10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
7,524 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.

2018 Honda Odyssey engine problems

engine problem

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2018 Honda Odyssey Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #48

Aug 232023

Odyssey

  • miles

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

This vehicle has had numerous electrical issues, culminating in the need for three batteries in a six year. Period. From day one there were electrical issues with the auto stop start and the car in one occasion the battery completely died. Honda was unable to identify the issue and electrical issues. Continue to happen. in the last 18 months I-??ve had numerous occasions where this auto stop start would engage at a stoplight stop sign in the middle of busy traffic, but would not start back up. I took it in for service and they cannot re-create or identify the issue. This is very scary when it happens as I have been on start and go traffic on the interstate on busy intersections and the car will not move nor can it be restarted for 5 to 10 minutes. Honda offers no solution to this dangerous problem. After months of not being able to fix this. Identify a problem the car no longer moves into reverse consistently Honda recommends new transmission. After becoming frustrated with Honda and feeling unsafe with my family in this vehicle, I had to trade it in for a new vehicle as no solutions were offered to make me feel safe driving it or to get it repaired effectively or identify why it keeps needing new batteries and has electrical dysfunction since purchase

- Herrin, IL, USA

problem #47

Jun 282023

Odyssey

  • miles
Recently started to experience this issue. I have 41,000miles on this 2018 Honda Odyssey. It Jerks & delayed acceleration/hesitation upon acceleration while driving between 20-??35mph on local roads. It happens mostly with slowing down in traffic or upon stopping at stop sign & accelerating again. I am not experiencing this issue with freeway driving. I went to the dealership where I bought the car from. They asked me for $280 to just diagnose the problem, but I refuse to pay for just to diagnose. Currently, I am trying to research out my own. As the dealership has no clue about the issue. Please provide me with any related complaints & resolution for this problem.

- Piscataway, NJ, USA

problem #46

Mar 022022

Odyssey

  • miles
When the vehicle-??s auto start-stop feature is active, the feature will malfunction causing the engine to not start properly. Instead, the vehicle stalls and must be restarted manually. However, there are many occasions when the vehicle does not start manually either. In these cases, it takes many attempts to restart the vehicle. While these events are happening, the vehicle displays an error message for the auto start-stop feature on the instrument cluster, and the instrument cluster will flicker on and off. The events often occur during the middle of an intersection and attempting to turn in front of oncoming traffic. It creates a very dangerous situation. the vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others because the issue occurs regularly, and the dealership has asked us to come back when the problem is occurring. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. However, there are other Honda vehicles (e.g., Honda Pilot) which have the exact same issue, and a recall has been issued for those vehicles but not the Honda Odyssey.

- Katy, TX, USA

problem #45

May 152023

Odyssey

  • miles

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

In two separate incidents, my vehicle stalled when it tried to restart after being in Auto Idle Stop mode. In both incidents, I was stopped at an intersection where I was making an unprotected left turn. As I was stopped, the Auto Idle Stop mode activated on my Honda Odyssey which turned off the engine. When it was clear to make a left turn, I lifted my foot off the gas which disabled Auto Idle Stop mode. As my engine tried to restart, it stalled. I was able to get it to restart but only after being stalled in traffic for several seconds causing other drivers to honk at me. When my engine restarted, several warning lights lit up on my dashboard for about a second and a warning alarm sounded. Since they were illuminated for such a short period and I was actively trying to clear the intersection, I was not able to see which lights they were but I do remember that one of the lights that lit up in the first incident was the sliding door warning light. The first incident happened in May 2023 when I had about 99,000 miles on my van. The second incident happened in July 2023 with approximately 101,000 miles on my van. The problem happens at seemingly random times and has not been able to be reproduced. There were no other warnings prior to the problem happening. Since my van randomly stalled in the middle of an intersection, I believe this problem posed a safety risk to myself and my occupants as well as other drivers near me. Had I not been able to get my van restarted, I would have been at risk of being hit by oncoming cars. Even the few-second delay in restarting could have been catastrophic had an oncoming car been approaching quickly. I have had no issues with the starter on my van or with issues stalling other than these incidents. The stalls have only occured when coming out of Auto Idle Stop mode. Unfortunately, there is no way to permanently deactivate this mode. It automatically turns on each time I start up my car.

