2017 Honda Pilot Electrical System

Alarm randomly goes off when parked and locked without doors being open. Unplugged hood latch sensor and it stopped but security system is not armed (absence of blinking light).

Electrical System – Body Control Module The BCM in my 2017 Honda Pilot fails intermittently, causing the alarm to activate randomly, warning lights to flicker, and battery drain. The issue occurs without warning, even while parked or driving, creating distraction and reducing confidence in the vehicle’s safety. Numerous other owners have reported identical issues online and with NHTSA, indicating a systemic defect. Honda should issue a recall to address this problem.

I am reporting a recurring “Keyless Start System Problem” warning on my 2017 Honda Pilot. This is a known and widespread issue affecting 2016–2017 Honda Pilot models, as acknowledged by Honda in Service Bulletin 20-117, which identifies a defect in the push-button start/stop switch assembly. In my vehicle, the warning appears intermittently, and the engine sometimes fails to start or requires multiple attempts to engage the ignition. This is a serious reliability and safety concern, as the vehicle may not start when needed, potentially leaving drivers stranded or unable to respond in emergencies. Although Honda recognizes the defect in their service bulletin, they have not issued an official recall and refuse to repair or replace the part outside of warranty coverage. Many owners are being forced to pay out-of-pocket for a clearly documented manufacturer fault. I respectfully request that the NHTSA investigate this issue and consider requiring Honda to issue a recall or provide a no-cost remedy for all affected 2016–2017 Honda Pilot vehicles. Additional details: •Model: Honda Pilot •Year: 2017 •Issue: “Keyless Start System Problem” warning, intermittent failure to start

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while searching on Carfax ,it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 85,000, and at the time of searching on Carfax, it was discovered that the mileage was 184,753.

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that upon retrieving the Carfax report history of the vehicle, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 85,174; however, the Carfax report history displayed that the mileage was 184,073 on August 22, 2023, but was reported as 66,137 on November, 2023.

The contact owns a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that upon coming to a complete stop, the auto idle stop system activated, turning the vehicle off. While attempting to continue driving, the contact became aware that the system had failed to restart the vehicle. After several attempts, the vehicle was able to be manually restarted. After restarting, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. However, the dealer replaced the battery as a precaution. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 76,000.

After fixing a few of the recalls, the alarm on my 2017 Honda Pilot would start going off at random times. After several attempted fixes - replacing the key fob batteries, replacing the car battery - the issue has persisted and we noticed a clicking noise coming from the dash. Essentially the car would attempt to turn on without anyone near it. There are no warning messages present. Thus far, it has not replicated while driving. We have just taken the issue to the Honda dealer and they have come back with a $1400 charge to replace the Smart Power Control Module. In researching the issue, I've seen a number of owners have this issue with 2016-2018 Pilots and even seen some complaints in your database.

Issue where the headlights would come on intermittently while parked in garage, horn would start going off intermittently, car making noises while sitting parked every few minutes. Appears to be a common issue related to the Keyless Access Control Unit (a.k.a. Smart Power Control Unit).

The alarm kept going off randomly/intermittently. Honda recalled the control unit/alarm/tpms control unit on Honda Ridgeline bit not on Honda Pilot.

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while attempting to register the vehicle, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale on Facebook. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 76,000, and at the time of checking the Carfax, it was discovered that the mileage was 145,755.

My Pilot has stalled multiple times at a stop light when the auto stop feature restarts the engine. It seems to happen most frequently when the heat or air conditioning is running as if there is not enough power to restart the engine. I did have the service bulletin software update performed, which seemed to solve the issue initially. The vehicle has stalled twice in the last few months.

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2017 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while attempting to register the vehicle, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a private sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 144,8000 and at the time of registration, it was discovered that the mileage was 360,000.

Pilot will shut off at stop signs and red lights. Software update completed in 2023 but issue persists. I shut the “feature” off as soon as I turn car on. It has happened despite this. It may be draining the battery. On third battery in two years. Currently at dealership to complete next warranty update.

Honda has a bulletin 20-117 Warranty Extension: 2016-17 Pilot and 2017 Ridgeline Keyless Start System Error with DTC B12C5 That does not include my vehicle VIN but my vehicle is having this exact issue. This warranty extension needs to be extended to all vehicles with this year and model as the issue is obviously happening to them.

The engine start/stop intermittently fails to restart after idle stop. Yes, available for inspection upon request. I am unable to restart my car after an idle stop which causes danger by causing traffic jams and my vehicle to be idle on the road. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer or insurance company. There were no messages of failure.

My 2017 Honda Pilot touring edition stopped suddenly in a busy intersection causing major traffic back up and dangerous situations until police officers showed up to help. I called road service and it would ne over an hour before i could get help. I was unable to place push button in neutral by several means to get out of traffic and with officers help. No means to override shifter to neutral in cabin. It was discovered on this model you needed to manually place in neutral under the hood after removing several items air filter covers and locating a specail screw which required a special tool to override which none of is had. I am at the dealership now and they are telling me the same thing. Very dangerous situation for me others with same year

Auto shut down/ restart does not work properly. Car was recalled for this issue and a software update was installed. However, car still will not restart after auto shut off. On several occassions we had to use car stop button and wait several minutes before car would restart. This left us stranded at busy intersections in heavy traffic. Very dangerous situation.

Horn stopped working which prevented notice to other car at stop backing up, resulting in a crash. Vehicle started turning itself on in accessory mode, flashing lights, disabling keyless entry and starting the vehicle and smelled of an electrical fire, was unable to disconnect battery due to unpredictable turning on and off at vehicles will. Brought vehicle to dealer who confirmed that it was a bad smart entry main control unit module which caused the horn to stop working and the vehicle to turn itself on.

