2021 Honda Pilot power train problems

“When the brake is pressed at a light or when idling, the gear shifts automatically to neutral and will not drive. I have to press and hold the power button to restart the car. It is happening more frequently. I have taken it to the dealership several times and they have not been able to replicate it. It also doesn’t give any codes. This is a true safety concern because I have impeded traffic multiple times when it occurs. I tried to add pictures of the invoices that I received from the dealership but was unsuccessful.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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…”

“The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while the engine was idling and with the gear shifter in the park position, the contact reached into the vehicle from the front driver's door, and suddenly the vehicle began to slowly roll backwards. The contact was pushed to the ground, causing the front driver's side wheel to roll over the contact's right leg. The vehicle continued to roll backwards before making a U-turn and then rolling forward down the inclined street and increasing speed. To avoid having the vehicle roll down hill into a crowded street with pedestrians, the front passenger inside the vehicle turned the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to crash into the rear of another parked vehicle. During the incident, the contact suffered an injured right leg and was transported to the hospital. A police report was taken at the scene, and the vehicle was towed away. The both air bags had deployed, and the vehicle was destroyed. The contact indicated that during the incident, the emergency brake was not activated. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 20,000.”

“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 -…”