- Pinehurst, NC, USA

problem #44

Jun 232023

Odyssey

  • miles
Five years old vehicle jerked and almost came to a complete stop. Engine transmission services warning popped up as soon as the jerk happened the first time. Another warning came up as well. Jerking happens at least every mile. Car full of young kids jerked and almost came to a complete stop on the road and highway. Multiple moving vehicles were near when this occurred, which could have resulted in a terrible accident. Honda dealer said this is due to front camshaft and sensor. No engine warning regarding this problem showed up prior to this jerking. This first appeared on June 23, 2033.

- Fresno, CA, USA

problem #43

Jun 232023

Odyssey

  • miles
I am having an identical issues as described in NHTSA ID Number 11526094. Vehicle hesitates when accelerating from a stop. Have been almost hit a couple times as it is unpredictable when this happens. This is a dangerous behavior and I cannot in clear conscience sell this minivan to another family. I have returned it to the dealer multiple times and they were eventually able to reproduce the problem and captured the behavior on diagnostic equipment. Their finding is that when the accelerator is slightly pressed, and then release (like one might do when entering an intersection to make a left hand turn) the transmission jumps to 5th gear. When the accelerator is pressed to complete the left turn, the transmission spends several seconds shifting from 4th to 3rd to 2nd before finally accelerating. This delay opens up the opportunity to get hit. The dealer concurred that this was a problem but then contacted Honda and they said this is normal characteristic with 2018 and 2019 model Odyssey's with the 9 speed transmission. This may be a normal characteristic with this model year according to Honda but it is not acceptable behavior for any type of vehicle. It is just a matter of time before an accident will happen. It happens often and seems to be getting worse over time including irregular/rough shifts while driving. See attached documentation.

- Carlsbad, CA, USA

problem #42

Jun 082023

Odyssey

  • miles

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

The problem is with the 9 speed automatic transmission system. Yes, it is available for inspection. There is a delay in acceleration which has caused the vehicle to "stall" in dangerous situations such as pulling out onto a road with traffic, making a left turn with oncoming traffic, or needing to accelerate at a green light. There have been multiple incidents when an oncoming car has had to brake to avoid a collision because I have stalled temporarily in their lane. I have also nearly been rear ended as I stall after moving forward at a green light. The vehicle accelerates too slowly from a stop, then stalls for several seconds before over correcting and too much power causes the tires to spin and the car can get a little squirrelly if I am not extra careful. It happens often but not always and is getting worse and more frequent. There are also problems with rough shifting and delayed shifting that have been an issue since I bought it in 2018. I have taken it to the dealer many times and while the issue has been reproduced, they have never been able to identify a cause. One Honda mechanic said that his 2018 Pilot acts the same way and it is "normal" for that engine. The issue was reproduced during a recent inspection from an independent mechanic who sent me to a specialty transmission shop who said the transmission was fine and suggested that it was due to a tech issue and sent me back to Honda. The mechanics at Honda have not gotten stuck in front of an oncoming car on a road test so they treat the issue as a mild annoyance. No warning lights have gone on. The severity and frequency of this problem is increasing and I no longer believe the car is safe to drive. Honda does not have a fix and I am ready to sell it but I don't think it is safe for others to drive either and I don't know what to do. It is only a matter of time until this causes an accident.

- Maple Valley, WA, USA

problem #41

Apr 262023

Odyssey

  • miles
several times when stopped at a light, the vehicle's auto idle engine engages and shuts the car off. When the brake has been released, the vehicle has failed to start. Most recently, this occurred while waiting in a car line of traffic and it took many different attempts to get the car engine back on - about 10 minutes before the engine could be started, resulting in myself and my children stuck on the road while we opened doors, the hood of the car, tried to start the car and turn it completely off. It was in a stuck position until it wasn't. that was the first time the vehicle wouldn't start after numerous attempts to start the engine. We have been told there is no way to fix this - only to manually turn the function off every time the car is started.

