Power Train Problems of Honda Odyssey - part 1

The automatic engine shut off at stop doesn't always restart engine when moving again. This has happened several times where the engine doesn't restart after the engine shut off is engaged. This is the same issue as reported in NHTSA action number: ea25004.

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When I come to a full stop and the idle stop feature engages, sometimes the engine will not restart. I get a message saying to press the button to start the engine, but it does not start after doing that either, so I have to shut the car off and restart it. There are a bunch of lights that flash when this happens.

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When the engine shuts off while braking at a light/stop sign etc occasionally the car will fail to turn the engine back on and the car will go in to park and the only way to get in to drive is to restart the car. This happens once or twice a month.

Yesterday my 2024 Odyssey auto stop engaged and the car wouldn’t restart in the traffic light. I had to turn the car off and try twice before it would restart.

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I purchased a 2018 Honda Odyssey and reported during my 7-day inspection window that the transmission was acting sluggish. The carvana-authorized inspection service (pep boys) claimed the transmission was fine. Over time it showed more and more signs of failure until it completely failed. On the directive of the seller (carvana) and warranty administrator (silverrock), the vehicle was taken to an authorized pep boys facility for a complete transmission replacement. Less than two days after picking up the vehicle, the replacement transmission suffered a complete failure on a public roadway. The vehicle suddenly lost all acceleration and forced itself into 'limp mode' on a highway, and loss of steering control, nearly causing a severe collision. The vehicle is inherently unsafe, and the authorized repair network has failed to provide a merchantable or safe repair, creating an immediate life-threatening hazard.

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2025 Honda Odyssey auto idle stop fails to restart engine after automatic shutdown at intersections; vehicle must be restarted manually; safety hazard; repeated occurances; video documentation made. Reference: NHTSA ea25004.

Had the starter & battery replaced November 2025. It’s now June 2026 and it still is having trouble starting. It will sometimes not start and then just make a clicking noise and all the lights in the dash come on and air, but engine won’t well start. Then you take foot off break, then turn it off and try again it will start. The dealership ran tests and said everything was fine. When we first had this problem the car would stall out and shut off in traffic.

Our 2025 Honda Odyssey has now experienced three failures for the same defect, including two starter replacements within two weeks, without resolution. The most recent repair, overseen by Honda tech line, happened after the vehicle died June 2 while in traffic and it had to be towed to the local dealership using our insurance. On June 15 the vehicle died again, just five days after I picked it up with assurance that this issue was resolved, and it is was towed back to the dealership by Honda towing. The repeated part swaps, without root?cause diagnosis, clearly have not resolved the issue and have left us with a one?year?old vehicle that is unreliable and unsafe to operate. My minivan has failed in the middle lane of a major road while idling at a stoplight twice and in a parking lot once. All incidents were within 15 minutes of driving and 5 miles from my home. This is a critical safety defect and the repeated failures place this vehicle within the criteria that may qualify under kentucky’s lemon law. We have not made that claim yet, but we are formally documenting the repair history and escalation. ———- -starter failed and was replaced twice. This could have something to do with the auto start/idle system. -our one year old van is unsafe and unreliable. It died near a major intersection while idling at a stop light. I was in the middle lane and it wouldn’t restart for 5 minutes. I was very afraid my children and I would be rear ended. -the dealership has confirmed the problem, but they not been able to recreate the scenario despite it happening on 3 separate occasions. -Honda tech line has been directing the local dealer what to do after the first starter replacement failed. I filed a claim with american Honda. -no warning lights/lamps prior to failures.

