2021 HONDA PILOT Engine Problems

75 complaints about Engine

75
Complaints
1
Crashes
1
Fires
0
Deaths

High Severity Issue

This component has been associated with crashes, fires, or deaths.

This Problem Across All Years

All Engine Complaints (75)

Jan 5, 2026

Check Engine Light came on during normal highway driving with Cylinder 2 Misfire as the readout. The vehicle was brought to local Honda dealer for troubleshooting and maintenance. Dealer maintained vehicle on schedule with 96,000 miles on it. Initially, informed us that this was due to the air filter housing being improperly placed and low power from the battery. Resolved both and then informed us it was an issue with the connecting rod/crankshaft and the engine would need to be replaced. During most recent fluids service about 2 months prior, had raised concerns about an intermittent shifting/low RPM jump and was told it was just debris but no real issue.

Jan 2, 2026

While driving the check engine light started flashing and lost a lot of power. Pulled over and turned the car off. Turned the car back on and the light was gone and power seemed to be back. Trying to get home about 15 minutes later every light came on. Lane assist, check engine, blind spot, traction control, literally all warning lights. When these came on the car lost all power within a minute. Wouldn't turn over or even power on to use lights or the radio. Got the car towed to two separate garages both stating engine failure. Honda dealer provided documentation of a bearing failure which damaged cylinder 5.

Dec 20, 2025

Car does not want to start even though the batter and alternator are good (tested by tow truck company). Restarts fine once batter is disconnected and then reconnected again. This has now happened twice.

Dec 18, 2025

I have had two major problems with this car. At approximately 84,000 miles, the engine started making a very loud noise, regardless of speed. It was first diagnosed by an independent service center as a control arm bearing failure. I contacted Honda Corporate and was told that it had to be diagnosed by a Honda dealer/service center. It was then diagnosed as a failure of the control arm bearing by a Honda dealer/service center. I was told the engine had to be replaced. Honda Corporate offered a 50-50 split, leaving me with a bill of $8480. This is completely unfair and unjust for me to have to pay this for a manufacturer's defect. In the second incident shortly thereafter, I was on the highway in traffic when the automatic stop-start function failed, and the car stopped and did not re-start. I had cars backed up behind me, and it was a very unsafe situation. After turning the car off completely, I managed to restart it, and got off the highway. The problem continued afterwards, and I had to turn off the function manually in order to drive the car at all.

Dec 18, 2025

While stopped at an intersection, the car died, the transmission shifted to neutral automatically and the radio would not turn on. The AGM battery was replaced approximately one year ago when a similar situation took place.

Dec 8, 2025

When driving and wanting to accelerate at 65mph car just because limp, won’t go when accelerating for a few seconds, speed drops, then you press back on the accelerator and after a few times the car goes back to normal. So, you loose control of the accelerator for a few seconds and you cant go faster, it just freezes and speed drops. This has been happen g for awhile. I even called Honda Corporate to advise them. It’s been happening for over 2 years. It comes and goes. We are starting to hear a clunk noise now.

Nov 14, 2025

While driving on the freeway at a slow speed due to two freeways merging, my Honda Pilot suddenly stopped/stalled. When I tried to restart the car by pressing the Auto Idle Stop button to vehicle did not start. It took three times of pressing the Auto Idle Stop button for the engine to restart. I am lucky that the traffic was going at a slow speed due to the merging of freeways so I was able to right away press my emergency signal lights on. I panicked and was scared for my safety and what could have happened to myself and others if the vehicle was running at a higher speed. This could have caused a major accident. Because this happened yesterday, I will be calling Honda to report the issue as well and have my vehicle inspected. My vehicle has had issues many times in the past with the Auto Idle Stop button not starting, however, it has never happened while driving. The concerning part as well is that the vehicle did not give any kind of warning light or message.

Nov 8, 2025

Wife was driving car and it stalled when slowing down for a red light. No check engine light or dash warning notices. Car then displayed instructions to restart the car Tried to restart 4 or 5 times. Finally started. We were lucky she was not on a highway driving at highway speeds.

