Yes, check out the thread "Elite shuts off at stop light". There's 10 of us who have reported this issue (11 now with you). So far no one has had a dealer who has been able to replicate the issue or diagnose the problem. I'm picking my car up at the dealer today after they replaced the battery (car had to be jump started twice, car wouldn't start at all) and fixed some front end damage to see if that fixes it (theory that hood might affect the restart). Take your car to the dealer so it's reported and submit a report to NHTSA at https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/. A couple of us have done so.

 

Thank you kmc27. Glad you confirmed my suspicion that taking it to the dealer will most likely be a waste of time, and money since I'm well past my warranty due to milage. I may still take it in to get the problem registered with them. I will also file a complaint with NHTSA, I agree that this is a safety concern. I also read through the thread you linked, seems that others are able to get it to start after a few tries - this just happened to my wife this morning and I was about to head over to her to give her a jump, but she called back saying that she got it started after waiting a minute or so and trying again. Previous 3 occurrences, we had to jump it. Given the age (almost 3 years) and milage, I will probably just go ahead and replace the batter this weekend. Hopefully we don't see the problem again, but I have doubts that this will fix the problem.

 

Yes, with my car and it seems the others, we are able to get the car to start again after a few tries. Usually have to put foot on brake, place car in park, and push the start button to get it to start again. Sometimes do have to push the start button several times to get it to start and sometimes it does take a few minutes. Each time I took it into the dealer, they said the battery tested fine so it wasn't the battery. But they have not been able to replicate the problem or figure out what is wrong. The last time I took in after having to jump start the car just to get it to start, the battery did fail so they have replaced the battery. The dealer says they are sympathetic and they know I'm not making it up or bringing my car in for no reason, but there's nothing they can do since they can't diagnose the problem. They are hopeful replacing the battery and fixing the front end damage that might have been affecting the hood will fix it but only time will tell.

I just picked my car up this morning from the body shop. The auto stop did not turn on at all during my brief drive home so don't know yet if the problem will reoccur.

It seems to only happen with my car every so often so I'm not surprised my dealer has not been able to replicate it. Others have reported it happening more often but seems their dealers have also not been able to replicate the problem. If you do take it into the dealer and they replicate or find anything, please share. I have a case open with American Honda. First, they told me next time it happens don't attempt to restart the car but have it towed to the dealer so they can examine the car in that exact state. As you know, it's not always that easy to do especially if at a busy intersection and everyone honking behind you so all you want to do is get the car to restart. Then they told me to fix the front end damage as recommended by dealer and call back if it happens again. If you call American Honda Customer Service, they will tell you to take it to the dealer first so they can attempt to diagnose/fix the problem.

 

Can also check out thread "Permanently disable Auto Stop Start!" where others have discussed having the same problem and an apparent workaround to turn it off. My own view is that I shouldn't have to manually disable auto idle stop by pushing the button every time I use the car or mess with the wiring to permanently disable the feature. We paid a lot of $ for this car to have to deal with that and not be able to use a feature that we paid for. I don't have an issue with the idle stop feature that some people do that are opposed to having it at all on the car. I just would like for the feature to work properly and for Honda to admit that there is a problem with the 2016 models.

 

Not sure if it will work the same or not, but on the Chevy Silverado (with Auto-Stop), if you put the transmission in the “Manual” position, Auto-Stop will not work, thus engine will stay running. My theory is...put the Pilot’s transmission in a similar mode. On the Silverado, there’s P, R, N, D, & M. If the Pilot has a similar selection, make sure to leave it in the high gear. Can’t remember if the Pilot has anything past D. Maybe put it in Sport mode.

 

We have a 2016 Touring with 18,000 and the stalling after Auto Idle Stop shut the engine off started some months ago. I have had it in the shop for the second time for this problem. This time for two weeks as of today and they cannot figure out what the problem is, or at least they have not called me about it. My car also would not start with the first push of the start button all the time. It took 3-4 pushes to get it to start.

I DO NOT want to start rearranging the wiring to bypass the feature I paid for in this car. If they had a kill switch for AIS that would be another thing, but you have to remember to push the disable AIS every time you get in the car. I would forget and when I pushed it the engine would stall while I was in AIS.

Looking forward to hear if you find a solution. I have already contacted a lawyer and will start to pursue the California Lemon Law...

 

Co-incidentally, my 2016 Pilot Touring and my friend's Touring have the same problem on the same week! In my case Idle stop killed the engine momentarily and when it tried to start, everything just shut off for a bout 1/2 a second. Took me a few times to restart the engine before it finally cranks. I brought it to Honda service and they did not find any issues but when my Battery Minder charger told me the battery is weak, Honda offered to replace it free under warranty. 2 days later, my friend's Pilot shutoff at the traffic light and would not start again. When he tried to start the car, the dashboard lit up light a Christmas tree! When the car is towed to the dealership, they told him the battery is bad and had it replaced.

