2021 Honda Pilot Engine Problems

My 2021 Honda Pilot Touring intermittently fails to restart after the Auto Idle Stop system shuts off the engine at a stop. This occurs about 10% of the time. When I release the brake, the engine does not restart, creating a risk of being stranded in traffic. I must shift to Park and press the Start button to restart it. No warning lights or messages were observed. The problem has not yet been inspected by a dealer. The vehicle is available for inspection. Scheduled appointment at Honda service.

NHTSA ID

11755752

Incident

Aug 6, 2026

Ive had about 5 times my car Honda pilot 2021 stall at a stop light, a stop sign. The first it took a minute to go and the light was green. I was honked at and yelled at. It finally kicked on and we went, the next time it went into accessory mode at a stop sign, then into N then off…. All while in drive to start. The rest were times I was in auto start stop and it just wouldn’t start. Each 5 times it gave an error code that disappeared right after I had to try snd restart by pushing the button. I went to Honda 2 times now, first time they said they did the program… that didn’t stop the issue, I then took it again after the 4th time and they said it was a bad battery… replaced it mind you $400 later… and it did it the next day.. they won’t cover a free inspection and when I said there’s a bulletin about this they said they did id already but still doing it. I am very frustrated and j drive 3 kids under 7 this is very very unsafe especially someone who already has a brain injury from aka c I dent.

NHTSA ID

11755662

Incident

Jul 7, 2026

When at a stop, the automatic idle stop shuts off the engine and doesn’t come back out of that to start back up. Have to put the car in park to restart. This is a major safety issue especially when vehicles are behind me beeping the horn. Happened on several occasions.

NHTSA ID

11752970

Incident

Jul 26, 2026

My current 2021 Honda Pilot (purchased used May 2024) is stalling out in live traffic - the most recent on XXX creating a massive safety hazard. (In addition, the engine is making the same exact clicking noise that the 2015 Honda VIN:[XXX] made right before the engine catastrophically seized on my way to work. That 2015 Honda Pilot seized due to a defective Variable Cynlinder Management (VCM) system. This defect was covered by a court-ordered federal class-action settlement warranty extension (Alex [XXX] v. American Honda, Case No. XXX), extending coverage to 10 years/150,000 miles. While that vehicle was fully within this window - Honda of [XXX] wrongfully denied this legal warranty.) The CURRENT 2021 Honda Pilot (Purchased Used) VIN: [XXX] suffers from intermittent engine stalling in live traffic. The dealership has failed to resolve this issue across three separate visits, while exploiting the emergencies. The timeline of failed repairs includes: 2/14/25: The vehicle stalled in live traffic. The dealership charged me $420.48 for diagnostics and a failed repair. 8/13/25: The dashboard lit up and the vehicle suffered engine failure leaving my family stranded for 9 hours waiting for Honda Assist. It was brought to the Honda of New Rochelle service center where they exploited this emergency to charge me an exorbitant $1,300.00 out of pocket for unrelated work financed via Sunbit loan. 9/24/2025: The vehicle stalled in live traffic for a third time. The dealership charged me an additional $572.00 for another failed repair. They reguse to give me the RO's and the car has 29 active codes including U3006-16 (ECU Power Source Failure), proving a severe electrical or fuel delivery hazard remains completely unresolved. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11752657

Incident

Jul 10, 2026

Vehicle stalls when the car shuts off from the auto engine idle shut off feature. The concern was allegedly resolved twice with an update but the issue persists. My battery died in December 2025, when asked if it was a result of the recall causing repeated start failures, the dealership denied. Recently my vehicle shut off from the auto engine idle stop feature and completely died, I had to push to start my vehicle several times to start it back up and this was after replacing my battery 7 months ago. A heavy duty battery was purchase to meet my vehicle needs.

NHTSA ID

11752262

Incident

Jul 22, 2026

With auto stop enabled, was the first car at a stop light. What happens next may be out of order - apologies. Light turned green and I pressed the gas and car shut off. I went to restart the car and a dashboard notification appeared saying to put car in N ? So I did and pressed gas again that did not work. Could not put car in park - cars were honking behind me and it was pouring rain so visibility was not easy. I don’t remember the next steps as I was frustrated yet somehow I pushed enough buttons that I was able to push the brake and start button enough times that the car blessfully restarted. I disengaged the auto idle button at that point and my car returned to my house sluggishly. It was as if the car could not shift into gears properly. Car has been not hitting gears properly and has turned off at auto stop over a dozen times more. Honda service states they cannot duplicate so cannot resolve.

