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:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
8 / 0
Average Mileage:
29,105 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.

2016 Honda Pilot fuel system problems

fuel system problem

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2016 Honda Pilot Owner Comments (Page 2 of 6)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #99

Mar 152023

Pilot

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My car got recall from Honda on: ?'? P0420 (rear bank catalyst system efficiency below threshold [bank 1]) ?'? P0430 (front bank catalyst system efficiency below threshold [bank 2]) ?'? P0300-P0306 (misfire) ?'? P219A (air-fuel ratio variation of cylinder [bank 1, rear bank]) ?'? P219B (air-fuel ratio variation of cylinder [bank 2, front bank]) but they fixed for P219A, and P219B only, now it still got issue on P0420 ( Catalyc conventer issue)

- Arlington, TX, USA

problem #98

Mar 042023

Pilot

  • miles
idle-stop feature. When the idle-stop feature activates as the vehicle is stopped at a traffic signal, the vehicle fails to restart when the brake is released and accelerator pedal pressed. I turn on the emergency flashers. The vehicle usually restarts within 3 minutes. I am afraid I will be rear-ended at high speed as I am stopped at a green traffic signal. This also causes others drivers to swerve around my vehicle causing unnecesary danger. This happens weekly.

- Frederick, Md, MD, USA

problem #97

Feb 212023

Pilot

  • miles
The instrument panel is flashing all alerts when the car is off. I am able to drive the car. It is unknown which component has malfunctioned. Several Honda owners on Google say to check the fuel injectors. I am hoping you all can assist me with that. My safety was put at risk as the alarm goes off randomly when the car is off. It is bothersome at my workplace. I am afraid to drive the vehicle. One of the alerts that flashes is the Antilock Brake System. I am afraid the brakes will go out during driving. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer. I hope to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. All warning lamps and messages were blinking after the car was turned off. There were no signs of issues prior to turning the car off. Since the first initial flashing of alerts, the alerts now stay on during driving however not all lights are flashing. Could it simply need a software update? I do feel this needs investigating and a recall issued.

- Gaffney, SC, USA

problem #96

Jan 162023

Pilot

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The car consistently stalls out when we stop and the auto idle begins. When we remove foot from break the car doesn-??t restart and takes a few minutes of turning it on/off before vehicle resumes functioning. Honda says nothing is wrong but it has been an issue since purchase. It is more likely to occur when ac is running. I have to manually turn off auto idle every time I turn on vehicle to prevent stalling.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #95

Sep 202021

Pilot 6-cyl

  • miles
Since buying my 2016 Honda Pilot Elite in June of 2021 I have had innumerable instances of my vehicle's auto stop start feature failing to START after being engaged. I believe the first instance was in Sept 2021 (after the lemon law time frame passed for my state). When my vehicle is stopped, I try to hit the gas and the vehicle does not go. At this same time an error happens on the screen that says "shift car to P". The first few times this has happened I tried to shift to P and that did not help. I figured out that it is best (i.e. quickest, I am not sure it is the best for the vehicle) to just turn the car off. Wait a few seconds, and then turn the car back on and put it back into drive and go. Keep in mind that I have cars peeling by me, screaming at me, honking, yelling, etc. all with my 6/7yo daughter in the vehicle. I am often stuck in an intersection going left. Additionally, sometimes but not always, the radio and heat/ac turn off when this happens. This has occurred far more times than I can count but a few examples in bumper to bumper city traffic, when waiting to make a left hand turn in intersections, while taking turns at a stop sign both flat and uphill (which is terrifying), just while being stopped at red lights and having the light turn green, when taking turns to enter a rotary, when trying to go at a yield sign, etc. There is no warning light or lamp. The warning lights/sounds occur while/after its already happened. Sometimes the radio turns off and the heat/ac. I have had the vehicle repeatedly serviced by the dealer I purchased it from. They said they cannot replicate the issue. They have asked me to take video of it which is infuriating and UNSAFE as I am in the vehicle with a child in traffic, sometimes in the middle of an intersection, trying not to get T-boned. We have changed the battery. The dealer has cleaned carbon build up out of something. They continually say it is not an issue and cannot be replicated.