In my opinion, unlike a Prius, the 3.5L V6 takes a lot of juice to start, so repeat cranking eventually deteriorated the AGM battery and shortened it's life. Disabling the Auto Idle Stop is a must for this car. My battery is 2 years & 8 months old while my friend's right at 3 years & 1 month old. So if you experienced this symptom and the Pilot is still under warranty, bring it to the express service of the dealership and have them test the battery. My experience is they are more willing to replace the battery than the dealer service. Tell them you nicely that want it replaced as it is not reliable

 

We had the same problem with our 2016 Touring and had it towed to a dealer when it wouldn't restart at all. The mechanic said he discovered an abnormal current draw from the battery that went away when he opened and closed all four doors+hatch. He suspects that there is an electrical issue with one of the door switches, lights, or hatch motors. It might be something for others to look into. The battery and alternator tested fine; there must be something else drawing down the battery while driving the car. Since it might be related to the doors, it might explain why mechanics can not discover any issues since the issue is intermittent.

 

I had the battery and alternator tested multiple times, at multiple locations and every time they checked out fine. Finally, out of frustration I decided to ignore the test and replace the battery anyway. That was about 6 months ago and the problem has not occurred since.

 

I bought a new Solar BA-9 tester after seeing my Toyota Dealer use one in service check in lane and watching of videos about battery testers like this How to tell if your battery is weak. Same thing as videos, multiple friends saying start issues and tested good everytime they went somewhere but kept having issues. They used mine after car sat overnight and tested poor. Think that if you start and drive somewhere it was just getting a charge so might test good, sits for 12 hours undisturbed and it's weak.

I also bought a new CTEK 7002 charger for AGM's and Spiral cell batteries after watching other videos from Kent above as well as on restoring an Optima Spiral cell from Optima.

Sequoia had a oversized Optima Deep Cycle that needed a charge once a year. So many short trips with lots of starts and not enough drive would make it weak slowly. Wife works 2 miles from home. I got 7-8 years out of the Optima that way. I could always tell as I would hear it just not crank as fast and sure enough test borderline. My "Old" large heavy duty battery charger I think killed a couple batteries. The CTEK has a recondition mode if needed and settings for the AGM's

 

Just had the same problem happen Saturday and filed an nhtsa concern. Would suggest others who have experienced this to do the same. Expected the gas pedal to make the car go isn't a feature..

NHTSA is how recalls usually happen as the dealers don't always report to honda. Also, the number of vehicles that have this feature vs the number of reports is an important consideration that can't be measured by an indivial dealer either.

Filing a concern requires your vin and the date, but isn't too hard, just mention it was an idle-stop feature issue.

 

My 2016 Elite has now done this twice (12/03/2019 & 10/31/2020). The first time it did it, they couldn't figure it out & then said it was a "software update issue". Well it happened again on Saturday, at a busy intersection again. It's at the dealership once again.

 

It's very surprising and validly frustrating to those owners who are having this issue go on for at least 2 years now. It's understandable that having the Auto-Stop/Start feature is one of the available tools for manufacturers to achieve the CAFE standards set, but it's quite becoming clear that this aims to reach that goal but introduces a different set of problems. And safety is one of them. Can't imagine the horror, great inconvenience and huge safety concerns those owners had to endure when they're stopped for a traffic light change and then they can't move when it's time to go.

Today's vehicles are such a power-hungry group and having an unwanted parasitic draw that can't be pinpointed will really cause a lot of grief for both owners and service technicians. Hopefully this feature gets considerably upgraded soon, or do away with at all.

 

Mine ended up being diagnosed as a bad battery cell at the dealership and they are still waiting on getting a new AMG battery during covid. Honda responded to my complaint that the ability to disable the feature permanently was simply a product preference displeasure. I can't fully disagree, but it is disappointing coming from the Honda brand known for reliability and safety above flashiness, imo.

I've since driven a 2021 Pilot and the starting and gearing has been modified at some point to make the car react much faster to restarting. Pilots even just two years old aren't nearly as nimble off idle stop.

I encourage you to report your incident to the NHTSA as they only investigate upon learning of patterns, rather than individual incidents. You just fill out a form and they contact you if they have questions..

