2014 Honda Odyssey

I purchased this car used in 2018 from CarMax. I have done Honda dealer services ever since. Most recently in December 2021. On 4/6/22; I want to back out of my garage. The check engine light came on along with other lights. The car was vibrating. We turned the car off, back on, and it persisted. We eventually had it towed to a dealer. Yesterday, we were hit with nearly a $6,000 repair bill due to piston rings and oil getting into the spark plugs. The car only (approx) has 78,XXX miles on it. Upon further review, it appears that this is a known Honda issue with this engine (V6, automatic). There are service bulletins covering the 2011-13 model years. I am reading online that now newer model years are experiencing the same issue. It also reads like this issue will come back... I guess starting on the 2014 model years, Honda changed the piston rings. I don't believe this helped as I am seeing the same issue on my car. People have done the repair and it comes back. I contacted Honda corporate and I am waiting for a call back on a 'good will' case. I believe Honda is still using this engine.

I’m writing about a concerning experience I had with our 2014 Honda Odyssey EX-L vehicle. We’ve had this vehicle for about 5 years and haven’t had any issues until recently. On Monday, June 14th approximately at 5:30pm PDT we were starting to accelerate on the freeway onramp when our Honda vehicle stayed in a low gear. I was unable to accelerate and eventually the dashboard lights started to flash and the HondaLink system restarted while this was occurring. The instrument panel then displayed the words “Failure” and I proceed to the emergency shoulder of the freeway. Prior to this incident there were no indicators that there was an issue with the vehicle. After turning off the vehicle, I was no longer able to get the vehicle started and it had to be towed to our long-time auto repair shop. After they ran a diagnostic test and checked the vehicle, they said everything passed except for the battery which was still good prior to the incident. For safety, the battery was replaced and we drove the vehicle home on Tuesday, June 15th. The next day, June 16th, while my wife was running an errand and after returning to the car it turned over very “sluggishly”, the HondaLink system restarted again, and then it began losing electrical power as well. My wife didn’t want to take any chances with having the vehicle shut down again while driving and ended up having it towed again to our mechanic. The auto shop ran another diagnostic and thoroughly checked the vehicle and couldn’t find anything wrong right away. They had to do some additional troubleshooting and found that the alternator was defective even though the Honda diagnostics didn’t report any issues with the alternator. The alternator was replaced and we haven’t experienced any additional issues to date. This incident is extremally concerning as the outcome could have been worse or tragic if this would have occurred while driving at a higher rate of speed on the road or freeway. Dashcam - https://youtu.be/5-Za-Mf5BdI

I WAS PULLING INTO A DRIVE THROUGH ON DECEMBER 6, 2020. AS I APPLIED THE BRAKE (I DRIVE WITH ONE FOOT - MY RIGHT FOOT) WITH MY RIGHT FOOT, THE ENGINE REVVED UP AND THE VAN MOVED ABOUT 5 FEET FORWARD AS I INCREASED THE BRAKE PEDAL PRESSURE. I THEN SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL. THE ENGINE WENT TO RED LINE. I PUSHED THE POWER BUTTON. NO ONE WAS INJURED, AND THE VEHICLE DIDN'T TOUCH ANYTHING AS THE DRIVETHROUGH AHEAD OF ME WAS EMPTY. THE DAY BEFORE, THE LDW AND FCW FAIL LIGHT CAME ON IN THE DASHBOARD WHILE MY WIFE WAS DRIVING. WE HAVE TAKEN THE VAN TO THE LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP FOR A CHECKOUT / DIAGNOSTICS OF WHAT HAPPENED. HONDA HAS OPENED A CASE ON THIS FOR US: CASE IS 11754879. NO PICTURES OR VIDEO AVAILABLE, UNFORTUNATELY, ALTHOUGH I AM CHECKING WITH FADI'S AT 12360 WESTHEIMER ROAD 77077.

I WAS DRIVING 70MPH ON AN INTERSTATE. THE BATTERY LIGHT CAME ON. THERE WAS NO IMMEDIATE CHANGE IN VEHICLE PERFORMANCE AND THERE WERE NO ODORS PRESENT SO I CONTINUED DRIVING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES TOWARDS THE NEXT EXIT. ABOUT .5MI AWAY FROM THE EXIT, THE ABS, FCW, LDW, AND BRAKE LIGHTS CAME ON, THE AIR CONDITIONER AND CONSOLE TURNED OFF, AND THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION DISENGAGED. THIS PREVENTED THE VEHICLE FROM BEING ABLE TO ACCELERATE. THE ENTIRE VEHICLE ESSENTIALLY LOST POWER. THE LOCAL DEALER DIAGNOSED THE ISSUE AS AN OIL LEAK IN THE SPOOL VALVE THAT THEN DESTROYED THE ALTERNATOR AND FRIED THE BATTERY. THE MANUFACTURER (HONDA) RECENTY ISSUED TSB 20-023 DETAILING THE PROBLEM AND REPAIR PROCEDURE, BUT IT WAS LIMITED TO THE SOURCE OF THE LEAK, NOT ANY OF THE OTHER COMPONENTS THAT WERE DAMAGED. MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE INCIDENT LEADS ME TO BELIEVE A FIRE COULD HAVE BROKEN OUT DUE TO THE LOCATION OF THE LEAK ONTO THE OTHER ENGINE COMPONENTS.