Oct 25, 2025

While stopped at a traffic light the “Auto Stop” engine shut off feature engaged. When releasing the brake, the vehicle completely shut down, all dash lights came on as did the transmission mode lights. Upon trying to restart with the start button, prompts came up to place the vehicle in park. Trans select button did not work. Pressed the Start button several more times. At one time all dash lights went off, except for the battery light. Brake pedal went all the way down to the floor. Opened the drivers door and then tried the start button one more time with the AutoStart button switched off after dash lights returned. Vehicle started after that. Blocked traffic for one traffic light sequence. Occurred on Route 30 and Schoolhouse Road; New Lenox IL on 10/25/25. Attempted to restart several times afterward and vehicle restarted. Trying to drive with “autostart” feature manually turned off from now on, if I remember. Scheduled checkup @ dealer 10/29/25. Honda of Joliet Vehicle has slightly over 40k miles.

Oct 23, 2025

Per the mechanic the rod bearing broke into the engine and caused sudden engine failure. I was on a highway when this occured, thankfully I was already in the right lane and right before an exit to which I took and secured the vehicle in a safe location. It was extremely dangerous location for this to occur and thankfully no one was right behind me. There were no warnings or messages prior to the incident. It was just routinely serviced within the past month. I heard a loud clank, the engine light started flashing, and the car started to slow down, there was knocking sounds in the engine. We had it towed to D and M service center then moved to Gillman Honda service center. It was confirmed by two different shops, D and M service center at 1029 Pat Booker Rd, Universal City, TX 78148 and Gillman Honda dealership at 16044 I-35 N Selma, TX 78154 that the rod bearing cracked into the engine and metal shavings were identified in the engine oil.

Oct 21, 2025

Car is slow to start or doesn't start at all, particularly after frequent engine stops/starts or when engine has idled for a period of time. Battery has been replaced. Symptom comes and goes, but seems to get worse with frequent engine stops/starts (i.e., driving to different locations with short stays at each, or with the automatic engine shut off)

Oct 13, 2025

After stopping at a traffic light or stop sign the car's auto-stop/restart feature has failed multiple times to restart the engine. This has left the car stalled at a light and needing to manually place the car in park, turn off the electrical, then attempt to restart the vehicle. The problem started about 4 months ago and has been starting to happen more frequently.

Sep 29, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while his wife was driving 50 MPH, the engine seized, and the functions on the vehicle became inoperable. After waiting for an hour, the vehicle restarted. The contact was unaware if there were any warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while the contact's wife was driving 30 MPH, the engine seized. No warning lights were illuminated. After waiting for a long while, the vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was taken to another dealer, Honda of Whittier; however, no cause for the failure was found. The dealer restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

Mileage: 15,000

Sep 23, 2025

when stopped at a stop light the engine idle kills the engine and want start back up causing traffic backups...have to go through process to setting back to park and trying to start which does not happen quickly leaving people behind you frustrated and honking. This needs to have an option to disable it if you don't want that function as it's very frustrating and dangerous. Please get honda to fix issue. Thanks for your help.

Sep 16, 2025

AFTER I had the softwear update! When idle at stoplight, auto idle feature kicked on. When light turn green and I pushed gas, car shut off entirely. This happened on multiple occasions. While waiting for an appointment to get this issue looked at, my car failed to start after being parked. It would not start after a jump from another vehicle. The tow truck driver was able to bet it jumped using a battery pack case. At the dealership, battery failed load test. Waiting to see if starter needs to be replaced and valves adjusted under extended warranty.

Aug 28, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while at a complete stop with the START/STOP feature activated, the engine shut off while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. After waiting for several minutes, the contact had to perform several procedures to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was initially taken to a dealer where a software update was performed; however, the failure returned weekly. Recently, the contact stated that upon restarting the vehicle after the failure, the vehicle began to jerk while accelerating, with an abnormal tapping sound coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and was diagnosed with a defective engine rod bearing. The contact was informed by the mechanic that the repair could not be warranted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

