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.
Rod bearings failed, leaving metal shards in the pistons which causes engine the to overheat and seize or catch fire. The engine noise was getting increasingly loud over a 3 day period so I took it into the dealership (Honda of Seattle) and they found rod bearings had worn apart and were floating around inside the engine. This requires a full engine replacement. There were no warning lamps.
Over the past 15 months, our 2017 Honda Ridgeline has been at the Honda dealership service for over 90 days, or 20% of the elapsed time. A 2nd replacement of the torque converter (3rd unit) in March 2024 has not resolved the judder/vibration, which does not occur when the engine temperature is cold. The vibration is consistently recurring once the engine has reached nominal operating temperature, when the transmission is in 4th-5th gear around 1800 RPM, 30-50 MPH. Based on the dealership-attempted fixes, the dealer believes the issue is due to Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) and Active Control Mount (ACM) degradation. The dealer, in contact with Honda tech line, have no known fix to this systemic defect. The vehicle has been 100% serviced at Fisher Honda per the factory maintenance schedule. All recommended and required service, including Technical Service Bulletins and Recalls have been performed and are up-to-date. Reference earlier NHTSA ID 11554673 (Nov 2023).
The check engine light came on while driving on the highway. I then pulled over to check oil and coolant levels. The coolant was down but not empty, so I topped it up. I then restarted the truck and the engine was down on power and I had to limp it to the dealership. The dealership confirmed that the engine was blown, likely due to a connecting rod bearing failure. Now I am waiting for Honda to make a call on it because it is out of warranty.
I was in line waiting for a pick up order when all of a sudden my ridgeline just stopped - engine kicked off - no warning lights came on ahead of this incident - there were no noises from the truck beforehand - no early indication that something like this was going to happen - thank G.. I was in line at MacDonald's and not on the highway. Engine just seized. I have taken my ridgeline to Honda - and they have said that they can't figure out why this happened - surprised for a ridgeline with 100,000 miles - it's been serviced at appropriate times. There were some recalls on it, but not one that would cause this issue - however, we did see if the NHTSA site that many 2017 ridgelines are being recalls due to manufacturing errors - we feel that honda should assume some responsibility.
My 2017 Honda Ridgeline began making an odd noise, so I took it to my dealer. They diagnosed failed connecting rod bearings, which have sent metal shavings throughout the engine. The only repair would be an engine swap, which would cost almost the value of the vehicle. I cannot drive the vehicle as is due to the potential of catastrophic engine failure. Certain 2017 and 2019 Ridgelines are under recall for this same issue, but mine was manufactured 5 months later than the select few 2017 Ridgelines they have included. Honda will not cover my engine under recall or goodwill. I am left with a worthless vehicle that would have been very dangerous to continue driving. Please urge Honda to expand the recall. I'm sure I am not the only one in this unfortunate situation.
- Apex, NC, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
My Honda Ridgeline 2017 it started to not accelerate and a lot of lights came on. Check engine light, power steering, cruise control, abs, etc. The truck only goes 20-23 mph and it wouldn't run. Thank God i wasn't in the high or i would have crashed. i went to my nearest autozone to see what was going on and they told me that the Camshaft position sensor is damage. and it do the fact that the camshaft is hitting the sensor. They took me that a lot of Honda's were having this problem. I should call the Honda Dealer. I then call them and told them was had happened, they responded that it would probably need a new engine or an rebuild. A
Was driving on 2 lane highway when truck suddenly decelerated, started shuddering, so I pulled to side of road. Dash lights started cycling through warning lights, ultimately settled on saying it was an emission system problem. Car would not accelerate beyond 30-35 miles an hour after that and would even then suddenly lose power then regain it. But still could not get above 30 or 35 miles an hour. Luckily, no one was behind when this happened and I was able to pull to the side of the road. Normally this is a 55-60 mile an hour busy 2 lane highway. And I was less than a mile from home so was able to limp home. The next morning, tried to drive to the dealer, and had to return home because it would speed up to 45-50, but then would do the same thing again that I described above. Had to get the car towed to the dealer. I checked the OBD scanner and it said the problem was P0087, Fuel Rail Pressure Too Low. Dealer said it was that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. Vehicle has about 93,000 miles and is a 2017 model. Don't have the repair invoice yet, picking up the vehicle and paying the $1,700 dollar repair bill this afternoon. Can provide it later if you need/want it.
My wife was driving our 2017 Honda Ridgeline when the engine suddenly stopped running and she lost power steering. She was able to coast a short distance as close to the side of the road as possible. Luckily she was only a hundred yards or so from our house on a quiet side street, however if it had been 20-30 seconds earlier she would have been on the highway or in the middle of a major intersection. There were no warnings or any other indication of a problem. The engine would not start despite a full charge on the battery. After towing it to the dealer for service, the engine was completely seized and they diagnosed it as the connecting rod bearing. The only remedy offered was full engine replacement. Hours after paying $9k for the repair, we saw news articles about NHTSA Campaign 23V751000 for 2017 Honda Ridgelines regarding a manufacturing error for the connecting rod bearing causing engine wear and may cause the engine to seize. Exactly the issue with our 2017 Ridgeline. Our VIN does not show in the campaign, so I believe Honda has mistakenly narrowed the breadth of the campaign or surreptitiously removed our VIN by the dealer since we had already paid on our own. There is also no way for me to verify that the replacement engine will not suffer the same issue. We opted for a used engine over OEM to save money, but were intentionally not warned about the recall before making the choice.