(2014 HONDA ODYSSEY EX-L). ON FRI, 02-21-2020, 3:47PM, I WAS SLOWING TO STOP AT INTERSECTION. BEFORE COMING TO COMPLETE STOP, ENGINE BEGAN TO SHUDDER, BUT DID NOT COMPLETELY STALL/STOP, AND THE MIL INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. ENGINE CONTINUED TO SHUDDER WHILE IDLING AT COMPLETE STOP. I GENTLY APPLIED ACCELERATION TO 10-MPH. ENGINE CONTINUED TO SHUDDER AS I CONTINUED AND STOPPED AT ANOTHER TRAFFIC LIGHT. AGAIN I GENTLY APPLIED ACCELERATION. THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO SHUDDER UNTIL I FOUND A SAFE PLACE TO PARK AND SWITCHED IT OFF. THE ENGINE SHUDDERED AT A CONSISTENT LEVEL FOR A TOTAL OF ABOUT 8-MINUTES. I CALLED MY LOCAL HONDA SERVICE DEPT TO ASK ABOUT POSSIBLE CAUSES AND IF THE VEHICLE WAS SAFE TO DRIVE. THE SERVICE REP ASKED ME ABOUT A PREVIOUS REPAIR NOTED ON HIS COMPUTER FOR AN ISSUE THE VAN HAD REGARDING THE REPLACEMENT OF AN OIL SENSOR IN OCTOBER 2019, AND IF IT WAS RELATED. I TOLD HIM I DIDN'T KNOW. SINCE HE COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM, HE ADVISED ME NOT TO START THE ENGINE AND DRIVE BECAUSE IT COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE MORE DAMAGE, AND THE VEHICLE WAS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. THEN I CALLED ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE AND MY VAN WAS TAKEN TO MY HONDA SERVICE DEPT. ON THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, A SERVICE REP CALLED ME WITH THE DIAGNOSIS CODE P0303, WHICH HE SAID INDICATES THAT A MISFIRE WAS DETECTED IN THE #3 CYLINDER. THE REP SAID THAT THIS ISSUE ALLOWED OIL TO PASS BY THE MULTIPLE OIL RINGS ON THE PISTON INTO THE CHAMBER AND FOULED THE SPARK PLUG. HE TOLD ME THAT THIS ISSUE WAS NOT COVERED BY THE WARRANTY. THE SERVICE REP QUOTED $4,420.00 TO REPAIR OBDII CODE P0303. I ASKED HIM IF THE MALFUNCTION COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. THE SERVICE REP SAID THAT THIS PROBLEM IS NOT A RESULT OF ANY DRIVER ACTION OR LACK OF MAINTENANCE. HE SAID THAT HONDA IS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND I SHOULD CALL AMERICAN HONDA AUTOMOBILES (800-999-1009).

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 HONDA ODYSSEY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE DECELERATED WHILE DRIVING AND THE ENGINE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED, WHICH MEANT THAT THE FCW AND LDW SYSTEMS FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE SPARK PLUG NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND THE CYLINDER WAS LEAKING OIL, WHICH CAUSED THE SPARK PLUG FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED ON THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MECHANIC CALLED THE DEALER AND WAS INFORMED THAT THE 2013 MODELS WERE EXPERIENCING THE SAME FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURES AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL AND THAT THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE WAS PROVIDED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 216,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 HONDA ODYSSEY. WHILE DRIVING, THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND THE SPARK PLUGS WERE CHANGED. THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO ANOTHER INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE NUMBER ONE SPARK PLUG WAS COVERED WITH OIL AND CHANGED, THE OIL WAS REFILLED TO THE PROPER LEVEL, AND ANOTHER SPARK PLUG WAS REPLACED. THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SCOTT HONDA OF WEST CHESTER (706 AUTOPARK BLVD, WEST CHESTER, PA 19382) WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT IT WOULD COST OVER $3,000 TO REPLACE THE PISTON RINGS AND CLEAN THE PISTONS. THERE WAS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT COVERED EARLIER MODELS, BUT THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 103,000.

2014 HONDA ODYSSEY WHICH IS EXPERIENCE THE SAME ISSUE AS THE 2013 HONDA ODYSSEY WHERE PISTON RING 1 -4 WITH LEAK OIL AND FOUL THE SPARK PLUGS. WHEN THIS OCCURS THE ENGINE MISFIRES AND VIBRATES SIGNIFICANTLY AND REDUCES DRIVABILITY. DUE TO THE WARRANTY EXTENSION ON PRIOR YEARS THIS APPEARS TO BE A KNOWN DESIGN DEFECT FOR THIS MODEL AND ENGINE BUT NOT FOR THIS MODEL YEAR. WHEN THE ISSUE HAS MANIFESTED IT HAS BEEN WHEN DRIVING BOTH TIMES HAS BEEN ON A CITY STREET. ESTIMATES FOR REPAIR ARE $4,200.