10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
7,697 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.

2017 Honda Pilot engine problems

engine problem

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2017 Honda Pilot Owner Comments (Page 2 of 16)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #283

Dec 052023

Pilot

  • miles

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

Driving vehicle when multiple warning lights illuminated, including check engine and emissions control issue. Vehicle sputtered to a stop and would not accelerate after that. Vehicle was towed to Honda dealership and they said it was a faulty rocker arm oil pressure switch.

- Sharpsburg, GA, USA

problem #282

Jun 192023

Pilot

  • miles
Vehicle was diagnosed with a damaged #3 rod bearing and required the engine assembly (long block) to be replaced. The Honda dealership retained the engine after inspection and replacement. While driving on the highway with family in the car the vehicle developed a knocking noise from the engine and loss of power. Our safety was put at risk because I was forced to immediately pull off the highway. The engine was moments from catastrophic failure. Once pulled over we found the loud noise was from the engine assembly and were forced to call a tow truck to take the vehicle to a dealership. Honda inspected the assembly and it was replaced at a Honda dealership. No warning lamps or signs existed prior to or after the noise.

- Fort Huachuca, AZ, USA

problem #281

Nov 042023

Pilot

  • miles
If I do remember to turn off the auto engine idle, the engine will stall at stoplights and will not immediately restart. I have almost been rear-ended several times. It just happened again about two weeks ago. The dealership replaced my battery and another part associated with this problem but it still occurs. The dealership refuses to disconnect the auto engine idle. My 2017 Honda Pilot should be included in the latest Honda Pilot recall.

- South Boston, VA, USA

problem #280

Jul 122023

Pilot

  • miles

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

I was at a stoplight at a busy intersection (car previously running well) & when I went to accelerate as the light turned green, my car leaped/jerked forward & would only accelerate to 5-8 mph. All of the warning lights on the dash lit up at the same time. I SLOWLY got out of the traffic & onto the side of the road. I turned the car off & back on. All the warning lights were still on. The car went into drive, but would not accelerate past 25 mph & was jerking. Honda evaluated the car & determined that it was the camshaft that wasn't manufactured correctly. Honda stated that this is a known Honda defect & already had parts packaged to fix the problem. I have all of the paperwork provided to me when the repairs were made. However, this is not acceptable. A known HONDA issue like this should be recalled & repaired ASAP. This is a huge safety concern for the Honda driver & those on the road around them. I was lucky that mine went out at a stoplight, but had I been driving & it shut down it would have been hazardous. As well, if I'm stopped & all of a sudden unable to accelerate that puts me at a very high risk for injury in an accident.

- Kure Beach, NC, USA

problem #279

Oct 172023

Pilot

  • miles
Shortly after entering the freeway, the dask lights began to flicker and car started stuttering. Drive for another mile or slow looking to pull over. By that time smoke coming from rhe engine. Once we pulled over, engine area smoking a lot to where smoke coming into car. All of us git out and saw flames coming from engine area. Our pilot was on fire. Firefighters able to put out, but car was a total loss

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #278

Oct 202023

Pilot

  • miles
The transmission completely broke/ went out. Honda knows this is a recurrent issue with these vehicles. The fuel injectors had already been replaced on this vehicle at 40,000 miles before Honda was admitting a defect. They are well aware there are transmission issues for the Honda Pilot but are not taking responsibility costing car owners thousands. We were left on the side of the road, needing to use insurance to cover towing. Rather than dealing with labor we sold the car at a great loss of money. This is hear say but the towing complaint reports they are towing Honda Pilots consistently these days. Honda should be held responsible.

- Olympia, WA, USA

problem #277

Oct 162023

Pilot

  • miles

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

I am getting the 'Emissions System Failure" notification on the dashboard. It comes at random times and sometimes it goes away. I am not sure what the problem is as the vehicle is well maintained and there is no other issue. I read that it is in the recall list of 2019 vehicle so I guess this is the same issue for 2017 as well.

- Cary, NC, USA

problem #276

Aug 082023

Pilot

  • miles
Car auto shuts offs and completely shut off and need to put the car in park and pray it restarts. Dangerous... One day someone will slam into me when i am trying to start it and I hope i am not killed. I picked one date, but it happens weekly.

- Keller, TX, USA

problem #275

Sep 272023

Pilot

  • miles
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? In the past few months (My 23 to current Sept 23) the idle stop system would occasionally not restart when gas was applied. This mostly occurred when stopped for a traffic light and I would have to go through a complete restart procedure taking a good amount of time. and causing the folks behind me a great deal of unhappiness. I believe this a significant safety issue because it causes people to drive unsafely in dense traffic environments. The system is available for inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk" This caused the folks behind me a great deal of unhappiness. I believe this is a significant safety issue because it causes people to react hurriedly and drive unsafely in dense traffic environments. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? It has not been checked yet. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Not yet - I will take it to the dealer next month for the annual VA safety inspection. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear" Not that I saw.

- Fredericksburg, VA, USA

problem #274

Jan 152022

Pilot

  • miles
The auto start/stop will intermittently fail to restart the engine from a stop after releasing foot the brake pedal. 2017 model year. In 2022 (4 year old vehicle) the auto start/stop failed to restart on three separate occasions from a stop at traffic lights over the course of one winter month. All electronics in the vehicle shut off while dash needles oscillate rapidly. It takes several attempts to restart the vehicle from park. Replaced only the battery with new AC Delco Group 48 AGM CCA 760 on my own. Problem did not reoccur until 18 months later in the summer of 2023 with the same exact symptoms but occurring more frequently now. The battery is 18 months old, the vehicle is now 6 years old. It has failed to restart seven times in the last 2 summer months. Have not taken it to the dealer or mechanic for repair yet. No warning lamp.

