Alarms go off for no reason. The display shows Keyless Start System Problem.

- Jamaica Plain, MA, USA

Our 2017 pilot tries to turn on by itself, with the electronics in the dashboard starting and engine compartment relays firing, along with the exterior lights turning on without any driver being present or attempting to start the car. It happens even without the keys being present. As a result, the battery drains while the car is parked. We took our car to the dealership where we bought it and they confirmed the issue and stated we needed to replace our keyless access/TPMS unit to start and that we may need to a new start/stop switch. It cost $190.83 with tax to access. The car is serviced at Klein Honda in Everett, WA. The R/O number for the service visit is 652453/1. Instances of other Honda owners experiencing similar car issues can be found here: https://www.piloteers.org/threads/control-unit-problems.168522/ I noted that the 2016-2017 honda pilots have a recall/service bulletin for the start/stop switch (Honda Service Bulletin 20-117) and was told by the dealership my car is not included. I find that very disappointing since I own a 2017 honda pilot. I was quoted a repair cost of $967.36 + tax. This did not include the cost of the part (part number 38320-TG7-A32) costing $469.36 with tax. Therefore the total cost of the repair is greater than $1500. I ordered the part on March 16, 2022 and it is on back-order with no expected arrival date. I cannot currently drive my car because the battery is constantly being drained when the car is off due to this error. Our low-mileage 2017 Pilot (delivered on 5/31/17) should not have the failure(s) noted above. I am not aware of a greater recall that addresses the failure(s) and was told that our car is outside of the manufacturers warranty that could cover this since it is not part of the powertrain.

- Mukilteo, WA, USA

Vehicle randomly does not automatically restart after the auto engine idle stop engages when in stop-and-go traffic or when stopped at an intersection, resulting in a stalled vehicle in the middle of traffic. Takes multiple attempts of hitting the start-stop button to restart the vehicle. Have taken the vehicle to the dealer numerous times and each time told they can't figure out what causes the problem, but they replaced the battery at a cost of $500...didn't fix the problem. No warning indicators before the vehicle stalls, the engine simply doesn't start again after the brake is released, which should disengage the auto idle.

- Auburn, AL, USA

My car keeps stalling after being in the idle engine mode. At intersections waiting to turn left, or sitting in traffic on the freeway, at a 4 way stop, it has happened numerous times in the past year where the engine is in idle mode while my foot is on the brake, and when my foot comes off to switch to gas, the gear shifts to N automatically. It's seizing up and I can't hit the button to switch back to Drive or Park. I have to turn the whole car off and that takes awhile to do that too. Every time I go to the dealership, they do a quick battery test and it's been in the normal range. They cannot replicate the issue. There have been so many times I've created a traffic hazard, stalled traffic, and almost been hit by a car. They finally advised I turn off the engine idle option but then it defeats the whole purpose to be environmentally friendly. There is something wrong with the electronics or battery with the car. It is a huge safety issue that is not being taken seriously at the dealership.

- Naperville, IL, USA

Driving into work, busy road/heavy traffic, the auto-stop engine function engaged. It shut down the entire car and would not restart after releasing the brake. I had to put on flasher, and then restart the car as normal. Component failure: Auto-Stop Safety issue: Could be rear-ended, or worse if this happened in an intersection Vehicle will be inspected tomorrow by Honda. This problem has occurred before.

- Marietta, GA, USA

It appears the Power Control Module is failing on this vehicle. Honda should recall this part. Basically, it goes off automatically. The alarm will go off at random times, which I actually had to disable, as it would wake us and our neighbors up at all times throughout the night. The dashboard lights up and blinks randomly. You can hear clicking sounds. A lot of people online who have had the same issue report that replacing the Power Control Module is the only fix. They have tried replacing the battery, the ignition switch and other parts to avail. This first happened about 6-months ago. I also recorded the issue that is happening, but the below evidence upload will not accept video. Please let me know if you want me to provide the video.

- Seattle, WA, USA

This is a random issue that has now happened 3 times in the past couple of months. When the auto idle system is engaged and going to restart, the car stalls. You are stuck in an intersection, at a light, etc. You then have to figure out how to restart the car, which isn't easy, the start button has to be pushed multiple times as you are trying not to panic.

- Beacon Falls, CT, USA

When the vehicle is off, there's a clicking sound and the dashboard turns off and on randomly as if it's possessed. Also, the air bag lights go on. It does this even when the car is completely off. The keyless remote problem also lights up even though this was repaired last year.

- Irvine, CA, USA

On my way to work yesterday, I took my exit and stopped at the light where the idle engine function enabled and then my car completely shut off on its own. It took multiple tries to restart the car. Meanwhile, the light turned green, multiple cars were honking at me, and could have most certainly rear ended me. If it was the next street over, it would have been quite a dangerous situation as it is a super busy area. Upon taking it to the dealership today, they cannot figure out the issue.

- Apex, NC, USA

In the past week, my Pilot has stalled for no known reason. Both times the vehicle was stopped and the feature that idles the car down to conserve energy was activated. When I let off the brake instead of the car restarting or gearing up and accelerating, the car just died. Warning lights went off on the dash, but the car wouldn't restart for at least a minute both times. No warning lights were on the dash before the incident and after the car restarted, no warning lights remained lit on the dash. I took my car to an automotive store and had them check the battery, the alternator and the starter - all of these came back as being in perfect condition. I was extremely scared when both of these incidents occurred. One time I was at the bottom of an exit ramp of a busy interstate and the other occurred on an interstate in stop and go traffic. In addition to these two incidents, for the past 2 years, the car has been having issues after it idles down and then should restart and accelerate. About 2-3 times per month, when the car is stopped and has idled down, when I let off the brake and accelerate, the electrical system will flash on and off. The entire dash goes dark, the audio goes off and comes back on, etc. The entire electrical system reboots. When this happens, it does not impact the ability of the car to accelerate because it is more like a flash - the car doesn't die and have to be restarted. I am taking my car into the Honda dealer on Monday to attempt to diagnose the problem, but from the research I've done, may other Pilot owners are having the same problem and their dealers aren't able to find an error code caused by these issues. I have been attempting to get a video of this when it happens, but so far, I've been unable to reproduce the issue.

