general problems of the 2020 Honda Pilot - part 2

The car goes into neutral automatically when idle. It then needs to be shut down and restarted. This happens in traffic at a light or intersection. Although, I received the idle stop start recall software update the issue persists. The dealer was unable to reproduce the issue and there were no codes when diagnosed.

When the vehicle comes to a stop and the auto-engine-start-stop feature is engaged, the vehicle will shift itself into neutral and will not disengage until you shut off the vehicle and turn it back on.

Started experiencing engine hesitation while driving during may, 2024. Dealer refused to accept that it is not related to the recall (2016-21 Pilot fuel pump mtr saf recall exp2 NHTSA recall number23v-858), instead suggested for a fuel injector cleanup. I ended up spending $500 because my wife and kids drive this vehicle, I want them to be safe. Now, the problem is occurring again after a 3 months. What should I do?.

My fiancé and children were driving our 2020 Honda Pilot on may 2, 2024 when she started hearing a clunking noise and the vehicle, lost power as she was driving on interstate 70 she was able to get the vehicle to the side of the road safely, but the indian was making loud clocking grinding sound with very little power to move this was very unsafe in a scary situation for her and the kids the car is not safe to drive like this.

Piston rod blew out the side of the motor, was checked out at the Honda dealership. My young daughter and friend were driving when it happened, which could have been bad. Dealer confirmed motor blown. I'm not sure if this was inspected by the manufacturer, but the dealer looked at it. There was no warning whatsoever prior to motor blowing.

While driving the vehicle, it would randomly lose power. This has occurred 6 times in the last 7 months. All of them at an interstate. Each occurrence has happened when the vehicle has been driven 2 or more hours. While driving, all of a sudden the gas pedal would not produce any power. Ie. Could be driving 70 mph, then all of a sudden the gas pedal would stop responding. Each occurrence, would have to pump the gas pedal (1-3x). Eventually the power would kick on and the vehicle would go, sometimes launch you as if the gas pedal is being ‘floored’. After which, the vehicle drives normal again. However, there’s no certain moment to know when the power would cease. It could happen at any time.

On four (4) separate incidents, my car has either abruptly stopped running (waiting at a stoplight) or not been able to start. When I push the engine start/ stop button to restart the car, it does not start and several random warning and dashboard lights flash on and off like crazy. These incidents occurred twice before the recall was fixed and twice after the recall was (supposedly) fixed. Please help as I don’t want to be stranded again! this car is only a few years old. Thank you.

When stopping at a red light, my vehicle completely shut off (engine stopped, all lights went out, radio went blank) for a few seconds. The car turned back on (except for the engine). I was able to restart the engine after about 10 seconds, but I was stuck in the middle of traffic. I disabled the engine idol-stop feature.

The engine failed to start after being stopped at a red light. I engaged the gas and the entire car just shut down. I was stuck at the light in the middle lane with cars honking all around me. I attempted to put the car in drive, neutral, park and nothing worked. Somehow I was able to restart the car after many cycles of the light. This came out of nowhere; I. E. - it's never happened to me prior and is a huge safety issue. After doing some research, it seems this is an issue many Honda owners are complaining about. The incident occurred to me just as many others are detailing the exact same issue. To date, no one has inspected the vehicle but an appointment with the dealership has been made. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms prior to this occurring.

I was stopped at a stop light with my auto-idle system engaged. When the light turned to green the auto-idle would not disengage leaving me stalled in traffic. When I pressed on the gas I got an error message about the 'anti-collision system' being offline. I had to restart the car to resolve the issue. The dealer/service center states no known issues.

July 21,2023 pulled of highway and car went idle at a light car turned off completely and didnt turn on car turned on after 2 minutes. August 13, same situation happened car didnt turn on for 3 minutes. In may car was serviced forr idle recall and I never had this issue until now. The dealer says its a weak battery. But it only happened when it was on idle and not when I turn it on. I had kids in the car and just got off highway. I could have had an accident. The 2nd time it happened it said to put the car in park and restart the car. There were no issues prior to the failure.

