Engine And Engine Cooling Problems of Honda Pilot - part 1

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while the vehicle was at a red light, the vehicle stalled; the contact restarted the vehicle for the vehicle to return to normal operation. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to get a diagnosis however, the failure cause was unidentifiable. The contact did research and was made aware of an unknown NHTSA campaign number however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

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Driving to work on the highway and the Honda Pilot suddenly slowed and stopped accelerating, started riding rough and making a loud whistling blowing noise. Check engine light was suddenly flashing. I was able to pull over into a lane split zone before being hit by all the traffic going around and bumping horns at me. I was terrified but thankful to be alive. I want in a good spot though, cars and big trucks were still speeding by pretty close to me. I started inside and called aaa. I tried turning on the car but it just made a fast tapping noise. Aaa worked to safely get me out and tow the car to the mechanic my wife and I chose. The mechanic ran a diagnostic report that says p0306 misfire in cylinder 6, and tear in inlet air boot. They said there is an engine problem that they don't service. We towed it to the Honda dealership. Late the next day the mechanic at Honda says we have an engine problem that is not due to the codes on the diagnostic report and is not covered under warranty and costs $7000 for labor and with a rebuilt engine, about 11k to $15k total. He says the engine was seized. He said it initially had no power, then they jumped and put a battery and the engine just made a thud sound. He said he could not generate another diagnostic report because he couldn't get the engine to turn on. We told him we saw that the engine problem was a known issue and that Honda was extending warrantees to 150k and 10yr and could he see if we were haven't that same problem. He said that problem was minor and only covered a few new parts, not the whole engine. I asked why was pep boys able to get a diagnostic and he could not. He said he doesn't know why the engine seized between pep boys and being checked at Honda. He said maybe the previous mechanic did something wrong. Now we have no car and have already purchased a 3rd Honda not even knowing we were driving around a death trap. The Honda dealership that sold us the accord didn't even warn us. We could have died.

On Thursday may 7th, while driving the 2017 Honda Pilot elite it lost power and all the dash lights started to come on. Once we limped it to our home, and the code information was obtained, it revealed number 3-cylinder misfire. After replacing all the spark plugs, I started the car to make sure all the codes were cleared and heard a "knocking noise". After further investigation noted the following, I found the following information via a google search, is there a recall for 2017 Honda Pilot knocking noise. Found that NHTSA is doing a major investigation on the 2017 Honda Pilot for a connecting rod and knocking noise. Honda did a recall in 2023 for the year model 2016, 2018-2019. This is the same engine that was in the recall for doing the same thing. Nhtsa is currently investigating a potential recall of 1. 4 million Honda and Acura vehicles, including 2017 Honda Pilots, over engine failures linked to connecting rod bearing defects that can cause knocking, stalling, or complete engine failure. Credit autoblog+2. Scope of the investigation models affected: 2016–2020 Honda Pilot, 2017–2019 Honda ridgeline, 2018–2020 Honda odyssey, 2018–2020 Acura tlx and mdx Honda-tech+1. Engine type: Honda’s 3. 5?liter j35y v6, which has been under scrutiny for rod bearing wear leading to catastrophic engine damage Honda-tech+1. Failure symptoms: knocking noises, sudden stalling, loss of power, and in some cases, fires or crashes autoblog+2. Reports: over 400 incidents of engine failure, with at least four involving crashes or fires; Honda has logged more than 2,500 warranty claims for the iss the oil had been changed at the correct intervals, no oil is leaking from the car, the timing chain and water pump were replaced at 100,000 miles with no issues. No metallic shavings are noted on the oil dip stick, and it has 50% oil life remaining as of 05-09-2026. I have it scheduled for a diagnostic service with flow Honda in winston salem, nc tomorrow, may 12th at 0800.

My engine lights turned on Friday, April 24th and I brought in my vehicle to a local dealership on Monday, April 27th. I was informed it was due to a faulty catalytic converter and it was replaced under warranty. The services was completed on Tuesday, April 29th and took my vehicle home. On may 7th, I turn on my engine and all the engine check lights came on. My car was jerky. I was scheduled to bring in my vehicle on may 12th to a local dealership. On may 13th, I received update that my engine had oil leakage and required a new engine. I believe that my 2019 Honda Pilot is among the thousands of Honda Pilot within the make year that are experiencing engine failure. I need support to replace my engine as I should not be responsible as I continue to maintain maintenance on my vehicle and to experience this engine failure issue.