- Niskayuna, NY, USA

problem #94

Sep 142022

Pilot

  • miles
There is an emissions warning system that pops. Upon diagnosis, it is determined that the fuel injectors need replacement (all 6 of them) because the parts were manufactured with contaminants in them. There was no recall and due to the nature of the incident, it is NOT covered by an warranties once you pass a certain mileage (80,000, I believe). Unfortunately, this issue/alarm did not pop until after I had passed that mileage point and because it falls under an emissions system problem, not a drivetrain, I have to pay out of pocket. If this problem stems from a manufacturing issue, it should be a safety recall.

- Prior Lake, MN, USA

problem #93

Oct 242022

Pilot

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Emission system problem light - is VERY COMMON 2016-2018 Honda Pilot. Why is there NO recall/permanent fix for this? This is a Honda Defect in manufacturing/workmanship. Honda should resolve!

- Lawrenceville , NJ, USA

problem #92

Oct 192022

Pilot

  • miles
On multiple occasions, but the latest being 10/19/2022, my car will not restart after the auto idle start/stop feature malfunctioned while at a stoplight this afternoon. The battery is not old, and we recently had it checked because it has been doing this a lot lately. It checked out fine when tested. Something is majorly wrong with the electrical parts when this happens. Lights flash, my hazards didn-??t even work today, which was very scary and not safe. The only door that would open was my driver side door. This is a huge safety concern and I am now looking for a new car. This has happened at least 20-30 times, but today was the worst. It took awhile to get it jumped off. In the middle of traffic, with my hazard lights not working. Honda really needs to fix this. We took it to the dealership once about this issue and they said nothing was wrong. Please investigate this issue before it causes injury.

- Pearl, MS, USA

problem #91

Aug 202022

Pilot

  • miles
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.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #90

Jul 122022

Pilot

  • miles
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.

- Zebulon, NC, USA

problem #89

Jul 182022

Pilot

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The engine begins to idle rough, after a few days of driving a lot of cluster lights come on starting with check engine light, VSA as well as others. Disconnecting battery works to clear the the codes, engine will appear to idle ok but after a week of driving it will start idling rough again, then the cluster lights will light up as before. I believe this is due to Service Bulletin 20-100 or Service Bulletin A20-100 which states that issues with the fuel injectors were found relating to quality control. The TSB listed above states that if your vehicle is affected by these symptoms your warranty will be extended to 10 years of manufacture date or 150,000 miles. Our Pilot currently has under 80,000 miles on the odometer.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #88

Jul 142022

Pilot

  • miles
While stopped at a red light, with the auto start enabled, the car would not turn back on and placed the car in -??neutral-??. The dash info message prompted me to put the car in -??park-??. I did. It then instructed me to depress the brake and hit the -??start-?? button to turn the car on. It did not after I tried a few times. Finally to get it started I pushed the -??start-?? button with the key fob. It then turned on and allowed me to put it in -??drive-??.

- Fort Lauderdale , FL, USA

problem #87

Mar 092021

Pilot

  • miles
The fuel tank leaks when it become near full which could put me and others at risk of fire. The vehicle hasn't been inspected and I notice this safety defect when I refill the gas tank

- Poway, CA, USA

problem #86

Jun 202022

Pilot

  • miles
When idling at a stop light, the auto shut off feature engaged and turned off the engine. When I engaged the gas to start moving again, the engine would not restart. I applied to brake, put the car into park and then tried to manually restart the car using the start button on the dash. The car engine would not start. The auxiliary power to the accessories would not go off when I pushed the stop/start button on the dash, but the engine would not restart either. I attempted to restart the car several times. It did not attempt to turn the engine over, but did literally nothing. I paused and waited for a minute and then attempted to restart the car again with the stop/start button and the car engine finally turned on. The exact same sequence of events has happened and two separate occasions some weeks apart. This incident put my and my passengers-?? safety at risk by stranding me at very busy intersections with no way to move the vehicle out of the road. The auto-shutoff feature has engaged while in stop and go traffic on the freeway and if this had happened then, the results could be catastrophic. I now always manually turn off this feature due to fear of this happening again and would disengage it entirely if possible, but was informed by the dealer that was not possible. No one has inspected the vehicle as the problem is not reproducible on demand, but I am willing for any necessary inspections to occur.

