2018 Honda Ridgeline: shudder or vibration when accelerating

Filed Oct 1, 2026 · Transmission · HI

My truck has a persistent driveline vibration, judder, and hesitation issue. This condition creates sudden, unexpected driveline surge and power-delivery hesitation, which poses a distinct safety concern. Honda TSB 23-078 (Warranty Extension for Torque Converter), acknowledges a manufacturing defect in the torque converter lock-up piston. Moreover, failure of the torque converter may also compromise my truck's transmission and cause a significant safety risk to myself as well as other vehicles and persons in them. The problems with my truck have been documented by local dealer Island Honda during a recent recent service visit. The dealer invoice explicitly states: "While driving recorded snapshot when judder happened, verified spike seen on data snapshot." Despite the technician capturing real-time diagnostic evidence of the torque converter lock-up clutch slipping and surging, the dealership refused to perform the warranty repair because the vehicle’s computer had not yet stored Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) P0741. The condition of my vehicle poses an immediate highway safety hazard. The severe juddering introduces unexpected powertrain vibration, distracting the operator and causing sudden drops in acceleration consistency. Furthermore, the manufacturer American Honda Motor Co. is actively enforcing an unsafe corporate policy regarding this manufacturing defect. Honda denied any assistance (Case #16556664), stating that it will not honor the warranty extension or perform repairs unless the vehicle's onboard computer registers DTC P0741. Honda requiring a vehicle to experience complete mechanical failure or illuminate a specific code while driving in traffic—despite of failure creates an unsafe condition for vehicle occupants and others. By tying safety remediation exclusively to a software flag, Honda is forcing me to drive an actively malfunctioning vehicle. Honda's arbitrary use of codes to deny critical safety and powertrain failures must be stopped.

Filed Sep 18, 2026 · Transmission · CO

My 2018 Honda Ridgeline experienced an internal transmission failure June 2026. Local Honda dealership installed a Honda remanufactured transmission under my extended warranty, I picked up the vehicle on July 7, 2026. About 400 miles later, about July 25, the replacement transmission exhibited delayed engagement when shifting into Drive, shuddering and severe jolts during shifting. The dashboard displayed “Transmission System Problem,” “Blind Spot Info System Problem” and “Emission System Problem” warnings. Safety concern: The delayed engagement and unexpectedly harsh shifting may interfere with my ability to accelerate or control the vehicle, particularly when entering traffic or driving at highway speeds. I am concerned that these symptoms could recur without warning and put me at risk. On July 27, I drove directly to local Honda dealership while the warnings were active. The dealership observed the warnings and retrieved diagnostic trouble codes. The codes were subsequently cleared. Local Honda dealership consulted American Honda's technical personnel, changed the transmission fluid and road-tested the vehicle for approximately 200 miles without reproducing the malfunction. The dealership has therefore confirmed the warning condition and retrieved fault codes, but it has not identified the root cause of the post-replacement malfunction or demonstrated to me that the problem has been corrected. Local Honda dealership inspected and serviced the vehicle and communicated with American Honda's personnel. I have not been informed that an American Honda representative personally inspected the vehicle. No police or insurance inspection is known to me. The vehicle is currently in my possession and available for inspection. The replacement transmission remains installed. American Honda has advised me that no further repair will be authorized unless the fault codes reappear. My concern is recurrence of the delayed engagement and severe shifting while driving.

Filed Aug 26, 2026 · Driver assistance, Transmission · IL

I have had the vehcile in traffic when it can cause banging sounds, have transmission slippage, and not allow the transmission to shift into higher gears, other occurences include transmission shudder. I was told the reset would be to change the transmission fluid with a 3 flush process at the dealership with a cost in excess of $750. Unfortunately that did not work. I have multiple error code lights on the dashboard that light up to include emission control issue, On the site transmission trouble hub. com they list the following: Consequences of Ignoring Transmission Problems Ignoring transmission issues can lead to severe consequences that affect not just your vehicle’s performance but also your safety. Here’s what can happen if you let these problems slide: Increased Repair Costs: What starts as a minor issue can escalate into a major repair if not addressed promptly. Complete Transmission Failure: Continuing to drive with transmission problems can lead to total failure, leaving you stranded and facing hefty towing fees. Safety Risks: Slipping gears or delayed engagement can lead to accidents, especially in critical driving situations.

Filed Dec 7, 2022 · Engine · TX

The Honda Ridgeline 2018 has an issue that it burns its transmission fluid really fast to the point that the Truck's transmission starts to judder. This causes the truck to have issues accelerating or changing gears. This happened to me in a 70 MPH highway, when the problem starts you see the RPM gauge fluctuating a lot and the Truck has issues accelerating. This problem was present on the 2017 version of the truck and Honda issued a service bulletin but this bulletin does not cover any other version of the truck when the same exact problem is still happening. I went to the dealership and they confirmed that the Transmission Judder was there. When you go online other owners of the truck are complaining about the same exact problem: Problem happening on a Honda Ridgeline 2019 - https://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/threads/2019-transmission-judder.233046/ Same problem on a Honda Ridgeline 2018 - https://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/threads/2018-honda-ridgeline-rtl-transmission-judder.228917/ Another owner with a Honda Ridgeline 2019 with the same problem - https://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/threads/transmission-shudder-any-solutions-yet.224260/ There are tons of other owners complaining about the same issue. I would like for Honda to fix this issue and refund me all the money the dealership charged me to fix this issue.

Filed Apr 23, 2020 · Transmission · 61,000 miles · CT

I had a trans lite on the dash and overheating issues in the (6 speed) transmission at about 61000 miles. The issue started with a juddering vibration that was reported to the dealer at 39000 miles. Then I noticed increased vibration from the torque converter(juddering) up until the trans indicated a code for the clutches not locking up, which causes overheating. I nursed this until I took it to manchester honda for repair. They said if this is a juddering problem, it would be covered under the warrenty until 80k miles. They changed the fluid and did a software update. This update changed the shift points where the lack of lockup became worse. I also noticed the gas mileage went down about 25%.it was so bad that the trans light went on again the next day after the repair. They claimed that with the fluid change and software update, that everything was ok. During this debacle, I called honda customer service several times and got no help. They insisted that this truck does not qualify for the tsb issued for the 17's and earlier. This overheating issue has been documented on the owners forum for all the earlier models as well as the 2018's and 2019's. Now with the trans nearly non-functional, I took the truck to liberty honda where they told me the torque converter needs replacement. I knew that the converter failed, but they refused to cover anything under warranty. Can you help with this situation please?