2020 Honda Ridgeline Engine Problems

Connecting rod/bearing failure.

Spun Rod Bearing at 70,000 miles. Truck will need a new Short Block. Truck has been at the dealer for all recommended service and oil changes.

Stranded in traffic unable to start almost got rearend because the start-stop died and to cycle to park to get it started. This has happen on more than one time.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked or while driving, there was a loud knocking sound coming from the engine compartment. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that three rod bearings and that cylinders #3, #5, and #6 had failed. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

The rod bearings had failed on cylinders 3,5, and 6 at 140 thousand miles with proper mantice being done to it. This has been confirmed by the dealer Honda Maryslviie in Maryslive, Ohio. The vehicle has just been looked at by the dealer. No warning lamps but just started to hear knocking in the engine.

Truck stalls repeatedly at intersections due to failure of ignition to restart after stop signs or stoplights. Warning lights come on and complete restart is required. Other motorists become agitated.

On several occasions (>5) the engine had delayed starting after the auto engine stop feature engaged (when idling). After the engine didn’t start… we attempted to start by pressing start/stop button with no immediate response. Typical time to restart the engine is approximately 5-10 seconds. On one occasion it took 5 minutes. Apologize for lack of very specific information but when this occurs it causes some level of panic especially when you are in traffic. We have been disabling the feature as a habit since 2021. On rare occasions when we forget to disable the feature I would estimate that there is a ~50% chance we will encounter a delayed start issue.

My Ridgeline has stalled during normal operation 3 times. The 1st was in April 2024, and the latest was this week. All three times it stalled when accelerating after a traffic stop. The first was at a stop sign at the bottom of a hill. The second was at a traffic light, it should be noted that the start/stop was "off" on this incident. And the latest incident was during stop and go traffic on the highway. * Yes - available for inspection. * Safety - could be a safety issue when a vehicle doesn't operate in a normal manner. * Dealer/Others - no I haven't had it inspected, I have been monitoring this issue on the internet. * Symptoms - there were none before the incidents

Regarding 2020 Honda Ridgeline, we have two issues. In December 2024, the auto stop / start feature started working intermittently and then a few months later ceased to work entirely ceased to work. In May 2025, we got two error messages on the dashboard. One was for transmission error. The second was for emissions error. There were no apparent mechanical issues with the truck shifting gears when we brought it to our local mechanic 2 miles away and to the dealer approximately 5 miles away. We brought it to our local mechanic who said it was the solenoid in the transmission and would cost around $7000 for parts and labor since Honda didn't sell only the brain and we would have to purchase the entire transmission. We brought it to Norm Reeves Honda (the largest Honda dealer in the United States) who confirmed this root cause mentioning "MIL" and "Solenoid" specifically. Norm Reeves Service Technician said it would cost around $9000 parts and labor. We logged a case #15593XXX with Honda Motor Corporation who auto-responded to our email saying, "Please note, due to a recent influx of inquiries, our response time will be delayed. Please do not submit multiple inquiries as this can lead to further delays in case handling." An internet search for Honda Ridgeline Service Bulletins uncovered Service Bulletin #A23-091 for what sounds like one of these two issues. It has been more than 3 days since the "inquiry" to Honda and we have yet to receive any response. Norm Reeves said they will start to charge us a storage fee of $35 USD a day if we do not pick up the vehicle by Saturday EOD.

The Autostart does not work. This has happened to me three times since I bought it brand new in April 2021. I have taken it to Honda for repairs and they did nothing as they could not replicate the issue. Just happened again on March 24th after driving 10 minutes on the highway.

Checked oil display at 40% on 04JAN2025, had to put in 2.5 qts 0-40 viscosity engine oil to get between bottom and top level markers on the oil dipstick. On 08AN2025 at approx 4:35AM, on the way home, heard engine noise (like 2-spoons tapping together) and within 1-minute the engine died and will not start, just a click. Had the vehicle towed to my residence (approx .5 mile) and parked for 3-weeks to check if battery, bad gas, and/or transmission neutral safety is/are the issue(s). Finally got the vehicle towed to a local shop on 29JAN2025. Called local shop on 31JAN2025 and informed that there is no oil in the engine, and recommended to replace the engine. Note: oil/filter changed on MAY2024, and have purchased oil/filter on 07JAN2025 to change oil as soon as the oil displays 30%

After significant time (hours) at highway speeds with 90% cruise control use, the car, when stopped at exit intersection, goes to fractional power with the engine light flashing. The car can still move haltingly at approximately 5 mph. Once safety stopped and shut-off, car will restart without any check engine light and will function normally. This has happened on multiple occasions, in both hot and cold weather. When mentioned to the dealer 2 years ago, said they had never heard of the problem. Internet forums show mine is not an isolated instance. When the car fails, it is in an intersection, where cars coming from all sides are not expecting a car to limp through at 5mph. This is a safety to issue to anyone on the road at the time.

