2018 Honda Odyssey Engine Problems

The contact’s daughter owns a 2018 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that after the vehicle was idling at a stoplight and then attempting to accelerate after the light turned green, there was a loud clanking sound coming from the front of the vehicle. The owner then became aware of white smoke coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and the vehicle stalled. After the vehicle stalled, there was no smoke coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact became aware that vehicles of the same year, make, and model were known to experience engine failures at approximately100,000 miles. The contact stated that the vehicle was inspected at approximately 100,000 miles and the rear main seal was replaced during the routine service and maintenance. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ID

11753226

Incident

Jul 26, 2026

Mileage

100,000 mi

I own a 2018 Honda Odyssey EX-L (VIN [XXX]). The vehicle experienced a sudden loss of power and entered limp mode, with multiple safety and driver-assistance systems shutting down at once (adaptive cruise, braking assist, lane/road departure mitigation, EPS, etc.). A Honda dealer (Allen Honda, College Station, TX) retrieved DTC P0369 and documented that the front camshaft is worn and has thrust forward, contacting the camshaft position (CMP/TDC) sensor and damaging the thrust plate. The dealer is recommending an internal engine repair costing several thousand dollars. I am very concerned because Honda has already acknowledged serious engine defects in this same J35 V6 family under Recall 23V751 (connecting rod bearing wear leading to engine damage and stall) for 2018–2019 Odyssey, yet my dealer states my VIN is “not part of the recall” and that this is a “separate issue.” In practice, I am seeing a major internal engine failure that causes sudden derate and disables multiple safety systems, but I am being told there is no recall coverage or assistance simply because my individual VIN falls outside Honda’s current recall production range. I am requesting that NHTSA review this incident as a potential recall exclusion problem: owners with the same engine family and serious internal failures are being denied recall coverage on a technical VIN cutoff, even though the safety consequence—loss of power and shutdown of critical safety systems while driving—is similar to the failures already recognized under Recall 23V751 and the ongoing engine defect investigation. I believe this situation may warrant expansion of existing recall coverage or a new recall campaign for currently excluded VINs like mine, and reimbursement for owners who have already paid for these repairs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11748815

Incident

Jul 1, 2026

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the engine started making knocking sounds. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the contact was informed that the engine needed to be disassembled for further diagnostic tests. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA Action Number: PE25008 (Engine). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 121,000.

NHTSA ID

11747195

Incident

Jun 1, 2026

Mileage

121,000 mi

All warning lights began flashing after a SRS recall fix at Honda of Joliet, Illinois. Dealer wanted to do a in depth vehicle scan for $279. I brought it to an independent care repair shop where they did the scan for $199. They found engine damage per attached report. My vehicle’s VIN was not included in the initial recall for the same problem for the same vehicle, year, and engine type. Contacted Honda Customer service a more or less ‘good luck’ response.

NHTSA ID

11745866

Incident

Jun 18, 2026

Warning lights began flashing on dash. Brought van to repair shop and was told and show leakage of oil into cylinders with metal shavings visible. Also heard a ticking sound while idling for a few weeks. Van only has 145,000 miles on it and was regularly serviced.

NHTSA ID

11745483

Incident

Jun 17, 2026

I own a 2018 Honda Odyssey 3.5L V6 and while my wife and 9 year old daughter were driving down the highway at 70mph that car decided to throw a rod throw the bottom of the motor leaving my family stranded on the roadside with no motor oil left in the car. This is a known issue for the 2018 Honda Odyssey but only for certain VIN numbers. I think it's pretty clear from all of the online complaints from this same year that it's not only those VIN numbers. We have always replaced the oil at 3,500 miles with Mobile 1 syntenic 0w-20 and always check the oil level to make sure none is missing. For the car to just throw a rod at 157k miles is pretty concerning as this will require a entire engine replacement out of pocket cost as Honda will not take ownership of this even though this year and model is known to have issues. I would like to see more VIN numbers added to their recall because this isn't fair to the people who buy a car for reliability and are left stranded on the roadside for a known issue they are not being forced to stand behind and make right. PLEASE HELP ME

NHTSA ID

11741306

Incident

May 30, 2026

2018 Honda Odyssey with 3.5L engine, Honda dealership diagnosed engine noise to worn/failed connecting rod bearing. Vehicle has 109,000 miles. Noise started within last 6 months. No other symptoms experienced. Oil services and other maintenance performed per maintenance minder using fully Synthetic MobileOne oil and extended life filter. Pictures and bearing measurements from tear down and diagnosis show significant bearing wear beyond normally expected wear for vehicle with only 109k miles. clearly not normal wear, and is consistent with failure seen on other Honda rod bearing stories for 3.5 L engines.