 

This sounds like our 2013 Pilot issue. If the battery is disconnected it seems the vehicle wants to be shut down after a short run I think due to the Key immobilizer. That combined with Honda not providing a way for a customer to do a oil reset on Mexican sold Hondas is why I think my next unit will be a Toyota. It would be an Electric but no electric car dealers on Sourh Mexico border.

 

Why in the world would you want to disconnect the battery while the car is still running? The key has nothing to do with the car shutting off randomly. If you try to turn the car on without the key then the car won't turn on, but the car won't shut off on its own. Also a quick Google search can help you with your oil reset issue. Here it is:

Oil Change Light Reset Honda Pilot 2013 2014 2015 - Reset Your Oil Change Light

Turn the ignition to the "RUN" position.Press the up and down arrows until "VEHICLE SETTINGS" is displayed and press the "SEL/RESET" button.Press the up and down arrows until "MAINTENANCE RESET" is displayed.Press the "SEL/RESET" button and the oil life reset mode will be displayed.Use the up...

resetoillight.com

Hope this helps!

 

Mine is at the dealership for this problem now. They got it to do it for them (thankfully). Checking battery now and could be the starter. We'll see what tomorrow brings. 2016 Pilot Touring, 75,000 miles. After we purchased it in 2017, we found out the Transmission had been replaced. Since then the Radiator and tubing and fuel injectors and pipes replaced. I generally take it out of the "idle stop" when I drive because it makes me anxious.

 

Resolution of the above problem post. Original battery replaced. Seems to have solved my problems! Drives like a new car!!!

 

Same vehicle, same issue (occasionally). My "solution" for some time has been to manually disable the auto-idle function, but I don't always remember to do it. It happened again yesterday at a busy intersection, so I finally filed a complaint with the NHTSA. The battery is testing just fine and I recently changed the engine on-off button (which I was sometimes having to push repeatedly for it to start the engine). The new engine on-off button is working fine but the problem with the car occasionally not re-starting after the automatic idle engages persists.

 

according to owner’s manual the auto idle stop function will automatically not activate in multiple situations...see below

I’m having the same issue and am going to try keeping climate controlled on Lo setting and low fan all the time (when warm outside) or Hi setting and low fan when cold outside. Has anyone else tested this out? Another option apparently is putting rear fan set to maximum speed all the time but not sure if that is a good workaround if passengers are in the back or if it makes the cabin unnecessarily noisy

 

This

When such problems occurs it is most commonly related to a fouled or failing spark plugs or intake fuel system in most cases. However, if we are to view the problem in a wider scope, then there way more possible causes and some of which includes the following.

DECREASED COMPRESSION



If such problems occur in most vehicles there are a range of things that could be faulty some of which includes

• Dirty Diesel Engine Filter
• Plugged Catalytic Converter
• Failing Idle Speed Control
• Vacuum System Leak
• Bad Airflow Sensor
• Failing Temperature Sensors
• Bad Airflow Sensor
• Failing Temperature Sensors
• Bad Airflow Sensor
• Failing Temperature Sensors
• Decreased Compression
• Intake/fuel System Leak
• Worn or Fouled Spark Plugs

Going through this whole items is somewhat hard and time consuming, so the best thing to do is to streamline the fault to two or three possible causes. From my years of experience, I happen to understand that mostly, when cars start at first then refuses to start a after idling for while or refuses to but keeps cranking for long, either spark plugs or intake fuel System is mostly the cause.

Yes either of these two, are usually the culprit behind such problems. Haven narrowed down what the could possibly be the problem, if you can I will advice you to take a look at the plugs they might be dirty especially if you are the type that does not regularly get your car serviced.

Not to quick

Cleaning the spark plugs is easy and straightforward if you already know the location of your vehicles spark plugs. All you need is the right set of tools and you are good to go.

 

1st post and you pick a 3 year old thread that the OP hasn't done anything in 2.5 years and they were only here for 5 posts total?

Unfortunately MOST people these days have very little knowledge of working on their own vehicles. They lease, don't go crazy on maintenance and then turn them in so they don't need to worry about it.

Anyway- welcome to Piloteers! Update your profile so it shows location when you hover over the flag. Add details of year, make, model, trim level so if you have any questions, other might be able to help also.

 

1st post and you pick a 3 year old thread that the OP hasn't done anything in 2.5 years and they were only here for 5 posts total?

Unfortunately MOST people these days have very little knowledge of working on their own vehicles. They lease, don't go crazy on maintenance and then turn them in so they don't need to worry about it.

Anyway- welcome to Piloteers! Update your profile so it shows location when you hover over the flag. Add details of year, make, model, trim level so if you have any questions, other might be able to help also.

OK thanks for the observation... I just felt I should say something and I actually forgot to check the post's date. As to my profile I will update everything today