2017 HONDA PILOT Electrical System Problems

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 65 MPH on the freeway, the vehicle stalled due to battery failure. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where the battery was replaced. After restarting the vehicle, the contact heard an abnormal knocking sound consistent with a rod knock. Additionally, the trunk handle paint had chipped and was rusted. The local dealer was contacted and referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that there were no recalls associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000.

While driving my 2017 Honda Pilot Elite, the vehicle has experienced four separate incidents of sudden and complete loss of power, including while traveling at highway speeds and during rush-hour traffic. The engine shuts off without warning, causing the vehicle to stop in traffic. In multiple incidents, the vehicle would not restart for several minutes. These incidents occurred on U.S. 19 and Interstate 275 in heavy traffic, creating an immediate risk of collision. In one incident, the vehicle died while traveling at highway speeds. In another, it shut off at a red light and blocked traffic during rush hour. The vehicle has been taken to an authorized Honda dealership multiple times. Diagnostic testing initially found no issues. Later visits attributed the problem to the battery, despite the battery being recently replaced and the condition recurring after replacement. The symptoms exactly match Honda Pilot start/stop engine failure recalls affecting nearby model...

Transmission locked up and had to be replaced April 8 of 2025. I was blessed it did not lock up while I was driving, but did as soon as I pulled in my driveway. While driving that evening I had some issue with it not downshifting. When stopped in driveway could not restart the car. Had to have a special tow truck take it to the repair shop. I never got a warning light regarding the transmission needing to be checked. I had issues prior to the lock up, engine revving, gearshifting too late. Obvious transmissions issue. As I never got a warning light no code would show to have it repaired. I took it to the honda dealer for repair. After the replacement with another 9 cyclinder transmission the autoshut off is problematics causing me to stall out when stopping at lights and intersections. I had a previous experience...

Auto-idle feature shut off vehicle at a stop and would not restart when light changed. Have to shut off vehicle and start like it was parked. Not safe in city traffic. Dealership said there is no issue with auto-idle feature

I am reporting a recurring “Keyless Start System Problem” warning on my 2017 Honda Pilot. This is a known and widespread issue affecting 2016–2017 Honda Pilot models, as acknowledged by Honda in Service Bulletin 20-117, which identifies a defect in the push-button start/stop switch assembly. In my vehicle, the warning appears intermittently, and the engine sometimes fails to start or requires multiple attempts to engage the ignition. This is a serious reliability and safety concern, as the vehicle may not start when needed, potentially leaving drivers stranded or unable to respond in emergencies. Although Honda recognizes the defect in their service bulletin, they have not issued an official recall and refuse to repair or replace the part outside of warranty coverage. Many owners are being forced to pay out-of-pocket for a clearly documented manufacturer fault. I respectfully request that the NHTSA investigate this issue and consider requiring Honda to issue...

Auto Start/Stop Issue. I finally experienced what some other members of my family have experienced with this car. My Honda Pilot stalled at a stop light in heavy traffic after the engine was turned off when I stopped at the light using the auto start/stop function. After I released the brake when the light turned green, the car did not start.

so i have a Honda pilot and have been seeing a light saying that my collision mitigation system is broke so i took it in for a diagnostic which i was charged for which is fine and normal i guess but they told me that the system was broken possibly from just driving through construction zones and this causes phantom braking so i have to get it fixed but they want to charge me for the repairs which from my perspective the customer i shouldn't have to pay for a defect like that that can cause injurie or much worse

Electrical System – Body Control Module The BCM in my 2017 Honda Pilot fails intermittently, causing the alarm to activate randomly, warning lights to flicker, and battery drain. The issue occurs without warning, even while parked or driving, creating distraction and reducing confidence in the vehicle’s safety. Numerous other owners have reported identical issues online and with NHTSA, indicating a systemic defect. Honda should issue a recall to address this problem.

Failure occurred at highway speed. A host is warning light came on and the car lost power. Lights that came on included emissions, traction control, power steering, all wheel drive and towing (I wasn’t towing anything). No lights were on before the incident. The vehicle lost power and could not maintain any speed. I was able to roll into the breakdown lane. The vehicle was brought to a local Honda dealer who preformed the diagnosis and determined the issue to be a failure of the high pressure fuel pump. Seems this has been the source of several recalls including the 2017 pilot but not my vin. It seems like the recall my need to be expanded

After fixing a few of the recalls, the alarm on my 2017 Honda Pilot would start going off at random times. After several attempted fixes - replacing the key fob batteries, replacing the car battery - the issue has persisted and we noticed a clicking noise coming from the dash. Essentially the car would attempt to turn on without anyone near it. There are no warning messages present. Thus far, it has not replicated while driving. We have just taken the issue to the Honda dealer and they have come back with a $1400 charge to replace the Smart Power Control Module. In researching the issue, I've seen a number of owners have this issue with 2016-2018 Pilots and even seen some complaints in your database.

