Engine And Engine Cooling Problems of Honda Odyssey - part 1

My van has an auto-stop feature that shuts the engine off at stop lights. This feature will now occasionally shut the car off, but then fail to restart it. We have stalled out at intersections with the van not restarting for up to a full minute. This is incredibly dangerous and needs to be addressed immediately.

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Starter failed.

Unknown, while driving when I was waiting at the signal (waiting for green signal to move) my vehicle automatically shifting from direct to park gear. Once shift to park then no other gears/buttons do not work, only I can turn off the vehicle and restart then all gears/buttons work to move on. This safety issue happened three times (6/25/2026, 7/13/2026 & 8/10/2026) on the road. I took my vehicle on 7/14/2026 to the dealer and they said they didn't find any issue after keeping the vehicle for six days with them. If this issue happens while a vehicle is moving on the road it is going to be a big disaster. After the 08second incident I reported to the Honda manufacturer too.

Numerous times since purchasing my van it has failed to start. At first it was just random at a stop light when I would forget to turn off the idle stop. Leaving me stuck at stop lights with a vehicle that won't turn on without multiple attempts. More recently it struggles to start after stopping to run errands or get gas or in drive thru lines. Having to depress the break pedal to the floor (much further than needed to even stop the car) and press and hold the on/off button while it chugs and attempts to start. The issue was able to be recreated by the dealer and they indicate that it is a starter issue but the part is on back order. Upon further discussion it appears that this isn't an unknown issue and that there is a current investigation into this issue. However, the service manager indicated to me that this isn't common and this was a "one off" incident.

Re investigation ea25004. We have had two instances of the van failing to restart after it shut off automatically at a red light. This caused a dangerous traffic situation where the van would not start up while traffic was approaching. The battery is in good condition and the van has just over 10,000 miles on it.

2025 Honda Odyssey with 21. 5k miles on it. Pulled up to a stoplight after a 3 hour drive. Auto stop turned the van off. When the light turned green the van failed to restart. Put the vehicle in park, turned it off, waited a few seconds and attempted to re-start it. Van restarted but very sluggish, like the battery was dead. Pulled in and parked. Van started normal the rest of the day. Took it to the dealer 2 days later. They noted the battery was a little low but no codes and no explanation for why it failed to restart. They checked alternator and starter and claim they are both good.

Auto idle/stop system engages while sitting at a traffic signal as designed. When attempting to proceed, the engine fails to restart and all electrical components completely shut off for several minutes. All components stop working (information screen, gauges, hazard lights, and door locks are non-functional) and the vehicle is unable to turn on for several minutes. This creates an unreasonable safety risk for the occupants of the vehicle and for surrounding motorists when this failure occurs in active traffic lanes as the vehicle when it is reasonably expected for the vehicle to resume propulsion and with no ability to turn on hazard lights to warn approaching motorists of the vehicle's disabled status. The failure of the door locks during the event traps the occupants inside the vehicle, which we are in florida so, hot summer days the internal temperatures can reach deadly levels within minutes with no way to escape. The vehicle was initially inspected by a manufacturer authorized dealer service department on 7/8/25 and the issue was dismissed. The vehicle was again inspected on 7/30/25 by the same service department and confirmed. A starter motor assembly and relays were replaced by the dealership and the vehicle returned to use on 8/4/25. Again, on 8/5/26 the vehicle exhibited the same safety defect while in an active traffic lane. The vehicle was returned to the same service department on 8/6/26 where it remains as the date of this report with no communication on resolution for the problem from the manufacturer. There were no warning lights or messages prior to the failure.

When the idle system kicks in, for example, if the vehicle has stopped at a red light, randomly the vehicle will die. Then it will have to be restarted. It has a faulty starter and there’s an issue with the idle system when the vehicle dies at a red light, it creates a safety issue because they are vehicle vehicles coming up behind me and my vehicle is dead and will not move until I turned the vehicle completely off and restart it. It does not happen all the time, but it has happened here and there since I got the vehicle new and now it happens more frequently. They say it will require a new starter motor assembly to repair.

My brand new vehicle continues to leave me stranded at stop lights because of the auto start stop system. Even though I have already taken it up to the dealership before and had it repaired. (there is a class action started over this).

The contact owns a 2025 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to restart after being turned off. The auto start/stop system failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that the battery was in good working order, but the starter was not operating as designed. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while at a traffic light. The vehicle was restarted after another attempt with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was associated with NHTSA action number: ea25004 (engine and engine cooling). The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000.

