2016 Honda Pilot Complaint Log

Repeatedly, the engine idle auto-stop function fails. The dealership and authorized Honda repair facilities say it is a known issue to them but not acknowledged by Honda. They state it must be due to driver error. When this function fails, it is random and creates an immediate emergency situation. The engine auto-stop feature is on by default. We try to remember to turn it off every time. But when we forget, we come to any stop (light, traffic etc), the engine will go from idle to stall! No notice, no warning, no indicator light. The car will completely turn off with the car in drive. You need to put the car in park, try to restart the car, get back into drive and hope an accident doesn't occur. We have a college teen now who drives this Honda Pilot. Soon to have a High School teen. They do not have enough driving experience to react to something like this. My fear is that a serious accident may incur. Last year this same engine had some type of issue where every light on the dashboard would light up. Apparently a know problem with a defective fuel injection system. We were never notified about this issue from Honda. Honda repaired it at no cost but, it was another know issue about a major engine flaw. Now this auto idle which is going out of control. Honda needs be accountable before fatalities occur. This car is becoming a lemon.

The infotainment screen and system frequently shut off as you are driving down the road. It has been doing it for years and I’ve brought it in to the dealer for them to update the software and other tricks they said they could do. It did not help and the problem is getting more frequent.

When driving and stopped, the fuel saving features shuts the engine off to save fuel, it should restart the engine after letting your foot off the brake. At least 25 times now, the car fails to restart. In a panic, you have to put your foot back on the brake, put the car in park, restart the engine by pushing the start button, then put the car in drive before you can resume. This has nearly caused us to be hit by other vehicles that assume you will start to move when traffic resumes. On the interstate there was an accident ahead and the car did this when a semi was moving at great speed toward us with our family. I’m not sure this car is safe. The Honda service department suggested we have valves adjust at a cost of $700-$800 claiming that could help. There are no warning lamps. The car has had the battery replaced in the last year and starts every time, the first time when we begin a trip. Our teenagers can’t drive this car due to this safety issue. This started about a year ago and is becoming more frequent. It happened three times in the last week.

Keyless remote control unit does not shut off therefore draining the battery, therefore car doesn’t start. I have been through two new batteries within 60 days.

I was exiting a highway and entering a right hand turn lane. There was traffic in the turn lane and I came to a complete stop. When I stopped my car shut down. I attempted to restart by pushing the engine start/stop button but the car did not restart. It took about 30-60 off trying the butting, attempting to shift into drive and opening/closing the door and trying to restart before I could get the car to restart.

I was driving my 2016 honda pilot home. Started from a red light, heard some grinding and then a loud bang and had no power to move. I coasted to the side of the road and had it towed as I restarted it to hear a loud grinding. Local mechanic said to take to the dealership because I threw a rod and the cylinder seized up. Honda confirmed this and then replaced my engine with a used one. 2 years later I discovered other pilots had this happen after mine did and recalls were put out but my VIN isn't on the list and honda refused to reimburse me for the engine. Im out 8 grand for a problem that they know about with my same year and model vehicle but because I'm not on the list, im out of luck.

The start/stop turn the car off and when I tried to restart the car nothing happen. The battery is good and I heard a click sound but it won't start back for a few minutes sometimes.

When at a stop, t he start/stop feature is enabled and the engine shuts off as expected. When I lift my foot off the brake, it doesn't always restart, and I am left stranded in an intersection or at a light, and almost in accidents. Very unsafe. I have to turn it off every time I get into the car. When I forget to turn it off, it always fails to restart.

The idle stop shuts off my engine as designed but then it fails to restart approximately 10% of the time. When this occurs I have to put my car in park, turn off the car completely, turn it back on and put it in drive. While this most frequently happens at stop lights it has occured on the freeway when I have needed to stop. The frequency in which this is happening seems to be increasing. I have already had the start button on the car replaced twice. The issue continues to happen with increasing frequency.

Engine has failed to restart after stopping on multiple occasions. When stopped, the engine shuts off and the dash prompts you to place your foot on the brake and press the ignition button. The engine may start back up after several attempts. All lights on the dash flash intermittently with each attempt to restart the vehicle.