The alarm kept going off randomly/intermittently. Honda recalled the control unit/alarm/tpms control unit on Honda Ridgeline bit not on Honda Pilot.

Transmission seems to be slipping the truck in getting louder when I switch gears it takes a min to take off

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that upon coming to a complete stop, the auto idle stop system activated, turning the vehicle off. While attempting to continue driving, the contact became aware that the system had failed to restart the vehicle. After several attempts, the vehicle was able to be manually restarted. After restarting, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. However, the dealer replaced the battery as a precaution. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.

Pilot will shut off at stop signs and red lights. Software update completed in 2023 but issue persists. I shut the “feature” off as soon as I turn car on. It has happened despite this. It may be draining the battery. On third battery in two years. Currently at dealership to complete next warranty update.

My Pilot has stalled multiple times at a stop light when the auto stop feature restarts the engine. It seems to happen most frequently when the heat or air conditioning is running as if there is not enough power to restart the engine. I did have the service bulletin software update performed, which seemed to solve the issue initially. The vehicle has stalled twice in the last few months.

Issue where the headlights would come on intermittently while parked in garage, horn would start going off intermittently, car making noises while sitting parked every few minutes. Appears to be a common issue related to the Keyless Access Control Unit (a.k.a. Smart Power Control Unit).

All of the warning lights come on the dashboard, the D for Drive flashes. While driving the vehicle downshifts and stalls and loses power and 75% of the time when you come to a complete stop the car completely stalls, loses power and you have to manually turn the engine off and restart the vehicle.

My 2017 Honda Pilot in 4/2023 I was driving the belt way my hood was bouncing as if it was going to fly off an kill us all and who was behind us in rush hour traffic. I called made appointment with dealer. My son went on line there was a recall for 2017 Pilot for hood problem, but not my Vin # I was very very upset. I was told it was fixed when I was there last. I told the dealer if they didn't fix it put it in writing. So my family will know what happen to us if that hood came off. Now my Pilot has been jerking sputtering when I take off it's been going on about a year. I keep putting it off until. I was almost hit in the back trying to get on the beltway, everyone screaming. So I check the recall...

My car started sputtering and lost power on the interstate and the dash lit up with warnings while driving. I brought the vehicle home and the code is for a bad camshaft position sensor after only 78,000 miles. That is absurd. The neglect for safety here is astonishing by Honda.

Engine fails to restart after the engine idle stop shuts off the engine when stopped. It is difficult to restart the engine from this state and creates a safety hazard with the car being disabled for a period of time. It does not happen every time. The battery in this vehicle was replaced 18 months ago and the vehicle has no trouble starting normally.

Honda has a bulletin 20-117 Warranty Extension: 2016-17 Pilot and 2017 Ridgeline Keyless Start System Error with DTC B12C5 That does not include my vehicle VIN but my vehicle is having this exact issue. This warranty extension needs to be extended to all vehicles with this year and model as the issue is obviously happening to them.

Car shut down while driving on highway. After 10 Seconds, restarted but engine was sputtering along.

The car engine was revving up intermittently, with rough shifting of gears, poor acceleration and 3 of the dashboard malfunction indicator lights activating - emission system, transmission system, and blind spot information system. Car still at dealer.

Vehicle fails to restart after the auto engine idle stops the car. Looks like this is a known issue but the dealer I bought this car from isn't doing anything to fix it.

After driving for over 30 minutes, mixed highway and road, at a stop light, the autostart failed, engine turned off, and went into neutral, w/ a warning the autostart failed. Put into park and restart engine. Cars honking, got the car started after 30 seconds or so. Did not immediately go into park when pushed!

I have had a problem with my vehicle throwing the same codes for over a year and my mechanic and I could not figure out the problem. Finally he ran a report and showed me that these codes match recalls that should have been done on my vehicle but have not been done. I don't know who put it in the system that they had done it but my vehicle is not safe or okay and the dealership won't address my problems because their system shows that it was already fixed.

The auto idle stop feature restart did not work properly and instead the car froze in stop and go traffic on a freeway. Not only did the restart, not work properly in addition the car's electronics froze with multiple error messages on the dashboard coming up. I had to turn the car off by pressing the engine start/stop button, waiting and then restarting it like normal.