NHTSA ID

11739076

Incident

May 14, 2026

While driving down an interstate going approximately 70 mph, the engine, all of a sudden started losing power and showing a check engine light. I immediately pulled over to a safe location. Check the oil which appeared okay and called a tow truck. Bring my vehicle to a local shop. The shop did some inspections and found that there was some failures on the connecting rods. Nothing else has been done at this point

NHTSA ID

11737671

Incident

May 10, 2026

When accelerating from a stop position while pushing on the accelerator the vehicle will not move. Takes a couple seconds. Almost struck by oncoming car when attempting to turn left onto Main road. Happens frequently. Next: left sliding passenger door doesn’t close all the way then opens back up. Takes several attempts before it decides to close or with my assistance. Third: rear cargo door shuts without me pushing the button. Alarm sounds and immediately shuts. Been hit in the head once while closing. I’ve seen complaints about this and Honda is apparently aware. Last; the car will inadvertently emergency brake when an oncoming vehicle approaches from the front. Very disturbing when traveling at any speed going into an instant stoppage.

NHTSA ID

11734358

Incident

Apr 24, 2026

My 2018 Honda Odyssey began exhibiting intermittent acceleration lag several years before the repair, and the condition progressively worsened. At the time of repair, the vehicle had 68,957 miles. The safety concern occurs when accelerating from a stop, such as at a red light, stop sign, or when merging into traffic. I depress the accelerator normally and the vehicle does not respond. There is a delay where the engine and transmission fail to engage, leaving the vehicle stationary while surrounding traffic begins to move. To compensate, I must press the accelerator further. When the vehicle finally responds, it does so abruptly, causing a sudden surge of acceleration. This creates two safety hazards: (1) loss of control due to the unexpected “kick” when power finally engages, and (2) increased risk of collision when attempting to merge or cross traffic, because the vehicle does not accelerate when expected. I have been honked at by other drivers and have experienced near‑miss situations because the vehicle failed to move when it should have. Owner forums show many similar reports from other ~2018 Odyssey owners describing the same acceleration lag and abrupt engagement. Based on these reports, the commonly recommended fix is a throttle body cleaning and a transmission “teach‑in” procedure. An authorized Honda dealership performed these procedures on my vehicle at my expense (approximately $500–$550). These procedures are not listed in Honda’s factory maintenance schedule, yet appear necessary to correct a drivability issue that presents a safety risk. Given the frequency of similar owner reports and the safety implications of delayed or unpredictable acceleration, this issue may indicate a design or calibration defect in the throttle body, engine air‑management system, or transmission control logic.

NHTSA ID

11732902

Incident

Dec 31, 2025

The contact owns a 2018 Honda Odyssey. While driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal ticking sound coming from the vehicle. The accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. In addition, the contact became aware that there was smoke coming from the exhaust. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a loose rod bearing. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced or rebuilt. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced an unknown recall with a similar failure; however, the VIN was not associated with the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 172,750.

NHTSA ID

11732771

Incident

Oct 29, 2025

Mileage

172,750 mi

Multiple times of driving the vehicle as I am trying to press the gas pedal while driving it acts like it is not working and suddenly it stutters and stalls. The car will shut off and put you into to neutral while you try and pull over to the side of the road without being hit. It happens randomly and without rhyme or reason. After it shuts off codes are thrown such as brake failure, emissions failure, hill assist failure, steering failure, and lane assist failure. The car will be really hard to restart and if eventually will and then everything will disappear and go back to normal. Codes leave and car drives fine until it messes up again. First time it happened was months ago from this report, and then it happened monthly, weekly and now almost daily but only when you try and drive. Very unsafe and there’s no reason cars should stall at high speeds going down interstates!

NHTSA ID

11732238

Incident

Apr 16, 2026

Noise coming from engine. No engine light nor warnings otherwise. Van was taken to dealership where it was confirmed that a rod bearing inside the engine assembly is faulty, which could cause sudden stalling of the vehicle, even while traveling at high speeds on the highway. This is a known issue (Honda Service Bulletin 24-003) with this model van manufactured at the same time, for which a national recall notice was issued. However, my vehicle’s vin was not included in the recall.