On multiple occasions, the engine fails to restart after the auto start/stop function has engaged. I have previously had this addressed by a Honda Dealer at which time they replaced some parts having to do with the ignition system. The problem is still occurring and the only remedy is to manually shut off the auto start/stop function each time the vehicle is driven.

Our Honda Pilot 2016 starting experiencing fuel surging issues in July 2018 and was taken to our nearest Honda Dealership on 7/03/18 in The Dalles, Oregon. Honda stated it was a code C1841-27 which was repaired with no mention of fuel injector extended warranty issues, document included. On September 23, 2023 my car stopped functioning on a busy road way and was brought into our local mechanic. The mechanic determined that the fuel pump failed due to Honda code P0087 (fuel rail pressure too low) and was repaired. Shortly after while driving the car check engine light came on and the car had a noticeable burning smell. The car was towed to our mechanic which in turn told us to have it towed to the Honda Dealership for misfiring counter associating with failing fuel injectors TSB #18-025 code. My vehicle was towed to the closest Honda Dealership and repaired under the extended warranty recall 6E6. The fuel injectors were replaced by Honda on April 10, 2023 under above warranty recall. All documents and extended warranty paperwork was submitted to Honda, however, Honda is stating that they will not cover the faulty fuel pump and cost of towing the vehicle when the fuel injectors failed.

Driving in traffic. Idle stop system kicked in to turn off the engine. I let my foot off the brake pedal to turn left in the intersection, and the engine failed to restart after stopping. I put the car in park, and the car would not re-start. Ultimately, I had to turn the car fully off and then back on before it would restart. I was blocking traffic for over a minute with the car unable to restart. There had been several prior instances where the car almost didn't re-start, but this is the first time that it would not restart. I have seen prior notices that the NHTSA ODI is currently investigating this issue.

2016 Honda Pilot touring Model Issue: Idle-stop Feature While driving the vehicle and comes on the intersection/stop light when you hit brakes the idle-stop feature will turn off your engine but once you release the brakes the engine wont turn on. To able to turn on the engine, you need to turn off the vehicle by pressing ignition button then you need to press it again to turn on engine (is like starting the vehicle again). Here some stances happened while this idle stop didnt work well. Driver at the back, you're using cellphone, start honking and when they by pass you yelling stop using cellphone. Or simple honk you and when you look they're confused as we're you what's going on. Honda or other people saying its related to battery but even with new battery this still happened. If this will not be fix or resolve soon, this cause an accident. either remove this feature or fixed this issue.

My car often does not start back up at stop signs/traffic lights. I feel very much in danger. It is difficult to get my car to start back up after it fails to start back up. I usually have to press really hard on the brake and even this is difficult to get it to restart. This is supposed to save fuel but I’m so afraid that someone is going to crash into me and put us all in harms way. Please help!

Fuel pumps has gone bad twice, transmission slips gear makes clunking noise

Car's auto start feature for fuel savings has failed to function on numerous occasions and required shutoff and manual restart. There is no provision to permanently disable this feature but requires disabling every time car is started.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that on several occasions without warning, the vehicle stalled. Additionally, the contact stated that a year ago, the vehicle stalled with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the battery was replaced and the contact was informed that the Start/Stop switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact stated that she was informed that there was no fix for the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that an appointment was scheduled for September 20th for a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was 89,529.

When the car stopped at red light, sometimes it can not restart. I got a few time too hard to restart to drive.

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.

Engine fails to restart after an automatic engine idle stop while completely stopped at a stop sign.

The auto start/stop feature activated while I was at a stop and shut the vehicle off. When I removed my foot from the brake the vehicle stalled and would not restart. Had to place the vehicle in park and apply the brake to get it to restart. The restart took multiple pushes of the start button. This was a busy intersection where I immediately became a hazard.