This is for 2025 Honda Odyssey. The component/system that appears to have failed or malfunctioned is the automatic engine stop-start system and/or related vehicle power/drive-control system. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. When stopped at a traffic light or in traffic, the automatic stop-start feature does not restart or re-engage properly, and on several occasions the vehicle became completely disabled and would not move when the accelerator pedal was pressed. During these events, there was flickering/interruption of power, and I had to turn on the hazard lights, shift to park, turn off the air conditioning, and attempt to power or restart the vehicle before it would move again. My safety and the safety of my passengers were put at risk because the vehicle was unexpectedly immobilized in active traffic. In one incident, the vehicle behind us almost struck my Odyssey because traffic had begun moving after the light turned green, but my vehicle remained stopped. This has also occurred while stopped on the freeway, including in a construction zone, creating a risk of rear-end collision and leaving my family, including children, vulnerable in traffic while other drivers were honking and attempting to move around us. The problem has occurred at least three times, but it has not yet been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle/component has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others. Prior to or during the failure, the main symptoms were the stop-start system not restarting the vehicle correctly, flickering power, and the vehicle failing to move despite pressing the gas pedal. The symptoms first appeared during stopped-traffic situations, such as at red lights or during traffic stops on the freeway.

2024 Odyssey engine shut off while in drive thru at restaurant. Unshure if auto start stop override was active. Either way the van had to be re started using the start button. Van re started on second or third attempt to re start with start button. This is a repeat occurance since having starter replaced in response to a similar problem about a year ago.

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Engine failed, rod shavings entering the motor, causing a full motor repair. This has caused our family to be stranded.

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2026 Honda Odyssey: strong exhaust/fuel odor in cabin causing dizziness and nausea I am submitting this complaint to report a potential safety issue involving a vehicle that is less than one year old. Beginning this past weekend, the vehicle suddenly began filling the passenger cabin with a strong exhaust-like odor during normal operation. The odor is severe enough that multiple occupants have experienced symptoms such as dizziness and nausea after spending approximately 10 minutes inside the vehicle. I visited my local Honda dealership to report the issue and seek assistance. According to the representatives I spoke with, Honda believes this is a known and widespread issue affecting multiple makes and models and that it is allegedly related to recent changes in gasoline formulation. I was further informed that Honda is aware of the issue, that engineering teams are working on a solution, and that there is currently no corrective action available to consumers. Honda also stated that, despite the odor, the condition does not involve toxic fumes and is only an odor concern. I am not ready to accept that explanation without further investigation. At this time: the condition began suddenly and without warning. The odor is strong and persistent. Occupants have experienced dizziness and nausea while riding in the vehicle. Honda has not identified a repair or mitigation. Honda has indicated that this may be a broader issue rather than an isolated vehicle defect. I am requesting that NHTSA review this matter to determine whether similar complaints have been reported and whether this condition warrants further investigation as a potential safety defect. I have also requested that Honda provide written documentation supporting its statements regarding: the alleged fuel-formulation cause of the issue. The assertion that occupants are not being exposed to harmful fumes. Any technical bulletins, engineering analyses, or communications related to this condition.

Hello, my 2019 Odyssey 3. 5l v6 engine has a severe knocking noise/engine failure identical to recall 23v-751, but my VIN was excluded. The car has only 81,100 miles and started the knocking out of no where a week ago. I had an independant mechanic take a look at it and he said the same thing that it was the connecting rod bearing and the knock was coming from the engine. I dont think it is fair that I should be held liable for an engine repair that is a factory fault and just becuase my VIN number is not inlcuded. The vehicles oil was also just changed at the dealership prior to the knock starting. Please have this strongly considered to have Honda cover this repair.

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Car purchased July 4, 2024. Idle stop/start was working but after several months, it became defective. After driving for some time, idle stop/start wouldn't work properly and cut the engine off when idling. I would have to turn the car, open my door, and try to restart the car. It also occurs after parking, turning off the car and less than 10-15min attempt to restart. Most of the time, it'll start after 1 or 2 attempts. Except today 07/31/2026, I got home and parked. After 20min, I tried to start my car and after 10-15 attempts, it wouldn't start. After waiting 2 hours, the car finally started.