The vehicle is experiencing a dangerous hesitation during acceleration at low speeds, immediately followed by a sudden, violent forward lunging motion. When attempting to accelerate from a complete stop, or when rolling at low speeds (such as yielding at a roundabout, turning through an intersection, or merging into slow-moving traffic), the vehicle suffers from a distinct * or complete failure to accelerate** for several critical seconds. In an attempt to get the vehicle to move out of harm's way, the driver naturally applies more pressure to the gas pedal. The vehicle's transmission then randomly responds after a few seconds with a violent lunge forward, spinning the tires and causing the vehicle to surge unpredictably. This unpredictable behavior creates an immediate and severe safety risk to the occupants of my vehicle and others on the road: 1. Intersection collisions: the sudden lag leaves the vehicle stranded in oncoming traffic during turns, while the subsequent lunge threatens to overshoot the intended lane. 2. Pedestrian hazards: the sudden, uncontrollable lunging makes low-speed maneuvers in school zones, crosswalks, and parking lots incredibly hazardous. 3. Drivers behind behind me do not expect a vehicle to suddenly stop accelerating after it has begun to move forward. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership we're we were able to reproduce the issue and Honda would not offer a fix. I thought I was going to get my entire family killed the other day when I pulled out at a stop the van hesitated in the middle of the highway for a few seconds before lunging forward. This is an intermittent issueand the severity varies each time, but is commonly cited online.

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The vehicle turned off at a red light and would not start up again.

Car did it’s normal automatic shut off while stopped at red light but then did not automatically restart when I took my foot off the brake. I couldn’t get it to start or turn off. I was just sitting with a dead car in the middle of traffic. It was still on but totally unresponsive! I called 911 but before they arrived I managed to get the car to turn off and then restart. ??.

Vehicle driving at highway speeds and put itself into park while at speed without operator intervention. Vehicle became uncontrollable and an extreme hazard.

Vehicle has stopped running multiple times while at stop signs or traffic lights when engine is at idle and not running. The vehicle has to be restarted to go after shutting off while in traffic. It is very concerning when this happens in live traffic. The dealer has had the vehicle for days and were not able to replicate what happened. Asked me for more information on what was being used when it happened. They say they ran tests and were unable to get any codes to show what might have happened. The only thing I have seen was reports that the idle stop feature was unavailable previously. Not sure when that happened? this has happened at least 6 different times, last time being may 8th 2026.

The auto-idle off feature - yes the stall happened in a situation where cars behind me would have expected me to start moving and could have resulted in a rear-end collision. The vehicle has stalled like this three times. The other two times were not in public or traffic situations. It has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center. It has not been inspected by anyone else. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to the failure, only after.

The vehicle's auto idle stop system is malfunctioning, resulting in the engine failing to restart from a complete stop. This total failure has occurred on five separate occasions, including while stopped in active traffic intersections. Prior to these total restart failures, the vehicle showed the following symptoms: 1) initially, the vehicle experienced rough engine idling, abnormal vibrations, and a raw gasoline odor after driving. 2) this progressed to a noticeable delay between releasing the brake pedal and the engine attempting to ignite, during which the starter sometimes sounded strained. 3) this has culminated in the current defect where the engine shuts off normally when stopped at an intersection, but completely fails to immediately restart when the brake is released. This defect completely immobilizes the vehicle in active traffic lanes, exposing us to an immediate and severe risk of a rear-end collision. When the engine fails to restart, the vehicle locks the transmission out of drive and triggers a warning on the dashboard. It is a highly hazardous situation, especially with a lot of distracted drivers on the roadways.

My 2024 Honda Odyssey ex-l has a recurring auto idle stop failure. About 1–2 times per week, when stopped at a light and auto idle stop engages, the engine fails to restart properly when I release the brake. The engine sputters or shuts down, the battery warning light comes on, and the vehicle shifts itself into park. I then have to hold the start button for several seconds to restart the engine. This creates a safety risk because the vehicle becomes disabled in active traffic when the light turns green. The vehicle was previously taken to a Honda dealer for this issue, and the battery was replaced, but the problem continues.