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Driving home on [xxx] , coming back from [xxx] the car started to tick, then a loss of motive power happened then knocking really bad. The rest of the trip home was in the slow lane with hazards, tops 35 miles an hour. I also have videos sent by Honda. That confirms rod, knock and the sound of the engine information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

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Car has shut off while driving. Check engine light, traction control light, hill assist light, power steering light, and vehicle stability light have all come on causing me to have to pull over on the side of the road.

Per Honda, the standard maintenance of replacing a timing belt and tensioner has put more tension on the crankshaft, which causes a tapping noise from the connecting rod bearings when the vehicle is accelerating under load. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Honda has said that this does not harm the engine, but a noise of this kind is not normal and any noise of this kind associated with this particular part of the engine has the possibility of degrading the engine's life and causing a potential safety issue while driving down the road. Yes, the problem has been reproduced by the dealer. Dealer service department has been the only one to inspect it. No, there were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The issue first appeared right after getting the mandatory timing belt maintenance when driving away from the dealer service department.

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Rod bearing failure.

My engine of the 2016 Honda Pilot can suffer a thrown rod (catastrophic engine failure) due to a defect in the connecting rods, I was driving when I heard a noise—sort of a growl—and the engine shut off. I keep up with all the maintenance, including regular oil changes. It sounds like a thrown rod.

There are three dangerous systems in my 2025 Honda Pilot ex-l that should be permanently disabled or removed by the manufacturer or dealer. In order of danger; (1) collision mitigation braking system, (2) auto idle stop, and (3) road departure mitigation system. All three of these systems have nearly caused wrecks for me several times. The collision mitigation braking system (1) is especially dangerous for rear-end collisions to the vehicle using cmbs. Example, I was driving in heavy traffic in the middle lane on I-40 near hermitage, tennessee on 23 Apr 2026 with adequate distance between me and the car in front of me. A tractor-trailer was close behind me. Suddenly, a car in the lane to my right moved into the gap in my lane between me and the car that was at a safe distance in front of me. The cmbs activated and started braking the car. I pressed the gas pedal hard to try and maintain my 70 mph speed to no avail. The tractor-trailer swerved into the lane to my left missing the rear of my car by inches, and avoiding a massive chain reaction collision of many cars. This was a near fatal event for me. Without cmbs, I would have simply held my speed steady until I could create a safe distance and ease into a safer position, possibly in the lane to my right, a much less eventful situation. The auto idle stop (2) has a knack for shutting off the engine when I am trying to make a left turn in heavy traffic. After several near misses, I have learned to turn this system off when starting the engine (the default is on). The road departure mitigation system (3) shakes the steering wheel if the system thinks you are moving out of your lane. It shakes the steering wheel to alert you. Twice, I was caught by surprise and overcorrected the steering when the road departure mitigation system started shaking the steering wheel. So instead of staying in my lane, this almost caused me to go out of my lane and possibly collide with another car or a road barrier.

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The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at 65 mph, the vehicle stalled and failed to restart. The vehicle was pushed over to the side of the road. The contact exited the vehicle and inspected the oil, transmission fluid, and antifreeze, but found no failure. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 210,000.

I am seeing warning lights on my screen and using obd-ii scnner shows code p0302 (misfires). Vehicle bought 2020 August and gas about 90k miles. Is this vehicle under recall for this issue.

My vehicle has about 92000 miles on it. Recently I am hearing engine knocking noises. I hear the sound mostly when I start the car and drive. When the vehicle warms it the sounds goes away. I also noticed my torque converter is not shifting well. You heard grinding noises when shifting .

