CarComplaints.com Notes: It's worrying when the top category for 2016 Honda Pilot problems are transmission problems. Owners report jerking when accelerating. Also as the first model year of the redesigned 3rd generation Pilot, it's not a good sign.
Honda released a TSB on October 29 2016 that's possibly related. The TSB deals with a "a judder from the torque converter lock-up clutch ... while driving between 20 and 60 mph" due to deteriorated transmission fluid resulting from "specific driving conditions". In the TSB, Honda states they are developing a software fix to try to keep the transmission fluid temperature within spec.
We are keeping a close eye on this defect trend because if certain driving conditions can affect transmission shifting in the first year of ownership, we'd hate to think what 10+ years will do.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
29,036 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My 2016 Honda Pilot has been experiencing an issue with the auto start-stop system, in which the vehicle's engine fails to restart after a stop and/or the dashboard indicators flash on and off with multiple error codes displaying. This has happened many times on the highway and on streets, one time where it would not restart on the highway and cars were going around me on both sides which was very dangerous. I reported this to Honda corporate and opened up a case, which was open for many months while the Pauly Honda dealer in Libertyville, IL and the Muller Honda dealer in Gurnee, IL tried to diagnose the problem. They ended up trying several fixes, including replacing the battery, but nothing has fixed the issue. The dealer also contacted the engineers at Honda Corporate, and they indicated that they were not aware of the issue and have not been able to provide any fixes. This is still an issue today, and the only workaround I have is to disable the auto start/stop function manually, every time I start the car. Dates: - I checked and we actually brought our car into Muller Honda of Gurnee in September 2021 where we reported an issue where "C/S (customer) feels like it wants to die coming to a stop. Dash lights turn off like vehicle died. All displays go dark." They felt that it was "Caused by: Technician verified keyless remote system problem light on dash. Tech found code B12C5 stored in system. Corrected by (Y9300) (6S100) Warranty extension. Keyless start system error with DTC B12C5. BulletinS". This did not fully resolve the issue. - Then in October 2021 we brought the car into Pauly Honda of Libertyville where we again reported the same issue where "Customer states in eco mode the center screen now goes blank then cycles and comes back on." This did not fully resolve the issue. - Then in the spring of 2022 we brought it back to Pauly Honda as more severe issues started occurring. I also opened up Case #13103604 with Honda Corporate.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the charging system error light and brake system error lights illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact had researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V668000 (Electrical System). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
The infotainment screen and system frequently shut off as you are driving down the road. It has been doing it for years and I-??ve brought it in to the dealer for them to update the software and other tricks they said they could do. It did not help and the problem is getting more frequent.
The start/stop turn the car off and when I tried to restart the car nothing happen. The battery is good and I heard a click sound but it won't start back for a few minutes sometimes.
- Mount Vernon, NY, USA
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The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a red light, the Auto Stop/Start feature activated and turned the engine off to conserve fuel. After releasing the brake pedal the engine restarted but immediately shut off after the vehicle had rolled into the busy intersection. The vehicle could not be immediately restarted. The message "keyless start problem" was displayed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 120,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a red light the auto shut off feature activated and turned the engine off to consever fued. After releasing the brake pedal the engine restarted but immediately shut off after the vehicle had rolled into the busy intersection. The vehicle would not immdiatly restart. The message "keyless start problem" had displayed. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted.. The failure mileage was 120,000.
When at a stop, t he start/stop feature is enabled and the engine shuts off as expected. When I lift my foot off the brake, it doesn't always restart, and I am left stranded in an intersection or at a light, and almost in accidents. Very unsafe. I have to turn it off every time I get into the car. When I forget to turn it off, it always fails to restart.
The idle stop shuts off my engine as designed but then it fails to restart approximately 10% of the time. When this occurs I have to put my car in park, turn off the car completely, turn it back on and put it in drive. While this most frequently happens at stop lights it has occured on the freeway when I have needed to stop. The frequency in which this is happening seems to be increasing. I have already had the start button on the car replaced twice. The issue continues to happen with increasing frequency.
Driving in traffic. Idle stop system kicked in to turn off the engine. I let my foot off the brake pedal to turn left in the intersection, and the engine failed to restart after stopping. I put the car in park, and the car would not re-start. Ultimately, I had to turn the car fully off and then back on before it would restart. I was blocking traffic for over a minute with the car unable to restart. There had been several prior instances where the car almost didn't re-start, but this is the first time that it would not restart. I have seen prior notices that the NHTSA ODI is currently investigating this issue.
The vehicle is equipped with start stop feature. The issue is it will stop, then crank for a second or two, but sometimes not restart. It-??s a safety issue when you try to move with traffic, but the engine is now off. This issue has been reported to the Honda dealer numerous times over a 4 year period. The starter & battery has been replaced, but the issue still exists.