The stop/start function for the engine engaged 3 times now when stopped at a stop sign on a hill incline. When I released the break for the car to start back up, the car went into neutral and shut off. I immediately put my foot back on the break so I did not roll backwards into another vehicle. This has happened 3 times now with near collisions so I am trying to drive with the feature turned off which is an inconvenience to turn it off every time I start the vehicle.

The auto idle stop system was engaged at a red light after exiting an expressway. When the light turned green, and I removed my foot from the brake, the transmission moved to neutral, and the engine would not start up again. I was unsuccessful in getting the car to start again by either pushing the start/stop button or adjusting the transmission to park. The battery indicator light was illuminated during this process, but no other errors were displayed. I connected a battery-powered jump starter within 3-5 minutes of the failure, and the vehicle started on the first attempt. The auto idle stop system had worked as expected earlier in the drive and there were no other indications of any issues with the vehicle prior to the incident. My entire family's safety was at serious risk since we were stalled on a busy 6 lane road with no ability to move the vehicle to the shoulder and I had to avoid traffic to get to the trunk and under the hood and spend time connecting the jump starter and subsequently attempting to start the vehicle. We are yet to bring the vehicle to the dealership for inspection.

Car completely shut down while in drive. Towed to dealership where I was told there was a software update that needed to be done. Car working fine now.

One six different occasions the vehicle has shut off while sitting at a red light. On four of the occasions I had the auto off but disengaged. When foot removed from brake car shuts down, dash lights up with every indicator light and a message to shift to park and restart. It takes about three minutes with repeated attempts to engage park to get the vehicle to restart. Dealer service has performed a “computer update” that was suppose to fix. Incident still occurring, more frequently. Taking car back to dealer again.

Auto high bean is not working and no sign of auto( headlight on with letter a) on dashboard is not show. Trying to reset by holding high beam for 40 seconds still not working ( only blinking once), meaning still not working. That problem had after came back from recall on cracking sound inside speakers. Recently brought the car to Honda beltsville, MD on January 15, 2024 about when stopping at traffic light when pressed the brakes hard the auto on/off engine is not working. Massage on dashboard show that( the auto engine idle stop unavailable ). With my vehicle had 2 problems 1- light is not working on auto high beam and no sign on of auto headlight with letter a showing on dashboard. 2- auto on/off is still not working when stop at traffic light( auto engine idle stop unavailable) massage on dashboard please check this out, thank you.

When auto start/stop feature engages at times vehicle does not restart and will not restart. This has happened 5-6 times in heavy traffic leaving the car dead in the middle of the road until we repeatedly try to reset and restart.

My Honda Pilot when in the start/stop idle mode is completely stalling at stop lights. In these cases, I’m having to put the car in park, hit the button to turn it off, turn it back on, which takes up to 30 seconds and then I’m able to put it in drive. I can turn off the automatic idle, but it has to be done every time I get in and turn it on so it’s easy to forget. This is a safety concern for myself, my children, my spouse, and others on the road.

We parked the vehicle in a hospital parking structure in order to meet an appointment at the hospital. We were in the hospital for about an hour or so when we headed back to the vehicle in the parking garage. We were stopped from getting there because of police and fire trucks. Then we got a call from the local police on our cell phone, telling us that our vehicle was on fire. We couldn't get into the parking structure because no one was allowed, but we did get to talk to the police and some fire personnel. Apparently, the parking structure had its own sprinkler system which was able to keep the fire under control until fire trucks and personnel arrived. The vehicle was a total loss, as per the insurance appraiser and our insurance company.

Issue with auto start-stop. Upon being stopped at a light, the auto start did not reengage and upon starting back up again the radio defaulted to an am station and would not allow us to change anything.

My 2020 Honda Pilot touring was not starting the engine back up after stopping at the traffic light and having the start/stop system stop the engine. I took my car to the dealer, and they disabled the start/stop system. This temporarily resolved the issue. But if a recall is issued for this problem, I’d like to have my start/stop system fixed, since it is part of the emissions system. Thanks, carlos.

