2012 Honda Pilot: hesitation when accelerating

Filed Nov 17, 2025 · Fuel system · CA

My 2012 Honda Pilot is experiencing the same engine defect that Honda acknowledged in later model years (2013–2015) and issued recalls/extended warranty coverage for. The defect involves the Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) system causing excessive oil consumption, spark plug fouling, cylinder misfire, rough idle, fuel odor, and drivability issues that create an unsafe driving condition. I brought the vehicle to a Honda dealership in 2023 due to rough idle and a strong fuel smell — symptoms consistent with Technical Service Bulletin 13-082 for misfire and piston ring failure in 2009–2013 Honda Pilots. The dealer did not repair the issue or disclose that this matched a known defect. The vehicle now exhibits severe engine performance issues that pose a safety risk, including hesitation, engine shuddering, loss of power during acceleration, and strong fuel odor that may indicate improper combustion. Honda has issued recalls and warranty extensions for the identical defect on 2013 and newer Honda Pilot models with the same 3.5L V6 VCM engine but refuses to repair or acknowledge the defect for my 2012 Pilot, even though it uses the same engine architecture and has the same symptoms. This discrepancy indicates a potential gap in recall coverage that leaves owners of 2012 Pilots with a known safety-related defect unprotected. I am requesting that the federal safety agency investigate why the 2012 Pilot was excluded, despite identical engine design and failure patterns.

Filed Mar 25, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 honda pilot. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle started jerking and hesitating with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The contact called roush honda (100 w. Schrock rd, westerville, oh 43081, (614) 882-1535) and made the dealer aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with the federal safety agency campaign number: 12v063000 (fuel system, gasoline) however, the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Apr 14, 2015 · Acceleration, Engine · 48,180 miles · CA

Purchased the vehicle used from a franchise dealer and am the second owner. The engine hesitates at low speeds (approx. 10 MPH) when accelerating. This becomes apparent when attempting accelerate from a stop light, accelerating from a turn, merging onto a freeway, changing lanes, etc. It does happen periodically and I am unable to reproduce the issue on-demand, but it seems to happen daily whenever the car feels like it. I am surprised there is no recall issued for this, as I have already had a couple of near missing when trying to merge onto the freeway with steady flowing traffic and when crossing an intersection from one side of the street to the other. I have yet to take the vehicle to the dealer, as it is out of warranty and there does not appear to be a solution to this issue, so I want to understand what my options are. I'll be reaching out to american honda soon.

Filed Nov 20, 2014 · Fuel system · 14,000 miles · NE

Sometimes when starting out and making left or right hand turn after being stopped at a stop light or stop sign, the engine will hesitate and bog down for a few seconds before it "kicks in" and then there is a "surge of power". This is very annoying at the least and also very dangerous as one could easily get rearended or worse yet get caught in the intersection in oncoming traffic. This has happened on 3 occasions and each time I was barely able to accelerate enough to clear the intersection. There are several complaints to honda dealers of this existing problem and they have failed to take any corrective action or acknowledge the problem. Someone's going to have to be killed before this gets their attention. See link below of complaints. Http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2012/honda/pilot/vehicle_speed_control/problem.aspx.

Filed Nov 17, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 20,000 miles · FL

Problem: while trying to accelerate, there is a resistance/hesitation that is felt in the gas pedal and the engine has trouble increasing RPM's. This is an intermittent issue. Case I: while in a parking lot, trying to pick up a little speed. Gas pedal has resistance and engine won't pick up speed. I keep my foot steady on the accelerator and then pilot picks up speed in a unexpected rush. High level of danger due to people present in the area; as there was an unexpected amount of speed. Case ii: road type: three lane road in each direction of traffic. While in the legal u-turn lane, I observe that there is enough distance to make a u-turn. From a stop I try to pick up speed (I was aiming for 5k RPM's, I know how far to press the gas pedal to get that response). A great resistance and lack of response from the gas pedal was felt. There was minimal acceleration happening and then after about 6 to 8 seconds, the engine was able to get to 6k RPM's. As the cars approached faster I almost got rear ended. As there have been more cases, these are to two most dangerous ones. *note: the resistance/hesitation of the gas pedal happens under any temperature in the cabin.

Filed Sep 5, 2014 · Acceleration · 42,500 miles · VA

Good morning, this seems to be a frequent problem on our vehicle. When we come do a stop and then try to accelerate, the vehicle hesitates (2-3 sec.). In the meantime, I'm still pressing the accelerator down trying to get the vehicle to go. Eventually, the vehicle catches, but then wants to take off (accelerate fast). Recently, my wife said she came to a stop, went to cross the street, and as the vehicle started to move, she couldn't get the vehicle to go and eventually had to stomp the pedal to avoid an oncoming vehicle. I have attached a link to a honda forum. This seems to be a fairly common problem and it doesn't seem honda has a solution. Honda forum regarding issue: http://www.piloteers.org/forums/82-2012-2015-pilot/31680-hesitation-anyone-else-notice.html I worry about this hesitation no only for my life and my family, but also others that own this vehicle. This hesitation issue needs to be addressed by honda.

Filed Jul 26, 2013 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 7,500 miles · FL

I purchased this vehicle from brickell honda in miami with 7,000 miles. I had traded my 2010 honda pilot so I was very familiar with this vehicle in general. Immediately, I felt a hesitation when I pressed the gas pedal. At first I thought it was my imagination. However, after driving it for a week it became apparent that this was a huge safety issue as it continually hesitated when accelerating in traffic. I took it back to the dealer and expressed my safety concerns. They drove the car and told me that they could not duplicate the problem. Their "master mechanic" explained that it was a new feature with the pilot's to save gas! I said, well this is very frightening when you press the gas and the gar does not move! They said there was nothing they could do as that is the way the car was made to run?! I have since seen many complaints identical to mine with the 2012 honda pilot. Frankly, I am not sure what to do but I wanted to be sure other owners knew of this issue.

Filed Sep 13, 2012 · Acceleration · 200 miles · OK

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 honda pilot. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated and lunged forward abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 200 and the current mileage was 55,000.