2017 HONDA PILOT Engine Problems

Per PE 22-005, with Auto Idle Stop enabled, when coming to a stop light, I stopped. When the light turned green, and I let my foot off the brake, the engine would not restart, as if the battery were dead. I put the car in Park, turned it off, turned it back on, and was able to restart the engine. This happened in about March of 2021. Since that time I always disable Auto Idle Stop, as it may create an unsafe traffic condition or accident if this were to happen in traffic. I was going to replace the battery, but have not done so since the occurrence 16 mos. ago, and have had no other issues with the battery in that time.

While stopped at stop sign, vehicle's engine auto stop feature engaged and shutoff engine. When driver went to apply the accelerator to move past stop sign, vehicle totally shutdown. The dash instructed driver to depress brake and start engine, which was unsuccessful. Driver had to open and close door to totally shut vehicle down to get engine to turn on again.

Engine stalled at signal after auto stop and car didn’t start back

I was stopped at a red light. The stop idol engaged and the vehicle did not start when I attempted to make my turn. The instrument panel indicated that I should shift to park. I did so and attempted to restart the vehicle but it did not start. After a number of attempts to restart it eventually turned on and I drove straight home. I was in the middle of a major intersection with my son in the car. Car zooming by me as my car was stuck in the turning lane. If a car failing to start as a result of a feature that was integrated by the manufacturer isn’t a safety issue then I don’t know what a safety concern would be classified as according the this institution. Permanently shutting off the feature is not an option as it renegades every time you start the car initially. The...

Every since about 1.5 years into owning my car, the auto idle engine shutoff will stall my car. After multiple trips to the dealer who said nothing was wrong, this issue persisted until I had my battery replaced at about year 3. It started working again as it should until about another 1-1.5 years into the new battery, and it stalls all of the time especially when the car has been driven for about 15-20 minutes. I understand the NHTSA is already looking into this issue, but the manufacturer needs to disable this feature until a fix can be made. Many times, I have blocked traffic at a stop because of this and trying to get my car restarted.

When stopping for more than a few seconds auto-idle stop turns off the vehicle completely and does not turn back on by pressing the gas pedal. Car must then be completely turned off, back on and shifted into drive to continue moving.

For several year I've had a problem with the fuel-saving stop-start system on my Honda Pilot. Unless I turn this system off each time I drive it routinely (several times a week) fails to turn back on after making a complete stop, usually at a traffic light or stop sign. This has placed me in several dangerous situations as cars are speeding behind me, not expecting my car to be at a dead stop when a green light turns. It takes several tries to re-start the car and causes chaos at intersections. I took the car to a Honda dealer and was charged $975 to replace the battery, which they said would fix the problem. I have also followed all the safety recalls and yet the problem persists. I wanted to file an official report because this faulty system is a major accident waiting to happen. Given that my car...

Auto stop start failed to restart the engine while in heavy traffic on an interstate. We had to put the car in park, turn on the hazards, turn the car off completely and restart it twice before engine would crank up completely. No warning lamps lit up prior to the car stalling out. We just had our emissions inspection and there were no error codes reported on the ODB scan. We took this to Honda in 2021 and they replaced the car battery but gave us no indication that the start stop feature was malfunctioning. Happy to have Honda or anyone else inspect the car.

The auto idle stop function caused the vehicle to stop running, needing a full shutdown and restart. This happened on busy roadways, and it has happened two times with this vehicle, one time each in different years. I think the first time was in 2021 and the second was definitely in June 2022. We have had this vehicle into a dealership multiple times attempting to resolve the issue. Each time the battery has been replaced due to low voltage, and they were able to reproduce the issue at least once. The most recent time I was informed that Honda released a service bulletin recommending a change to engine compression that may be straining the battery when restarting the engine, but I am currently waiting on Honda to decide if they will cover the cost of this service before agreeing to it. We are currently operating the vehicle with the auto...