NHTSA ID

11731693

Incident

Mar 9, 2026

Our 2018 Honda Odyssey repeatedly and without warning completely loses acceleration power, creating extremely dangerous driving conditions. This occurs in two distinct situations:(1)while driving at highway speeds when attempting to change lanes or accelerate, and(2)when stopped at a stop sign or intersection and pressing the gas to merge into or turn into traffic. In both situations, pressing the accelerator results in little to no response — the vehicle will roll but fails to accelerate as needed. These failures have placed our family in multiple life-threatening situations. On Interstate 285 in Atlanta, Georgia — one of the busiest and highest-speed highways in the country — our vehicle has failed to accelerate during lane changes on multiple occasions, nearly causing serious accidents. Most recently, within the past week, my husband was driving on I-285 when he pressed the accelerator and the vehicle had absolutely zero acceleration response. He narrowly avoided a collision. We have also experienced complete loss of acceleration when turning from a stop sign into traffic and when merging — situations where immediate acceleration is critical to safety. The vehicle lags for several seconds before any power is delivered to the wheels, leaving us dangerously exposed in oncoming traffic. All manufacturer recalls have been completed, including the fuel pump recall. The problem persists and has not been resolved by any dealer service or recall repair performed to date. We are aware that this is a known, widespread defect affecting 2018 Honda Odysseys equipped with the ZF 9-speed automatic transmission. Hundreds of other owners have reported identical symptoms to NHTSA and to Honda directly. Honda has acknowledged the transmission's behavior to some owners but has stated it is "how the car is supposed to drive" — a response that is wholly unacceptable given the documented near-accidents this defect is causing.We are requesting that NHTSA open or expand its investigation

NHTSA ID

11729396

Incident

Apr 2, 2026

While driving on the highway, the engine light came on and off. Pulling over, I inspected the engine compartment and heard what I believe was cylinder knocking, but could not obtain an engine code with an OBD code reader. Oil was of sufficient level as it had just been replaced within 1,000. After this I attempted to drive it to the dealership, where on going 45 MPH, I pulled to the right lane for emergency police vehicles and when the vehicle was stopped, the engine stopped and seized up. After not being able to start the vehicle, I could not find the neutral safety switch to put the transmission in neutral to move the vehicle from the flow of traffic (turns out the switch is not readily accessible and is on the side of the transmission underneath the air intake and battery compartment. Police officers pulled behind the vehicle and assisted me in getting a tow truck to take the vehicle to the dealership for inspection. At Coggin Honda in Jacksonville, the vehicle was inspected and the engine would not turn over manually by the crankshaft. The engine was deemed to have catastrophic failure and would need to be replaced at 126,000 miles. This vehicle is a 2018 which is on TSB 24-003, however is not listed on the applicable VINs. This TSB is for connecting bearing rod failure which would lock this vehicle’s engine the way the dealership found it. I believe this to be the issue as several Honda engines have had this failure. The vehicle was maintained per Honda’s maintenance programs and even had an extended warranty of up to 100,000 miles which when the TSB the vehicle was underneath that mileage and would have been covered by Honda if they had released the full list of VINs for that year to be inspected instead of a sub list of VINs of the production. Honda needs to be investigated to see if that TSB needs to be expanded since 2023-2024 timeframe other users have had a similar failure and seized engines.

NHTSA ID

11724801

Incident

Mar 13, 2026

Our 2018 Honda Odyssey (Elite) has been diagnosed by our local Honda dealer with engine failure due to rod knock (rod bearing failure). This vehicle is well maintained with only 72,500 miles when the issue became noticeable. The dealer has verbally quoted $8,800 to replace the engine with another used engine, which I refuse to pay given the relatively low mileage and age of this vehicle (and history of other costly inexcusable issues). I opened a complaint/goodwill case (#16188784) with Honda Corporate, which was denied. This Honda Odyssey was our primary family vehicle (the only vehicle we can all travel together in), and it is now siting in our garage completely inoperable. Honda America's lack of care here is beyond frustrating.

NHTSA ID

11724550

Incident

Jan 15, 2026

One week ago, I was driving on a highway, accelerating to the 65 MPH speed limit on that road, my van's accelerator completely stopped responding. Despite pumping the pedal repeatedly, I was unable to control my speed at all, and the car continued to lose speed. I had my three children in the car at the time, and given that people regularly go in excess of 70 MPH on that road, I was in danger of not being able to exit the road and/or being hit. I was able to coast off of onto an exit, and the car started responding at speeds of 30 MPH, but it was lurching and jerking while driving. We immediately had the vehicle inspected by an independent mechanic and have been advised that the transmission needs to be replaced. There were no warning lights for this failure. The car also had an incident about a year ago where all lights came on and it stopped responding. At that time, we had Honda dealership examine it, and they said they could not find any issues. Additionally, the car has been jerking slightly while shifting, but the issue improved when we had the transmission fluid flushed at the Honda dealership again about a month ago, and no issues were noted by them at that time. We have performed regular maintenance and safety inspections on this vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11723069

Incident

Mar 2, 2026

Over a year ago, my vehicles engine began ticking. On 12/14/2024, while driving the vehicle, it developed a rod knock, went into a limp mode and was towed back to our house. I eventually took the vehicle to Honda in Beaumont, Tx where they did an inspection of the vehicle and verbally told me it was the crankshaft, but would not provide me any documentation stating that. According to the lady at the desk, the service tech had never seen or heard of an issue like this in these vans. I was quoted almost $10,000 to replace the engine with a salvage yard engine with almost as many miles on it. I knew prior to taking it to Honda that there was a recall that did not cover my vehicle regarding this same issue. The vehicle is still parked at my house being started occasionally to keep battery charged.

