Problems · by component
2011 Honda Odyssey engine problems
25 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2011 Honda Odyssey cite engine, 11% of all 235 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
25
11% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the engine
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“On 3/8/14, I purchased this van as a Certified Pre-Owned vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership, but wasn't notified of known defects resulting from the Alex Soto v American Honda Motor Co, Inc class action suit. The suit wasn't finalized until 4/10/14, yet Honda NEVER notified me, as REQUIRED by the settlement. Had I been notified prior to purchase, I would NOT have purchased the van. If I'd been notified per the settlement's requirement(s), I could've used Indiana's Lemon Law to nullify the purchase. Honda PURPOSELY withheld the suit's settlement and associated SB 13-081 from me, even though I did receive OTHER SBs and recall notices from them (which is UDAP/fraudulent concealment). Since 5/1/25, I've spent over $10,000 repairing the van, caused by these known defects and it requires another $7,000 to replace the engine, which Honda was made known of the problem prior to 100,000 miles. The Indiana Attorney General's office has agreed to take on my complaint against Honda.”
“The contact owns a 2011 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the messages "check Systems" and "Check Power" were displayed, and the battery warning light illuminated. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, after refueling, the vehicle failed to restart. After several attempts, the vehicle was able to restart; however, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was constantly illuminated, and the battery warning light was intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, no cause for the failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired, and the failure persisted. The contact stated that since the failures started, the battery had been replaced twice. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.”
“My engine failed on [XXX] after my 2011 Honda Odyssey consumed all the oil in my reservoir. I bought my vehicle in October 2024 and have stayed up-to-date on my oil changes. I was up for my next oil change but did not receive any indicators from the vehicle that my oil was low or needed to be changed. My drive into work that day was fine, but when I went to move my vehicle around lunch time I noticed it was making a strange sound and was shaking a little bit. After work I decided to take my vehicle into AutoZone to have someone take a look a my vehicle and run an engine diagnostic on it. The AutoZone was 12 minutes from my work and I did not even make it to the parking lot. I ended up stranded on the side of the road in an unfavorable part of downtown San Antonio while [XXX]. Finally my husband and a mechanic were able to come out to me and take a look at my vehicle where I was informed that the oil had been almost completely consumed and I was lucky my engine had not blown up yet. The mechanic then told me about the class action lawsuit against Honda for their 3.5L V6 engine VCM excessively burning oil. If I had been aware of this before, I would have been…”
“On April April the Engine light came on the dash. The vehicle was independently inspected on April [XXX]. The number one cylinder spark plug misfired due to oil leak caused by vehicle cylinder management system never identified in the 711 page owners manual, warning or recall from manufacturer or dealer Honda of Escondido to the serial owner of two 2004 and 2011 Honda Odysseys or notice of NORCAL USDC class actin lawsuit despite twenty years at same address Honda has hidden the problem and chain causation to fool EPA CAFE standards despite the safety danger of engine malfunction and failure. Honda proposes a false solution of piston replacement citing unpublished Technical Bulletin due to repeat later failure at Buyers cost instead of Honda Owners recommendation of proven disconnection of VCM system at a fraction of the cost. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX]”
“Check engine light would pop on for a small amount of time periodically since I purchased it, took it to shop where they stated everything was fine..as check engine light was no longer on. Just started smelling burning when drove for long periods of time. Yesterday, on the way home with my 8 year old daughter, in freezing upstate NY temps, the gears totally went out. Thankfully I was right next to house and able to put in park and back into drive to get it to click into first gear to get us to house. Gears went out in mid drive, going 60 mph.”
“I was at a stoplight on 11/16/23; when it was my turn to go (green light) I went to accelerate, and my engine seemed to sputter/choke or misfire before accelerating at a slower than normal rate and then the engine light came on -flashing- and then the traction control/VSA system indicator light came on my dashboard. I was able to make it home, but when we googled the symptoms: Rough idling Lack of power Engine vibrating or shaking Decreased fuel efficiency Illuminated check engine light Illuminated traction control/VSA system / VSA indicator light we saw that we could have a traffic safety issue and did not need to drive it as normal- take it to repair as soon as possible. I contacted our local EXPRESS OIL Mechanic to see if he could read the engine codes, advise us, and possibly fix our car. He reassured me that he had been working on extensive Honda issues for over 10 years, and it sounded like a pretty simple spark plug fix. When he ran the engine check he called to tell my husband and I that it was a fix related to a recent recall put out on HONDA Odyssey 2018-2019. He advised us to contact our local dealer and let them know it was the same issue as the…”
Showing 6 of 25 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 12, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.