I was at a stop light on a very busy roadway and when I let off the brake to start going, my engine wouldn’t start and completely shut down. I was using the engine idle option. I couldn’t do anything- my car just stalled. Some lights came on the dashboard. I tried to step on the brake to either change gears or shut the car off but it was like I pushing against a brick! The brake wouldn’t move. Eventually I was able to shut the car off completely. After a few minutes, I was able to turn the car on but it didn’t fully turn the engine on. After a few more minutes, I was able to turn the car like normal. I took my car to the Honda dealership near me but they couldn’t find any problems and said they hadn’t heard of this problem. I recommended that...

Vehicle does not start back up after auto shut off activates. It is also stopping suddenly on the road

The Idle-Stop system shuts off when the SUV is stopped for two or more seconds. There are times when I release the break pedal after several seconds or more and the car engine does Not restart on its owLast episode 7/2/22

This vehicle has the auto engine stop when sitting at a stop light. Occasionally when the engine is restarted after such a stop, it will shut down rather than restart. This is an intermittent problem, but it is dangerous when traffic is waiting for the engine to be restarted.

Vehicle stalls in the middle of intersection while attempting to auto restart with the auto on/off feature. This has been happening since we boughe the vehicle new in 2017. Dealer said they could not simulate. Happens a few times a day.

When auto idle is engaged, the car SHOULD start when the brake is released after stopping. We noticed problems when we released the brake. The radio and A/C shut down and quickly come back on again. So release brake, radio and A/C shut down and then radio and A/C come back. Reported to Jeff Wyler Honda and I believe I have a video. As of yesterday, the engine fails to restart on its own from a complete stop at a traffic light or road intersection with the Auto Start/Stop function engaged. You have to put your foot on the brake, shift to park and restart. This occurred twice in two days. Once at a traffic light and once after a traffic jam on the highway. It is scary especially the first time it occurs. It has the potential of leaving the vehicle in a stopped position in dangerous locations if...

I was at a stop sign. Auto engine shut off on car kicked in and automatically turned the engine off. When I released the brake to proceed driving, the car stalled and automatically went into accessory mode and nearly caused the person behind me to hit me. This is the 2nd time it’s happened in the last month. I had to put car in park, keep attempting to get vehicle to start again (finally was successful) and then proceeded to drive home.

--AUTO ENGINE IDLE STOP SYSTEM. Yes, available for inspection upon request. --SAFETY CONCERN- Engine stalls in the middle of traffic... causing other traffic behind car to become angry and try and pass the STALLED car. As they attempt to pass, they endanger other traffic. Usually happens during heavy traffic, breakdown then needs driver to restart car completely in mid traffic and missing or heavy delay of green light which could itself potentially cause an accident. --The STALL happens constantly 1 once a month, but not able to reproduce every time car is stopped... therefore can not be repeated upon inspection. Happens at the worst time, during traffic stops. --Complaint was made during oil change, but dealer found no problem. No warning lights prior to stall. Problem has happened and reoccured for almost two years.

The auto start/stop system on the Honda Pilot is failing at intersections causing the car to stall out and be stuck in traffic. Dealer and Honda does not have remedy for this issue. This is a known problem that is well documented by other owners. This is now happening about three times per week and I am worried that it will cause a major traffic accident and or death if I get stuck in the middle of an intersection.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while the vehicle was stationary at a traffic light, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the battery to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the battery had been replaced three times within four years. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

It took my Pilot into the Honda dealership because the car repeatedly stalled at when the auto engine idle is engaged and I let off the brake, putting mine and my families in serious danger. Honda originally said they couldn't duplicate the issue or figure out why it was happening and sent me on my way. When it happened again, I took it back to Honda and was told it was the battery. I was hopeful that this was going to solve the problem, but it has not. It continues to stall intermittently if I forget to manually turn off the feature after starting the car. After searching the internet, I found that this is a common problem and that Honda is not doing anything to permanently solve the issue. Please investigate this before someone is killed!

When breaking at a stop. Entire car shuts off instead of just the engine. Turns off and have to restart car while in traffic. Has occurred 4-5 times so far.

Issue: engine sometimes does not start after engine idle stop activates On several occasions while stopped at traffic lights the engine failed to start requiring the driver to turn the vehicle off then back on. This occurs after the engine idle stop actives. When the engine stops electrical components, such as the radio, momentarily lose power. The dealership was not able to reproduce the issue. Members of my household have encountered this issue several times a week over a 2 month period. This is a safety issue as the car does not reliably start in traffic.