For years, dating back to 2018, our 2016 Honda Pilot Elite auto on/off switch operations has been failing. Vehicle will not restart the engine after its engaged the auto start off. Engine and all components including electrical are off. Dashboard indications light up and essentially we are stalled, at risk of not being able to drive. It requires to place the car into park and restart the engine. This is serious safety issue that could result in being struct by another vehicle without being able to move. I have been taking the car to several authorized Honda service dealerships to address the issue. They have replaced multiple times the auto on/off switch, battery, adjusted values and updated software with no resolution. One dealership claimed to disable the auto on/off switch but this is NOT feasible. With the latest inspection, another local Honda dealership contacted Honda Corp Tech Line for assistance. Once again they instructed the dealer to perform all the potential fixes above and to ignore a code P2638. After investigating this online, Honda and NHTSA have opened an investigation June 2022 on this issue after 220+ complaints. There is no known fix, yet Honda Corp Tech Line informed local dealer to conduct value adjustments yet again, at a labor cost to us.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the engine would not immediately restart after the START/STOP feature was activated. The contact indicated that the vehicle occasionally restarted approximately three seconds after releasing the brake pedal. On other occasions, the vehicle would not restart. The vehicle was able to be restarted by pressing the START/STOP button. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure and a service appointment was scheduled. The contact referenced the NHTSA Investigation Number: PE22005 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the investigation. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 47,000.
The auto start/stop feature activated while I was at a stop and shut the vehicle off. When I removed my foot from the brake the vehicle stalled and would not restart. Had to place the vehicle in park and apply the brake to get it to restart. The restart took multiple pushes of the start button. This was a busy intersection where I immediately became a hazard.
The engine's idle-stop feature shut off my car while stopped at a busy intersection in urban traffic, and took 15 seconds to restart the automobile. The idle-stop feature kicked in when at an intersection. When I took my foot off the brake to accelerate forward, the car instead turned off. The dashboard prompted me to shift the car into park, put my foot on the brake, and press the engine ignition button. I did so, but the car did not restart, even when I repeated the process 2-3 times. Finally, on the fourth time, the car restarted.
I own a 2016 Honda Pilot (Touring) model. Upon start-up the idle-stop feature is defaulted to enabled. When the vehicle comes to a stop the idle-stop feature shuts down the engine but leaves some features such as air conditioning and radio running. Upon disengaging the brake, the vehicle should automatically restart. However, on many occasions both on residential and freeway the vehicle has failed to restart and stalled. After putting the vehicle in park and attempting to restart it, it does not restart right away. Because of the stall, the vehicle appears to be left in an indeterministic state making restart more difficult and time consuming. After several tries of applying the brake and pressing the on/off button to restart the vehicle, the vehicle finally restarts. When the vehicle stalls, many of the dashboard lights come on... maybe all of them do. The major safety issue is that the vehicle becomes non-operative on busy streets or freeways. The driver will be required to turn on his hazard lights while trying to restart the vehicle. This failure places the driver and passengers at risk of being hit because it is non-operational in an environment/situation where other motorists believe you should be moving. I have made an appointment with my dealership to have it inspected. The problem has occurred multiple times on both the street and freeway. It is not always easily reproducible but has been witnessed by passengers in my vehicle. There appears to information from the public regarding this type of failure on social media.
AUTO START / STOP functionality won't re start engine after it has engaged. Engine won't crank over, multiple dash warnings come on. PUSH START bottom doesn't work, have to put vehicle back in PARK and have to attempt several times to start engine.
We have a 2016 Honda Pilot Touring model equipped with the stop-start feature. This feature has failed to restart the engine while stopped at an intersection 3 times; after the first failure we try to remember to disable the feature however it must be disabled every time the car is started (worse, there is a delay in the confirmation that sometime leads to pushing the button twice and inadvertently re-enabling the auto-stop-start). The first time the stop-start failed was near the end of a long trip (New Jersey to North Carolina); it was dark out and we stopped at highway traffic signal triggering the auto-stop, there was no indication that anything was wrong. When releasing the brake, the car failed to start and went into an "off/stalled" state, leaving us stuck in the dark intersection with no lights (presumably the brake lights still worked). Given the vehicle has both an automatic transmission and ignition controlled by buttons (not a shifter/key switch); it took nearly a minute to find the right combination of button (and brake pedal) presses need to get the car restarted (as this was a highway light, the cycles are long). We took it to get the ignition system tested the next day and everything tested OK. We did not experience the issue again for roughly 7 months. The second and third time occurred in the same drive: our son sustained a compound fracture to his arm and given our proximity (less then 2.5 miles) to the ER we opted to drive ourselves there. The auto-stop-start failure occurred at a busy 4-way intersection; upon getting the vehicle restarted (in an admitedly more panicked state) we unsuccessfully attempted to disable the auto-stop-start. The failure occurred again about a mile away at the stop light before the ER; this time the car would not start back up; ultimately we let the car sit for an extremely long minute (a full cycle of the traffic light) before attempting to successfully start the car again in time for the next green light.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gurnee, IL, USA