Mileage: 15,000

Aug 21, 2025

1. ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE ENGINE STOP/START FUNCTION STARTED TO FAIL INTERMITTENTLY. I WENT TO THE HONDA DEALER WHO THEY CHARGED US ABOUT $500 FOR A BATTERY AND NEVER MENTIONED A RECALL OR REPAIR. 2. ABOUT SIX WEEKS AGO THE AUTO ENGINE STOP/START FUNCTION FAILED TO RESTART THE ENGINE AFTER STOPPING. I THOUGHT IT WAS THE BATTERY AGAIN AND WENT BACK TO THE HONDA DEALER. THEY CHARGED ABOUT $1,500 FOR VARIOUS THINGS BUT STATED THAT THE AUTO STOP/START FUNCTION SOFTWARE HAD BEEN UPDATED AND IF THERE ANY FUTURE PROBLEMS TO RETURN. 8/19/2025. WE WERE ON THE INTERSTATE HWY IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC. WE WERE STOPPED IN THE LEFT LANE AND THE TRAFFIC STARTED GOING AGAIN. THE CARS IN FRONT OF US STARTED GOING AND WE WERE LEFT BEHIND. THE CARS BEHIND US WENT AROUND AND WE WERE LEFT STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSTATE HWY. AFTER A FEW MINUTES I GOT THE CAR RUNNING. BEING STALLED ON THE INSERSTATE HWY IS A LIFE THREATING ISSUE! I TOOK THE 2021 HONDA PILOT TO THE HONDA DEALER ON 8/20/2025 WHO STATES THAT THEY CANNOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM. PLEASE NOTE THIS THE THIRD (3RD) TRIP TO HONDA FOR THE SAME ISSUE. NO RESOLUTION THERE HAVE BEEN MANY OTHER TIMES WHERE THIS OCCURED AND I JUST TURNED THE FUNCTION OFF WHICH ONLY WORKS TILL THE NEXT TIME YOU DRIVE THE CAR. PLEASE HELP WITH THIS ISSUE BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT...

Aug 18, 2025

When stopped at a stop light the auto idle stop turned the car off. When we tried to go at the green light the car wouldn't move. The transmission shifted to neutral and was stuck. We couldn't put the car in park, we couldn't turn the car off, we couldn't put it in gear. We considered calling the police for help since we were stuck in an intersection. The car eventually turned off and we tried pushing all the buttons to do something it finally allowed us to turn the car 100% off and restart it. Then we could go.

Jul 31, 2025

My 2021 Honda Pilot SE FWD would not restart after the auto off/on turned my engine off at a stop light. Of course this happened at a busy intersection causing backup and an unsafe environment to get out and inspect the vehicle. The car had to be jump started by a kind individual.

Jul 11, 2025

The Auto Idle Stop (AIS) feature on my 2021 Honda Pilot intermittently causes the engine to shut off at a stop and fail to restart. When this happens the vehicle remains completely unresponsive until I shift into Park and manually restart the engine.This has happened multiple times in traffic and at intersections, creating a huge safety risk. I have already replaced the battery and had the latest software update installed at my local Honda dealership, but the issue persists. The problem is intermittent and difficult for the dealership to replicate. The auto idle stop issue is a known problem with Honda even extending a warranty coverage for the starter assembly and starter relays. The NHTSA number EA25004 addresses this yet the local dealership will only update the software and change the battery. They are failing to honor the second stage of the repair calling out specifically replacing the starter assembly, starter relays and adjusting the valves.

Jul 2, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while temporarily stopped at a traffic light or a stop sign, the vehicle occasionally shifted into neutral, or the vehicle shut off unintendedly. There was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 68,000.

Mileage: 68,000

Jun 7, 2025

On multiple occasions, when sitting at a stop light and then attempting to drive as the light changes, the engine just shuts off as I take my foot off the brake. It then takes several attempts to get the car started.

May 19, 2025

Auto start/stop feature turned off the engine at a stoplight. When the light turned green and the brake pedal was released, the engine did not restart. There also appeared to be some sort of electrical malfunction since the start stop button would not turn off the ignition system in an attempt to reset the vehicle. This happened on a light regulated highway with a posted speed limit of 55 mph.

May 3, 2025

Vehicle when trying to start locks up, have had the battery alternator starter checked, changed the brake switch and still having issues with hard start to my 2021 Honda Pilot. When this happens all the lights come on. I push the Idle/Start switch when I do get it started so that it does shut off when I’m at a red light or stop sign. Because I’m afraid it will not start. Dealership could not find any issues with the vehicle, I’ve taken it to another mechanic and they could not. It has been put on diagnostics several times. I keep putting money into trying to find out what the issue is!!!

Apr 18, 2025

This is another incident of the auto start/stop system failing to restart the engine after a stop in traffic.

Apr 15, 2025

My wife was driving the family down the highway I was a passenger. While we were traveling approximately 70mph down a 4 lane highway there was a loud clunk with a consistent knock and an immediate loss of power. I was able to help navigate her to safety on an off ramp so that my family would be safely off the road. The vehicle was towed to the Honda dealer where it is currently under warranty. The mechanics at the dealership have confirmed a spun bearing on piston number 3 and the motor will need to be replaced. There were zero warning lights and and no notification from any sensors with an OBD tool. Honda America is only willing to replace the motor with a salvaged motor. Unfortunately the VIN from the car with the salvaged motor will not match my current VIN, so if there is an active recall on the engine like on the previous year pilots that are VIN specific, I will not be covered and Honda will have replaced my engine with a known faulty one. I nor should and other family have to take the risk of receiving faulty salvaged Honda parts while still under factory warranty. The attached file is the last service records that are available for the salvaged engine and as you can see there is a noted vibration at the front in as well. Honda refuses to send the information from the salvage yard detailing the engine information including current mileage and the date the motor was pulled from the salvaged vehicle.

