2021 Honda CR-V Engine Problems

While driving warning light blink indicating electronic emergency brake issue, unable to drive because the brake set and would not release. After a while it released and drove to Honda dealership for a diagnosis. They stated it was a failed head gasket and due to this failure it leaked coolant onto the spark plugs, all had to be replaced and the estimated cost $5,500. It's a 2021 Honda CRV hybrid with 70,000 that has been well maintained. It should not have a failed head gasket. Upon researching this it appears this is a known issue for this vehicle, but Honda has not acknowledged. This is a very costly repair that is known by the manufacturer.

Blown head gasket at 125448 miles.

License Plate: [XXX] (CA) Vehicle: 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid Mileage: 102,700 Description of Incident: While operating the vehicle at highway speeds, a "Engine Temperature Near High" warning suddenly appeared on the dashboard. I immediately heard a loud "gurgling" or "water pouring" sound from the dashboard area. I was forced to navigate through traffic to the shoulder to prevent a total engine seizure and avoid a high-speed collision. I was able to restart and limp the vehicle to Tracy Honda (Dealer), where a certified technician performed a diagnostic (Repair Order #XXX) and confirmed a blown head gasket with coolant leaking into the combustion chambers. Detailed Defect Information: The vehicle is experiencing a premature failure of the head gasket, a component designed for the life of the engine. This failure allows coolant to breach the internal engine seals and enter the cylinders. This specific issue is currently being litigated in the consolidated class-action lawsuit Bissell v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Case No.XXX in the Southern District of California. Despite following maintenance schedules, the engine hardware failed, creating a sudden loss of thermal management. Safety Risk: The sudden onset of overheating while in high-speed traffic creates a significant safety risk. The "Engine Temperature Near High" warning provides insufficient time for a driver to safely exit a highway before the risk of catastrophic engine failure or fire becomes imminent. This is a documented manufacturing defect in 2017–2022 CR-V models that poses an unreasonable risk of accidents or being stranded in dangerous traffic conditions. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact's daughter owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at highway speeds, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted and failed to accelerate above 30 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The driver pulled over and restarted the vehicle. Upon restarting the vehicle, the check engine warning light was no longer illuminated, and the vehicle resumed normal operation. The following day, the vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The dealer determined that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #1. Upon investigation, the contact discovered an open investigation under NHTSA Action Number: PE25016 (Engine) and related the failure to the open investigation. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and agreed to assist with paying the deductible the repair. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to accelerate above 60 MPH. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle failed to accelerate above 5 MPH while driving uphill. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who adjusted an unknown valve, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was then taken back to the dealer for the third time, where a fuel injector was replaced, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: PE25016 (Engine). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.

Report from dealer: Customer states that the vehicle feels like it's sporadically shooting forward when accelerating between 20-30mph. Check and advise vehicle failed AF test,all cylinders failed (rich).

I am experiencing the problems that are described in investigation NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: PE25016. When driving on the highway, there have been multiple times (8-10) when the car stops accelerating and the check engine light starts flashing. I am not able to accelerate the car. If it turn the car off for 5-10 minutes, the check engine light stops flashing and I am able to drive the car again. It has always happened when I haven't driven the car for a while (either driving it for the first time for the day or after sitting idle at work for 8 hours), the problem happens within minutes of getting on the highway. I have taken the car to the dealership for service twice with this problem. The first time was in late August. They said there was no code with the check engine light and they could not replicate or find a problem. The most recent time was this past Friday (Nov. 21, 2025). I experienced the problem and immediately took it to the dealership. Because the check engine light was flashing, they were able to pull diagnostics and retrieve a code. They said a fuel check showed cloudy fuel and a spark plug was brown to copper color. They removed the old fuel and replaced all four spark plugs. This did not fix the problem, as I experienced it again this morning (Sunday, Nov. 23).

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while parking, and the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle accelerated inadvertently up a slight incline and collided with a stone boulder/wall. Neither the contact nor the passenger sustained injuries. The contact stated that no collision warnings were activated to detect the collision. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, where the failure could not able to be replicated. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic, where the vehicle has yet to be diagnosed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the fuel injector was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.

Head gasket failure. 79,600 miles. Car consumes coolant. Coolant is entering the firing ring when car sits after being driven a distance of 5 miles or more and sits for about 8 hours, vehicle starts with a misfire and makes a small amount of white sweet smoke out of the exhaust pipes even in 85 degree weather. Car smooths itself out after 10-30 seconds. No OBDII or Honda specific codes. Spark plugs, ignition coils, and spark plugs again since 75K. Over $2,000 into this car in repairs. Refilled coolant reservoir 3 times since April 8TH (3 full jugs of Peak Asian blue from Advanced Auto Parts). I want justice for this car and other Honda 1.5T vehicle owners as many of them have this happen at the 80K mark and they’re being quoted $10K for an engine and $5K for a head gasket. There are several people with Accords, Civics, CR-Vs equipped with the 1.5T engine that have coolant leaking into one cylinder. Oil looks fine and not milky. And besides the coolant being low, it looks fine (blue/aqua). Only when the car sits. Car was brought to Rivera Honda in Port Jeff and they couldn’t find any issues. Car is consuming coolant. No leaks. It’s being burned when you start the car after it sits. Gushing liquid noise when car starts or with idle engine stop activated and car restarts.Design flaws on cylinder head has grooves that allow coolant to flow on top of the head to cool it. Failure point according to a Honda mechanic on YouTube. Second flaw is poorly designed head bolts that are too thin and are brittle, not making a good seal as the vehicle ages. Parts are not expensive at all, but the man hours needed to replace this are the killer. 4.5 years old with 80K, it’s Honda. It’s supposed to run forever. Not die under 100K. I would expect this problem after 250K or when the car is over 10 years old. My Godmother had a 1998 Accord that she had for over 20 years and it only needed a fuel pump as a major repair. A testament to Honda’s rock solid reliability. What happened?

