Fuel pump causing lurching during acceleration. Causing dangerous issue when traveling in city. Poor acceleration creates issues to pass or speed up when needed.
Honda Ridgeline jerking problems
28 of the 2,245 owner complaints about the Honda Ridgeline describe jerking or lurching, most of them for the 2017 model year.
- owner complaints
- 28
- worst model year
- 2017
- typical mileage
- 51,000
By model year
Often reported together
Adaptive cruise 3Transmission failure 2Shudder 2Loss of power 2Won't start 1Warning lights 1Start-stop 1
What owners say
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request?: The auto start stop feature failed, resulting in the vehicle lurching then dieing without any prior indication. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk?: The vehicle's lurch and sudden loss of power occurred at a red light when turning left. If I were the first car in line, it would have left me in the intersection with a 65 mph speed limit, creating the potential for a significant accident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center?: No it has not, but was taken to a dealer in the last two weeks for this problem, in which all systems were operating as intended. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others?: Yes it has where the problem could not be identified. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear?: No warning lamp or messages were displayed prior to this safety incident. This is the third occurrence, I made another report on XXX. If needed, I can find the report number Vehicle failed to restart in 5 attempts, on the 6th attempt, the vehicle started but took an extended amount of time compared to normal. Video link immediately after the incident, the service advisor suggested I film this if it were to happen again. : [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
On two separate instances in the past month, I have come to a complete stop, and the engine automatically shuts off. Upon restarting it either failed to restart the engine or on this last occurence turned the engine over once, made the car lurch and took a few seconds for the engine to idle, almost as if the engine wasn't fully started and the starting motor kicked off as well as turned over slowly. The vehicle has 24,000miles and the batery is approximatley 15 months old and OEM.
Car was on the highway braking hard with the ACC even if the vehicle in front was atleast 4/5 car lengths away. Moved to the right lane to stop it and came up to a box truck and the car automatically broke very hard and LKA started jerking the wheel to the left lane causing the rear bumper to collide with the cars in the next lanes front bumper. My vehicle pit maneuvered into the median ditch and flipped once.
After parking on the roadside with engine off for about 10 minutes, the truck would not start. I tried to start twice; the dash lights came on, I could hear the starter try to engage, felt a slight forward lurch from the vehicle, then nothing. The starter seemed to disengage' the dash lights stayed on, and the electric system went into ACC mode. I tried twice with same result. I attempted to put the shift selector in neutral, but it stayed in Park. I was seated in truck, seat belt on, foot pressing on brake pedal. After waiting a few minutes, it cranked and started normally. No further issues the rest of the day. The weather was mild, sunny, temperatures in the mid-60’s fahrenheit.
At about 2:30pm Oct 14, 2025 I had a catastrophic engine failure (called the “Connecting Rod Bearings Failure”) while driving my 2017 Honda Ridgeline truck back home from shopping (a 30 minute ride). I was driving on route 95 in Massachusetts about 8 minutes from home when suddenly, out of nowhere, a noise from the front of the truck started making a knocking sound getting progressively louder while the truck was also slowing/ hesitating/seizing-up/jerking while its speed was slowing down. (I could not accelerate, and simultaneously ALL the lights/icons/warnings on the dashboard began blinking on and off). I struggled to get the Honda Ridgeline off the highway onto the ascending exit, and then off the exit, across the bridge to a large parking lot. I was concerned with my safety, worried I might be rear-ended while on RT95 and while ascending the exit I worried about barely making it to the end of the exit. Also, I was relieved and especially grateful to not have my 2 little grandchildren in the truck with me! I usually have 1 or both of them with me in the truck once or twice a week! Later that same afternoon I had AAA come with a flat-bed truck and brought the truck to the nearby Honda dealer. The dealer inspected and confirmed the vehicle and advised that the engine was destroyed,!! ... caused by the “Connecting Rod Bearings Failures" !! My truck only had 96,200 miles on it on October 14, 2025 and it was always serviced regularly by Honda. I've learned there are many Honda 2017 & 2019 Ridgelines that have been re-called for that defect, but for some reason my VIN number was not included by NHSTA. My truck should be included in the re-call category. It has experienced the same engine disaster as other Ridgelines that were included in the re-call. Please help. I hope the new August 25, 2025 probe will include my truck. Thank you.
The vehicle lurches forward when accelerating. You start off from a stand still, as you are accelerating the vehicle slows, then speeds up, then slows then speeds up. this happens multiple time. You can watch the tachometer, it goes up then down, then up then down. It can happen 10, 20 times while accelerating.
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate, the engine continuously revved very high, and while at a stop light, the vehicle almost stalled after activating the A/C. Additionally, the transmission failed to immediately shift into gear, and the vehicle jerked while shifting gear. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who performed a transmission software update, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included the Manufacturer’s Extended Warranty Coverage that addressed the failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was 80,000. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 40 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated, and the vehicle started to lurch forward. The contact stopped and had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the camshaft and camshaft sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 86,280.
While driving with the cruise control set at 52mph, I was coming to a known left curve with a stop sign four way intersection that follows it (I drive this route at least 50% of the time whenever leaving my home). I hit the 'Cancel' button to stop the cruise control as I came to the curve, and there was no response. I hit the brakes and again there was no response. At that point I prepared for a wreck because I knew the curve was tight, followed by that intersection's stop sign, and I was almost upon the curve. Continuing to try to apply brakes and getting no response, I could not hold the curve of the road and left the roadway to the right side. I narrowly avoided a lightpole, and then I was finally at the ditch of the crossroad already mentioned. The truck struck the ditch embankment facing me and likely launched airborn at that point, going across the first lane of the crossroad. After about the width of that lane, it appears that's when the front suspension landed, gouging the asphalt and deploying the airbag on me at that point. This seems to be when the braking system finally responded as I started to slow down some, as it bounced and jerked across the remaining lanes, leaving skid marks on that part of the road. I steered it between two signs on the far side, still barely under control but it finally slowing down into the 20s or so, where I had control and brought it to a stop. The vehicle had no known issues or ODBII scan codes prior to this incident. *After the incident*, there was an ABS system fault code present, and it also showed an ABS fault message on the vehicle information screen after the incident. I believe this could be related to the cruise control malfunction, as I know that the ABS system is often involved in modern cruise control systems to control hill descent speeds. The road section just prior to where I attempted to turn off the cruise control was on a slight hill descent, but I don't know if that was related to what happened to me.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Honda Ridgeline jerking
Which Honda Ridgeline years have jerking or lurching problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2017 (10 complaints), 2019 (5 complaints) and 2018 (2 complaints).
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