Apr 11, 2025

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE, FUEL PUMP FAILURE CAUSES THE ENGINE TO STALL WHILE DRIVING.

Apr 3, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after idling at a red light, the Auto Start failed to operate as designed. The contact had to shift to park(P), and several attempts were needed to restart the vehicle before the contact was able to continue driving. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the battery had failed and needed to be replaced. The battery was replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.

Mileage: 33,000

Apr 1, 2025

The engine fails to restart at times after the auto engine idle cuts the engine off when stopped. The previous recall has been completed. When I returned my vehicle to the dealership to have it checked again because the same issue continued to occur, I was told the battery needed to be replaced. I have since replaced the battery with a Honda battery from the dealership yet the issue still occurs. It seems to be worse in cold weather.

Mar 31, 2025

My Honda's engine start-stop system isn't restarting at stop lights. Very frightening when the light turns green and I can’t go anywhere. I have to turn off the car and restart.

Mar 31, 2025

Engines sometimes fails to start again after being turned off briefly. Will have so turn off all electrical and push button to start multiple times before it engine starts again

Mar 30, 2025

The car randomly fails to start up again after stopping it during an auto start auto stop cycle.

Mar 29, 2025

While stopped on a red light the auto idle engine restart was engaged, when I released my brakes the vehicle did not restart and went into neutral stalling the vehicle..

Feb 13, 2025

My push start is not starting the car. Then while driving the car will shut off on parkway, at a light and won't start. This has been going on since I purchased the vehicle 9/23 I have warranty and th auto dealership keep acting like they fixed it yet the haven't. This is the most dangerous issue. We can die getting hit from behind or the car can catch fire keep pushing start button and not turning on

Jan 30, 2025

I have had numerous issues with the car stalling while in idle- it will shut off but still display all the warning lights on the dash. It would require the car engine to be restarted. Has happened at stop signs, stop lights, carpool lights. This has happened at least 10 times over 3.5 years. Last week I had a similar issue but this time it was much scarier- it did that same shut off but completely shut off the engine. All systems were black and the start button did not trigger a response for at least a minute. Once it finally restarted it displayed a “lost power” message on the screen. More similar issues to report.

Dec 20, 2024

So on Oct 25, 2024 I took my car to get an oil change at the moss bros Honda dealership. I always get all maintenance done there. Then a week later on Nov 3, 2024 my suv pilot broke down on the freeway it just started jerking and the screen kept glitching then right after the engine light went on. I was not aware of any signs for it to happen but Luckily there was a cop and a tow truck close by because who knows what would have happened. After that I took to the dealership on Tuesday and they inspected it then they come and tell me that my engine is done. So they were trying to charge me $8792 for a used engine. I just think is so weird that how everything happened knowing that is a semi new car and I been taking care of the maintenance so for this to happen I find it sketchy.

Dec 8, 2024

Our vehicle continues to randomly turn off and not go while driving. Whenever the idle start/stop is engaged, the vehicle will randomly not restart when traffic is moving. When this occurs you must completely turn off the vehicle, wait a few seconds, restart the vehicle, wait a few seconds, then attempt to place back into drive before being able to move. We have been having this same issue many times now. We have taken our vehicle in to the dealer service department multiple times with this issue. We have replaced the battery ($400) and it still happens. They act like they have never heard of this happening to anyone before and we must be "making it up". They then proceed to tell us that we need to let it keep happening until it is much more common. Then bring it back in again so they can see it happen. I complained to Honda USA with the same story, being that it keeps happening over and over, and they gave us the same answer..."wait until it happens so the mechanic can see it" as if it has never happened to anyone else before. This is going to end up causing people serious harm or worse. Honda is obviously trying to play down the issue to avoid cost at the expense of consumers.

Sep 27, 2024

While stopped at a light the engine completely shut off and put itself into neutral. Nothing worked. Had to press and hold the ignition button for at least 5 seconds to shut down and restart the vehicle.