My 2016 Honda Pilot has been diagnosed with engine failure caused by an issue known as "rod knock" by hudson automotive in toledo, OH despite having been cared for quite well. This failure occurred outside the warranty window and there were no relevant symptoms or warning lights before the sudden failure. After doing some research on Pilot owner online forums, as well as the NHTSA website, it seems a substantial number of similar complaints have been reported, and a recall had been issued for some vehicles in the same year and model under NHTSA campaign number 23v-751. The failures of my engine should be considered in the NHTSA recall number 23v-751, Honda recall number xg1, gg0. In addition, my claim should be considered as part of NHTSA investigation pe25008 which I understand is a current investigation into many reports of connecting rod bearing failures in the 3. 5l v6 engine used in numerous Honda vehicles, including the 2016 Honda Pilot. If needed, I can provide an estimate of the work that needs to be completed on my vehicle from hudson automotive. Thank you for your attention to this matter and your work to protect the american consumer.

The vehicle has routinely had issues restarting from auto idle. When the vehicle turns off in traffic at a stop or stopped at a red light, then it will not restart and the vehicle will essentially be dead for several minutes and unable to be turned on or moved.

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Over the past couple of months the the vehicle has been "throwing" misfiring cylinder errors, particularly cylinder 4 (p0304) and every once in a while cylinder 1 (p0301), and a catalytic converter bank 2 error (p0430). Last week, I filled up with premium fuel and added a catalytic cleaner. This eliminated the p0430 error and reduced the frequency of the p0304 error. Yesterday ([xxx]) we were driving from casper, wy to gillette, wy for a volleyball tournament. About 35 miles into the trip, we were travelling at a speed of 72 mph when the tires squealed, accompanied by metal clanging and extreme vibration in the engine; the car nearly came to a complete stop. I was able to maintain control of the vehicle and pull off to the side of the road. I looked down at the console display and noticed that the check engine light was blinking. I connected an obdii scanner and observed a p0304 error. I then tried to pull forward slowly and the car barely moved and the engine clanging and vibration persisted. At that point I turned off the engine and called a tow truck; I also called my son to pick up my daughter and take her to her volleyball tournament. While waiting for the two truck, I attempted to start the car so I could run the obdii scanner again. The car would not start. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Car was being drive on the indiana road and rolled down window and smelled something burning. Then all of a sudden the transmission fail light came on and the car started to power down and we pulled over. The engine was on fire.

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph on the interstate, the vehicle started shuddering. The vehicle was pulled over safely to the side of the road. The awd, hill descent assist, power steering, and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The contact checked the manual and continued to drive. While driving days later, there was an abnormal fuel odor coming from the vehicle. The contact continued driving approximately 20 mph. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The failure was associated with the fuel pressure pump. The lower fuel pressure pump was previously replaced. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, and the contact was informed that the high-pressure fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 167,320.

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On April 9, 2026, my daughter came in from school and parked her Honda Pilot at about 5:10pm. At about 7:03pm, my wife and I were sitting outside and heard a loud pop, it sounded like a car backfiring. I went to investigate and saw a little smoke and a small orange glowing piece of something on the ground under the vehicle towards the front of the vehicle. I grab a fire extinguisher from my work truck and went towards the vehicle. The car was locked and I saw flames under the hood standing by the driver door looking down where the windshield wipers are. I used the extinguisher till it was empty and the flames kept getting worse. I just walked away and my wife was already calling 911. No one was hurt no damage to any exposures. My daughter did not indicate that anything was wrong with the vehicle. No lights on, no smells, everything ran fine. It had 154,000 miles on it. I do have ring video footage of the event. I did file a claim with my insurance and sent them the video footage.

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The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal sound coming from under the hood. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with an internal engine failure due to connecting rod bearing failure. The failure was associated with NHTSA campaign: 23v751000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware failure. The failure mileage was approximately 178,000.