The engine's idle-stop feature shut off my car while stopped at a busy intersection in urban traffic, and took 15 seconds to restart the automobile. The idle-stop feature kicked in when at an intersection. When I took my foot off the brake to accelerate forward, the car instead turned off. The dashboard prompted me to shift the car into park, put my foot on the brake, and press the engine ignition button. I did so, but the car did not restart, even when I repeated the process 2-3 times. Finally, on the fourth time, the car restarted.

I own a 2016 Honda Pilot (Touring) model. Upon start-up the idle-stop feature is defaulted to enabled. When the vehicle comes to a stop the idle-stop feature shuts down the engine but leaves some features such as air conditioning and radio running. Upon disengaging the brake, the vehicle should automatically restart. However, on many occasions both on residential and freeway the vehicle has failed to restart and stalled. After putting the vehicle in park and attempting to restart it, it does not restart right away. Because of the stall, the vehicle appears to be left in an indeterministic state making restart more difficult and time consuming. After several tries of applying the brake and pressing the on/off button to restart the vehicle, the vehicle finally restarts. When the vehicle stalls, many of the dashboard lights come on... maybe all of them do. The major safety issue is that the vehicle becomes non-operative on busy streets or freeways. The driver will be required to turn on his hazard lights while trying to restart the vehicle. This failure places the driver and passengers at risk of being hit because it is non-operational in an environment/situation where other motorists believe you should be moving. I have made an appointment with my dealership to have it inspected. The problem has occurred multiple times on both the street and freeway. It is not always easily reproducible but has been witnessed by passengers in my vehicle. There appears to information from the public regarding this type of failure on social media.

We bought the car online from a Honda dealer located about 450 miles away in Arkansas and on [XXX] we met them in Dallas near the halfway point and they delivered the car It was a one owner with just under 29000 miles, had a clean carfax, title, etc. Over the next 10 days, we put about 300-350 miles on the car, including the 220 miles home from Dallas. On [XXX] we were driving at about 45-50 miles an hour when we heard a sort of "ping" noise, sort of like a tin can dropping, the car began to run rough and a number of message lights flashed on the dash. We had it towed to our local mechanic who drained the oil and cut open the filter and he found metal fragments and diagnosed a thrown rod bearing. We then had it towed to the local Honda dealer who said that was probably correct, but they couldn't diagnose without taking the engine apart. We spent several months talking with the Honda dealer who sold it to us as well as American Honda and in the end they said sometimes things just break, it's not under warranty and repairs were on us. We had the engine replaced with a used engine at the local Honda dealer. Total cost parts and labor $8922. We called American Honda and were told our VIN is not included in the current recall announced in November 2023, but that the recall may be expanded. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My 2016 honda Pilot Touring model won’t restart after idle stopped. I have to place car in park and restart using the start button. Issue occurs only when can idle stops. This has happened to us about 5 - 6 times over a course of 1 year. Detailed says they are unable to find the issue after a software scan. This is a serious safety concern.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a red light the auto shut off feature activated and turned the engine off to consever fued. After releasing the brake pedal the engine restarted but immediately shut off after the vehicle had rolled into the busy intersection. The vehicle would not immdiatly restart. The message "keyless start problem" had displayed. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. . The failure mileage was 120,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after stopping at a red light, the Auto Stop/Start feature activated and turned the engine off to conserve fuel. After releasing the brake pedal the engine restarted but immediately shut off after the vehicle had rolled into the busy intersection. The vehicle could not be immediately restarted. The message "keyless start problem" was displayed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 120,000.

This like the third time this has happened where the stop-start feature on my Honda Pilot almost have gotten me into a serious accident. It has happened during stop and go on I95 when I was heading to Maine and I stopped and it literally almost shutdown after I got ready to go forward. Most recently it happened 4 Sep 2022 at about 11:05am EST and was in a turning line in Chelsea, MA and it when it into stop idle shutdown feature but then completely shut off and it took about 2 to 3mins to get it to start back up. The car behind almost hit the back thinking I was pulling off but my Honda Pilot shutdown right when I was getting ready to take off. This is serious danger and defect in this when I see other vehicles operate with no problem with this feature. This could cause someone to get into a serious accident especially in Massachusetts.