The auto start and stop engine feature leaves the car stalled and unable to restart until multiple attempts. We have been stuck in the middle of a highway multiple times with hazards on trying to restart

When exiting the interstate and stopped at stop sign, vehicle shut off due to auto stop/start feature. When I released the break to go, the vehicle did not start and completely shut down. The vehicle had to be placed in park, break pressed and ignition button pressed again. It took a little bit but it did start again. After this incident, this has also happened about 10 more times stop lights around town. It has always started again but it takes a minute to restart and multiple steps are needed for it to be restarted. Traffic has been backed up while I attempt to restart the vehicle.

The engine with shuts off normally when I come to a stop when I have the system engaged. The problems begin when I take my foot off the break expecting the engine to start up again. What happens consistently (though not all the time) is that when I take my foot off the brake, the engine shuts off, shifts itself into Park, and I have trouble getting the engine to start up again. When I disengage the system, which I do practically every time I drive the car now, everything works fine. The dealer din't find anything when they ran a diagnostic, so I'm at a loss.

I own a 2017 Honda Pilot Touring addition and recently learned there is an investigation on the auto start/stop feature. We have experienced the vehicle stalling too many times to count. However, it does seem to be getting more frequent as the vehicle gets older. When the vehicle comes to a stop the feature will engage and two things may happen: 1. The vehicle will immediately die causing us to put the car in park and restart or 2. The vehicle will stall/die when in the movement of taking my foot off the brake and pressing the gas pedal. On some occasions we have had to try multiple times to restart the vehicle. The most memorable stalls happened during busy traffic and of course caused a panic as the time to restart feels like minutes when it’s really only seconds. When this happens it has caused us fear of being...

The Idle/Stop function stopped operating at a stop light. The car completely shut off. My wife pressed the brake and ignition but the car did not immediately restart. After a few long minutes, the function worked. This is the second incident with the Honda Pilot. In May 2022, the vehicle stopped at an intersection and cut off. I took it to the Honda Service and had diagnostics ran. I was charged for the test but the Service Department did not find anything wrong. They recommended a new battery which I purchased. This was in May 2022. There is definitely an issue. No use taking it back to the dealer, they don't know the source of the problem.

Driving on the highway, came to a stop due to high volume of traffic, car stopped completely and auto/start turned off the engine itself like it should when brake is stepped on all the way, traffic started to move, let go of the brake to have engine turn back on like it normally would, however this time the engine did not start back on itself, tried to step on the brake and would not allow to press on it. Hit the engine start button light would come on however brake still would not allow to be stepped on, its like it is stuck. Tried this for about 5min and suddenly I was able to press on the brake and start the engine by hitting the start engine button. The component that failed is the engine, auto/start feature, power train, and electrical system. This was a big safety issue and yes...

Engine doesn't starts automatically when using auto stop feature. It has happen multiple times and decided to turn off the feature completely. What happens is when using auto stop feature and if the pilot is at signal light it stops the engine. but when you lift up the break instead of vehicle to starts back up it doesn't and in fact we have to press start engine to turn on the pilot. taked to dealer about it but they say nothing is wrong with the car and never heard about it. in fact the battery seems fine to as per the dealer.

At least once a week the vehicle shuts off and don’t restart at stop light/ sign.

When the car comes to a stop at a light or intersection, the auto-idle function of the engine engages (indicated on dashboard). When you lift your foot off the break, the radio shorts out, the dashboard flashes, and the engine struggles to restart. This happens regularly. I've even had my vehicle stall in the middle of the road after auto-idle has been engaged (see video). I've taken my vehicle to the Honda dealer several times to be serviced, but each time I'm told they are unable to re-produce the problem. Last time I was at the dealer, I shared this video with them, but they communicated the same message. They can't reproduce my issue and my vehicle is safe to continue driving. I feel strongly that this is a safety issue. If I'm stalled at a busy intersection and drivers behind me are not paying attention, it is likely I'll...