On April 3,2026 we are starting back from a road trip to florida from kentucky (starting odometer 69,199 miles)oil changed prior to leaving in our 2022 Honda Pilot. Stopped to get gas and transmission alert code popped up-it would not go into any type of gear. We had no warning previously to this. We were still 3 hours from home, had to get it towed to nearest Honda dealership where they stated it was an electronic module failure but transmission would have to be replaced entirely. Car was out of standard power-train warranty of 60,000 miles d/t this road trip (odometer now over 70k) and we had no extended warranty on the vehicle. We requested assistance for transmission replacement from american Honda. We filled out the required form on 4/9/26 explaining we are a loyal Honda customer(own an additional Honda-crv), had good service records, etc. It was assigned to a case manager on fri 4/10-they called left voicemail that it was under review and asked us to call back. We immediately called back on Friday 4/10 and left message-no call back. The following week we called back everyday to american Honda and finally got our case manager over a week later on Monday 4/20-said it would be 5 more days. Heard back today 4/24/26 that Honda denied our assistance request saying it was out of warranty and there are no known manufactorer defects or recalls at this current time. Made us wait 3 weeks to decide we will have to eat cost of a new transmission in a car that is less than 4 years old and <100k miles on it. Very disappointing in Honda corporation especially since there are numerous known complaints, civil law suits, etc on various online forums and in the national news of same issues and they aren't taking any responsibility leaving owners with very high repair expenses. Our transmission will be over $8000 to replace out of pocket.

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Engine started knocking and within a couple days my wife was left stranded. The vehicle went into limp mode with check engine light flashing, and would not accelerate. The vehicle stopped completely in the middle of the road and lost all power, which could’ve caused a major accident. Scheduled maintenance and oil changes has been kept up by me. I had the vehicle towed to a trusted shop and was informing that there were metal shavings in the oil filter. They inspected the top end of the engine and everything was normal. The only indication is that the problem is internal to the engine. There is a recall for Honda Pilots up to model year 2020 but I believe this issue is affecting vehicles up to 2022.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle decelerated to 25 mph unintendedly. While driving at a reduced speed, the vehicle was immediately driven to the local dealer who diagnosed that the camshaft had failed and needed to be replaced. The camshaft, camshaft thrust cover, and camshaft sensor were replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that VIN was not eligible for the extended warranty coverage for the failure. The failure mileage was 94,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle unexpectedly lunged forward with the check engine warning light illuminated, and the “emission system” error message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with fuel pump failure. The contact was informed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 149,000.

Engine has rod bearing knock noise. Transmission has a torque converter issue, acts up once in a while when shifting from park to drive or reverse.

My wife was driving our 2016 Honda Pilot and making a right turn when she lost most of the power on the vehicle. She noticed an immediate rattling/knocking sound and drove home with reduced power. We took it to the Honda dealership on the week of March 30 to have it evaluated and they said it was a timing belt issue. We were charged the diagnostic fee and had it towed from the dealership to a repair shop. They repaired the timing belt, but said that the issue was the engine and it needed replaced. We took it back to the dealership to confirm that the issue was not the timing belt and they asked that we pay another diagnostic fee as they did not repair the timing belt and then said that the issue was indeed then engine and it needed replacing. My vehicle only has 145k miles on it and we have maintained it well. I know there was a recall for 2016 Honda Pilot's, but for those produced a few months after mine. I believe that my SUV may have suffered severe engine damage by not being included. I would be glad to submit any and all evidence to support this as this could have been very dangerous for my wife and children had she been driving on the highway and lost power suddenly. I have not replaced the engine yet, but will be doing so soon as I need a way to get to/from work.

So our family of four, two adults and two kids driving down buford dr in GA on March 29 2026 apparently at 11am found ourselves in a dangerous situation. The oil light on our Honda Pilot came on and the vehicle shut off in the middle of a 3 lane extremely busy road. This is not safe and I am a experience automotive technician for more then 20 years of experience and have not yet found a rod bearing to go bad at 167k with full oil and no oil leaks this is unacceptable for Honda to only recall only some year models knowing the used the same j32 in most of there vehicles.

While driving on the interstate I was trying to pass a vehicle and the vehicle all systems but the brake system issue. Check engine, emissions, power steering, hill start assist, traction assist. The vehicle would not accelerate. When I got on the shoulder the engine was struggling to stay on and had a loud knocking sound. Had the vehicle towed to nearest exit and had someone come pick me up with a trailer to take back home 5 hours away. The engine knocking got louder if you press on the gas.

