Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 02/25/2013 | 80702 | ||
| Found out radiator/transmission on honda ridgeline has been having catastrophic failures due to transmission line failure. this issue will cause engine failure that could result in wrecks due to the vilonet nature of this failure. this would cause immediate panic to my pregnant wife and soon to be newborn baby girl. honda is aware of the faulty connection on radiator that causes this issue and still hasn't issued recall. i believe they are acting negligently towards fixing this issue. come to find out nissan had a similar issue with their pathfinder and has since performed a voluntary radiator assembly program (http://www.nissanassist.com/web/radiator/faqs.php?menu=22). honda also directed us to contact nhtsa and i am hopeful that the fine staff at nhtsa will take a close look at this issue with honda and come to a decision to help consumers take preventative measures. thank you for taking time to read this and i hope you and your family do not have to experience this type of issue. | |||
| 06/06/2012 | 90000 | 1 | |
| The cooling line for the transmission where it enters the bottom of the radiator failed due to galvanic corrosion. this cause a large immediate loss of transmission fluid. *tr | |||
| 06/06/2012 | 90000 | ||
| The cooling line for the transmission where it enters the bottom of the radiator failed due to galvanic corrosion. this cause a large immediate loss of transmission fluid. | |||
| 01/01/2013 | 1 | ||
| There is a design flaw in the washer used at the transmission fluid junctions in the radiator. the fittings and washer are made of dissimilar metals. as a result, the steel washer used as a spacer rusts and corrodes, then swells and forcibly pulls the threads from their fittings. a catastrophic loss of fluids including an exchange of transmission fluid and engine coolant take place, rendering the vehicle not only inoperable but also perhaps significantly damaged. these fittings fail at random with no obvious pattern or environmental cause. the normal underbody rust does not seem to correlate with this failure. i have done substantial research on the internet regarding this issue, and many others report this type of failure and have come to the same conclusion. i feel this is a significant safety issue with this vehicle, as such a dramatic and immediate loss of fluid could result in engine failure, overheating, and transmission failure. if the engine were to fail and the vehicle were traveling at speed, a loss of power steering and power assisted braking would occur. additionally, finding a location to pull off of the road presents a safety hazard in itself. this issue could be easily resolved by ceasing to use dissimilar metals in the radiator fittings. as far as i know, this same design is being applied to all honda ridgeline model years including those currently in production. although i cannot verify this, i have heard that this particular part in the 2009 model year remained unmodified. this is an issue that must be addressed, as there are more and more failures of this type occurring. it is simply a matter of time before a serious injury occurs that could have been completely preventable. *tr | |||
| 01/01/2013 | |||
| There is a design flaw in the washer used at the transmission fluid junctions in the radiator. the fittings and washer are made of dissimilar metals. as a result, the steel washer used as a spacer rusts and corrodes, then swells and forcibly pulls the threads from their fittings. a catastrophic loss of fluids including an exchange of transmission fluid and engine coolant take place, rendering the vehicle not only inoperable but also perhaps significantly damaged. these fittings fail at random with no obvious pattern or environmental cause. the normal underbody rust does not seem to correlate with this failure. i have done substantial research on the internet regarding this issue, and many others report this type of failure and have come to the same conclusion. i feel this is a significant safety issue with this vehicle, as such a dramatic and immediate loss of fluid could result in engine failure, overheating, and transmission failure. if the engine were to fail and the vehicle were traveling at speed, a loss of power steering and power assisted braking would occur. additionally, finding a location to pull off of the road presents a safety hazard in itself. this issue could be easily resolved by ceasing to use dissimilar metals in the radiator fittings. as far as i know, this same design is being applied to all honda ridgeline model years including those currently in production. although i cannot verify this, i have heard that this particular part in the 2009 model year remained unmodified. this is an issue that must be addressed, as there are more and more failures of this type occurring. it is simply a matter of time before a serious injury occurs that could have been completely preventable. | |||
| 06/06/2012 | 90000 | ||
| The cooling line for the transmission where it enters the bottom of the radiator failed due to galvanic corrosion. this cause a large immediate loss of transmission fluid. | |||
| 01/01/2013 | |||
| There is a design flaw in the washer used at the transmission fluid junctions in the radiator. the fittings and washer are made of dissimilar metals. as a result, the steel washer used as a spacer rusts and corrodes, then swells and forcibly pulls the threads from their fittings. a catastrophic loss of fluids including an exchange of transmission fluid and engine coolant take place, rendering the vehicle not only inoperable but also perhaps significantly damaged. these fittings fail at random with no obvious pattern or environmental cause. the normal underbody rust does not seem to correlate with this failure. i have done substantial research on the internet regarding this issue, and many others report this type of failure and have come to the same conclusion. i feel this is a significant safety issue with this vehicle, as such a dramatic and immediate loss of fluid could result in engine failure, overheating, and transmission failure. if the engine were to fail and the vehicle were traveling at speed, a loss of power steering and power assisted braking would occur. additionally, finding a location to pull off of the road presents a safety hazard in itself. this issue could be easily resolved by ceasing to use dissimilar metals in the radiator fittings. as far as i know, this same design is being applied to all honda ridgeline model years including those currently in production. although i cannot verify this, i have heard that this particular part in the 2009 model year remained unmodified. this is an issue that must be addressed, as there are more and more failures of this type occurring. it is simply a matter of time before a serious injury occurs that could have been completely preventable. | |||