I am writing to open a formal complaint regarding a serious transmission defect in my 2019 Honda Odyssey (VIN: [xxx] ). My vehicle is currently exhibiting symptoms that directly match the 'transmission programming defect' documented in ongoing litigation, specifically symptoms: while accelerating produce rough and delayed shifting; sudden jerking, sudden, harsh accelerations and decelerations; and a sudden loss of power. I am aware of case no. Xxx (xxx v. American Honda motor CO. ) and case no. Xxx (xxx v. American Honda motor CO. ), which allege that the 9-speed zf 9hp transmission in my model year suffers from a design defect. These transmission failures create a significant safety hazard. Recently my van report code as transmission system problem the second time. We got mechanic checked and confirmed it is transmission issue. The first time when it happened, we drove the van on highway and suddenly it lose power and slow down by itself. There was no response even we applied gas. We went down highway and drove to a close-by repair shop. They replaced some part for us but it didn't resolve the issue. This time since the error comes, it won't speed up in lower speed except the speed goes beyond 40-50 miles plus. When we back the car, it responses slow or none. It comes with big noise also now. It definitely gets worst. The very common issue when you stop and start to move, it never responses from the beginning even we applied gas, even the passenger can feel the reluctance. It also happens when the van turns. We also had the experience when driving on the highway, it speeded automatically without driver applied the gas. It feels like someone pushing us behind. There was transmission control unit recall for 2018-2019 Honda Odyssey (touring/elite). Honda actually knows the issue but they didn't reveal this to their customer. This brings life threatening concerns on the highway. I hope this complaint can save lives and family information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(.

My 2019 Honda odessey has had transmission issues since the very beginning. I've experienced jerking/shaking, hesitation before accelerating, delayed shifting, sudden loss of power. Fortunately none of this has resulted in any accident or injury. Unfortunately, yesterday (4/4/2026) I got charged $271. 34 to have to transmission warning light read only to be told, "we cleared all dtc then test drove the vehicle. No dtc found after we drove the car. . . If the consumer complain again he will have to replace the transmission. " of course the warning light appeared again today. The dealership seems to be completely unaware of the multitude of transmission issues documented even though this appears to be a known and well documented defect based on the class action lawsuit browning, et al. V. American Honda motor CO. , inc. , et al. They charge me for the analysis and send me on my way as if they have no idea what is going on with my vehicle. I am the sole owner and have kept the vehicle well maintained at leith Honda, 3940 capital hills drive, raleigh, nc 27616 and I have had all manufacturers recalls handled in a timely manner. I'm sure they can provide service records if needed. The bottom line is they are not being fully transparent and I am paying for their lack of transparency and more importantly putting me and my family at risk by not disclosing the potential risk due to the faulty transmission in these vehicles.

Our 2018 Honda Odyssey repeatedly and without warning completely loses acceleration power, creating extremely dangerous driving conditions. This occurs in two distinct situations:(1)while driving at highway speeds when attempting to change lanes or accelerate, and(2)when stopped at a stop sign or intersection and pressing the gas to merge into or turn into traffic. In both situations, pressing the accelerator results in little to no response — the vehicle will roll but fails to accelerate as needed. These failures have placed our family in multiple life-threatening situations. On interstate 285 in atlanta, georgia — one of the busiest and highest-speed highways in the country — our vehicle has failed to accelerate during lane changes on multiple occasions, nearly causing serious accidents. Most recently, within the past week, my husband was driving on I-285 when he pressed the accelerator and the vehicle had absolutely zero acceleration response. He narrowly avoided a collision. We have also experienced complete loss of acceleration when turning from a stop sign into traffic and when merging — situations where immediate acceleration is critical to safety. The vehicle lags for several seconds before any power is delivered to the wheels, leaving us dangerously exposed in oncoming traffic. All manufacturer recalls have been completed, including the fuel pump recall. The problem persists and has not been resolved by any dealer service or recall repair performed to date. We are aware that this is a known, widespread defect affecting 2018 Honda Odysseys equipped with the zf 9-speed automatic transmission. Hundreds of other owners have reported identical symptoms to NHTSA and to Honda directly. Honda has acknowledged the transmission's behavior to some owners but has stated it is "how the car is supposed to drive" — a response that is wholly unacceptable given the documented near-accidents this defect is causing. We are requesting that NHTSA open or expand its investigation.

