Millions of Hondas Under Federal Investigation for Faulty Engines

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into 1.4 million Honda and Acura vehicles. The agency’s Office of Defects Investigation has received hundreds of reports of connecting rod bearing failures in the 3.5-liter V-6 engine, and this latest inquiry might uncover a new manufacturing defect.

The affected cars include the 2018-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 Acura MDX, 2016-2020 Honda Pilot, 2018-2020 Honda Odyssey, and 2017-2019 Honda Ridgeline models.

According to the ODI report, the office opened its investigation on August 20. It has received 414 reports of bearing failures, while Honda has received nearly 2,600. The evidence gathered so far suggests that a different crankshaft manufacturing defect is causing these failures than the one for which Honda issued a recall in 2023.

The automaker previously had to recall nearly 250,000 Honda and Acura vehicles due to a defect that could cause premature wear on the connecting rod bearing, potentially leading to an engine seizure. The issue was related to out-of-spec crank pins. The 2023 recall affected the same models as this new one, but different model years. For example, the previous recall affected 2015-2020 TLXs and 2016 Ridgelines.

The agency had opened a Recall Query into this 2023 recall last November after receiving 173 reports of additional failing connecting rod bearings in the 3.5-liter V-6 engine. The reports of failures had “characteristics consistent with those addressed in recall 23V-751, but are out of the scope of the recall.”

The ODI is now opening a Preliminary Evaluation to “further evaluate the scope and severity of the potential problem and to fully assess the potential safety-related issues,” which appears unrelated to the previous one.

In the closing report looking into the 2023 recall, the agency wrote, “A thorough analysis of all available data from Honda has not indicated that the same manufacturing defect exists in the out-of-scope engines as the engines recalled by 23V-751.”

That means Honda could be facing another massive recall in the coming months, which has the potential to affect over a million vehicles. But we’ll have to wait until NHTSA completes its latest investigation.