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that the battery failed to start the engine. The vehicle was jumpstarted, and the vehicle was taken to the dealer. The contact noticed acid on top of the battery by the terminals and noticed that acid had dripped down the vehicle, and the battery was hot. The dealer replaced the battery. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, the battery short-circuited, and the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was jumpstarted and taken to the dealer, where the battery was replaced. The battery failed a third time. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the A/C condenser had failed. The vehicle was repaired. Upon leaving the dealer, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. An unknown toxic gas emitted from the A/C vents and splashed the contact's face. The contact went to the emergency room and was informed that an unknown toxic gas had burned and injured the contact’s left eye. The contact was partially blind in the left eye. The contact took the vehicle back to the dealer, who diagnosed that the intake manifold had failed. The dealer stated that the intake manifold needed to be snapped back into place. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and abnormal sounds were coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer; however, the dealer refused to repair the vehicle and issued a no trespass order against the contact. The contact towed the vehicle to another dealer in Sarasota, Florida. The dealer installed a switch near the starter. The contact stated that afterwards it was found out that the dealer in Bradenton, Florida had failed to install the A/C filter. The A/C failure persisted. Several warning lights were illuminated. Most recently, after entering the parking lot at a gas station, there was an abnormally loud sound coming from the front end. Upon investigation, the contact noticed that the overflow of the coolant had leaked out. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a friend's residence. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and the coolant sensor and the engine control module had failed. The vehicle was not repaired after the most recent failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I have a 2021 Honda Cr-v with 24,203 miles on my vehicle as of today oct.21 2024. I i checked my oil drip stick to make sure the oil at the right level. Today I notice I had more oil over the fill mark. I change my oil every 5000 miles with Ams-oil 0-20wt. I read that Honda knows of this on going problem. Should I go to the Honda dealer to address the oil dilution problem happening with my car? Please let me know. [XXX] [XXX] e-mail [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I drove to Pittsburgh on [XXX]. I got back in the car, pulled down the driveway and when I tried to enter traffic the car lost power, the dashboard went crazy with error messages and the car was useless. Had it towed to the nearest Honda dealer, they suspected fuel. The high pressure fuel pump was the part that fixed the problem. Fault code dtcp0087 was found in the ECU. I obtained a fuel sample and had it checked, the water content was a little out of spec but nothing really bad. I do have the fuel pump in case anyone wants to do a failure analysis. To add insult to injury, my extended "warranty" is refusing to cover the repair because they just want to say no. [XXX]... The bill was $1786.11, not including a rental car and my time. I have heard of quite a few recalls on these Hondas, you might want to add my model year to that list. Please advise if you have had other reports. Thanks! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact received an undisclosed recall campaign for engine oil and gasoline dilution. The contact checked the engine oil and noticed that the engine oil was black and smelled of gasoline. The contact drove the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed; however, the engine oil was changed. The vehicle had not received any further repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 22,500.

While Driving on Highway engine lost power and check engine light went on so i had to pull over turn off engine wait a few minutes and restart this happened on 3 occasions

P3001 misfire cylinder 1 and the accompanying dash full of warning lights and subsequent disabling of vehicle safety systems. swapped coils and plugs .. still misfire cylinder 1 .. suspect injector and/or intake carbon problem .. missed existing handfull of 2020 model year recalls by 1 year for the same engine, fuel pump, injector and carbon build up problem. Problem almost always happens at cold start

The contact owns a 2021 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the cruise control activated, the vehicle lost motive power with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure, and no error codes were retrieved. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,851.

Dear NHTSA, There needs to be an immediate recall on this (VIN#: [XXX] ) 2021 Honda CR-V Hybrid Motor Nightmare. Despite proper maintenance and care, the vehicle has experienced persistent problems that stem from known defects. The engine has a fatal flaw with the head gasket. The high compression turbo engine stretches the head bolts, lifts the cylinder head just enough to blow the gasket causing coolant to leak into the cylinders and mix with the oil and destroys the bearings. Along with oil dilution where gas washes pass the piston rings. This is a widespread problem affecting this model as indicated by the numerous technical service bulletins. The issue appears to occur during the 20,000 to 30,000 mile mark where it begins to experienced recurring engine performance issues, misfires, loss of power, and excessive radiator fluid consumption resulting in premature engine wear and sludge buildup. Honda sites have pointed out: "This can happen when the car is frequently idled or driven for short commutes, which can prevent the oil from flowing properly" and my commute is a 3 minute drive and 5 minute to the market. [XXX] "it’s a well documented issue and Honda America is aware of it that they’ve released an article about it for mechanics" One customer wrote "I have a 2021 Honda CRV and the engine had a terrible knock" [XXX] Please do something immediately! Several Mechanics acknowledge these widespread issues, the Lane Manager that advised me to reach out to the manufacturer pointed out that this is a “common issue”, and Your Website highlights that you all have already received similar recall campaigns for the engine oil and gasoline dilution issue that occurs approximate at the 22,500 mileage. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)