While driving with auto-idle on the car, I stopped at the red light on the left lane by stepping on the break and auto-idle comes on and the engine stopped while continue to step on the break. When the green lights comes back on, I release the break, but the car completely shut down and require me to power off the car completely and push the start button on the car again. It took a few tries for the car to start. All while there were trucks passing by and cars behind me are honking at me for stopping at a green light, by the time I got the car to start again, the light turned red again. I feel like it is very dangerous for me as all the cars behind had to go around me to continue their way, as result, accidents can easily cause because cars on the right side are driving faster than the left lane and cars in the left lane had to move to the right lane in order to continue. With more blind spots on the right of all cars, it is more dangerous to shift lanes where right lane are going faster.

The engine completely shut down in the middle of the road after driving with auto idle on after stopping due to traffic. The car's engine would not restart. I had to shut down the car completely to have engine on again. (push the start/stop button to shut it down, and then to start it again). This was during a busy traffic and resulted in cars cutting in to my lane when I had to wait for the car to restart. This has happen a few times on the street as well, when stopping for red light, but the engine does not auto-start again when ready to drive on green light. Note that, this feature of auto-idle come auto start every time the car starts unless you manually turn it off. I feel like this can be dangerous and can result in accidents due to the fact that the car stopped completely while others might expect you to move as the light change/ traffic free up ahead.

The Honda auto start stop system has been taxing my battery through daily use and creates unsafe situations. On more than one occasion, similar to the following, I have experienced the Honda Pilot stop the engine via the a. S. S. System. Upon releasing the brake, the system attempts, but fails, to come to ignition and the electrical system lacks the ability to start the engine, creating a need to re-start (or attempt restart). On 1 such occasion, my family was traveling through a city on the interstate. After driving on the interstate for a few hours we came to a stop light and stopped. At the green light, upon releasing the brake, the Honda Pilot attempted to start again and failed. The car went completely dead in the middle of a 4 lane interstate with my family inside. The car did not start again until the 3rd time attempting to restart the vehicle. Approximately 10 seconds later than intended, we were able to clear our vehicle from the interstate intersection. On normal occasions, such as the course of business with the Honda a. S. S. System, driving in situations that would be categorized as "start/stop" situations, the Honda a. S. S. System leads to stalled response and delayed lurching into traffic creating situations due to the delay in response. Multiple times this has been reported to my dealer. They acknowledge it as a "battery" problem. They test my battery per Honda warranty and tell me it "passes". They basically are just charging my battery and sending me out the door. The time between vehicle events is decreasing. Please help address this obvious vehicle shortcoming. There is no permanent means to disable it. Thank you.

Honda auto-idle start/stop system does not restart. Auto-idle system will engage and sometimes not restart. This happens while at intersections (red lights/stop signs) and in traffic. Vehicle cuts off and can take several minutes to get the vehicle to turn back on. When it happens, it puts my safety at risk, along with any passengers, and any other vehicles nearby that might not notice my vehicle is disabled. Dealer is unable to replicate the issue. Honda America is aware of the issue. First occurrence 9/17/2022. 6/24/2023, 7/19/2023, 8/16/2023, 8/23/2023 all additional occurrences of same issue. Several of these I have video evidence of.

When stopped at a traffic light my Pilot's engine stops because of the fuel conservation feature of the car. The engine is supposed to restart when I take my foot off the brake. However, 4 or 5 times in the last month the engine did not restart. A message would flash that my car is in neutral (I did not put it in neutral) and that I needed to shift to park. Once I put it in park I have to hit the start/stop button several times to get the engine to restart. The radio becomes inoperable during all of this and even after I eventually get the engine to start again. The radio is inoperable until I drive, park the car, shut it off and restart it. This is a major hazard to me and my family. My car has stalled in city traffic and it takes a few minutes to get it restarted. I'm concerned that this could cause an accident at some point. My Honda dealership is not aware of this problem or how to fix it. I found that there is an open investigation with Honda and the NHTSA. I hope this can be fixed soon.

Stop/start system shutdown the engine and failed to restart while at stop light. It occurred twice on 9/8/2022 and twice on 9/9/2022.