Sep 7, 2024

Twice in the last 6 months this has happened while car was stopped at red light. The auto engine restart system failed, causing the car to shut down. Car had to be placed in park and restarted. Local dealer was unable to detect cause : no codes captured and there were no problems with battery or starter detected.

Sep 6, 2024 Fire

Vehicle spontaneously caught fire. There were no known/indicated issues with the vehicle. Vehicle was eventually extinguished by the fire dept. It took them 45 mins to render it extinguished. Vehicle was parked in my driveway at the time of the incident.

Aug 18, 2024

Like others have reported, similar to the odyssey we own that did have a recall to fix the issue, the vehicle fails to restart after it idles at a light. Causing very stressful situation in traffic because it take 10-20 seconds to get vehicle going. Happened 5 times in 6 months.

Jul 1, 2024

when auto-idle engaged and car is stopped, it will not restart the car's engine. My safety was at risk because the event took place while I was in traffic with my family. The problem has not been reproduced. It is a problem known by Honda for many years. The vehicle has not been inspected. Unknown.

Jun 18, 2024

When driving the car and stopped, the car goes into idle engine automatically. There are have been 5 incidents where the engine wouldn’t turn back on. The car starts beeping and flashing to put in park, shut off and restart. This is extremely dangerous when in the middle of traffic, cars honking and my children in the car getting nervous. Luckily I have not had an accident yet and figured out how to not use the “idle stop” feature to prevent this from happening but it’s not a long term solution as I have to stop idle feature every time the car is turned on.

May 26, 2024

My Honda Pilot has, on multiple occasions, just died after the auto engine idle stop engaged. I have had to put my vehicle back in park, restart it, immediately disable the auto idle stop and put it back in drive. On several other occasions it has also said "engine idle stop system unavailable". Even with that useless feature disabled my car will hesitate and kinda sputter when I stop at red lights. It's dangerous. I just bought this car from the Toyota Dealership in my area so I shouldn't be having these issues. There's less than 28,000 miles on it, I shouldn't be having any issues whatsoever.

Mar 6, 2024

The automatic idle stop does not restart engine upon release of the brake pedal. It has been happening with increasing frequency.

Mar 4, 2024

When I’m stopped and try to drive my car it sometimes dies. It’s a big safety concern and happens often and when I have my kids in the car. I can’t get it to start again for a little while. The lights come on the dashboard but it won’t start at all until a while after trying.

Jan 29, 2024

There appear to be more than one issue. When using the auto idle feature, my car will turn off completely. Meaning the engine turns off and it is difficult to restart. I also have issues starting the car from scratch. This has occurred multiple times where the engine will not turn on but other components will. I cannot be jumped or put in neutral as the transmission won't move out of park if the engine is not on. It has been to the dealership multiple times for both issues. A software update was done to fix the auto idle issue, but it has not fixed the issue. i know longer use the auto idle feature. The most recent incident was today.

Jan 21, 2024

Hello, Twice in the past two months, my car's engine has lost power while driving on the highway. First, while entering and merging onto the highway, and once while exiting the highway. Both times, the check engine light came on, pressing the gas pedal had no effect, and we could only coast to the side of the road. Both times we had to restart the vehicle. After the first incident, I went to the dealership. They "fixed" the vehicle, replacing gaskets that Honda knew might fail but didn't issue a recall (only fix if there is an issue). This obviously did not fix the issue. Thankfully we did not have an accident, but complete loss of power could have been disastrous. I now have to go back to the dealership.

Jan 19, 2024

The reason we took our Honda in to the Honda retailer to begin with is because the car kept alerting a message of an “emissions systems failure.” We took it in and found out that we had 3 recalls on our Honda Pilot. They fixed one recall but stated that they “needed parts” for the other recalls. It has been one month and after continuous follow ups they continue to tell us that they still haven’t gotten the parts and are behind in service. This is unacceptable. The retailer believed that we were receiving the “emissions system failure” error message is because of a fuse. They replaced the fuse but the message returned several days later. I am thinking we received the error message because of the “Passport/Pilot MOST FAKRA Service Cables” failure recall that has a possibility to cause “poor, or lost, connections intermittently between the audio display unit and the vehicle cable connector” (Manufacturer recall explanation). I am not entirely sure exactly what is wrong with our vehicle nevertheless the reason for the complaint is that the manufacturer/certified dealership has “failed or is unable to remedy this safety recall” for our vehicle “in a timely manner.” I hope this complaint will get our recalls fixed.

