There are 3 stored owner reports matching the engine leading-label group for the 2002 Honda Passport in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 3 of 3 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)WHILE DRIVING ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. CONSUMER PULLED OVER, AND HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED. DEALERSHIP INFORMED THE CONSUMER THAT THE PROBLEM PERTAINED TO ENGINE SLUDGE. *AK
CONSUMER STATES THAT WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED AND WITHOUT WARNING THE VEHICLE WILL SHUT OFF CAUSING CONSUMER TO PULL OVER. DEALER NOTIFIED. TS
THE MOTOR JUST RUNS HOT. 238 THRU 250. MY '01 RC-51 RAN BETWEEN 190 AND 212. THE '02 HAS TWO COOLING FANS WHICH WILL COME ON WHEN THE TEMP REACHES 219. IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC THE FANS WILL COOL THE MOTOR SOME BUT WHEN RUNNING ON THE INTERSTATE AT 70 MPH THE FANS WORK AGAINST THE AIR FLOW AND THE MOTOR WILL NOT COOL. THE TEMP JUST GOES UP FROM THERE. TO ACTUALLY GET THE TEMP TO START DROPPING YOU HAVE TO BREAK THE LAW AND DO AT LEAST 105MPH SO THE NATURAL AIR FLOW CAN OVER POWER THE FANS. THE DEALER MECHANIC HAD AT ONE POINT SWITCHED THE FAN MOTORS POLARITY, REVERSING THE DIRECTION AT WHICH THEY RUN. THIS DID HELP AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS BUT IN TRAFFIC THE MOTOR RAN JUST AS HOT, 238/250, BECAUSE NOW THE FANS ARE PULLING THE HEAT OFF THE MOTOR. I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL THREADS AT MOTORUSH.COM (RC-51.NET GENERAL DISCUSSION) ON THIS MATTER AND HAVE POSTED SOME THREADS MYSELF. SOME OWNERS OF THE '02 RC-51 HAVE HAD NO HEATING PROBLEMS AND SOME HAVE. I FEEL THAT MAXEY'S HONDA HAS DONE ALL THEY CAN AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE HONDA COME UP WITH A FIX FOR THIS PROBLEM. THEY HAVE REPLIED BY TELLING ME TO JUST PULL THR BIKE OVER AND LET IT COOLDOWN, IF THE HIGH TEMP OR OVERHEAT LIGHT COMES ON. I THINK THE MOTOR NEEDS A FRONT MOUNT RADIATOR INSTALLED TO HELP THE TWO SIDE MOUNTS COOL BETTER. OR MAYBE COOLING FANS THAT WILL NOT OVER POWER THE FRONT END AIR FLOW. IN SUMMARY, THIS '02 RC-51 RUNS ABOUT 30 TO 40 DEGREES HOTTER THAN MY '01 AND WHEN I HAVE SEEN IT HIT 250, 251 OVERHEAT LIGHT COMES ON, I WOULD HAVE TO THINK THAT SOME ENGINE DAMAGE HAS TAKEN PLACE. THANKS TO THE EXTENDED WARRENTY I WILL BE COVERD FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS, I HOPE!*AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.