NHTSA ID

11750252

Incident

Jul 12, 2026

While operating with the Auto Shut Off enabled, vehicle stalled. Warning lights came on directing the driver to put into Park. Vehicle would not turn off/on, could not take out of park. At the time, vehicle was in bumper to bumper traffic in a construction zone causing a very dangerous situation for the driver. Vehicle was towed and 10 minutes after the incident, the vehicle could be restarted. This is the second time this has happened in the last 9 months. Unfortunately the first was not reported. This is completely unacceptable. Honda knows this is an issue and refuses to address it.

NHTSA ID

11747038

Incident

Jun 3, 2026

Auto Idle Stop restart. Engine shit off at a complete stop. Release the brake to go and vehicle fails to restart. Vehicle may shit itself into neutral or park. Must manually restart the vehicle. Sometimes after multiple time attempts. Vehicle is stranded in traffic for several seconds to several minutes.

NHTSA ID

11746588

Incident

Jun 8, 2023

In November 2025, my 2021 Honda Pilot started experiencing stalling while driving, hesitation when accelerating, and sudden power loss while idling. I took the vehicle to my local Homda dealership and each time they dismissed the problem, indicating that they could not find any issues. On 4/24/26, the vehicle experienced sudden engine failure in the middle of moving traffic. There were no warning lights or dashboard messages leading to the issue. The vehicle was towed to the local Honda dealership, where they kept the vehicle for a month and charged over $20,000 for a repair (not replacement). Ten (10) days after picking up the vehicle from the dealership, the engine locked and seized again on 6/9/26 in the middle of traffic and nearly caused a serious accident with 3 other vehicles.

NHTSA ID

11743410

Incident

Apr 24, 2026

We had the engine serviced for recall on stop start issue on 12/4/25. On May 15, 2026 the engine failed. The dashboard came on with every warning light and a mechanic said the engine was knocking and had to be replaced. Honda denied any issue and said the timing belt had to be broken. The mechanic confirmed no issue with timing belt and said you can’t start the engine if the timing belt was broken. The mechanic said the engine was knocking and had to be replaced because the car could no longer be driven safely.

NHTSA ID

11742607

Incident

May 15, 2026

I am having an issue with the start stop function on my 2021 Honda Pilot. When active, the start stop struggles to restart after it is engaged at a stop light. There have been two instances in the last two weeks where the vehicle did not restart on its own and needed to be restarted manually. Spoke to the dealer service team and they indicated there were no known recalls and it would be out of pocket for me to diagnose and repair.

NHTSA ID

11740001

Incident

May 25, 2026

My wife was driving our 2021 Honda Pilot with 102,000 on the interstate when the check engine light came on and the engine began to lose power. She was fearful of being hit by other traffic due to engine dying in middle of mutiple lanes of traffic. The engine began to have a knocking sound. We shut off engine and had it towed to Southpoint Honda in Durham NC. We were told it has a rod knock, the engine failed. It is about to seize and we need to replace the engine.

NHTSA ID

11739524

Incident

May 19, 2026

The engine shut off as I was leaving a stop sign and stopped working as I was driving the vehicle.The car shut off and I had a very limited amount of time to pull off to the side which I was halfway able to do and was halfway on one lane and halfway on the shoulder. During this time the car had switched to neutral but since the problem had not occurred before and there was no engine lights on, I tried to turn the car back on and was left unable to shift to neutral again and was stranded in the lane with children in the vehicle. We had to have it towed to the dealer. They confirmed it was an engine failure. Our car is around 5 years old and has been well maintained and is only around 60000 miles or less.

NHTSA ID

11738676

Incident

Apr 27, 2026

The vehicle has routinely had issues restarting from auto idle. When the vehicle turns off in traffic at a stop or stopped at a red light, then it will not restart and the vehicle will essentially be dead for several minutes and unable to be turned on or moved.

