— Honda connecting rod bearing failures are under a federal investigation following an audit of a previous Acura and Honda connecting rod bearing recall.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says more than 1.4 million of these vehicles are included in the investigation into connecting rod bearing failures.
- 2018-2020 Acura TLX
- 2016-2020 Acura MDX
- 2016-2020 Honda Pilot
- 2018-2020 Honda Odyssey
- 2017-2019 Honda Ridgeline
Connecting rod bearing failures in the 3.5L V6 engines caused a recall in November 2023 after owners complained of engine noise, decreased power, illuminated warning lights and stalled engines.
Honda said the engine connecting rod bearing problems were caused by errors when the crankshafts were manufactured.
A year later NHTSA opened an investigation into the Honda connecting rod bearing failure recall to determine if all the affected vehicles were included in the recall. More than 173 complaints had been filed about engine problems and failures, but the vehicles weren't involved in the connecting rod bearing recall.
At first it looked like the 3.5L V6 engine failures were caused by the same crankshaft problems. But over time, investigators concluded the engine problems were not caused by the same crankshaft defects that caused the recall.
Safety regulators say the "significant number of reports of engine failure" warrant additional investigation.
NHTSA has closed its original investigation into the vehicles that were recalled for connecting rod bearing failures and has opened a new investigation into Acura and Honda vehicles that were not included in the 2023 recall.
CarComplaints.com will update our website with results of the Honda connecting rod bearing failure investigation.