2021 Honda Pilot: sudden loss of power

Filed Jun 11, 2026 · Engine · MD

In November 2025, my 2021 Honda Pilot started experiencing stalling while driving, hesitation when accelerating, and sudden power loss while idling. I took the vehicle to my local Homda dealership and each time they dismissed the problem, indicating that they could not find any issues. On 4/24/26, the vehicle experienced sudden engine failure in the middle of moving traffic. There were no warning lights or dashboard messages leading to the issue. The vehicle was towed to the local Honda dealership, where they kept the vehicle for a month and charged over $20,000 for a repair (not replacement). Ten (10) days after picking up the vehicle from the dealership, the engine locked and seized again on 6/9/26 in the middle of traffic and nearly caused a serious accident with 3 other vehicles.

Filed May 22, 2026 · Engine · NC

My wife was driving our 2021 Honda Pilot with 102,000 on the interstate when the check engine light came on and the engine began to lose power. She was fearful of being hit by other traffic due to engine dying in middle of mutiple lanes of traffic. The engine began to have a knocking sound. We shut off engine and had it towed to Southpoint Honda in Durham NC. We were told it has a rod knock, the engine failed. It is about to seize and we need to replace the engine.

Filed Apr 8, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · CA

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.

Filed Feb 8, 2026 · Driver assistance, Engine · IN

The Honda Pilot completely lost power on my husband's way home from work in a snow storm. It would not start but it did yesterday. It sounds like clinking/clunking when started but stalls out if you try to put it in drive or reverse. It has a brand new battery. But otherwise it had to be towed and is now sitting. It didnt give any warning signs or lights on the dash until after it completely broke down. It has the engine light on when started. It has not be confirmed by a dealership as times are really rough right now with a new baby and not having the extra funds to have it looked at. And not to mention the closet dealership to look at it is almost an hour away. It seems that the rods/engine area are at fault.

Filed Jan 2, 2026 · Engine · OH

While driving the check engine light started flashing and lost a lot of power. Pulled over and turned the car off. Turned the car back on and the light was gone and power seemed to be back. Trying to get home about 15 minutes later every light came on. Lane assist, check engine, blind spot, traction control, literally all warning lights. When these came on the car lost all power within a minute. Wouldn't turn over or even power on to use lights or the radio. Got the car towed to two separate garages both stating engine failure. Honda dealer provided documentation of a bearing failure which damaged cylinder 5.

Filed Apr 15, 2025 · Engine · NC

My wife was driving the family down the highway I was a passenger. While we were traveling approximately 70mph down a 4 lane highway there was a loud clunk with a consistent knock and an immediate loss of power. I was able to help navigate her to safety on an off ramp so that my family would be safely off the road. The vehicle was towed to the Honda dealer where it is currently under warranty. The mechanics at the dealership have confirmed a spun bearing on piston number 3 and the motor will need to be replaced. There were zero warning lights and and no notification from any sensors with an OBD tool. Honda America is only willing to replace the motor with a salvaged motor. Unfortunately the VIN from the car with the salvaged motor will not match my current VIN, so if there is an active recall on the engine like on the previous year pilots that are VIN specific, I will not be covered and Honda will have replaced my engine with a known faulty one. I nor should and other family have to take the risk of receiving faulty salvaged Honda parts while still under factory warranty. The attached file is the last service records that are available for the salvaged engine and as you can see there is a noted vibration at the front in as well. Honda refuses to send the information from the salvage yard detailing the engine information including current mileage and the date the motor was pulled from the salvaged vehicle.

Filed Jan 30, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · AR

I have had numerous issues with the car stalling while in idle- it will shut off but still display all the warning lights on the dash. It would require the car engine to be restarted. Has happened at stop signs, stop lights, carpool lights. This has happened at least 10 times over 3.5 years. Last week I had a similar issue but this time it was much scarier- it did that same shut off but completely shut off the engine. All systems were black and the start button did not trigger a response for at least a minute. Once it finally restarted it displayed a “lost power” message on the screen. More similar issues to report.

Filed Jan 21, 2024 · Acceleration, Engine · IL

Hello, Twice in the past two months, my car's engine has lost power while driving on the highway. First, while entering and merging onto the highway, and once while exiting the highway. Both times, the check engine light came on, pressing the gas pedal had no effect, and we could only coast to the side of the road. Both times we had to restart the vehicle. After the first incident, I went to the dealership. They "fixed" the vehicle, replacing gaskets that Honda knew might fail but didn't issue a recall (only fix if there is an issue). This obviously did not fix the issue. Thankfully we did not have an accident, but complete loss of power could have been disastrous. I now have to go back to the dealership.

Filed Oct 4, 2023 · Electrical · AL

I was driving my Pilot and came to a stop during stop and go traffic on a highway. Normally the auto stop/start feature would stop the engine and start it again when I released the brake, but at this stop the vehicle stopped the engine and lost all power. The car went completely dead. As traffic started moving again I had no idea what was going on and my vehicle was in the path of moving traffic causing a hazard and safety risk to myself and others. I was able to restart the vehicle with the normal procedure, but it was in park and had to be shifted back into drive to get moving again. This became a normal occurrence so I took the vehicle to Honda for evaluation. They contend that the battery, while still "good", was not providing adequate voltage for the stop/start system. Proposed solutions were continue use but manually deselect auto start/stop function each time I started the car or replace the battery (at my expense - not covered by warranty). I am reporting this due to how the vehicle handles this lower voltage state of the battery. I think it if the vehicle senses this situation it should 1) notify the driver of the low voltage state of the battery and 2) automatically turn of the auto start/stop function of the vehicle thereby preventing an unsafe and startling vehicle shutdown while on the road and in traffic. This is an unsafe vehicle reaction that should not occur with proper system programming. I confirmed with the dealership this is a normal occurrence when the battery falls below certain voltage requirements, but the operator of the vehicle has no prior knowledge when this situation might occur (ie no warning light). This creates a potential for vehicle accidents and personal injury. Some type of warning and automatic suspension of the auto stop/start feature should occur.

Filed Aug 9, 2023 · Electrical · GA

Two weeks ago, the audio in my 2021 Pilot became very distorted also as if the car was losing power. On my way to work this morning, I reached a red light, came to a complete stop, and the vehicle went into idle mode as normal. However, while in idle mode the vehicle turned completely off just as I was about to release the brakes to start driving again. The battery indicator on the gauge clustor flashed a few times and the car automatically went into neutral. I was not able to put the vehicle back into park as instructed by the message prompt. After waiting a couple of minutes, I pressed AND held the start button and the vehicle finally turned back on. I do not know what the issue is, but due to this incident I felt that it was completely unsafe.

Filed Jun 8, 2023 · Electrical · TX

Audio system popping noise affecting the dashboard system and audio system not working loss of power controls to use any of the systems digital components including speed control backup camera entire audio system

Filed Apr 23, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · OH

The car's automatic engine shut-off feature when stopped at a red light failed to reengaged after removing foot from break the car shut down and the transmission button shifted into neutral and displayed a message that you must put your foot on the brake and shift the car to Park. The battery indicator light was flashing and everything turned off in the car. After doing this the car told me I must put my foot on the break and restart the car. It then allowed me to shift back into drive. The dealer was not able to recreate the issue, and no other things showed the issue other than the battery indicator lamp flashing on and off until the car was back in drive. The light I lost all power at was on a road with a 55 MPH speed limit. When the light turned green and the car lost all power there was another vehicle approaching, but I was not able to get the car moving fast enough to get out of the way.