4.5

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
24,497 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2016 Honda Odyssey engine problems

engine problem

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2016 Honda Odyssey Owner Comments (Page 2 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #30

Nov 232022

Odyssey

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The engine misfired which caused the vehicle to lose power in traffic endangering the people in my vehicle and in the other vehicles on the road around me. The check engine light began flashing and I had the vehicle towed to the dealership to be inspected. Upon inspection I was informed by the dealership that this was a known problem in Honda Odysseys and that the VCM system causes the piston rings to go bad prematurely which causes unburnt oil to foul the spark plug and cause the car to misfire and lose power. Apparently a class action lawsuit about this issue led to Honda extending the warranty and covering the repairs on Oddyseys made between 2005-2013, but the issue was never corrected and the 2016 model is not covered. The cost of the repair was $3830.

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #29

Oct 312022

Odyssey

  • miles
Less than 4 months after having a thorough engine inspection, the engine developed an oil leak which caused piston rings 1-3 to fail. The car immediately began shaking, flashing caution lights, flashing a notice the FCW System failed and jolting while in idle.

- Alexandria, VA, USA

problem #28

Sep 252022

Odyssey

  • miles
Engine light blinking, rough idle, and code reading gives "cylinder 3 misfire". I pull the spark plug out and found it's foul, covered with oil and black stuff. Searched the forums and found it's probably a common problem caused by Honda VCM.

- Brookfield, WI, USA

problem #27

Sep 082022

Odyssey

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Constant cylinder misfire

- Philadelphia, PA, USA

problem #26

Jul 092022

Odyssey

  • miles
May 2, 2022 - While driving home one evening, my check engine light came on, flashing. I was able to get into my neighborhood and once I got on my street, the front of the car started shaking violently. I made it into my driveway. This was very distressing and frightening. Scheduled a tow through USAA mobile app for next morning to be taken to Honda. There is way more detail - can't paste all here. July 9, 2022 - At approx 10AM, we left our vacation rental and started the drive home to MS. My check engine light came on and started flashing again. I made it to the middle of the island and met my husband. I was visibly shaken because I knew this was a serious issue. I had three kids and a 175lb dog in my van, along with half of our belongings. If I had gone a few miles or two more, I would have been stranded on a four-mile bridge. I had driven my car frequently while we were on the island (2 weeks) and there were no issues - until this day. - Again, I have WAY more information on this - cannot paste it all here.

- Hattiesburg, MS, USA

problem #25

Jul 232022

Odyssey

  • miles
One of the cylinder valves get stuck open. Happened several times within a year. Car looses power and the engine runs rough due to cylinder misfire. Honda says they would need to replace all cylinders. Problem apparently happened in older models and seen other complaints for same issue in like make and model year.

- Winterville , GA, USA

problem #24

Jun 062022

Odyssey

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Within the last two years, spark plug number two has been faulty 3 different times. This causes driving issues while on the road, the car will not accelerate.

- Laporte, IN, USA

problem #23

Mar 012022

Odyssey

  • miles
In March 1, 2022, my check engine light started to blink and the vehicle was running rough with a definite loss of power. I took it to a local mechanic. The code was a misfire on cylinder 2. He replaced the spark plugs and coil. On May 4, 2022, the same symptoms occurred and I left it with the same local mechanic. He said no codes were stored and the vehicle was running as it should. On May 5, 2022 the same symptoms occurred again and the FCW and LDW lights were also illuminated. The vehicle showed "failed FCW system". They changed the cylinder 2 spark plug because there was oil in it. On May 31, 2022 the check engine light was blinking again with rough idle and loss of power. After doing some researching I can see that Honda had a previous class action lawsuit settlement for earlier year Honda Odysseys for a "piston-ring issue". Today I called the local dealer where I purchased my vehicle from - Brilliance Honda and the service advisor indicated that this is a common problem with the Honda Odysseys but the 2016 are not covered any extended warranty or safety recall. This is a safety issue. To lose power in the engine when driving. This is a known issue and previous model years had similar issues and there was a class action lawsuit - yet nothing is being done about the problem that was never corrected by Honda putting people at risk for a faulty mechanical design. You can smell gas inside the vehicle when this occurs because the engine is not working properly to burn the gas.

- Huntley, IL, USA

problem #22

Nov 122021

Odyssey

  • 52,579 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the vehicle would shake from side to side and vibrate and the odor of burning oil was present. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where the spark plugs were replaced. The failure later reoccurred and the vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the piston rings were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 52,579.

- Lutherville Timonium, MD, USA

problem #21

Apr 182022

Odyssey

  • miles
At 59,000 miles my wife was driving down the road and immediately the van-€™s engine lost the majority of its power and began shaking tremendously. My wife and kids were able to get off the road but had it been on a freeway it would have been extremely dangerous. The Honda technician conveyed to me that 3 cylinder rings busted. How do 3 cylinder rings bust simultaneously on a well maintained HONDA engine at 59k miles?? They informed me of the Variable Cylinder Management system that shuts down 3 cylinders during certain times. If I can-€™t trust my family to drive safely down the road in a well maintained HONDA engine with 59k miles, I-€™m not sure that this system is safe. In addition the repair was out of warranty and cost $3,000! I believe there should be a recall on this system!

- Keller, TX, USA

problem #20

May 072022

Odyssey

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving my odyssey it began having the air conditioner blink off and on, radio was blinking off and on and multiple lights were lit up on the dash. There were no lights on my dash and no warning prior to this happening. My car then lost all power as if it was in neutral. I was pushing the gas pedal but the car would only rev like it was in neutral. Then the car began revving itself and the RPM's were getting dangerously high all while I was frantically trying to get to the side of the highway through traffic. I was in the left lane in a 70 MPH area. My blinkers were not working. After I finally got to the side of the road and stopped, the car was able to accelerate again. Then the whole thing happened again. When I shut the car off, the car then began clicking and dash lights were flashing all over the place, but the car would not start, Then I was able to finally start it, but I didn't dare to take it onto the highway again. Please help - this is a life-threatening issue and Honda should reimburse this immediately. I have read this same issue on multiple other chat boards.