- Andover, KS, USA

In my 2017 Honda Pilot Elite the auto idle stop feature has more frequently failed to restart the vehicle when stopped at a traffic light. This leaves the car stalled in traffic instead of restarting after I take my foot off the brake (which is when the system should be restarting the engine). This failure occurs whether I press the gas pedal or just take my foot off the brake. It began happening around the 30,000 mile mark and the vehicle now has 56,000. I notice it most often occurs when the auto idle stop function engages at the first traffic light after a period (approx. more than 20 minutes) of freeway driving. The only way I have found to recover from the stall is to place depress the brake, place the car in Park, press the engine Start/Stop button twice (once to shut off the car then again to restart it), and then place the vehicle in drive and release the brake. Sometimes this process needs to be repeated. My vehicle is almost always in ECON mode. The issue happens whether or not the radio is on. My map is almost always displayed when I am driving.

- Huntington Woods, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the keyless warning, power steering, emissions, and hill assist warning lights activated, and the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The contact recently received a TSB notice from the manufacturer regarding the failure. The failure mileage was 60,951.

- Mission, TX, USA

Driving to work in the morning after owning the car for a few years and and dash displays "Keyless Start System Problem".

- Granbury, TX, USA

When stopped long enough to engage the auto idle function the car does not always recover immediately to drive. The car completely shuts down and usually restarts. This has occurred a few times in the past couple weeks and I have been trying to capture it on video to show the dealership. Yesterday it shut down and did not restart. It took many seconds (20-30) to be able to turn it back on and put it back into gear. We were stuck with cars behind us honking. When this happens all the lights on the dash light up so there is not one warning that indicates what the problem is. A car randomly failing to function is a safety issue. Especially since there is nothing the driver can do to remedy the situation. We have not taken the car in to a mechanic yet as this happened over the weekend. The car will be going to Honda. An internet search shows this is not an isolated issue.

- Salisbury , MD, USA

Keyless Start System problem. Deelership said the problem is with the push button Engine start stop and had to be replaced and said it-??s a common problem.

- Easton, MD, USA

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced various electrical failures while driving and stationary. The contact stated that the security alarm independently activated without incidence. The contact also stated that an abnormal crackling sound was coming from the engine with several warning lights flashing on the instrument panel. After replacing the battery, the headlights independently illuminated while the vehicle was shut-off. The contact restarted the vehicle and manually turned off the headlights however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the fuse box needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

- Congers, NY, USA

Vehicle's LED Daytime Running Lights no longer operational. This is a known issue among owners and affects the visibility of the vehicle when operating during daylight hours. Further, the nighttime visibility is significantly decreased as those LES lights add to the roadway illumination capabilities.

- Ewing, NJ, USA

I had started noticing the radio clicking on/off at stoplights. After a while, it progressively got worse and noticed the car was also slightly jerking too as the car re-started. I called the dealer and they said they were not familiar with the issue. Days before my warranty expired in 2020, I took the vehicle in and they said they were not able to re-create the issue and did not see any error codes. I received the mil warranty extension letter recently and wondered if that was the same issue, but it does not appear so. However upon researching that, I found many similar complaints online about the auto idle stop issues. I am grateful my car has never stalled (yet) but that is probably because I have very low mileage. However I am scared to drive the car now and always disable the auto idle stop, hope that I don't forget which I do sometimes and am fearful should my teenagers ever have to drive my car! thankfully their Honda civics don't have this feature. This is a serious safety hazard! there are too many similar complaints so please force Honda to recall and fix the problem. I bought this new car since it was supposed to be more advanced and safer than the 15 year old car it replaced. It does have some great advances but should not be compromised or come at the cost of safety.

- Overland Park, KS, USA

There is an intermittent problem on my 2017 Honda Pilot elite that continues to get worse with the auto engine idle. When it engages (I.e., stops the engine such as at a stop light), at times it would barely start back up again. When these problems occur, when it restarted after the auto engine idle was engaged, it sounded like a car trying to start with a bad battery - it barely turned over, but finally did start. However, on 5/11/2021, it did not start at all after the auto engine idle engaged. I was at a stoplight and had several cars behind me. I was on a slope and was able to put the car in neutral and pull it off to the turn lane and out of traffic. I tried several times and was finally able to start the car up again. There is no doubt that the problem will continue to get worse until somebody can diagnose it. I've searched discussion boards and found several other people with the same problem but I've not found a diagnosis yet.

- Omaha, NE, USA

After exiting an interstate highway and stopping at a stop sign, the auto-stop feature engaged. When the brake was released the engine started and the car moved forward a few feet then shut down completely. There was a momentary warning to put the car in park, but it disappeared when the electrical system completely shut down and all screens went blank. I pressed the brake pedal and the start button, but the engine did not start. I released and pressed the brake again and the car started. The transmission was in park and I had to push the drive button several times for it to engage. Luckily there was no traffic because I was blocking the exit and the road. After the engine started it took some time for all the systems to power up.

- Saint Charles, MO, USA