- Stafford, VA, USA

problem #40

Mar 302023

Odyssey

  • miles
Vehicle intermittently engine does not accelerate when gas pedal is pushed. Seems engine is hesitating and will not react to input from gas pedal. Very dangerous situation when you are merging onto highways or turning on to a road. Has done it for some time now. Cannot replicate when taken to dealer. I have read on Honda Odyssey (Ody Club) that this is a common issue with this vehicle. I am afraid my wife is going to wind up in a nasty accident.

- Alexandria, KY, USA

problem #39

Mar 182023

Odyssey

  • miles
This issue been going on for a while now. I Have taking it to the dealer for issue. They said was the battery i replace the battery. Still doesn-??t fix the issue. Last week we stuck on the hogging in traffic with my family of 5 including children. We came to a stop and it went into idle stop then it when i released brakes the engine didn-??t turn back on tell me to shift in park in the middle of the highway. I could have been hit from the rear with this issue especially if you-??re stuck in traffic. This issue has been going on a few times thinking it was because of a battery. I replaced my battery twice because that what Honda said is the issue.

- Ocoee, FL, USA

problem #38

Nov 162022

Odyssey

  • miles

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

The radio goes out on my van and the van shifts into neutral while I'm driving. This has been going on for months I've had it to the Honda dealership twice this last time thay said the only thing they could come up with is that the alternator is losing power but alternator is on back order until June and still no guarantee this will fix the problem since none of there test showed up anything other then they were able to get it to go into neutral for them while they were driving it.

- Paris, KY, USA

problem #37

Feb 222023

Odyssey

  • miles
On 2 occasions, the "Auto Engine Idle Stop" has caused my vehicle to completely die while stopped at a stop light. The car did not start, leaving me stalled in active traffic. Eventually the car reset itself and I was able to restart the car. After this happened the first time the battery in the vehicle was replaced. The second time this happened the battery was only 2 years old. The manufacturer should fix this problem with a recall.

- Adel, IA, USA

problem #36

Feb 212023

Odyssey

  • miles
Blindspot monitoring, emissions system problem, transmission system problem all come on at the same time when vehicle is motion. Unable to manually shift if needed. A lot of vans had recall, however ours is not on the recall list, but we highly believe it should be due to safety concerns due to transmission failure.

- Browns Mills , NJ, USA

problem #35

Feb 092023

Odyssey

  • miles
My car would not switch gears quick enough which resulted in a brief stalling when trying to cross traffic. This is just the most recent issues when it comes to faulty gear shifting in this vehicle. if it weren-€™t for other cars slamming on their brakes, it would have been a bad accident.

- Las Cruces, NM, USA

problem #34

Dec 222022

Odyssey

  • miles
The vehicle has a very significant delay in accelerating from a stop or slow roll. Often the delay is up to 2 or 3 seconds and has caused several near misses when attempting to cross traffic. It's inconvenient and more important, a safety problem. Upon research I have discovered it is a wide spread issue among Odysseys in this generation. It seems to be an issue with cars equipped with either the 9 speed or the 10 speed transmission.

- Medford, OR, USA

problem #33

Sep 202022

Odyssey

  • miles
I have an 2018 Odyssey Touring that apparently has a problem with the auto-idle stop while driving at slow speeds, many times (2 to 6 times a day) for a few weeks now. It starts with a weird noise (like a loud record scratch) through the speakers, then engine turns off, dash and radio shuts off too and immediately everything turns on again. Car don-€™t go to park, it stays on drive mode. Sometimes I was able to read different messages on the dashboard or radio about -€œCollition mitigation system-€ -€œanti theft system-€ and sometimes -€œloading-€ appears on the radio screen. This messages disappear quickly. Before this problems happened, the DVD rear screen stopped working (it-€™s completely black) while the DVD can be heard playing on the speakers. Don-€™t know if the two issues are related. I'm worried this can cause the car to stop at higher speeds and cause an accident, my wife usually drives this car with the kids with her. I took the car to a Honda dealership, they run diagnostic tests and it doesn't show anything. I left the car at the dealership, they will try to replicate the problem to understand what is happening.