My 2017 Honda Pilot touring edition stopped suddenly in a busy intersection causing major traffic back up and dangerous situations until police officers showed up to help. I called road service and it would ne over an hour before i could get help. I was unable to place push button in neutral by several means to get out of traffic and with officers help. No means to override shifter to neutral in cabin. It was discovered on this model you needed to manually place in neutral under the hood after removing several items air filter covers and locating a specail screw which required a special tool to override which none of is had. I am at the dealership now and they are telling me the same thing. Very dangerous situation for me others with same year

Auto shut down/ restart does not work properly. Car was recalled for this issue and a software update was installed. However, car still will not restart after auto shut off. On several occassions we had to use car stop button and wait several minutes before car would restart. This left us stranded at busy intersections in heavy traffic. Very dangerous situation.

Horn stopped working which prevented notice to other car at stop backing up, resulting in a crash. Vehicle started turning itself on in accessory mode, flashing lights, disabling keyless entry and starting the vehicle and smelled of an electrical fire, was unable to disconnect battery due to unpredictable turning on and off at vehicles will. Brought vehicle to dealer who confirmed that it was a bad smart entry main control unit module which caused the horn to stop working and the vehicle to turn itself on.

Twice in the past week my 2017 Honda pilot equipped with the auto start/stop feature completely shuts off at traffic lights. Usually it turns back on but it completely shut down and would not restart at very busy intersections. I was very afraid of being rear ended while i was stuck there at the light, and this is a known issue that Honda has yet to address.

After owning 2017 pilot (brand new) for 3 to 4 years, started experiencing intermittent stalling at stops when auto idle engaged. Similar to many other complaints, car would stall out, entering into an accessory mode. At times takes several attempts to restart the car. Have replaced battery and had the software update related to the issue done at the dealer. However, the issue persists and we now much remember to turn off the auto idle feature every time we start the car, or else we will end up stalled after a stop - usually creating a very dangerous situation and infuriating the drivers around us.

The engine start/stop intermittently fails to restart after idle stop. Yes, available for inspection upon request. I am unable to restart my car after an idle stop which causes danger by causing traffic jams and my vehicle to be idle on the road. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer or insurance company. There were no messages of failure.

I was driving in 80 mph traffic in and my car instantly lost all power while alarms starting blaring while I was changing lanes. I was unable to brake or to accelerate and had to coast — over 6 lanes of 5:00 traffic to a stop and was lucky we weren’t killed. According to the dealer, it’s a known issue with the fuel injectors and Honda is planning to repair it at their cost, but have no idea when they can do it because the parts are not available. We absolutely are lucky we weren’t killed.

For no reason the Alarm is going off randomly the dash lights, interior lights, driving lights and headlights are flashing and loud clicking noises come from the dash. This happens frequently and has been going on for some time. I have had to remove the fuse from the Horn to keep it from waking us up at night which creates a potentially dangerous situation if I forget to plug it back in. Also this keeps running down the battery and when it is doing this, it sometimes won't start. I worry about it damaging other electronic parts and causing a dangerous situation. Honda must be aware of this issue with the Pilots. You can search online and find hundreds of others that have experienced the same issue. The Honda Ridgeline has the same issue and they have issued a TSB for it. I find it totally irresponsible that they would...

Auto engine idle continues to be problematic. Leaving me stranded in intersections and unable to restart my vehicle for minutes. Today when it happened it turned off my collision detection feature. I have taken to dealership several times, once they replaced fuel injectors due to related recall but since they show no issues.

With the IDLE function ON, the vehicle fails to start once the engine shuts down. The car suddenly stop and shut off at traffic lights, stop sides. Someone almost hit me 4 times during last month with my kids inside when the car fails to start. There is no recall about this problem yet.

The Control Unit, Smart Power - Honda (38320-TG7-A52) part failed on the vehicle after 50k miles. The issue caused all the lights in the cabin to flicker/click and the alarm to go off intermittently. The alarm could not be shut off.

Driving vehicle when multiple warning lights illuminated, including check engine and emissions control issue. Vehicle sputtered to a stop and would not accelerate after that. Vehicle was towed to Honda dealership and they said it was a faulty rocker arm oil pressure switch.

If I do remember to turn off the auto engine idle, the engine will stall at stoplights and will not immediately restart. I have almost been rear-ended several times. It just happened again about two weeks ago. The dealership replaced my battery and another part associated with this problem but it still occurs. The dealership refuses to disconnect the auto engine idle. My 2017 Honda Pilot should be included in the latest Honda Pilot recall.

Shortly after entering the freeway, the dask lights began to flicker and car started stuttering. Drive for another mile or slow looking to pull over. By that time smoke coming from rhe engine. Once we pulled over, engine area smoking a lot to where smoke coming into car. All of us git out and saw flames coming from engine area. Our pilot was on fire. Firefighters able to put out, but car was a total loss

Keyless control unit has an electrical issue. Dash flickers on and off on its own while the vehicle is off and keys out of it. Alarm randomly triggers. Lights turn on and off. Keyless start issue as well.