NHTSA ID

11734089

Incident

Apr 14, 2026

Engine started knocking and within a couple days my wife was left stranded. The vehicle went into limp mode with check engine light flashing, and would not accelerate. The vehicle stopped completely in the middle of the road and lost all power, which could’ve caused a major accident. Scheduled maintenance and oil changes has been kept up by me. I had the vehicle towed to a trusted shop and was informing that there were metal shavings in the oil filter. They inspected the top end of the engine and everything was normal. The only indication is that the problem is internal to the engine. There is a recall for Honda Pilots up to model year 2020 but I believe this issue is affecting vehicles up to 2022.

NHTSA ID

11730077

Incident

Apr 2, 2026

Auto idle stop activated at a stop light for the 2nd or 3rd time over a few years. Lifted foot off the break and stalled, the car went into Park and I could not put it into neutral or drive. The odometer screen looked like it does when the engine is on. The battery light was on. I tried to turn down the radio and the volume didn't work. I tried pressing the ignition button to turn off the car entirely but it didn't work the first couple of tries. Once I was able to completely turn it off, it struggled to turn over when I tried to start the engine, which I've never had happen, but did turn over. Dealership wanted to charge $325 for a few hours of diagnostics which we declined.

NHTSA ID

11727189

Incident

Mar 21, 2026

My vehicle has failed to restart several times with the auto idle start feature enabled while stopped at a stoplight. I was in a turning lane the first time it happened, so other vehicles had to make a left hand turn from a lane that was meant to go straight to get around me. The starter has not been inspected There weren't warning lamps prior to the auto start feature not working. When the car would not turn back on. I had to put the car in park, turn off "Accesory mode", turn the car back on, and put the car back in drive. There have been several other instances the car has hesitated to restart, but it does.

NHTSA ID

11726468

Incident

Dec 15, 2025

The car engine autorestart causes all sorts of problems. We have repeatedly had the warning come on and the engine stop while at a light or paused in moving traffic. We have replaced the battery and other parts. The safety issue is that the car totally stops while in traffic and we have almost been hit multiple times as we try to restart the car. You have to put the car in park and restart the engine due to "compression issues" or something else. That has nothing to do with being a branded title and everything to do with a safety issue. The car just stops and won't autorestart. This has happened several times in the last week and then yesterday other warning lights came on resulting in the car then not accelerating beyond 25 mph initially and then 45 mph. Imagine this happening on a highway. This is really scary as it has happened on an interstate when traffic stopped and at a traffic light. I called Honda and they acknowledged it was safety issue but written up as a warranty extension so they refused to cover the repair of the vehicle. I am therefore escalating what I believe you are already investigating according to articles I have seen.

NHTSA ID

11722992

Incident

Mar 8, 2026

While driving vehicle downshifted with no warning and went into neutral. Was driving on a busy street. Was not able to shift back into drive. When car stops was not able to put it into park. No previous warning of anything wrong. No engine light, battery etc. illuminated on the dash. Earlier that day did hear from time to time a tick or tap like noise that had not been heard before. Car had to be towed to auto shop. Upon inspection was told all components are in working order but the engine is not working and needs to be repaired. Given the engine only has 109,000 miles this was odd to them based on condition of the vehicle. There is a known issue with Honda engines similar to this vehicle and asked we check with Honda as to what could be done to diagnose further. This is very concerning as there was no warning. Driving on a busy street with unexpected downshift was almost rear ended.

NHTSA ID

11717132

Incident

Feb 9, 2026

The Honda Pilot completely lost power on my husband's way home from work in a snow storm. It would not start but it did yesterday. It sounds like clinking/clunking when started but stalls out if you try to put it in drive or reverse. It has a brand new battery. But otherwise it had to be towed and is now sitting. It didnt give any warning signs or lights on the dash until after it completely broke down. It has the engine light on when started. It has not be confirmed by a dealership as times are really rough right now with a new baby and not having the extra funds to have it looked at. And not to mention the closet dealership to look at it is almost an hour away. It seems that the rods/engine area are at fault.

NHTSA ID

11716533

Incident

Jan 31, 2026

After driving the vehicle for a few hours during a very cold day, as we got off an exit ramp. We then turned onto the next road in our travels and the check engine light went off and blinked. The vehicle went into limp mode. Pulled the vehicle over, turn the car off and then back on and everything worked just fine. Had an oil change already scheduled for 2 days later. Brought the vehicle in for it oil change and we told the Honda Mechanic (dealership) what just happened. His response was: That is a common honda problem. "You did what we would have told you to do. Turn the car off and then back on. When the engine compartment gets really warm when driving for long periods of time with the cold weather, something tells it to misfire and throws a check engine code. We tell people to do what you did and turn the car off and then back on". Meanwhile we had to go out of town again the following weekend. As soon as we got near our destination the same thing happened again. This time in an intersection! Thankfully nobody was coming at the time of the limp mode to avoid a potential serious accident. I have put a lot of research into this and there are a lot of forums online that state this issue with no solution by Honda. I do not see how that is safe to have your car randomly throw a code and be forced to pull over immediately.