I come to a full stop at a red light at a busy intersection. The auto engine idle shut off engages. When traffic begins to move I lift my foot off the brake. Usually this restarts the car. However, the engine turns off as if it is in Accessory mode. I try to put the car in Park and Turn Off and Turn On, but it requires me waiting a minute or two before I can restart the car. This problem has happened many times and I have reported it to the Curry Honda service in Yorktown Heights, NY (10598) many times. The are aware of the problem and says that there is no fix.

Vehicle failed to restart after stopping at a stop light while auto stop feature was on (defaults on). Had to completely turn off vehicle and restart it for it engine to fire back up.

When the engine stops when the brake is applied, there are times when the engine shuts down completely, restarting electrical systems and not starting up again. This incredibly scary and dangerous. I have brought it to the dealer who has no idea how to fix it. I read an article that this is something the NHTSA is investigating and am very relieved that there is finally some attention being paid to this problem. I wanted to log my vehicle as being effected also.

The start/stop feature on our 2017 Honda Pilot Touring has failed continuously since we owned it. The vehicle stalls when trying to re-start from the traffic signal, leaving angry drivers behind us. We now turn it off to prevent recurrence. Our local Honda dealer in Fort Walton Beach has changed a switch, but the problem continues. Their next "guess" is to change the battery, which tests good otherwise

The idle shut off feature has shut the car off and then not restarted when it was supposed to. This has happened in two intersections and a stoplight. When it doesn’t restart, I am unable to do anything, shift in to park or restart the car. It is extremely unsafe as it leaves you sitting in the middle of traffic or wherever it decides to leave you and you can’t do anything with the vehicle. There is no warning when it does it. I have not approached the dealer since there is a button to override the feature I figured they would not listen. However I think it is ridiculous that you have to push a button to make sure your vehicle doesn’t die on you while driving. I would like to see the auto idle feature removed from the vehicle.

My 2017 Honda Pilot Elite is equipped with an auto idle/stop functionality. I depress the brake all the way (at a full stop) and the engine temporarily turns off. Much like the other 200+ complaints you received, I'm also experiencing the issue where the car stalls after I remove my foot from the brake (so that the engine turns on again). Sometimes the electrical system "resets" (sounds like everything clicks off and then on again), but recently I have had the car stall (more than once). Additionally, the other day when this happened the car "shuddered." A couple of times I've had to turn off the car completely and then turn it on again. Fortunately, I have not needed a jumpstart.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated while coming to a stop at a traffic light or traffic sign, the vehicle shut off while the vehicle was stopped. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated as soon as the vehicle came to a stop. The contact stated that it took several attempts to restart the vehicle. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the failure and determined that the battery needed to be replaced. The contact had the battery replaced by an independent mechanic. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

There is a major and potentially dangerous issue with the idle stop/start feature. When the car is at a stop and the engine shuts off (gas saving feature) and sometimes the car will fail to start again, leaving me stranded in the middle of an intersection or whatever road I'm on. Sometimes all of the collision systems fail to start again (dash warning), sometimes it takes minutes to get it restarted which results in angry drivers behind me and the potential to create an accident. This issue began within a few months of buying the car. I had informed the original Honda dealership where I purchased the car but they failed to properly document the issue because there were no error codes populated by the on-board computer. After it happened dozens of times I took the vehicle to a different dealership and was able to demonstrate the problem directly to...

On multiple occasions with the auto engine restart engaged, the engine has shut off while stopped at a stoplight and then failed to restart the vehicle upon attempting to go. On some occasions, the power blips but the engine restarts. On other occasions, the power blips and the car stalls, leading to having to fully shut the car down and turn it back on, with a successful restart. On a few occasions, this has taken multiple tries leading to the vehicle sitting at a green traffic light for over 15-20 seconds while attempting to restart the engine. This is a safety issue as I am now scared to leave the auto-restart feature engaged for fear of being stuck at a green light and rear-ended. I have tried to turn the feature off, but there is no way to disable it permanently… instead, I have to remember to turn it off...

Hello, I was driving down the road and my collision mitigation light quickly flashed on and then went off with no objects in front of me or bad weather or rain. Also, my vehicle felt like it tapped the brakes and the steering wheel slightly jerked a little. It was maybe a half second long and then went back to normal. I kept driving and the vehicle did it once again and then 2 more times. The last time I was pulling up to a light when it did it. I should have pulled over first but I decided to turn the vehicle off and turn it back on to maybe reset the computer. Also, I know the car does this anyway when I have my auto start/stop button on. I usually turn it off when I drive. I've had the vehicle since 2018 with no issues before so I...