Auto shut off happens all the time and the car shut off and need to restart. It is so scary when you are at a light and it turns green and a car appears behind you and almost slams into you. One day it will happen and i will be dead.

Car auto shuts offs and completely shut off and need to put the car in park and pray it restarts. Dangerous ... One day someone will slam into me when i am trying to start it and I hope i am not killed. I picked one date, but it happens weekly.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? In the past few months (My 23 to current Sept 23) the idle stop system would occasionally not restart when gas was applied. This mostly occurred when stopped for a traffic light and I would have to go through a complete restart procedure taking a good amount of time. and causing the folks behind me a great deal of unhappiness. I believe this a significant safety issue because it causes people to drive unsafely in dense traffic environments. The system is available for inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? This caused the folks behind me a great deal of unhappiness. I believe this is a significant safety issue because it causes people to react hurriedly and drive unsafely in dense traffic environments. Has the problem been reproduced or...

The auto start/stop will intermittently fail to restart the engine from a stop after releasing foot the brake pedal. 2017 model year. In 2022 (4 year old vehicle) the auto start/stop failed to restart on three separate occasions from a stop at traffic lights over the course of one winter month. All electronics in the vehicle shut off while dash needles oscillate rapidly. It takes several attempts to restart the vehicle from park. Replaced only the battery with new AC Delco Group 48 AGM CCA 760 on my own. Problem did not reoccur until 18 months later in the summer of 2023 with the same exact symptoms but occurring more frequently now. The battery is 18 months old, the vehicle is now 6 years old. It has failed to restart seven times in the last 2 summer months. Have not taken it to the dealer or mechanic for repair yet....

I OWN A 2017 HONDA PILOT EX-L. I KEEP UP WITH ALL MY MAINTENANCE AND VEHICLE MAINLY HAS HIGHWAY MILES. EMISSIONS SYSTEMS PROBLEM LIGHT HAS BEEN GOING ON AND OFF FOR ABOUT A MONTH NOW. HONDA DID EXTEND THE WARRANTY TO COVER THIS ISSUE TO 10 YEARS OR 150,000 MILES, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST. MY LIGHT CAME ON WHEN MY MILEAGE WAS AROUND 171,000 MILES SO IT IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE WARRANTY. LAST NIGHT (9/7/2023), KEYLESS START SYSTEM PROBLEM LIGHT COMES ON. I HAVE CHANGED THE BATTERY IN BOTH KEY FOBS. THE VEHICLE DOES NOT HESITATE TO START. I CALLED HONDA CUSTOMER SERVICE ONLY TO BE TOLD THAT MY VEHICLE'S VIN IS NOT COVERED UNDER SERVICE BULLETIN 20-117. IF HONDA IS AWARE THAT THESE PROBLEMS EXIST, THE OWNERS OF THESE VEHICLES SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR THESE ISSUES TO BE REPAIRED. I HAVE DRIVEN A CIVIC AND ACCORD BEFORE...

En algunos modelos Pilot 2016-2017, Ridgeline 2017 y Odyssey 2018, la luz indicadora de fallas (MIL) puede encenderse si uno de los siguientes códigos de diagnóstico de problemas (DTC) se almacena: P0420 (Eficiencia del sistema catalizador del banco trasero por debajo del umbral [banco 1]) P0430 (Eficiencia del sistema catalizador del banco delantero por debajo del umbral [banco 21) P0300-P0306 (falla de sincronización)

Car has died twice when coming to a stop at red lights. seems to be related to the auto stop/start engine setup. Car turns itself off but cannot start right back up again. Every red light flashes but will not easily restart. hundreds of complaints regarding this on the NHTSA website. The NHTSA needs to investigate this, cars being stuck in traffic is a safety issue. since its affecting cars years off the line, it must be some component that is failing prematurely. All of these are extreme safety issues as the car is stuck in traffic, or at light and has to be completely shut off, wait and then restart. Last time took a good 3-4 minutes to get it started again.

For the past two years, I have been taking my Honda pilot to a Honda dealership, complaining of the auto shut off feature. I will come to a stop at a stop sign or stop light. The car would do the auto shut off and when I lift my foot from the break for the car to start again, it won’t. The car will have its lights lit up, but I won’t be unable to turn the vehicle on. I will then have to turn the car off and then start it all over again. All while cars are honking and I’m in the middle of the road. Holler Honda never fixed this problem. I took in videos and photos and I explained it to them and they said they could not replicate the problem and therefore could not fix anything. I continued to drive the vehicle like that. In...