| 06/06/2012 | 90000 | ||
| The cooling line for the transmission where it enters the bottom of the radiator failed due to galvanic corrosion. this cause a large immediate loss of transmission fluid. | |||
| 01/01/2013 | |||
| There is a design flaw in the washer used at the transmission fluid junctions in the radiator. the fittings and washer are made of dissimilar metals. as a result, the steel washer used as a spacer rusts and corrodes, then swells and forcibly pulls the threads from their fittings. a catastrophic loss of fluids including an exchange of transmission fluid and engine coolant take place, rendering the vehicle not only inoperable but also perhaps significantly damaged. these fittings fail at random with no obvious pattern or environmental cause. the normal underbody rust does not seem to correlate with this failure. i have done substantial research on the internet regarding this issue, and many others report this type of failure and have come to the same conclusion. i feel this is a significant safety issue with this vehicle, as such a dramatic and immediate loss of fluid could result in engine failure, overheating, and transmission failure. if the engine were to fail and the vehicle were traveling at speed, a loss of power steering and power assisted braking would occur. additionally, finding a location to pull off of the road presents a safety hazard in itself. this issue could be easily resolved by ceasing to use dissimilar metals in the radiator fittings. as far as i know, this same design is being applied to all honda ridgeline model years including those currently in production. although i cannot verify this, i have heard that this particular part in the 2009 model year remained unmodified. this is an issue that must be addressed, as there are more and more failures of this type occurring. it is simply a matter of time before a serious injury occurs that could have been completely preventable. | |||
| 09/18/2012 | 91500 | 1 | |
| Transmission fluid oil cooler line ejects from radiator as a result of dissimilar metal corrosion...a steel washer is used that becomes the catalyst for the failure. transmission fluid loss occurs that leads to loss of acceleration of vehicle, putting vehicle occupants in danger. *tr | |||
| 09/18/2012 | 91500 | ||
| Transmission fluid oil cooler line ejects from radiator as a result of of dissimilar metal corrosion...a steel washer is used that becomes the catalyst for the failure. transmission fluid loss occurs that leads to loss of acceleration of vehicle, putting vehicle occupants in danger. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 05/01/2009 | 60000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2006 honda rigdeline. the contact stated that the vehicle shuts off without warning. the dealer made two attempts to diagnose the failure. the electrical system was checked and the battery was replaced; however, the vehicle continued to shut off without warning. the manufacture was notified who advised the contact to file a complaint with nhtsa. the vehicle is at an authorized dealer awaiting for diagnostic testing. the current mileage was approximately 68,000. the failure mileage was approximately 60,000. bw | |||
| 08/02/2009 | 87000 | 1 | |
| I was traveling from houston to las vegas via interstate 10. about 100 miles from el paso, i heard a loud noise, boom, and we stopped to investigate what we saw what had happened to my truck i was totally shocked. the first thought came to our mind was, we could have gotten killed, the drive shaft snapped in half while traveling at the highway speed. based on the words of mechanic abel of kelly grimsley honda in odessa texas, with 14 years of experience, he has never seen anything like it. no repair has been done yet since the cost is approximately $5600. this is an obvious defect and we were lucky to be alive. i have photos if needed. *tr | |||
| 01/30/2006 | 150 | 121 | |
| Honda ridgeline 2006 has considerable hesitation when accelerating from under 10 mph, especially when turning. i was leaving the parking lot of convenience store rolling at about 5 mph and then tried to accelerate out into faster moving traffic. vehicle hesitated for about 3 seconds which put me in a position where cars on the roadway i was entering had to brake. hesitation is constant and consistent since purchase of the truck. now i currently have 2000 miles on vehicle. called honda and they say it's normal for the system of drive by wire. i have another family member with same vehicle, he has no hesitation. honda refuses to fix or at least look into my problem as they continue to say it's normal. *jb | |||
| 02/02/2006 | 150 | 40 | 01/27/2006 |
| Hesitation occurs consistently when speed is under 10 mph and then try to accelerate. was leaving parking lot of convenience store rolling to exit stepped on the gas to get into traffic and truck hesitated for 2-3 seconds putting me into traffic with no power for those 2-3 seconds. traffic had to brake for me. i believe this is a safety factor to be considered especially since i have two children usually with me. i had called honda about this problem and they were familiar with it. if they were familiar why didn't they inform me of that before i spent $32,000 for the vehicle. when i test drove the truck i did not feel this hesitation as it started after i had 150 miles on it. they tell me it's drive by wire or something of this nature and basically have to live with it. *jb | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | |||
| 02/02/2006 | 150 | 40 | 01/27/2006 |
| Hesitation occurs consistently when speed is under 10 mph and then try to accelerate. was leaving parking lot of convenience store rolling to exit stepped on the gas to get into traffic and truck hesitated for 2-3 seconds putting me into traffic with no power for those 2-3 seconds. traffic had to brake for me. i believe this is a safety factor to be considered especially since i have two children usually with me. i had called honda about this problem and they were familiar with it. if they were familiar why didn't they inform me of that before i spent $32,000 for the vehicle. when i test drove the truck i did not feel this hesitation as it started after i had 150 miles on it. they tell me it's drive by wire or something of this nature and basically have to live with it. *jb | |||