- Alameda, CA, USA

problem #85

May 012022

Pilot

  • miles
The problem has happened at-least 5 times won-??t restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or intersection with the stop-start feature in use.Brought to Honda dealership and they stated the do not see a problem. This is a safety problem that needs to be addressed. It stopped completely when i was in traffic also almost caused an accident.

- Lynbrook, NY, USA

problem #84

May 162022

Pilot

  • miles
While at a stop light, with the engine "Auto Start/Stop" switch engaged, I released my foot from the brake, and the car died. I was totally confused as to what occurred. After a minute or two I was able to restart the car. I was very concerned about being re-ended as when the light changed to green is when the car died. I had no advance warning of a problem, and it just died unexpectedly as I released my foot from the break. No lights on the dash either. I notified my dealer, who had never heard of this happening, and said when I can, please bring it in. In as much as the incident occurred in May 2022, and hadn't happened since, I did not take my car into the dealer. I can take my car in at any time to be examined.

- Peoria, AZ, USA

problem #83

Apr 012022

Pilot

  • miles
Unknown. Background: Driving vehicle and engine warning came on. Looked up code and it was due to injector failure. Dealership changed injectors and reprogrammed. Now vehicle gets nowhere the gas mileage and the start/stop has stopped. That doesn't bother me as bad due to it shut off at light one day and would not start back for about a min. Then started and went it's way.

- Johnsonville, SC, USA

problem #82

May 282022

Pilot

  • miles
Every single time I get in my car to drive. I experience julting when I am speeding up but it mostly happens in between 30mph and 50mph. Sometimes in between 70mph and 80mph as well. It has been going on for a year and a half and no one can figure out what it is. There needs to be a recall because it is dangerous for myself and other drivers. To the point where I am going to sell this car and get a different make

- Dyess Afb, TX, USA

problem #81

Mar 312022

Pilot

  • miles
Driving the vehicle started to quickly lose power for about 15 seconds and it stalled while at speed on an interstate. Luckily I was in the right lane and was able to pull out of traffic onto the shoulder. The car had all the lights flash on the dashboard. The check engine, the hill assist, the oil, power steering, etc...i mean all the lights. I turned the car off through its power button and waiting about a meeting and attempted to restart the vehicle. It would not restart. I repeated this action. After two more failed attempts i went and opened the hood to check to see if there was a visible problems or potential a lose sensor connection. The engine looked ok. The main sensors were connected. I again tried to restart the car. The car started and drove about half a mile before losing power again. I repeated all of the above. Again. After about 45 mins the vehicle started even though nothing had actually changed. I didn't do anything. I took the car with the check engine light still on to autozone where they plugged the computer in to tell me my fuel pump wasn't working. Code P0087 registered. The next day the computer cleared itself and has been running. My mechanic said Honda had released a TSB pertaining to the fuel pump with new lines. Unfortunately there is a nation wide shortage of those parts so my car cannot be fixed. I feel unsafe. I dont know if the car will work or not. Its terrifying

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #80

Mar 162022

Pilot

  • miles
I received a letter in the mail from Honda North America in early 2022 stating that my vehicle/vin was covered under an extended warranty on emissions systems problems. HONDA TSB 20-100. I took my car in to the local dealer, dealer performed a software update, 2 days after software update, all warning lights turn on in dash and do not go away. Check engine light, Power steering problem, hill start assist, vehicle stability control, trailer assist, traction control. Took vehicle back to the dealership. The service advisor takes the car back and when I return a few hours later he states that his technician informed him the injectors must also be replaced when the software update is done. Then I am informed that due to previous salvage history (from 2017) the vehicle emissions warranty extension will not be covered by Honda and I will be required to pay roughly $1,500 for this repair. The TSB states that all 2016 Honda pilots are covered. The faulty injectors were an issue from the factory on every single last 2016 pilot that was produced. The dealership caused these lights to come on and now wants me to pay to fix the additional issues they caused.

- Madison, TN, USA

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