NHTSA ID

11722343

Incident

Dec 14, 2024

Vehicle experiences engine stalling and failure to restart at intersections when the Auto Idle Stop (AIS) feature is engaged. This creates an immediate life-safety hazard as the vehicle becomes non-functional in live traffic. This has occurred 2 times. Once on surface streets and once on the highway in stop-and-go traffic. This issue persists despite Service Bulletins 23-008 and 23-009. Honda Corporate and Honda Dealership refusing to cover the repair. Separately, during a 37-day repair attempt (Jan 22 – March 2, 2026), AutoNation Honda Chandler admitted the vehicle was sold with an 'incorrect' battery type (Lead Acid instead of required AGM), which caused electrical instability. The dealership attempted a repair on Feb 13, but the vehicle failed to start again on Feb 11 during a pickup attempt. The dealer has since refused to provide accurate service records or further communication. The vehicle remains unsafe to drive as it continues to stall randomly.

NHTSA ID

11721699

Incident

Jan 15, 2026

Before my vehicle reached the 100,000-mile mark, the check engine light began appearing intermittently. I brought the car to my local dealership multiple times, but they were unable to provide a diagnosis and repeatedly reset the light. Once the light remained on permanently, the dealer finally identified a known Honda recall/extended warranty issue and replaced the spark plugs at no cost. However, approximately six months after that repair, the check engine light returned. The dealership has now diagnosed a failure in both the front and rear catalytic converters at a cost of $5200 to replace them. I need to replace to pass my state of Illinois car emissions tests. I have been working with Honda Goodwill Assistance (Case #161-655-70), but their offer to cover only 20% of the replacement cost is unacceptable. This failure is not a standard "wear and tear" issue; it is a direct consequence of the spark plug issues I repeatedly attempted to address before my warranty expired. I was told the 20% determination was based on my vehicle exceeding 100,000 miles, but this fails to account for the fact that I brought the car in for this specific issue multiple times while it was still under warranty. I am looking for Honda corporate to acknoweldge the new spark plugs they directed my dealer to install caused this issue and cover the cost of the repairs. My local Honda dealer service manager, Brian, is willing to speak on this issue on my behalf. He can be reached at [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11720412

Incident

Feb 4, 2026

Engine failed while driving, will no longer start. Mechanic believe it is either connecting rod or main bearing failure. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer and will be sold to another person as is. No warning lamps or messages were present prior to the failure and didn't appear until after the failure.

NHTSA ID

11720236

Incident

Feb 19, 2026

Engine has a rod knock problem at 72,000, miles. Vehicle will likely need a full engine replacement.

NHTSA ID

11718079

Incident

Jan 15, 2026

A small "knocking" noise was noticed a couple weeks or so ago in my 2018 Honda Odyssey. Noise got progressively worse. Vehicle was taken to the Honda Dealership for assessment/repair. Was notified by a service technician that a rod knock was present on the lower end of the engine and that the engine needed to be replaced. Options were: new engine, used engine, or trade in my vehicle towards purchase of a new one. All maintenance records are meticulous and performed by a certified Honda service department.

NHTSA ID

11717067

Incident

Jan 19, 2026

This is in relation to Investigation PE25008. The engine in my 2018 Honda Odyssey Elite failed at 91,307 miles due to a connecting rod bearing issue, despite perfect dealership maintenance.

NHTSA ID

11716869

Incident

Feb 6, 2026

The vehicle started running rough and the check engine light with other error lights were coming on the dashboard display. 1. Engine Failure due to connecting rod/bearings 2. Vehicle ran rough and struggled to start 3. Problem was reproduced and confirmed by dealer (as seen in attached invoice) 4. Vehicle has been inspected 5. No warning lamps or messages prior to incident Sortly after I replaced my engine (per dealer recommendation) Honda released a recall (NHTSA Recall No. : 23V-751) but said that my vehicle was not covered under -- even though it appeared to have the exact same issue as my vehicle... they said that the recall was only for a smaller set for engines produced as a specific manufacturing plant... and I believe that it is likely more wide spread.

NHTSA ID

11715936

Incident

Mar 10, 2023