I understand there may be an investigation of Honda's stop-start system, the system which is meant to improve fuel economy by shutting the engine off when the vehicle comes to a stop. I experienced this one (1) time while stopping at a traffic light, date unknown. The engine went off, as it was supposed to, but when I took my foot off the brake and pressed on the accelerator nothing happened, the engine had not restarted. I attempted to restart the car by pressing on the start button but since I was in drive it wouldn't start. I think I tried to shift the transmission into park (it's been several months since the incident) but I'm not sure if it shifted or not. I turned the car off by pressing the start button, waited briefly and then pressed the start button again to start, which it did. I shifted into drive and pulled away. That was a long time, probably not as long as it seemed, sitting at the light as others were going around me or blowing their horn at me. I have not had any further incidents since that time but wanted to register this one with you.

I have owned the 2020 Honda Pilot touring since Jan. 2021. Up till now, theses similar situations have happened 4-5 times. It always happens when I am gradually slowing down to a complete stop at crossroads. My 2020 Honda Pilot has shut off a few times while stopping at a red light. Each time has been after coming to a complete stop at a red light and sitting there for a couple minutes. Suddenly there is a beep sound and the engine shuts down. Only the entertainment system is left on. The gear changes to n by itself and I am unable to change it to any other gear. With my foot on the brake, trying to change the gear and trying turn off the car for about 3 minute in the middle of traffic with my kids in the car, eventually I was able to shut off the engine completely off. I immediately try restart the car to avoid a car accident. It put itself in n (neural) and the dashboard screen said “put it in p (park) and hit bottom to restart car. ” the car wouldn’t let me push anything. The power button did nothing and even if you pushed the p for park it stayed in n. The battery light immediately came on when this happened also. And went away as soon as it worked again. I scheduled an appointment after the third time the this happen leaving the car for them to run tests. They ran the tests and when I returned to pick it up, the technician said they tested the battery, wiring, and engine and that everything was good. Nothing was provided to me but they did show me the report as they talked about the results I am sure I can obtain if requested. They almost changed me for the testing but waived the fee which I was thankful. I am concerned and at times scared for the safety of my kids and I. I really hope Honda finds a fix for this and recalls for whatever the issues are as quickly as possible. I like the car but it really is making me want to get a new car and never purchase from Honda again.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph the brother who was in a second vehicle ahead could see flames present in the front grill of the vehicle. White smoke began to enter the cabin of the vehicle and the contact pulled over, parked and exited the vehicle. Smoke and flames were present coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was towed away. A fire and police report was taken at the scene. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not yet notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 100,000.

There is a popping and crackling sound that comes from the speakers whether it is on or off. When this occurs the infotainment system, rear entertainment system, and blue tooth stops working. This happens every single time the vehicle is used. This causes distracting driving because the noises happen all of a sudden when driving. Second problem-the car seems to shut off and turn back on by itself after pressing the gas when its on auto idle shut off. For a few seconds when I let go of the brake peddle, instead of turning on from the auto idle shut off it just shuts off, then I press the gas and it turns on. It has done this several times that it is concerning and I fear it can cause an accident if it moves forward when I think it shut off on its own.

My 2020 Honda Pilot (touring edition) has begun having a rough restart after stopping and the auto engine idle function has turned the engine off. Once it seemed to turn the vehicle off and the radio turned off and back on quickly. I've read about the investigation into Pilots with this issue and wanted to add my car to those that are affected. I called the dealership where I bought the car and explained the issue to a service technician and he indicated that he'd never heard of the issue. Since it just started having the issue in the last couple of weeks and so far it happens intermittently, I haven't taken it into the service department yet.

Vehicle has died when at a stop light, would not automatically restart. Days later the vehicle’s electrical system would not allow the car to start, many code warnings on display. Have had it towed. Battery would not jump and vehicle would not shift into neutral. Found out it needed a specialized tool only the Honda service had.

I can't remember if I reported this already but here goes. My daughter was driving my 2020 Honda Pilot with 41,400 miles on it. She had baby in the back and was in slow traffic in millsboro delaware. She thought she smelled something burning. Then she got out of the vehicle, took the baby out and called 911. Fire started coming out of the engine compartment and the vehicle totally burned up.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while his daughter was driving at an unknown speed when she smelled an odor of smoke coming from the vehicle, then she noticed fire coming from the vehicle. She was able to exit the vehicle safely as it started to burn. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. No one was injured, and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed collision center. The manufacturer was contacted, and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was 42,000.