NHTSA ID

11714957

Incident

Jan 25, 2026

While my husband was taking our daughter to school on 01/05/2026 around 6:00am, a warning message flashed on the radio screen: "EMISSIONS SYSTEM PROBLEM: The engine is not operating properly. Avoid high speeds and visit your dealer as soon as possible. If the indicator is blinking, stop in a safe place where there are no flammable objects. Turn off the engine for 10 minutes or more to let it cool. Restart the engine. If the indicator continues to blink, immediately have your vehicle checked by the dealer. " This was a safety at risk for my husband, my child, and the public - anyone driving near the vehicle. My husband pulled over and called me to let me know what was happening. He called AAA to have the car towed to the dealer. And called the dealer to let them know we were having the vehicle towed to them. They diagnosed it with "a unit in need of engine replacement." The car was purchased as a certified pre-owned vehicle in 12/2021. It is a 2021 Honda Pilot and had a few hundred miles over 8000 at the time of purchase. The dealer is not taking responsibility as the miles 62,007 are just over the 60,000 mile powertrain warranty. And over the 5 years by weeks - 11/2020 to 01/05/2026. I was advised to contact American Honda. They basically told me I was not eligible for a goodwill assist as because: 1.) I was not the original owner 2.)I did not have my service done at Honda. However, I did have documents of all of the service that had been done and sent those receipts to the Honda dealer. The engine failed. The dealer confirmed engine failure. The vehicle did stall out - at a stop light and took several minutes to start back up around October or November 2025. There were also some engine noises, including loud noises while accelerating, especially in Sport mode.

NHTSA ID

11712122

Incident

Jan 5, 2026

The auto-idle feature on this vehicle stalls out the engine on a regular basis, causing risk of accident from surrounding traffic. When breaks applied for red light, stop sign, traffic, etc., the auto-idle feature first engages and powers down the engine, however upon releasing the breaks, the engine stalls out, shifts into neutral, and the battery light comes on. I then have to get it into park and try to restart the vehicle. Sometimes it starts right away, other times it can take a few tries. Meanwhile, cars behind me are honking because I can't get my vehicle to move forward with traffic. Several times I have almost been rear-ended because the car behind me is expecting me to move forward when they see my brake lights turn off. I've talked to my dealer who informed me they completed a auto-idle recall software update in 2023 (recall #23-008) but the problem continues to happen. They have scheduled me to bring in the vehicle to look at the starter for potential replacement, I am hopeful it will not cost me a lot of money. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL TO FIX THIS ISSUE! This is known issue on many Honda vehicles (there is a class-action lawsuit). It is also ridiculous that ther is no way to permanently disable the auto-idle feature. Thank you!

NHTSA ID

11710406

Incident

Jun 20, 2024

Check Engine Light came on during normal highway driving with Cylinder 2 Misfire as the readout. The vehicle was brought to local Honda dealer for troubleshooting and maintenance. Dealer maintained vehicle on schedule with 96,000 miles on it. Initially, informed us that this was due to the air filter housing being improperly placed and low power from the battery. Resolved both and then informed us it was an issue with the connecting rod/crankshaft and the engine would need to be replaced. During most recent fluids service about 2 months prior, had raised concerns about an intermittent shifting/low RPM jump and was told it was just debris but no real issue.

NHTSA ID

11708788

Incident

Dec 28, 2025

While driving the check engine light started flashing and lost a lot of power. Pulled over and turned the car off. Turned the car back on and the light was gone and power seemed to be back. Trying to get home about 15 minutes later every light came on. Lane assist, check engine, blind spot, traction control, literally all warning lights. When these came on the car lost all power within a minute. Wouldn't turn over or even power on to use lights or the radio. Got the car towed to two separate garages both stating engine failure. Honda dealer provided documentation of a bearing failure which damaged cylinder 5.

NHTSA ID

11708268

Incident

Dec 29, 2025