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:
4 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
18,967 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.
When stopped at a red light with my foot on the brake and the engine in idle, the engine turned off when I put my foot on the gas peddle. The engine idle stop was on. This occurred while stopped in city traffic (6/2022) and again when I was stopped at a red light on a highway (9/3/2022). The car rolled backward. I had to put the car in park and restart the car. I now have manually turned off the engine idle stop.
The vehicle stalls at stop signs, traffic lights and in stopped traffic. Sometimes takes multiple trys to restart the vehicle. Been happening regularly for several years. Have had multiple repairs done with no affect.
This issue has occurred twice. First occurrence was when stopped in traffic. Auto stop engaged. When brake was released auto start caused vehicle to stall-out. Vehicle restarted after multiple attempts. Second occurrence was when stopped at traffic light. Auto stop engaged. When brake was released auto start caused vehicle to stall-out. Vehicle restarted after one attempt. For both occurrences, radio was on, air-conditioning was on and outside temperature was +85 degrees. This is a serious safety concern.
The engine will stall at stoplights. It appears the auto start/stop feature fails when engaged. Car has stalled 4xs in the past week. To fix issue: You have to put the car in park, foot on brake, and hit the start engine button in order to restart the car. Also put hazards on for safety reasons. Once car starts, you can put into drive and go forward. We've been fortunate not to have an accident. It's a significant safety issue stalling at stop lights with traffic behind you. Local Honda Service center could not replicate the issue. I instructed them that you have to drive car for ~20-25 minutes before it will stall. Car was scheduled for regular A156 Maintenance. They are looking at the stall issue today, 8/26/2022.
Car has auto engine stop/restart as a fuel saving measure. Several times the car has failed to restart after turning off. This happens in highway stop/go traffic, at traffic lights. This is dangerous, as my foot comes off the brake, cars behind me think i am moving, and then the engine fails as it is restarting. I have to then put my foot back on the brake, put the car in park, and restart the engine before being able to drive again. This happened on 8/25, and 3 other times within the last month. This did also happen perhaps a year or 2 ago, the dealer did examine the car but I don't believe they found any issues to be repaired.
- Millington, NJ, USA
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With increasing frequency of occurrence, the car will not start after the auto stop/start mechanism has been invoked. For example, when stopped at a red light, the engine will turn off as the car is not moving. However, once the light turns to green and the brake is depressed, the car will not start and/or will start and then the engine will cut-out. To start the engine, the car needs to be fully turned off, gear put into Park and then restarted. There appears to be something at fault with the automatic stop-start mechanism and/software. My car is a 2016 Honda Pilot Touring with less than 28K miles.
My 2016 Honda Pilot Touring stalls out at a red light while using the auto stop-start. It happens occasionally when I take my foot off the brake and put my foot on the gas. Instead of coming out of idle with the engine starting up again, the car would stall completely and I would have to put the car in park, press the brake pedal and push the start button to get it on again. I took the car into the dealer and they told me that there was no software update and that they couldn-??t do a update anyways because check engine light wasn-??t on. Also have a issue with transmission not switching gears smoothly on take off. Jerks on take of. Once again they told me transmission was fine and there was no software update and that they couldn-??t do a update anyways because check engine light wasn-??t on.
When start-stop feature is "on, " the car will not start again in certain instances when the engine is shut down after a complete stop. The NHTSA currently has an investigation opened in this matter (opened in June 2022)
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a traffic light, the Auto START/STOP feature failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact was informed by the dealer to replace the battery; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
As previously described on the NHTSA website, this model has the 9 speed transmission and it randomly turns the vehicle off at intersections/red lights when the vehicle is stopped. It is different than the engine start/stop system since the full vehicle turns off. It is very random and stressful when it happens since other vehicles are then waiting on our Pilot to get moving again.
Auto Stop/Start failure to restart issue With my 2016 Honda Pilot touring whenever I stop at red light, engine stops and it suppose to start when I release brake pedal but fails to restart when I release brake pedal which is creating a serious safety issue, I have to turn off the engine and restart it, even that may not work and it may take 1-2 minutes to restart. I have seen multiple reports regarding this same issue. Please investigate the issue. Thank you
Vehicle fails to restart after stopping at a stop light while auto stop feature was on (defaults on). Have to completely turn off the vehicle and restart it for the engine to fire back up. Happens very often. Safety concern.
The engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the auto/start stop function. This happens intermittently, but has put my family in danger on several occasions. When the light turns green, the car turns off, and has to be put in park and restarted. I have come close to being rear-ended during these situations, as approaching vehicles have to stop suddenly because my car is disabled. I have taken a video of these incidents, but Honda is unable to recreate the issue and has not offered a solution.
The auto start/stop feature of the vehicule has stopped working on several occassions. We would be coming off the highway and or off a red light and the car will stall of the auto start/stop function is on. This has happened a few times in a very busy intersection or street.
Vehicle frequently fails to restart after stopping after stopping while auto idle stop feature is on (default is "on"). In thes cases, one has to completely turn off the vehicle and restart. This is a safty hazard because the engine stalls when it's supposed to come back on to e.g. cross the intersection. Honda Dealership / Service Department were not able to fix it.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the auto start /stop feature cut off and the vehicle shifted to neutral. The vehicle shut off and failed to restart. All the instrument cluster warning lights were illuminated. The contact disengaged the auto start/stop feature. The contact called the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired as of yet. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 91,400.
With auto idle engaged, the engine fails to always restart after coming to a stop. It doesn't happen all the time. When it does happen, it requires me to turn the car ignition off completely and then on again for it to recover from it. Sometimes it takes multiple tries to do so. This has been happening for multiple years now, but the frequency has increased in the last 6 months or so. Date reported is todays since it did happen today 3 times.
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a traffic light, the Auto START/STOP feature failed to operate as designed. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to automatically restart after her foot was removed from the brake pedal. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the Auto START/STOP failure had become a recurring failure. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer who attempted to diagnose the vehicle however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000. The contact stated that the failure mileage was actually around 50,000.
2016 Honda Pilot stalls during idol-start stop. Driver is forced to put it into park and restart vehicle. I took the vehicle to Manchester Honda (CT) for service over a year ago, but no issues were found. They updated the software, but it did not help. The issue is getting worse - sometimes it takes multiple attempts to restart the vehicle. This is a serious safety concern as it has happened in the middle of a busy intersection and in the middle of the highway in traffic. It is currently not possible to disable the system and I don't always remember to manually shut it off every time I start the car.
When coming to a complete stop, the vehicles' start/stop feature was engaged and the car's engine turned off. Instead of turning back on when the brake was released, the car did not turn back on. Hitting the ignition button also did not start the vehicle back up immediately. This happened to me two times in the past month. Both times, I was stopped at a red light and the car left me stranded in traffic. After a few attempts of hitting the ignition button, the car would start back up. The vehicles start/stop feature malfunctioned and it would be available for inspection upon request. This put my family's safety at risk because the car left us stranded in the middle of a busy intersection. The vehicle has not been inspected yet. There were no warning lamps prior to the problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fayetteville, GA, USA