I have needed to replace my spark plugs multiple times because of an issue where, apparently when in eco mode, the pistons in the third cylinder flood with oil that causes the spark plugs to misfire. I was informed this is an issue common to Honda Odysseys on or about may 19th, when I was experiencing a misfiring engine and brought it to aaa reynoldsburg on e broad street in reynoldsburg, OH. Honda is aware of the issue, and when I brought my car to Honda in July, after the new spark plugs started misfiring, one of the people at Honda told me the issue is because of government regulations that require lowering emissions. I don't know if that's objectively true or not, but if it's an issue Honda is aware of, as they are, they should correct the issue without charging me for the 'engine overhaul' or the new spark plugs. I have an email attachment showing the spark plug issue and other issues with the car. I don't hold Honda at fault for some of the issues, but if they know about the underlying cause that contributes to a misfire, I believe they should correct it. The video will not upload, but I am including a link to the video Honda sent me that shows the issues with the car, including the spark plugs misfiring because of one of the pistons flooding with oil. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

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Incident description: the vehicle entered an auto idle stop event at a traffic light and stalled completely instead of restarting when the brake pedal was released. The red battery warning light illuminated, and the vehicle had to be shifted into park and the ignition key cycled multiple times to eventually achieve a slow, sluggish crank and engine restart in active traffic. Another vehicle was almost going to hit me from behind since red light turned to green when this happened, and that driver from far behind was thinking that my vehicle will start moving and did not slow down. That driver started honking and yelling. It was scary since I had 3 small kids in my vehicle. Dealership diagnostics: I dropped off the vehicle at a local Honda dealership to get this checked. From the invoice/service document, I see this note: cause: took several attempts but was able to duplicate concern of when vehicle goes into auto start stop it will not always restart, will have to cycle key. Noticed when it did restart it is slow to crank. Battery tested good, and had good reserve voltage. Used tech line as a resource and found this issue is caused by starter not having enough voltage to properly engage auto stop start. Rec replacing starter. Correction: replaced starter.

I have experienced numerous instances where my car will stall at a stop light and then fail to restart, even with switching gears to park before resuming to drive. . I have had to turn on and off the engine multiple times at a si hole stoplight before the car would resume movement. This scenario has now happened at least 3 times. I am a mom driving a minivan of kids and this is concerning for our safety. These are not long stop lights. Sometimes even at a stop light I feel a strange pulling sensation.

Vehicle: 2020 Honda Odyssey VIN: [xxx] mileage at time of failure: 155413 component: engine — connecting rod bearingsdescription: my 2020 Honda Odyssey experienced a failure of the connecting rod bearings on 7/30/26, resulting in loud knocking noise. The failure was diagnosed by luis asturias at jim coleman Honda in clarksville, MD. This vehicle falls within the scope of NHTSA's open preliminary evaluation pe25008, which covers 2018-2020 Honda Odyssey vehicles with the 3. 5l j35 v6 engine for this exact failure mode. My dealer declined to cover the repair cost under warranty because no recall has yet been issued. I am filing this complaint to document my experience as part of the ongoing federal investigation. Repair cost estimate: $4573. 00. The vehicle is not driveable without this repair. Thank you for your prompt attention,[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

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I was driving on a road around 30 mph when the engine cut off and shifted itself into park. No warning, no power, no movement. Car was dead in the road and I was unable to move it to the curb. I tried to press the drive button. Nothing. I pressed the starter button. Nothing. Parkway Honda said they could find nothing wrong other than replacing the battery. Car is brand new. Bought used at 6,000 miles and have only driven it 4,000 additional miles in roughly one year. Very dangerous defect for which they have no explanation.

Several times, the Odyssey won’t restart after the auto idle stop kicks in at a stoplight.

The transmission slips and misses constantly, ive taken it to the dealership repeatedly they say they feel it then they dont, its getting progressively worse.

The contact’s daughter owns a 2018 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that after the vehicle was idling at a stoplight and then attempting to accelerate after the light turned green, there was a loud clanking sound coming from the front of the vehicle. The owner then became aware of white smoke coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and the vehicle stalled. After the vehicle stalled, there was no smoke coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact became aware that vehicles of the same year, make, and model were known to experience engine failures at approximately100,000 miles. The contact stated that the vehicle was inspected at approximately 100,000 miles and the rear main seal was replaced during the routine service and maintenance. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

Vehicles turns off when the brake is pressed and does not turn back on. The van has to be put into park and the start button has to be hit 2-3 times before it will restart. This has happened 3 distinctive times where it was difficult to restart. We try to disable the start/stop system each time we drive. It has left us stranded at traffic lights for up to 20 seconds trying to restart the van, impeding traffic at high speed interchanges. The van does eventually restart but each time it feels like it’s getting more difficult. This problem first appeared about 1 year after purchasing the van with about 23k miles on it and now has 26k miles. There are warnings that display because the vehicle is still in drive when it shuts off and it needs to be placed back into park to restart it. It occurs the most during a long drive on the highway. It can be very jerky when it restarts, perhaps slamming into gear. It is available for inspection and I plan to go to the Honda dealership soon for a scheduled oil change. I have not been there since the 18k mile oil change.