- Smithville, MO, USA

problem #19

Mar 032022

Odyssey

  • miles
honda has recall/extended warranty on 6cyl vehicles dating back as far as 2008, for cylinder misfires caused by bad piston rings. Recently had to have this done on my 2016 vehicle, but it wasn't covered under any recall or warranty. this is clearly an ongoing problem, and Honda should be paying for these repairs.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #18

Mar 102022

Odyssey

  • 76,650 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle started to shake and vibrate and the check engine warning light flashed on and off before the vehicle decelerated and would not properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the engine pistons had become out of alignment causing oil to leak onto the spark plugs. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 76,650.

- Columbus, OH, USA

problem #17

Jan 312022

Odyssey

  • miles
The piston rings are failing and causing a misfire. The dealer, honda care, and corporation have all said they are aware of this issue, but not willing to help the customer. Currently, my dealer has 6 cars with the same issue. All service men are stating, yes, we know exactly what the issue is when seeing the warning code. The misfire caused my car to not fully accelerate on a major highway. The dealer has documented the issue. A bunch of warnings appeared when this happened. Honda corp said they will give me half the cost and again have stated they know about this issue.

- Lemont, IL, USA

problem #16

Jan 262022

Odyssey

  • miles
My husband was driving the car up a hill and coming to a stop light while slowing the car with the break the engine accelerated (you could hear it). He had to throw the car into neutral to get it to stop in time so as not to hit the car that was stopped in front of him at the stop light. This was not a "hard stop". He saw the red light and was breaking. There were two other witnesses in the car. My husband drives with his right foot and never breaks with his left foot. Though the car was stopping the engine was racing and the car was accelerating despite having his foot on the break petal. Unexpected acceleration is what the dealership called it. No he didn't have both feet on both petals. The car was accelerating despite his foot on the break petal. The witness confirm the car was trying to stop but the engine was racing. We took the car into the dealership and they brought in the "Honda Engineer" who checked out the car and found nothing wrong. They found the floor mats were pinned into place and were not a factor. The dealership seems to want to blame this on "driver error" and deny that there is anything wrong with the vehicle. The service manage with his left foot indicated as if he was breaking with his left foot when explaining that they believe it wasn't mechanical. In other words, they are saying it was driver error (with their body language). I believe they are deny deny deny and not taking our concerns into account. I did a search of similar issues with Honda Odysse's and found that there are other reports of this type of "unexpected acceleration". Thank You.

- Clayton, CA, USA

problem #15

Dec 262021

Odyssey

  • miles
VCM causes excessive wear on piston rings leading to excessive oil burning, spark plug fouling, and misfiring cylinders. Condition displays flashing engine light and emission, FCW, and LDW warnings codes, disabling the FCW and LDW. Walker Honda (71303) technician, Cody Procell, stated he has dealt with this problem numerous times and was able to quote a near exact price of $4069. Repair total after $100 military discount was $3993. Previous generation Odyssey has been recalled for same issue.

- Pineville, LA, USA

problem #14

Nov 012021

Odyssey

  • 83,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light would remain illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that pistons #1 - #3 were faulty and the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 83,000.

- Shepherdstown, WV, USA

problem #13

Jul 012020

Odyssey

  • miles
We purchased this 2016 Odyssey November 7, 2016. On July 16, 2020 I had to take the car into the Honda dealer. The vehicle jerked violently when I drive from a stop position to first, second and third gears. The dealer informed that it was due to defective brakes. I paid them $1,500 for the repair but it continued to happen. They informed that they could not duplicate the problems therefore can't fix it. On April 17, 2021 I have been getting multiple warning lights (fcw, ldw, check engine) which occur with sluggish engine performance. The engine will misfire and not accelerate as it typically does or shudders/jitters trying to accelerate. Diagnostic tool shows P0301 for misfire in cylinder 1 and P0848 for trans fluid pressure switch faulty. The dealer informed that we have defective piston rings which cause spark plugs misfire and foul. This will cost 5K and they will not guaranteed that it will fix it! My engine problems seems to be similar to the class action suit as per case no. 3:12-cv-1377-si. Unfortunately, it would appear that the defective piston rings issue was not resolved. I'm concerned that any replacement will result in the same issue again with continued driving. Honda dealerships are aware of the issue and Honda offers us very minimal assistance on the repair. However, they should be fully liable for selling cars with defective design, especially after the prior case. When this issue occurred, it put my family in an unsafe condition because vehicle suddenly lost power and the engine began to stutter. At this point my vehicle is undrivable and this has contributed to financial burden in an already difficult year due to the pandemic. Honda should own this issue for the 2016 model year through full compensation on repairs.

- Alexandria, VA, USA

problem #12

Mar 172021

Odyssey

  • miles
My spark plugs keep wearing out due to a piston ring issue. The Honda dealers have informed my that after 100,000 I will need my piston rings replaced. This is an issue with Honda Odysseys. My vehicle idles hard and will not properly accelerate. It is a hazard on the roadway because I cannot accelerate as fast as I should and the vehicle loses engine power.

- Plainfield, IN, USA

problem #11

Sep 162021

Odyssey

  • 111,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle jerked violently. The check engine warning light was flashing. The contact exited the highway. The contact called the local dealer and the vehicle was taken to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the cylinder failed and the vehicle loss engine compression. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that the repair was not covered under warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.

- Woodhaven, MI, USA

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