- The Woodlands, TX, USA

problem #32

Sep 142022

Odyssey

  • miles
On at least 3 occasions, the "Auto Engine Idle Stop" has caused my vehicle to completely die while stopped at a stop light. When the car shuts off/dies, the system prompts you to shift the car in park and restart the car, but on these occasions, the car did not start, leaving me stalled in active traffic. I felt very unsafe to be stalled with no way to operate the vehicle. The dealership checked the battery to ensure it wasn't a battery issue and found it to be completely fine. At the time we did not realize that it could be a problem with the Auto Engine Idle Stop feature, otherwise we would've had them check that system specifically. Further research from other customer forums online prompted us to turn this feature off, but we have to do that every time we start the car. There is no way for us to turn it off permanently. The car gives you no warning that this will happen. When you remove your foot from the break to resume driving, the car shuts off without immediately restarting, leaving you stranded. I am hoping that Honda will issue a recall on affected models. At this point they aren't offering any help other than to tell us to turn it off, but you have to remember to do that every time you start your vehicle.

- St Louis, MO, USA

problem #31

Sep 012022

Odyssey

  • miles
engine reves, no forward movement. Happened the first time on 80/94 east bound (traffic slowed @ 34-36 mph). 4 times now in the last two years. Seems that the speed is always the same when it happens., into Community Honda, Orland Park, IL. They say no problem. No warning signals. Husband with me the last time it happened Sept. 2, 2022 definately something dangerously wrong.

- Orland Park, IL, USA

problem #30

Jul 152022

Odyssey

  • miles
My wife was waiting outside in our vehicle with our kids while I was running an errand. She stated that she went to move the car and as she put it in reverse, the car rolled forward and automatically engaged itself into park. Then she stated that the van also started sputtering and shaking. She shut it off and got our kids out of the car. When I got back to the car, she was explaining it to me. I then started to troubleshoot by checking for blown fuses, bad battery connections and etc. Everything appeared as it should be. I turned the car on to the accessory mode, and it was throwing almost every code possible if not all of them. It showed emissions system, abs systems, hill start and several others. With the car still in accessory mode, I noticed the radiator fans were not coming on as they should have. Also the engine bay was hot, as in the air filter housing was hot enough that you could not keep your hand on it. After letting it cool down, I inspected the battery terminals again for any loose connections and could not find anything. We ended up having to get a tow truck to tow it to a shop to get it worked on. The van has 73k miles on it. The vehicle would not go into gear for us. It was also sputtering when running. It sounds like an electrical issue.

- Woodbine, GA, USA

problem #29

Jun 212022

Odyssey

  • miles
I have taken my Honda to the dealership on multiple occasions, regarding lack of acceleration, after a complete stop. The engine does not engage after pushing the pedal down, so that my vehicle can move. It has a very long delay after coming to a stop. This is a huge safety concern, considering when making a right turn, and perceiving there is enough time to accelerate my vehicle, before another oncoming vehicle, there is a delay a potential accident will occur. This should never happen and my family has been in multiple situations where there was almost an accident. I love my Honda but this safety concern has made me rethink and potentially inform others of this matter. Please help me find a solution to this problem. I even purchased an extended warranty I hopes there may be a solution, but I-€™m beginning to lose hope. I have a family of 7, and I shouldn-€™t fear having to drive a stock vehicle, that my families life may be in danger due to this faulty engine delay. Please help a pleading father feel safe. Thank you and I hope to hear a response.

- Eastvale , CA, USA

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