Based on everything we've documented, here's a tight, factual account written in the style NHTSA expects — first person, chronological, no fluff: "I own a 2016 Honda Pilot touring awd, VIN [xxx] , with 89,962 miles. The vehicle began producing a clunking noise from the engine. I brought it to Honda of tomball [xxx] ), where the dealer diagnosed all main rod bearings as damaged and recommended full engine replacement. This failure is identical to the defect described in NHTSA safety recall 23v-751 (Honda recall xg1/gg0): premature connecting rod bearing wear and seizure caused by improperly ground crankshaft crank pins. My vehicle is a 2016 Honda Pilot, a model year explicitly covered under the recall. However, my VIN was not included in the identified recall population, and Honda of tomball has not offered to cover the repair under the recall. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate whether my vehicle's crankshaft contains the same manufacturing defect, and that Honda be required to extend recall coverage to my VIN. The repair cost for a full engine replacement is substantial, and the failure mode is mechanically indistinguishable from the acknowledged recall defect information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I was operating a 2022 Honda Pilot and had just made a left turn into a parking lot. I was slowly pulling into a parking space directly in front of a dance studio with a large floor-to-ceiling window. There were four children and a dance instructor standing inside near the window. As I was coming to a stop to park, my foot was on the brake. At that moment, the engine suddenly revved loudly and the vehicle accelerated forward unexpectedly without any additional throttle input. There were no warning lights, messages, or prior symptoms before this occurred. Despite braking, the vehicle continued forward and struck the exterior of the building. I was able to avoid the window area where the children were standing. The airbag deployed, and the front passenger side of the vehicle was damaged. The building was not structurally damaged, and no one was injured. There were no obstructions such as floor mats interfering with the accelerator, and there was no unintended pedal input. My foot was on the brake at the time of the incident. This appears to be a case of sudden unintended acceleration. The issue has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center, and there were no prior warning signs before the event. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. It has been towed to the body shop. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center at this time. The vehicle was inspected by insurance and they did not total it. It is going to be repaired. The vehicle has been inspected by insurance representatives. The manufacturer has not inspected the vehicle at this time. I did not call police because I was not hurt, the kids were not hurt and the building only had a couple of scratches on the brick.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 mph, the vehicle stalled and failed to return to normal functionality. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the rod bearings needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and opened a case. The failure mileage was approximately 121,632.

Upon accelerating from a stop, or at various speeds, the vehicle experiences a significant loss of motive power(pulling backwards) followed by an abrupt lunge forward. This hesitation occurs unpredictably and makes entering traffic or intersections extremely hazardous. This feels like a fuel delivery or transmission engagement failure. The last incident occurred on or around the afternoon of March 23. My vehicle has been examined at the dealership on multiple occasions for this same issue and each time I have been told that they are unable to replicate the issue and can not help me further unless they are able to replicate the issue.

Auto idle stop activated at a stop light for the 2nd or 3rd time over a few years. Lifted foot off the break and stalled, the car went into park and I could not put it into neutral or drive. The odometer screen looked like it does when the engine is on. The battery light was on. I tried to turn down the radio and the volume didn't work. I tried pressing the ignition button to turn off the car entirely but it didn't work the first couple of tries. Once I was able to completely turn it off, it struggled to turn over when I tried to start the engine, which I've never had happen, but did turn over. Dealership wanted to charge $325 for a few hours of diagnostics which we declined.

I was driving, and my engine died in the middle of highway 40 about 5 miles outside of [xxx] . It was extremely dangerous, and colorado state troopers and colorado division of transportation workers had to stop traffic. The car could not be put into neutral, and towing to a safe location was very difficult and dangerous. The car has less than 76k, and there was absolutely no warning before the car died. No engine lights, no noise. Just died. I have read about rod bearing failures and believe my car is part of this problem. I have had frequent service, and my mechanic has said there was oil in the car, and the engine just seized. The mechanic believes it is a crankshaft rod bearing issue. I could have been hit and was traveling alone in an area that often does not have cell phone service available. This needs to be addressed, and engines should be recalled without delay. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Drive to work suddenly engine show emergency issues many symbols appearing in front of screen and break is not controlled and car is stop running.