When stopped at a red light with my foot on the brake and the engine in idle, the engine turned off when I put my foot on the gas peddle. The engine idle stop was on. This occurred while stopped in city traffic (6/2022) and again when I was stopped at a red light on a highway (9/3/2022). The car rolled backward. I had to put the car in park and restart the car. I now have manually turned off the engine idle stop.

When auto stop/start engages the vehicle occasionally will experience a complete engine and electrical shut down when auto start is supposed to engage; the is often leads to a dead vehicle in traffic at an intersection. Occasionally it will have extreme difficulty with a restart, often only starting after several attempts at push button starting. Fuel injectors and battery have all been replaced recently, fuel injectors under recall/manufacturer issue and battery at replacement lifetime. Is often unpredictable when it will cause issues and when it will operate correctly. Has occurred intermittently for several years with a somewhat unpredictable pattern.

On numerous occasions, the auto-engine stop/start feature that turns off the engine when the car comes to a stop has had issues where the engine does not restart and the car enters into an error state. I must then turn off the car, then turn it back on. Sometimes this happens after I've pulled out into an intersection but have to stop before proceeding.

The vehicle stalls at stop signs, traffic lights and in stopped traffic. Sometimes takes multiple trys to restart the vehicle. Been happening regularly for several years. Have had multiple repairs done with no affect.

No restart after auto start/stop engages

The engine failed and was diagnosed to be connecting rod bearings on cylinder 6. Honda Care refused to cover the issue and I had to get a engine replacement. I filed a BBB complaint but Honda refused to respond: Ref#[XXX] My Contract Number for Honda Care is: [XXX] Following warning was diagnosed when the failure happened: P0306(00) Raw code: 030600 ECU: OBD-II Status: Pending OBDII: Cylinder 6 - misfire detected Honda: No. 6 Cylinder Misfire I have shared all my oil service history with Honda and oil change service has been performed on time. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

When you start the car it is always in economy mode so that the engine can shut off when you are stopped. I like to turn this feature off manually as a few times if I don’t the car has stalled and also goes into neutral. Happened while I was on California highway 80 in stop and go traffic which was pretty scary as I was in the center lane. This was about two months ago. It happens about 10% of the time when I am in this mode if not completely stalling it splutters and feels like it won’t start or delays to restart. Happened yesterday at a light. Became a safety issue as cars tried to go around me by getting into the next lane which was flowing freely. Basically if I don’t turn the function off when I first start the car it is not safe. The dealer took a look about a year ago and found nothing and said they had not heard of the issue. I pointed out I had read about the issue in Honda forums they could find them easily it however they had no interest, maybe because they focus on known issues? Love the car apart from this issue.

My 2016 Touring Honda Pilot has an issue with the idle stop/start feature. I exited the highway and the vehicle shit down as I was decelerating. All of the dash lights flashed and the car would not accelerate. The flashing warning toggled bw engine idle problem and transmission. I was unable to shift gears even into neutral. After shutting the car off, It acted normally for a few weeks. Now, the car is doing it again and I had to have it towed to the dealership bc the lights continued flashing and the I couldn’t shift gears. Dealer says it’s an electronic control issue and costs $900 to repair.

This issue has occurred twice. First occurrence was when stopped in traffic. Auto stop engaged. When brake was released auto start caused vehicle to stall-out. Vehicle restarted after multiple attempts. Second occurrence was when stopped at traffic light. Auto stop engaged. When brake was released auto start caused vehicle to stall-out. Vehicle restarted after one attempt. For both occurrences, radio was on, air-conditioning was on and outside temperature was +85 degrees. This is a serious safety concern.

The engine will stall at stoplights. It appears the auto start/stop feature fails when engaged. Car has stalled 4xs in the past week. To fix issue: You have to put the car in park, foot on brake, and hit the start engine button in order to restart the car. Also put hazards on for safety reasons. Once car starts, you can put into drive and go forward. We've been fortunate not to have an accident. It's a significant safety issue stalling at stop lights with traffic behind you. Local Honda Service center could not replicate the issue. I instructed them that you have to drive car for ~20-25 minutes before it will stall. Car was scheduled for regular A156 Maintenance. They are looking at the stall issue today, 8/26/2022.