Jan 15, 2024

Auto Engine Idle Stop issue. Engine would stop at intersections and not restart, which was a safety risk. I told the dealership this was a known defect affecting many vehicles and they said no, it was just a “bad battery.” They replaced the battery.

Jan 4, 2024

Twice now at red light my pilot has not started due to stop start feature. It was stuck in park / neutral . Car wouldn’t restart or go into gear. Almost everyday at least once car is hesitant to start after engine cuts out . Then dash lights like system collision isn’t working. Extremely dangerous was at a light on major interstate road. Last time it happened I. The summer had it checked out and nothing was resolved .

Dec 16, 2023

Auto start/stop function. The auto start/stop engaged and the vehicles engine stopped while we were at a red light. When the light turned green and I released the brake the starter engaged but very slowly and failed to start the engine. I attempted to start the vehicle again but it needed to be in park, which was taking time engaged. We were blocking other vehicles from making a protected turn during this. On the 3rd attempt to restart the vehicle restarted. This has not been inspected or or reproduced. No warning lamps other than vehicle must be in park to start.

Nov 29, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the Auto Idle feature on the vehicle intermittently failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart upon the depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that an unknown message was displayed on the instrument panel during the failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on several occasions and software updates were performed; however, the failure returned soon after the updates were completed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

Mileage: 30,000

Nov 2, 2023 Crash

2021 Honda Pilot is subject to "rapid acceleration". We had no notification of this issue until the vehicle drove itself into our home on its own causing damage to the car and our home. Only after we did some research did we know Honda had this issue.

Oct 27, 2023

This vehicle has some major concerns. I have issues with the starter on this thing not wanting to restart the engine after a traffic stop. Battery is fine and there are no obvious issues with the car other than the fact that the starter appears to barely spin the engine over the compression stroke. I have been a Honda owner for years but unless Honda issues a fix for this issue, i am finished with them. I continually turn off the auto stop/start feature out of fear that i will have issues at a traffic intersection. Please investigate this issue and force them to recall these vehicles. BTW my vehicle only has 28k miles on it so it is unacceptable for them to keep denying the issue exists when i take it to my dealer.

Sep 9, 2023

The IDLE STOP feature sometimes fails to restart the vehicle after stopping at a stoplight or stop sign. The vehicle transmission will go into PARK, with the engine no longer running. This requires the vehicle to be restarted manually in traffic, and shifted to DRIVE. This puts the vehicle and passengers at risk for an accident, as it blocks the normal flow of traffic until manually restarted and shifted. This car is available for inspection upon request. This problem has been inspected by a local Honda dealer. There were no warning lamps prior to the incidents.

Sep 6, 2023

The Auto Idle system that enables the cut off the engine is now working intermittently some or not at all, regardless of temperature outside or inside the cabin. Note: Took to Honda Mall of GA dealership to look at this very issue, and according to the technician, it is 'heat' related. I feel this is 100% incorrect, as the temperature in the evening has dropped into the 70s and the issue continues.

Sep 1, 2023

The Auto Idle Restart Feature has malfunctioned a number times and cars behind us have almost rear-ended us. With Eco mode on or off, a/c on or off, it doesn't seem to make a difference. When the vehicle has Auto Idle Restart enabled, the vehicle is stopped at a stop light, the engine turns off, and when the user presses the gas and releases the brake, the engine does not turn on. When the brake pedal is released, the brake lights turn off - the vehicles behind us drive forward as they think we are accelerating but our vehicle does not move as the engine does not turn back on properly. We are lucky we have not been rear ended yet. This is very unsafe, especially in very busy intersections.

Aug 30, 2023

When the idle stop system is enabled in my vehicle, on 5 separate occasions, my car has stalled. Each situation happened when I was stopped at either a stop sign or traffic light. When I took my foot of the brake to go, the car shut off and took ~30 seconds before I was able to turn the engine back on and go. I took my car to the Honda dealer and they were unable to determine the cause of the problem, and it has happened since that time.

Aug 20, 2023

Vehicle shut off while at a busy intersection light. Unable to restart the vehicle for several minutes. All safety systems (crash mitigation.....) were disabled. Unable to find a current recall through Honda and the dealership is closed since it is sunday.

Jul 31, 2023

Honda Pilot 2021 Elite AWD w/ 34k miles shuts down at a complete stop e.g. traffic light, stop sign or highway stop and go rush hour. Panel says put in Neutral, but the push button transmission shift does not respond. Attempts to restart with the push start/stop button and fails multiple times first and then it starts again, while other motorists are honking behind you for blocking traffic. Major safety concern.