Idle stop function error during waiting at red light. Engine failed to restart so I had to turned it off and restarted the engine at the traffic light. Happened twice already. Idle stop system is defective need to be recalled.

The engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at traffic light, following the release the brake pedal (auto start - stop). The vehicle will turn off in drive while idling at the traffic intersection stopped for traffic light. This is a safety concern, that the safety sensor allowing for the vehicle to turn off while vehicle is in drive, could this also happen while driving.

Idle stop and restart problem: after stopping , the engine shut off and won't be able to restart. Happened multiple times even after the Honda services department re-programmed it.

Starting problem. The vehicle sometimes (randomly) refuses to start after shutting off. For example, after filling gas, or turning off (idle off) at a stop light. It just refuses to start. Terrifying. Researched on the internet and found thousands of complaints about this going back years. This needs a recall.

While the vehicle’s idle stop feature was engaged at a stop light, I took my foot off the brake to start moving again, but instead of starting again, the engine hard stopped and the van turned off completely. It told me to push the brake and start button to start it again but it took trying that several times and eventually holding the brake and start button down before it actually turned back on. Meanwhile, drivers stuck behind me were becoming increasingly irate and people were trying to get around me, despite heavy traffic. This is the second time it’s happened to me in this car. The first was about a month ago.

With a 103,000 on the dash, engine experienced signs on slowing, check engine, abs, adaptive cruise, and steering faults amongst others . No lights prior to the bearing failing. The engine experienced rod bearing failure and left use stranded on the side of the highway. All maintenance was performed at dealership, towed back to dealership where upon inspection rod bearing completely fell apart. Vehicle is still at dealership where a 14,000 dollar engine was quoted.

2021 Odyssey exl shuts off completely at a traffic stop light. Happened 2 times in a 2 week period. Without warning the engine switches off completely and puts itself in "p" mode, all light comes on as if in accessory mode, radio switches off, all doors unlocked. To get going, the driver had to press brake pedal and start the car again (via engine start /stop button). This issue started in my car at 93k miles. Never had any issue with mine before that. But it is scary especially the engine switch off at stop lights and blocking traffic for a number of minutes before you know what happened and are able to restart the can. I have seen this issue reported a number of times on this site and it appears repetedly in web searches. Honda needs to identify the cause of this problem and issue a recall for it.

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Our 2025 Honda Odyssey has repeatedly shut off or failed to restart while stopped. This has occurred approximately 10 times. The vehicle was previously taken to an authorized Honda dealership for this issue. The dealership diagnosed the battery as the cause and replaced it, but the same problem continued afterward. The two most recent incidents occurred on 7/21. During one incident, we were stopped at a red light on a road with a 55-mph speed limit. The vehicle shut off and did not restart normally when traffic began moving. We were left immobilized in an active traffic lane while vehicles approached and passed us at approximately 55 mph. We had difficulty getting the vehicle restarted and moving again. This presents a serious rear-end collision risk because approaching drivers expect traffic to move when the light changes. Four children regularly ride in this vehicle, and we do not believe it is safe to continue driving. We contacted the Honda dealership again after the battery replacement failed to correct the problem. We were told that unless technicians could duplicate the issue, there was nothing further they could do. Because the failure is intermittent, we cannot predict when it will occur, but it has happened approximately 10 times and has continued after Honda’s attempted repair. We also opened a case with american Honda motor CO. , inc. We are reporting this because the vehicle can unexpectedly leave our family stranded in an active traffic lane and unable to move out of the path of approaching traffic.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the forward collision warning, lane departure warning, engine, and vsa warning lights were illuminated. While at the stoplight, the vehicle started jerking and sputtering. The contact stated that the failure was related to technical service bulletins: 25-060 and 25-061. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that there was a misfire coming from the engine. The contact stated that there was oil in the cylinder head. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case. The manufacturer confirmed that the warranty had expired months earlier, and the case was closed. The failure mileage was approximately 162,600.

After ais engaged, the engine wouldn’t come back on. This has been at intersections, etc where it was dangerous to have no engine. It is ridiculous that the feature has not been removed after problems going back to the 2018 model. All to game an emission standard. Shameful.