Car shifts out of drive and reverse to park randomly. It also doesnt shift out of first gear on a cold start. I have to stop the vehicle, shift back into park and turn the car off then on again before it will shift out of first gear.

When driving the transmission is slipping meaning it jerks forward when accelerating on the road.

Engine fails to restart after the auto idle system shuts it down, leaving vehicle stranded in traffic. The issue is sudden and unpredictable, and may not appear in inspection. A stalled car in live traffic is a safety concern. The vehicle is at a dealer for diagnosis and repair. No warning appeared before the problem began happening. (about 5 times in 2. 5 months. ) sometimes when it occurs, a brief error message seems to appear on the dash, but quickly disappears. It usually takes cycling through restarting the car to get going again. Not a good environment to stop and take video, although it's almost impossible to record.

I am reporting a safety issue involving my 2019 Honda Odyssey transmission. Since early ownership, the vehicle has had ongoing hesitation and delayed response when accelerating, especially during gear shifts. Over time, this condition has worsened and now includes intermittent loss of power when pressing the accelerator, followed by sudden jerking or lurching forward. The most serious incident occurred recently when the vehicle unexpectedly shifted into park while moving in a parking lot, creating a dangerous and unsafe condition. Additionally, there have been multiple instances where the vehicle hesitated in intersections, creating a risk of collision due to lack of response when attempting to accelerate. Honda dealership technicians have acknowledged that these vehicles are known to have rough or problematic shifting, indicating this may be a broader issue. The final issue has resulted in the vehicle being towed to the dealership for a full evaluation.

Approximately 7 months ago, my 2015 Honda Odyssey experienced an engine misfire with code p0302 (cylinder 2). All spark plugs were replaced at that time and the issue appeared resolved. However, the misfire has now returned with the check engine light on, again indicating cylinder misfire. The vehicle only has 71,000 miles on it, which makes this recurring issue particularly concerning. Based on my research, this appears to be a known defect related to Honda’s variable cylinder management (vcm) system causing excessive oil consumption and spark plug fouling — an issue documented across 2013–2017 Odyssey vehicles and addressed under Honda service bulletin 25-061. I am requesting this complaint be on record and urge NHTSA to investigate this as a safety-related defect. ”.

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After being on idle on a stop light, when releasing the brake to go, warning on dash says "collision mitigation warning" when nothing hit the car and I'm there's enough distance with the car in front and behind. The severity has increased now, after being idle, when releasing the brake, it now completely shuts off, dash says "shift to park", and can't go, unless I push the ignition button. Took it 3x for the same errors on dash, Honda said the 1st time it was low battery, battery was running on low juice and didnt have power to come back from idle, they changed the battery. Now they say they need to replace the starter after few thou$and$. I see online this happening to others too. I fear the car behind me, may rear end me, because I can't go, green light is on, but I can't move as I'm re-starting the vehicle after being on idle. Honda says my VIN is not part of the bad batch. It's happening more frequently and Honda said they were able to replicate.

My 2019 Honda Odyssey is currently diagnosed with a connecting rod bearing failure, which matches the safety defect in NHTSA recall 23v-751. While my VIN is excluded, I am reporting this as part of the NHTSA investigation pe25-008. For several months leading up to the failure, I noticed a faint, repetitive knocking sound coming from under the hood. During my regular service visits to authorized Honda dealerships (including a visit in December 2025 at approximately 80,000 miles), I mentioned these unusual noises and asked the technicians to verify the vehicle's safety. On at least one occasion, repairs were made to the steering system to address noises, but the engine knocking persisted and eventually worsened until the rod bearing failure was confirmed in January 2026. This defect presents a serious risk of sudden engine seizure and loss of motive power at highway speeds.