- Malvern, PA, USA

problem #273

Aug 202023

Pilot

  • miles

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

En algunos modelos Pilot 2016-2017, Ridgeline 2017 y Odyssey 2018, la luz indicadora de fallas (MIL) puede encenderse si uno de los siguientes códigos de diagnóstico de problemas (DTC) se almacena: P0420 (Eficiencia del sistema catalizador del banco trasero por debajo del umbral [banco 1]) P0430 (Eficiencia del sistema catalizador del banco delantero por debajo del umbral [banco 21) P0300-P0306 (falla de sincronización)

- Salida , CA, USA

problem #272

Sep 012023

Pilot

  • miles
The idle function shuts the car down while driving. At random stops the car turns off causing us to restart the car. It has created a very dangerous scenario for the family at intersections. The Honda dealer did not address the issue.

- Doral , FL, USA

problem #271

Aug 262023

Pilot

  • miles
Honda pilot with start stop system will shut off the engine when possible. In some cases the car will shut off and. Or restart and flash various warnings on the dashboard. Only way to fix is wait some time and shut off car and restart. This is dangerous as this happens randomly when highways and local roads. And it takes time to get the car restarted and the engine restarted in those cases. I went to the Honda dealer to get a recall around start stop, the dealer said this would fix the issue, but this issue is still happening. There are no other issues with the car.

- Albany, NY, USA

problem #270

Aug 182023

Pilot

  • miles
auto start/stop completely shuts car off and forces you to put car in P and hit the start button. creates a dangerous situation at intersections.

- Littleton, CO, USA

problem #269

Aug 042023

Pilot

  • miles
Car has died twice when coming to a stop at red lights. seems to be related to the auto stop/start engine setup. Car turns itself off but cannot start right back up again. Every red light flashes but will not easily restart. hundreds of complaints regarding this on the NHTSA website. The NHTSA needs to investigate this, cars being stuck in traffic is a safety issue. since its affecting cars years off the line, it must be some component that is failing prematurely. All of these are extreme safety issues as the car is stuck in traffic, or at light and has to be completely shut off, wait and then restart. Last time took a good 3-4 minutes to get it started again.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #268

Aug 142023

Pilot

  • miles
I stopped at a red light and the engine wouldn-??t start. It took several tries to restart the engine and after 5 minutes, it finally restarted. I had to put on my hazard lights and held up traffics on the road.

- San Ramon, CA, USA

problem #267

Aug 052023

Pilot

  • miles
This car is equipped with an idle atop feature that shuts the engine off when the brake is engaged (for example, when idling at a traffic light). Upon releasing the brake, the engine should automatically start. However, in many instances the engine does not restart and remains unresponsive. It is not resolved even if I shift to park and return to drive mode. It seems to reset when I turn off the engine completely.

- Chalfont , PA, USA

problem #266

Jun 032023

Pilot

  • miles
When I come to a stop (like a red light) the auto idle kicks in. When I move my foot from the brake to the gas pedal, the engine shuts off completely. It then takes a couple times before I can get the starter to start again. Therefore I am sitting at an intersection with an engine that is dead while other cars are coming up behind me, either from a stop, or coming up behind me at full speed. I am concerned I will be rear ended. I have taken it in and they replaced the battery which helped for awhile. I then got a notice from Honda, took the car in and they did an "update" on the computer system. Again the other day, while at a light, the engine cut off when I moved my foot from the brake to the gas pedal. No warning lights, no other symptoms that give me warning as to the problem.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #265

Jul 312023

Pilot

  • miles
For the past two years, I have been taking my Honda pilot to a Honda dealership, complaining of the auto shut off feature. I will come to a stop at a stop sign or stop light. The car would do the auto shut off and when I lift my foot from the break for the car to start again, it won-??t. The car will have its lights lit up, but I won-??t be unable to turn the vehicle on. I will then have to turn the car off and then start it all over again. All while cars are honking and I-??m in the middle of the road. Holler Honda never fixed this problem. I took in videos and photos and I explained it to them and they said they could not replicate the problem and therefore could not fix anything. I continued to drive the vehicle like that. In January 2023 a service bulletin was released where Honda described this exact issue that were happening amongst other 2017 Honda pilot. I took my car in and I said this is exactly what-??s happening. My service advisor told me that he needed to do the software update first per the service bulletin. He said if it doesn-??t work then to bring the car back and they will do the remainder of the repairs, such as replacing the starter and the assembly. I asked him if we could skip the software update since we-??ve been having this issue for over two years and he said no. Six months later I am driving down the interstate and come to a complete stop and the entire car shuts off and never restarts again. I was stranded on the interstate for over four hours, waiting for a tow truck. I had to have the police come because it was at 6 PM and soon after got dark. It-??s a huge safety issue especially considering that I have two kids. Something could-??ve happened to me. I have the police report number and receipt for the tow truck ($281)

- Apopka, FL, USA

problem #264

Jul 252023

Pilot

  • miles
I had been driving for over an hour at 70 when I crossed into Pennsylvania and encountered crawl speed traffic. I exited the highway at exit 1. At the top of the ramp there is a traffic signal. I stopped at the red and the vehicle shut down. The light turned to green and the vehicle immediately in front of me proceeded into the intersection. I removed my foot from the brake and attempted to go. The engine auto stop-start kicked the engine but then the engine immediately cut off and the chimes went off. The car behind be stopped abruptly to avoid contact. Attempting to understand what occurred i looked at screen. The screen indicated to shift the vehicle into park. I did. The vehicle did nothing. Since there is no way to to start the engine without it, I was forced to turn the vehicle off using the On/Start/Off button. Hitting the button turned the car off, a second press would normally start the vehicle but it did not. I cycled the button 2 more times and the engine started. This system is flawed.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

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