The Control Unit, Smart Power - Honda (38320-TG7-A52) part failed on the vehicle after 50k miles. The issue caused all the lights in the cabin to flicker/click and the alarm to go off intermittently. The alarm could not be shut off.

Went out to garage and started noticing headlights and running board lights were on, so assumed another household member had opened door to put something in the car which is not common. After this started occurring more often, asked and no one fessed up so started paying closer attention and even opening garage door just to check. After that, started noticing clicking sounds under the hood. Googling, saw online that others had similar issues. One day went to start car to head out and the car was dead. Called dealer and they said I must have left the car in accessory mode, but I wasn't so sure. AAA jumped the car with much effort. Next morning, car would not start again. This time, I remembered I had one of those jumper boxes and was able to start it, maybe because it was just one day difference. I know I was careful to make sure I fully stepped on brake to not leave it in accessory mode like dealer had said I probably did prior. Drove it around to charge the battery and went to store. When I came out, my car alarm was going off. When I got home, I left car out to see if alarm would go off and sure enough it did. I had also noticed that dashboard lights would flicker Honda symbol. This time didn't lock car and the alarm did not go off. Googled some more and luckily found on piloteers a post about replacing the control module around the driver side dash and considered myself lucky that my alarm was only going off when locked as others were saying they had to disable battery because would go off even when unlocked. Made an appt with Honda. I had a video of the car acting up in the garage and hoped that it would start in the morning. It did and showed Honda the video but of course they could not duplicate the issue but I told them I wanted the part replaced and hoped it worked b/c no way I could have unreliability continue. Said found a service bulletin with similar issue where they replaced 38320-TG7-A52 control unit so $850 later my issues are good

When the vehicle has been shut off, there is an electrical system problem that attempts to re-start the vehicle. the alarm goes off, headlights turn on, the dashboard lights up. This cycles over and over unless you open the hood or a door to "fool" the system. If you don't do this, then often the headlights and dash light will remain on overnight and the battery is dead the next morning. This prblem has been occurring for two years, but the dealr has not diagnosed it becasue it is intermittand and doesn't throw a code.

This appears to be a known problem with the Honda Pilot with the car auto start/stop feature. The power/engine cuts on and off when trying to start back up. The dealer replaced the battery but after around 6 months it has started again. Before the battery replacement, we had the issue happen on the freeway while driving. So, it wasn't just after the autostop but it happens more prevalently then. It happened at least 2 to 3 times on the freeway. After reading that some vehicles don't start back up, I am concerned that if this cuts out on the freeway and doesn't start back up, it could cause an accident on the freeway at high speeds. I urge you to push Honda to recall the vehicle to fix this issue before someone get hurt. The dealer tech doesn't know what to do to fix the problem. And, doesn't appear to be the battery as we had the new one checked again just to be sure.

Keyless Start System Problem indicator illuminated in driver information display. Error notification is displayed intermittently. Stays on for several drive cycles and then goes off for a bit only to come back on again. So far the car seems to start ok, not sure if this issue may eventually cause car to no longer start. This issues has been going on for a few months and will stay illuminated for weeks then suddenly turn off. Scheduled an appointment with local Honda dealership but the indicator was not showing the day of the appointment so we cancelled as do not want to pay for the repair. This is a Honda issue and they should repair regardless of the indicator being illuminated or not.

Vehicle sitting in driveway on hot day started alarm beeping, headlights and tail lights remained on and dashboard warning lights going on and off as if a poltergeist possesed. Car could not be locked. Depleted car battery resulting in new battery being required. New battery did not resolve problem Car drives without problems except some dashboard functions no longer visible Dealer states Smart Access Control Unit, part #38320-TG7-A32, is needed. Part is on backorder from Honda with changing dates of availability. Car is not safe to drive with children and subject to theft since it cannot be locked.

Beginning in February 2023, around 2AM, my car alarm would sound. Upon inspection, the vehicle dashboard was lit up and clicking relay sounds could be heard from the dashboard. In essence, the car was trying to "start" itself. When the attempted start reached a certain level, the car would recognize the absence of a key fob, and thus, the alarm would sound. To remedy this, I had to leave my key fob in the car - which did not prevent the attempted starts, but at least prevented the alarm from sounding. In the morning the battery was dead from the headlights and interior lights flashing all night. Additionally this was a safety issue as I had to leave keys in an unlocked car. The dealership cannot reproduce the problem, as it happens in the middle of the night (particularly when it is raining or very humid outside). I have found SEVERAL Honda forums with dozens of other Pilot owners who are experiencing the same problem. Dealerships have tried several remedies, all at the customer's expense, including battery replacements, START/STOP switch replacements, etc. The only thing that fixes the problem is replacement of the Control Unit-Smart Power ( 38320-TG7-A32 for my year/make). This part is $400 and labor at my dealership was estimated at $700-800. The part is on backorder. I can only assume it is because there are so many of us Pilot owners trying to get our hands on a working unit. The part is not part of a recall or warranty extension, and frankly, it should be. It is preposterous that so many customers have the same faulty part in 2016-2018 models and that Honda is not covering the cost of these repairs. In the mean time, I have had to disengage my hood sensor to prevent the alarm from sounding, which is a safety issue if the car is stolen. And periodically the battery drains out because the problem persists, lighting up the dashboard while the Smart Power unit tries to start the car all by itself.