2026 Honda Pilot

The numbers

Complaints

12

Received Jun 2026 to Oct 2026

Last 3 months

10

About 1 expected from this vehicle's own history

Compared with other vehicles

131.5×

How much more often this vehicle's complaints from the last 24 months are about this problem than other vehicles' complaints are

Estimated recall chance

18%

Model's estimate that a recall covering this problem follows within 24 months (rank 6 of 37,834 vehicle-problem pairs)

Reported in these complaints: 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, 0 deaths. An AI check found 12 of the 12 recent complaints are about this problem on this vehicle.

What owners report

Twelve complaints about the 2026 Pilot, received between June and October 2026, describe a clicking, ticking or rattling noise when the steering wheel is turned. Two of them are near-identical filings from the same owner, which leaves 11 separate owners. The noise starts early in ownership. Owners describe it as beginning after a couple hundred miles, at about 1,200 miles, or from purchase. Owners and dealers point most often to the clock spring (also called the cable reel), the coiled electrical connector behind the steering wheel. Two owners describe the same clock-spring repair failing again, and a third repeats what others have told them about the same thing. Two owners also report a stiff or binding wheel. None of the complaints reports a crash, injury, fire, tow, loss of steering, airbag warning or airbag failure. Ten complaints in the last three months, against about one expected, make this a sharp surge for a new model year. The same complaint also appears on 2022–2025 Pilots (3, 5, 8 and 13 complaints) and on several other current Hondas, including the Prologue, CR-V and Accord. That suggests a wider Honda steering-column noise issue rather than something new to the 2026 model. No recall covers it. The only recall for this vehicle, 26V424000, concerns rear subframe bolts and is unrelated. The pattern is consistent, but most complaints are short and describe only the noise. Whether a part is wearing or failing is not established.

How it fails

The noise is a click, tick or 'spring on a gear' sound from the steering column, behind the airbag area. It happens when the wheel is turned, especially at low speed and toward full lock. It starts early in ownership, on vehicles with low mileage. In some cases the wheel feels stiff or binds. Dealer repairs described are adjusting the column, replacing the clock spring, and wrapping it in felt tape. The noise is reported to come back within days to a few hundred miles after these repairs. One owner suspects the steering rack instead.

Safety risk

So far the reported effect is noise, and in some cases a stiff or binding wheel. No crash, injury or loss of steering control is reported. The possible concern is that the clock spring carries the electrical connection to the driver's airbag, horn and steering-wheel controls. If a binding clock spring wore through, it could disable those functions. No complaint reports that this has happened: there are no airbag warning lights, horn failures or loss of wheel controls. The reported stiffness could make low-speed steering harder.

Findings and the complaints behind them

1. Separate owners describe the same symptom: clicking from the steering wheel or column when turning, often at low speed or full lock.

   NHTSA complaint numbers: 11772265, 11772274, 11769005, 11766276, 11764493, 11761677, 11761451, 11760496, 11759960

2. Dealer clock-spring (cable reel) replacements reportedly did not fix the noise. One owner had the clock spring replaced twice and wrapped in felt tape, and the clicking returned each time. Another owner had the column adjusted, then the cable reel replaced, and the click returned by about 3,847 miles. A third owner repeats reports from others that the noise came back after clock-spring replacement.

   NHTSA complaint numbers: 11766069, 11744903, 11745482, 11772274

3. The noise appears early in ownership. Owners say it began after a couple hundred miles, at about 1,200 miles, or from purchase. Another owner's vehicle had about 300 miles when the complaint was filed. A further owner first took the vehicle to the dealer for the noise at about 2,078 miles.

   NHTSA complaint numbers: 11766069, 11772274, 11769005, 11759960, 11744903

4. Two owners report stiffness or binding along with the clicking. One says the dealer acknowledged other complaints but had no fix.

   NHTSA complaint numbers: 11769005, 11744903

5. Two filings tell the same story (same trim, mileage, dealer visits and part number) and appear to be from one owner. That leaves 11 owners, not 12.

   NHTSA complaint numbers: 11744903, 11745482

6. One complaint also raises unrelated transmission and air-conditioning problems. Its steering description (a 'loose marbles' rattle) matches the others, though that owner suspects the steering rack.

   NHTSA complaint number: 11759960

Recalls checked

• 26V424000Looked at, unrelated

  Covers 2026 Pilot and Passport rear subframe bolts that may have been tightened improperly. It is a rear suspension and frame issue, not steering-column noise.

• 10V640000Looked at, unrelated

  Recall of 2010–2011 Accord V6 and 2011 Pilot for improperly tightened front damper bracket bolts and spindle nuts. It is a different mechanism from clock-spring or column noise and is listed only as a general steering precedent.

• 12V548000Looked at, unrelated

  Recall of 2012 Civic for an incorrect steering column assembly. It shows a precedent for steering-column recalls but does not apply to this vehicle.

Open questions

• Is the clock spring (cable reel) the confirmed source of the noise, or is it the steering rack or column? Owners and dealers give different answers.
• Has any affected vehicle shown an airbag warning light, horn failure or loss of steering-wheel controls, which would show the clock spring is actually being damaged?
• Is this the same steering noise reported on 2022–2025 Pilots and other current Hondas (Prologue, CR-V, Accord), pointing to a shared part?
• Has Honda issued a service bulletin or revised clock-spring part, given reports that replacement parts click right away?
• How common is the stiff or binding steering that two owners report alongside the noise?