The scope of investigation covering Honda’s recent engine failures has grown to more than 1 million vehicles.
Even though one of Honda’s strongest selling points over the past few decades has been unimpeachable engine reliability, it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing. That’s particularly true for as many as 1,410,806 owners of vehicles housing the automaker’s J-series 3.5-liter V6 engine. Even if you don’t own one of those vehicles, you’ve certainly seen them out in the wild, as this recently expanded National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation covers the company’s popular midsize SUV, truck and minivan models — some of which have experienced catastrophic engine failures.
More specifically, the safety agency’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received no fewer than 414 complaints of connecting rod bearing failures within Honda’s 3.5-liter V6 engines. The broader scope of this investigation covers the 2018-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 MDX, the 2016-2020 Honda Pilot, the 2018-2020 Odyssey minivan and the 2017-2019 Ridgeline pickup. And if you’re a bit confused by the “broader” scope or this problem sounds familiar, that’s because the ODI opened an initial probe (RQ24013) in November 2024. Back then, it was trying to determine whether Honda’s 2023 recall for the issue, covering some 248,999 vehicles, was appropriate in scope.
Engine failures occured outside the scope of Honda’s initial recall…but not necessarily due to the same defect.
Those earlier failures came under NHTSA scrutiny as part of the agency’s “Recall Query (RQ)” process. As part of its data analysis, the agency concluded there are enough connecting rod bearing failures happening outside the scope of Honda’s recall to warrant further investigation, as it is now doing.
However, it also says that “evidence gathered in conjunction with RQ24013 does not suggest this failure is caused by the same crankshaft manufacturing defect that is addressed by Honda in Recall 23V-751“. This latest investigation, per ODI documents, opened on August 20, 2025.
The earlier 2023 recall came about from a manufacturing error, wherein excessive and early wear of the crank pin ultimately caused the connecting rod bearings to fail. And from that point, complete engine failure follows close behind. Between manufacturer reports and the complaints ODI received, there have been at least 3,012 documented instances of J-series engine failures as part of this probe. Of those, there were 7 reports of crashes or fires, but no injuries or fatalities.
At time of writing, Honda has not issued a follow-up statement, nor has it launched a new recall campaign to address subsequent engine failures. The NHTSA probe does not guarantee the manufacturer will take any further action, but it is a bit more likely since the automaker faces added scrutiny from safety regulators and from impacted customers.
Whatever is causing the larger slate of failures, the issues doesn’t seem to impact the newer J35Y8 engine found in the latest Pilot and the Passport. That said, Honda has been facing software issues with those engines as well, so even the newer vehicles aren’t getting off scot free.
Weirdly, this investigation also omits the third-generation Passport, which uses the same 3.5-liter V6 as the other midsize vehicles in this recall, including the three-row Pilot. It also did not fall under Honda’s 2023 recall campaign.
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