Vehicle intermittently loses propulsion during acceleration when merging. Engine rpm remains low despite throttle input. After a delay, transmission re-engages abruptly with a metallic scraping noise. This creates unsafe merging conditions. This happened today, 2/14/2026 in 4 instances in the same trip. It has also occurred approximately 50 other times over the past six months when the mileage was as low as 66,100 miles.

The contact owns a 2025 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The failure had occurred while driving from a stoplight, while the auto idle system was enabled. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact was advised that a diagnostic test was needed to determine the cause of the failure. The failure had occurred three times; however, the failure had not reoccurred after turning off the vehicle. The dealer informed the contact that the failure might not be duplicated. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,549.

Upon pressing the accelerator from a complete stop, the vehicle does not respond right away. The main incident was when traveling around 50 miles per hour on a highway, the van shifted into neutral on its own and the accelerator would not respond. An error message of transmission failure showed on the dash briefly. The van had to coast through traffic an eventually push off the road.

Our 2019 Honda Odyssey ex-l was our primary family vehicle. We conducted all routine maintenance as required by Honda, including transmission fluid exchange. Our vehicle experienced rough shifting consistently and at 102,000 miles experienced a total failure in the transmission dog clutch, with emissions lighting also being present. Vehicle required a tow to Honda and was cited" internal failure in the transmission. The confirmed related dtc's are p0841: transmission fluid pressure sensor/switch a circuit range/performance; p0844: dog clutch malfunction; p0170a: dog clutch abnormal operation. Parts $:5,736. 73/labor $2,385 plus fluids and freight. We were not aware Honda used the zf transmission during this year model and experiencing rough shifting up to 102,000 miles which prompted our investigation. Thankfully, the car was parked however, had this been while on the road, this would have presented a major safety and risk to our family and others. This has set our family back quite a bit as we have to replace the transmission and cannot guarantee the new one won't provide similar issues. Honda denied our good-will assistance request. We bought a Honda under the assumption it was a reliable brand. We will never buy Honda nor recommend again. Terrible experience.

Vehicle lags in acceleration from a slow rolling start, at random times. There is a clear 1-2 second lag in the acceleration, then a sudden harsh shift into gear. Mostly happens during turns, and if traffic is present, may cause an accident. Also when traveling at low speeds 20-35 mph, there is a transmission jutter. Have spoken with service reps at dealerships and they claim to have no knowledge of these transmission issues.

Transmission stops producing power and has delayed acceleration. Almost caused an accident and possibly fatalities.

Improper seal on the seam (?) above let water leak into my power tailgate control module. It caused all the dash lights to sporadically rapidly flash, told me I have a transmission problem and my blind spot warning didn’t work right. Pulled out the tailgate module to find water in the module with a failed circuit board. Also wires leading into the module were wet.

After I received a software update for my 2018 Honda Odyssey elite the car has been stalling when idle. It is very dangerous because I will be at a stop light in drive, and the vehicle will shut off with no power. Cars will be behind me or no cars, and I have almost been rear ended. I did not have this problem until I received the new software update. It keeps occurring more and more often.

I am submitting this complaint to report a serious and recurring safety issue with my Honda Odyssey involving the camera system. Multiple warning messages and fault codes appeared on the dashboard simultaneously, including: -collision mitigation system problem -adaptive cruise control problem -lane keep assist problem -auto high beam problem these systems are all disabled. This failure occurred without warning and immediately compromised several critical driver-assistance and safety features. We have serviced at Honda dealerships and they said the only fix is a new $1500 camera (but the camera still works). Despite this, no recall has been issued. We have owned Honda vehicles for decades and never had these type of issues. A recall needs to be announced and owners allowed a fix at no charge. The transmission warning lights are also coming on intermittently and we paid to have Honda diagnose. The transmission is fine they said. Please help.