Replacement parts for the recall were not available as of whenthe company issued its service bulletin dated Jan. 30, the postingon CivicX.com shows. Honda said it expected to notify customers inmid-March when tools, parts and details are projected to beavailable, according to the bulletin.

Honda last month missed analysts’ estimates for net income,operating profit and revenue, and cut its fiscal year salesforecast by 50 billion yen ($443 million), as costly recalls to replace faulty Takata airbag inflators expanded. The carmaker is Takata’sbiggest customer and has called back vehicles to replace more than20 million inflators that can deploy with too much force andrupture, spraying plastic and metal shards at vehicleoccupants.

Please give us a Like on Facebook!

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.