Jul 29, 2023

The autostart failed to restart at an intersection traffic light when light changed. It put us at risk of rear end collision while trying to decipher and correct issue. Message appeared to state car needed to go into park. Driver doesn't remember if they tried to put it into park due to stress of situation, but issue was resolved by shutting off car and then restarting.

Jul 16, 2023

When going from stop light, car died in middle of intersection. Couldn’t get it started. Had it towed to dealership.Dealer did diagnostics and couldn’t find any issue. Drove car home. Turned it off. The car would not restart. Had it towed back to dealership. Not sure if it’s starter, alternator, auto engine stop features. Battery seems to be Gett drained. Danger is that the car randomly dies and won’t start. Dealer has no idea of the issue. Tow truck driver said he has towed severs Honda pilots with the same issue.

Dec 10, 2022

The issue is with a restart after the car engaged the auto idle stop feature. Outside temperature was about 43F, Car had been driven earlier in day, and was parked for about 1 hour. The car started okay after sitting for an hour, then driven at highway speeds for about 10 mins. Car then came to a stop once coming off the highway at a red light. The car's auto idle engaged and the car's engine shut off. As the light turned green, my foot was taken off the brake to start the engine again and the car did not start. I received a message on the dash stating to place car in Park and start the engine, this was done but did not restart the engine. I shut the car off completely and had to use a lithium ion jumper battery pack to restart the engine. At that point the engine did start back immediately. Once home I tested the battery's voltage with a voltage meter, which read about 12.1V. I started the car with the voltage meter attached and voltage did not get below 10V and the car started without assistance. Thus proving that the battery is in good condition. The car was purchased in November of 2020, thus the battery about 2 years old and the car has just under 30K miles. I have not contacted the dealer yet. This is the first time this issue has occurred though there have been other times when starting from the idle stop the car has had difficulty in starting, starting this summer (July 2020). Difficulty has been noticed in the hotter or colder weather.

Nov 2, 2022

My 2021 Honda Pilot's Idle-Stop System has been failing at random and dangerous times. The engine shuts off when Idle-Stop is engaged and as expected. However and until recently; when I release my foot from the break, nothing happens. The engine does not start. Restarting the engine has taken me to shift to park, turn the car off, wait a few minutes, and then it starts without any hesitation. Today this happened during a busy stop where I did not feel safe for myself or my passengers. The problem does not reproduce at my will or by performing any specific set of steps. After today, I'm nervous to drive with this system enabled. The problem never happens if I remember to manually disable the Idle-Stop System every time I start my car. Nevertheless, it's not a normal practice for me to have to disengage a feature that should work. This problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or any others. There were no warning lamps, sounds, messages, or other symptoms prior that would indicate an imminent failure.

Sep 20, 2022

My car, a 2021 Honda Pilot, has a feature called "Idle-Stop" where the engine stops when the break is depressed, when the break is released, the engine is supposed to start back up. Twice in the past week, while at an intersection, the Idle-Stop has engaged, stopping the engine, but failed to start the engine back up. After this occurs, I could NOT start the car back up, the engine would not turn over. The first occurrence was at the turn lane of a very busy intersection and there were numerous cars blocked by mine. Thankfully after about 30 minutes, the car managed to start up. I took it immediately to the Honda dealership where they said the car needed a software update. The dealership said the battery was fine and that there were no other issues. One week later, the same thing happened, I was a stop light and the Idle-Stop feature stopped the engine and it failed to start back. My 2 children were in the car this time, I felt very much that our safety was in danger. This time, I needed a jump start to get the engine started.

Sep 18, 2022

Auto restart stalls the car when reengaging the engine after coming to a full stop

Sep 1, 2022

With the auto idle feature engaged (disengaging requires manually turning off the system with each vehicle start) while at a stop light the auto idle feature shut the engine off. Typically, when you release the brake the car start back up and you can begin to accelerate. Over the past few months the issue has stalled the engine, but restarted and give the warning "Collision Mitigation Braking System Malfunction." On the past 2 occurrences the engine has shut off completely and I have had to restart the car. This occurs when at an intersection or similar after going into a complete stop, so vehicles around you are ready to move. Once it took me opening the car door and closing it to get the electronics to allow the car to restart.