Gas smell coming from under the hood and in the cabin on my 2017 honda ridgeline after it warms up. ( believe this could be a safety issue because of the gas fumes.) I contacted Honda ( manufacturer ) and was told their was no recall for this issue. I took it to the dealer and they were unable to find any leaks but stated the could do a fuel system repair for $626 and a direct inject service for $240 Truck had no codes or messages come up.
Complete engine failure at 76,333. Vehicle failed after exiting highway after slowing down to merge with traffic on side road. There was no warning lights displayed prior to failure. It left my son and I trapped in an unsafe situation. Failure could have resulted in being rear ended and/or having an abrupt stop from the engine seizing had we not exited the highway when we did. The problem was confirmed by dealer as a complete engine failure (locked up) with no confirmed cause. We were unable to diagnose at independent repair shop as dealer had removed timing belt which was confirmed by dealer as being intact. All fluids were confirmed clean and sufficiently intact. There was no indication of problem or warning lights prior to complete failure. Dash displays indicated normal temperatures and pressures.
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound. Additionally, an unknown warning light was illuminated intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that there was a fault with the emissions system. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 97,248.
When accelerating the engine bogs down and runs rough. All warning lights come on. After shutting off the engine and restarting everything appears to run normally however the warning lights stay on the cruise control does not work. After a couple of days the warning lights went off and everything worked as normal. The same problem manifested again while accelerating. The first incident happened Aug. 26, 2023, the second incident happened on Sept. 3, 2023.
Lost brakes as I was trying to decelerate to make a left turn on FM 1472, still managed to come to a stop before hitting the traffic ahead of me that was also waiting to make a left turn. Smoke started to come out from the wheel wells. Put vehicle on parking, shut off engine, opened hood and found fire coming out from the back of the engine bay. Extinguished fire with a Fire extinguisher, and a few minutes later, a Fire Dept Truck arrived to hose it just to make sure it was properly extinguished. Waiting for Cause and Origin investigator from the insurance to inspect the vehicle.
Vehicle began to display warning lights: Vehicle stability assist (vsa) problem, emissions system problem, all wheel drive system problem, power steering system problem, hill start assist problem and trailer stability assist problem (tsa.) check engine light on.
Vehicle began to display warning lights: Vehicle stability assist (vsa) problem, emissions system problem, all wheel drive system problem, power steering system problem, hill start assist problem and trailer stability assist problem (tsa.) once lights appear, the truck goes into "limp" mode restricting acceleration to 2,000 rpms making it difficult to accelerate (dangerous if pulling onto a busy road) or if lights come on while driving and rpms over 2,000 the vehicle violently down shifts making a dangerous deceleration (especially on the highway.) Honda dealership diagnosed the problem as a bad camshaft, camshaft thrust cover and cmp sensor (as noted in Honda service news article from January 2018 A18010I version 1.) after researching the problem I have discovered that this not uncommon for this model and year, it's a known problem by Honda resulting from a defective cam shaft. However, Honda refused to stand by their product. It's a $2,300 repair for a vehicle that is only 4 years old and 69,000 miles. I've made a complaint with Honda Corp, my local Honda dealership and now NHTSA.
2 weeks ago multiple warning lights came on when I started the vehicle (power steering, vehicle stability assist, hill start assist, trailer stability assist, emission control, etc.). at the same time the vehicle's performance became sluggish. Acceleration, shifting and braking were all effected. The next day the lights were off, only to reappear with all issues the day after. I disconnected the battery to 'reset', and that worked for 1 day. I then replaced the battery with the same result. Now the problem happens every time the vehicle is started. All warnings show up before the vehicle is moving.
When starting to accelerate my vehicle would become jerky up to around 40 mph. The dealership said it was poor transmission fluid and an update on software. This cost me $210!
Driving about 40mph, heard a slight pop, truck lost power and felt like the brakes had been applied. All the diagnostic icons lit, including a chime. Display went through each problem "road departure mitigation system problem" "trailer stability assist problem" "power steering systme (esp) problem" and several others. Engine didn't totally shut down and was able to drive home about a mile away.
Correction to last report. Please ignore the April 26th post. Sorry for the typos and wrong words.. this is the second occurrence of this dangerous problem. Traveling on the freeway the vehicle suddenly lost all power, warning lights and alerts flashinf. Was able to drift vehicle to shoulder (barely avoiding a collision, this was during rush hour). Took a pic of dashboard, then turned vehicle off. Tried restarting a couple of times and power loss was still there. Waited 10 minutes restarted power back, but warning lights still flashing. Made it off freeway, took a video, called Honda roadside assistance and reported issue. Declined tow, made my appt. And was able to return home. I am now at the dealer. Again this it's the second time this has happened, the first was 6 months and 7000 miles ago. In fact it exactly 6 months to the minute it occurred. Too many coincidences with this dangerous problem. Dealer has said it was a problem with the vehicle was an "accelerator pedal position connector". I'll wait and see if it happens again. Please ignore the April 26th post
This is the second occurrence of this dangerous problem. Traveling on the freeway the vehicle suddenly lost all power, wasting lights and alleys flagging. Was able to drift vehicle to shoulder (barely avoiding a collision, this was during rush hour). Took a pic of dashboard, then turned vehicle off. Tried restarting a couple of times and power loss was still there. Waited 10 minutes restarted power back, but eating lights still flashing. Made it off freeway, took a video, called jobs roadside assistance and trotted issue. Declined tow, made my appt. And was able to return home. I am now at the dealer. Again this it's the second time this has happened, the first was 6 months and 7000 miles ago.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Seattle, WA, USA