I would like to formally report an issue with my 2017 Honda Pilot Touring's auto stop/start feature. I have had several scary incidents where my Honda would not restart at an intersection or on the highway due to high traffic and needed to stop. This is very scary and it is not easy to restart with the fear of getting rear ended by vehicles approaching. With the push button start feature it can be very difficult under stress to re-start your vehicle when the auto stop/start features stalls and needs to be restarted. My wife refuses to drive my car and the inability to permanently turn off the feature creates risk if you don't manually turn it off after starting the vehicle each time.

I just read an article which says the FEDS are investigating Honda Pilot SUV engine failures. The compliant being that the fuel-saving stop-start system on some Honda Pilot SUVs can fail to restart. I personally have experienced this issue at least three or four times in my Honda Pilot. For this reason, I do not use the fuel-saving stop-start system anymore. However, when I did experience the issue it was exactly as described in the article. I was at a stop light. I took my foot off the brake and the engine did not restart. I was fumbling pushing buttons trying to get the car to start. I would turn on my emergency blinkers to let cars know I was experiencing a problem. I think eventually I turned the engine start button on and off and the car started. I had complained and expressed my frustration with the Honda repair...

I own a 2017 Honda Pilot Elite, with 65000 miles, that was purchased new. The vehicle has repeatedly stalled at various point of operation. Upon stalling, every light appears to activate on the dashboard. The vehicle remains stalled until the computer "recycles." I can usually restart the vehicle within 2+ minutes. The dealer, located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, has identified the vehicle’s stop-start as the problem. The dealer suggested to turn off the stop-start while driving the vehicle but that is problematic as this needs to be done each time the vehicle engine is turned off and then restarted. The dealer, upon inspection, found some errors in the ECU, but none that would create this problem. The dealer is unable to recreate the problem and admitted that many Honda Pilots have this issue. To possibly fix the problem, the dealer suggested a valve replacement at a cost of $1000+...

The auto-stop and -start function is not working correctly. When I am stopped at a light or in traffic and the auto-stop engages, the engine sometimes refuses to start back up when I take my foot off the brake and put it on the gas. It has been dangerous when the light turns green and my engine won't start. I've had to tell other cars to go around me. Usually I have had to turn off my SUV and try to re-start it several times before the engine finally turns on again. This started happening about a year or two after I got the 2017 model year SUV (new in May of 2018). When I first told Honda about it, my service tech told me he thought it was the battery, and he had it replaced. That solved the problem temporarily (for many months maybe close to a year). The...

The system that has failed involves the auto-idle feature which is automatically engaged when the car is turned on, and operates by putting the car into idle and turns off the engine when the vehicle is stopped; when the brake is released, the engine is supposed to automatically restart. However, in our vehicle, when the brake is released, the car stalls. Sometimes it cannot be restarted for several minutes. This is extremely unsafe, as it has happened in bumper to bumper traffic, and at traffic lights, where the car stall unexpectedly, then we are stranded in traffic and this puts the occupants of our car at risk, as well as the occupants in cars around us who don't know that we are stalled and are expecting our vehicle to continue in traffic. We reported this to our local Honda dealer, and they said that they have not heard of this...

During auto start/stop car will not restart when the brake is release.

Auto start/stop has caused the engine to shut off multiple times. One particular incident occurred at a stop light and only turned back on after several attempts using the ignition button.

The car auto stop/start feature is failing to restart the engine when coming to a complete stop, sometimes while in a turn lane turning left with oncoming traffic.

Auto start stop - car turns off and will not restart via auto start/stop system at red lights and stop signs. This is extremely dangerous in a heavy traffic situation. The system, if doesn’t completely shut down is very delayed in responding to turn back on. I’ve had this issue since I purchased the car. Dealership had no idea how to fix. They replaced the fuel injectors, thinking it would solve issue, which didn’t help. I still own this car. 75,000 miles and this still happens.