Vehicle rpms will vary and not be steady on light to medium acceleration between 20 to 60 mph. Rpm guage needle will bounce up and down slightly while accelerating. Torque converter seems to not be locking up resulting in judder. No engine lights or warnings. Dealer was able to confirm the same thing and isssues went away when replaced and flushed transmission fluid. But the problem slowly returned 20k miles later..

Car has auto engine stop/restart as a fuel saving measure. Several times the car has failed to restart after turning off. This happens in highway stop/go traffic, at traffic lights. This is dangerous, as my foot comes off the brake, cars behind me think i am moving, and then the engine fails as it is restarting. I have to then put my foot back on the brake, put the car in park, and restart the engine before being able to drive again. This happened on 8/25, and 3 other times within the last month. This did also happen perhaps a year or 2 ago, the dealer did examine the car but I don't believe they found any issues to be repaired.

My 2016 Honda Pilot Touring stalls out at a red light while using the auto stop-start. It happens occasionally when I take my foot off the brake and put my foot on the gas. Instead of coming out of idle with the engine starting up again, the car would stall completely and I would have to put the car in park, press the brake pedal and push the start button to get it on again. I took the car into the dealer and they told me that there was no software update and that they couldn’t do a update anyways because check engine light wasn’t on. Also have a issue with transmission not switching gears smoothly on take off. Jerks on take of. Once again they told me transmission was fine and there was no software update and that they couldn’t do a update anyways because check engine light wasn’t on.

When start-stop feature is "on," the car will not start again in certain instances when the engine is shut down after a complete stop. The NHTSA currently has an investigation opened in this matter (opened in June 2022)

The contact owns a 2016 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine compartment before the vehicle lost motive power. The contact's wife continued to drive; however, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The contact believed that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V751000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.

On multiple occasions when the auto idle engages the car stalls. The dashboard looks like the car is running by its not. In order for me to be able to drive it I have to put it in park, turn it all the way off, and then restart. This has happened at dangerous intersections where I’ve almost been in an accident. I read that it’s a known problem but Honda isn’t doing anything about it The last time it happened is noted below

Auto Stop/Start failure to restart issue With my 2016 Honda Pilot touring whenever I stop at red light, engine stops and it suppose to start when I release brake pedal but fails to restart when I release brake pedal which is creating a serious safety issue, I have to turn off the engine and restart it, even that may not work and it may take 1-2 minutes to restart. I have seen multiple reports regarding this same issue. Please investigate the issue. Thank you

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.

Vehicle fails to restart after stopping at a stop light while auto stop feature was on (defaults on). Have to completely turn off the vehicle and restart it for the engine to fire back up. Happens very often. Safety concern.

After turning a corner vehicle turned off, in the middle of the road, stated put in park and press engine start button, had to press 2x for the car to start

The auto engine idle feature malfunctions. When stopped in traffic and at intersections the auto engine idle feature turns off the engine; however fails to restart. I can put the car into park, but the brake remains engaged and the ignition button blinks white. I have attempted many different things to 'reset' the computer. Putting the car in park, waiting, unlocking seatbelt, open/shut door. The last time, i had to walk away from the vehicle with the key fob in traffic. Locking and unlocking the car seemed to reset the computer. This placed me in dangerous traffic. It has happened in a construction zone on interstate, at intersections several times, during rush hour when it was impossible to leave the vehicle due to high speed traffic, and once while towing. Each episode has generally taken about 15 minutes for computer to shut down/reset. There is no message on the dash before , during or after. I now disengage the auto engine idle button when driving due to fear of being stranded in dangerous traffic situations. If I forget to turn it off, it is likely to malfunction. I have contacted the dealership about this problem before. There was no code, so the problem was deemed a mystery and remains unresoved by Honda.