I have had an engine knocking noise at startup but now is continuous/constant. Diagnosed at my local Honda dealer as a connecting rod failure of my well maintained 2020 Honda Ridgeline. Recommended repair, short block replacement or engine replacement with a used engine. My 2020 Honda Ridgeline is not part of the safety recall for the connecting rod bearing recall and should be. I have read numerous stories of owners with Honda Ridgelines and Pilots that are outside the recall years with this failure.

The contact owns a 2020 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at highway speeds, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the failure was not duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

When stopping at a red light and or stop sign the engine shuts off as designed. But intermittently on restart after taking foot off the brake and pressing the gas, the engine will stall and not start. It acts like a weak battery but other times it starts perfectly fine. Have to put it in park to get it restarted. In the meantime traffic is backed up behind you.

OEM starter that vehicle came with failed at 40,000 miles. Took vehicle to Honda dealership and dealership stated that starter motor was weak and need replacing. No warning such as weak or delayed start was present. Vehicle simply would not start in the morning after functioning properly the day previously. Jumping the vehicle did not help. The vehicle starter giving out so early and unexpectedly could leave motorists stranded at unexpected places or times.

Engine fails to restart after Idle Stop engaged. Engine stops normally when brake pedal is pressed and vehicle comes to full stop. Brake pedal is then released to restart engine but the engine does not start. Dashboard says "Shift to Park". The transmission is shifted to Park and then Start button is pushed to restart engine. Sometimes the Start button has to be pushed multiple times to restart engine. This is a safety issue because the vehicle cannot move in traffic, crossing an intersection, etc. It is equivalent to an engine stall. This happens approximately 10% of the time when the Idle Stop is engaged. Also, sometimes the engine will start but after a hesitation or a struggle to start. In this situation, "Collision Mitigation System Warning" displays on the dashboard. This happens probably 25% of the time. Battery and starter have no problem starting the vehicle outside of these conditions.

No restart after engine auto start/stop engages. Multiple times when the engine auto stop is engaged engine has to crank for multiple seconds to restart or won’t restart at all. This creates an unsafe condition when trying to make a turn at an intersection or when trying to turn onto a road from a parking lot.

I understand my vehicle has a start and stop function. It does not work as it’s intended per Honda dealership and page 400s of the owners manual. My car is been shutting off randomly as I’m giving it gas moving forward ( 1 time) and we’ll over 10 times as I’m backing up into my driveway. When I am backing up, it’s normal and out of no where, my vehicle shuts off and it shifts back to neutral then starts to roll forward. When my truck shuts off as I’m in reverse, my reverse camera becomes audio or audio off when it’s suppose to show the rear camera back up. And my dash board, the oil light and battery comes on. I’ve brought it up to Honda dealership and I keep getting the run around. This is a safety concern! It’s a safety concern for myself, family and also the people around me driving if this happens to shut off on the freeway or even on the city road. I have my kids in the car and I could get crush from all directions if my car shuts off randomly. What do Honda need in order to fix this? My car getting crushed in an accident? Honda states they could not replicated it so I provided dash cam footage, live video footage. And still I’m getting the run around. Please help. Honda stated my after market parts caused this issue. But could not explain to me why and how it caused it?? I have a carb legal intake and an LED light strip. Nothing fancy! No harness no nothing! Just simple fuse power and ground. I’ve brought my vehicle in before for this issue ( with my carb legal intake) and Honda deemed it “safe and could not replicate it” so I carried on and installed my LED light strip properly. They could not explain it to me how my parts caused the issue. So I put my car back to stock specs as they recommended. And immediately my car shuts off like I stated in this. I did not buy a Honda to have issues. At this point I’m over owning this car. It’s brand new! There is a bigger issue. And I feel like I am wasting my time. At this point- I need more help.

I've had the start stop issue not function multiple times. I had to replace the battery did the software update for it and it still does not start occasionally. I have to restart the vehicle like if it was parked. Stalling on a light is why I no longer use this feature, I just press on the start stop button every single time I start the engine. This has happened multiple times throughout the years.