Jun 9, 2022

Vehicle failed to restart after stopping at a stop light while auto stop feature was on (defaults on). Vehicle was only 18 months old since purchase. Battery completely dead, only started after tow truck applied jumper for a long time. Had to be in busy six lane intersection for almost an hour. Car could not be shifted out of park into neutral to tow because push button transmission controls rely on battery power. Car is AWD. Vehicle is used mainly for 4 mile commute, often in stop and go traffic, to work and errands within that radius. I suspect the auto start feature drained the battery. The feature stops the engine anytime you come to a stop. It doesn’t seem to take into account how often it stops or how long the engine has been able to run and charge the battery.

Jun 8, 2022

I will be filing a issue with our 21 Honda Ridgeline too as the same problem has occurred in both vehicles with the same engine and transmission. This has happened a total of 3 different times. When I drive the Pilot for a long time (over 4 hours)on the expressway and then pull off on a ramp and turn left the vehicle will go into safe mode. The engine light will start flashing and you can not drive over 30 mph. The engine runs rough and idles hard. I have contacted Honda and the dealership I purchased it from. Honda has acknowledged this is a problem and has occurred multiples with many different vehicles. The dealership I work with has acknowledged the same thing as they have several vehicles that have been brought in with this problem. I have waited several months for Honda to come up with a solution, so far they have not. This is a safety concern because what would happen if this same situation came up when I'm pulling my trailer or on the expressway at higher speeds. This could cause an accident. This first started on my Pilot in December of 2021. It has happened several times since then. Every time there is no code the computer keeps, even though each time the engine light is flashing. What I have been told is the computer thinks the engine has backfired and goes into safe mode, but Honda doesn't know why it does this. If you turn the vehicle off and restart it, the problem goes away. When the dealership has run a diagnosis off the computer, there are no codes the computer throws. Even though the check engine light is flashing when this occurs.

May 10, 2022

Engine shuts off when you are at a red light and you press the foot brake pedal hard. When you release the brake the engine starts. In my case the engine shut off and when I released the brake the engine did not start had to put transmission in park and then did a restart.

Apr 23, 2022

The car's automatic engine shut-off feature when stopped at a red light failed to reengaged after removing foot from break the car shut down and the transmission button shifted into neutral and displayed a message that you must put your foot on the brake and shift the car to Park. The battery indicator light was flashing and everything turned off in the car. After doing this the car told me I must put my foot on the break and restart the car. It then allowed me to shift back into drive. The dealer was not able to recreate the issue, and no other things showed the issue other than the battery indicator lamp flashing on and off until the car was back in drive. The light I lost all power at was on a road with a 55 MPH speed limit. When the light turned green and the car lost all power there was another vehicle approaching, but I was not able to get the car moving fast enough to get out of the way.

Oct 20, 2021

Twice in the past 4 weeks, while driving, the car switches into Neutral. The car dash still says it is in Drive and the gear buttons still show “D/S” highlighted. However, the car is rev-ing the engine as if it is in neutral and the car is only rolling instead of driving. It lasts for about 10 seconds and then resumes working normally.

Sep 30, 2021

Incident occurred 9/28/21 4:20 - 4:30 pm PST while driving in the 3rd lane of southbound 880 Highway about 1 mile before the the exit of 16th Ave & Embarcadero in the city of Oakland. The speed that the vehicle was moving at the time of the incident was between 50 to 55 MPH. The vehicle has more than half a tank of gas and the battery has never been discharged. Also all the required vehicle inspections and services has been performed by the same service center of San Leandro Honda since acquiring the vehicle on 2/10/21 from San Leandro Honda. There are 3 occupants in the vehicle; my wife, our 5 year old child and myself (driver). Our 2021 Honda Pilot EX-L with only 9,209 miles without any accident records started to show different kinds of warning signs lighting up on the dashboard, then followed by steering and engine failure. I immediately turn on the hazard lights and pointed the vehicle towards the right shoulder of the freeway. Thank goodness that at the time of the incident the traffic is heavier and moving slower. Also other motorists are accommodating enough to let us get to the shoulder without any accidents. If it was lighter traffic at the time it could have been devasted for us. Tow truck driver Manuel Escalante that works through FSP in partnership with CHP helped us get out of the shoulder of the 880 freeway onto a safer location in the city street to await further towing assistant from my roadside service with Honda. After getting towed by another tow truck driver to San Leandro Honda on 9/28/21, my vehicle still remain there. The service department haven't provided any detail report to why the engine seized from working while we were driving in the freeway.

May 25, 2021

We just got the car from the dealer and it is still less than 200 miles and it’s leaking oil. There’s oil leaks in my garage which I thought was water coming from AC. When I check the oil dip stick. It was empty.