There are 6 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2018 Honda Ridgelinein NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The truck has a hard/rough shifting between 2nd and 3rd gear in an automatic transmission. No dash light indicating anything wrong with the engine or the transmission.
We were traveling up the freeway just like any other day. Out of nowhere the low oil light flashed and next thing we know a loud clanking started to happen. We were able to make it to the exit as it was right there thankfully because once we stopped I shut the engine off got out and checked the oil and it was full. I tried to start it again, it started but turned it off fast because the noise it was making was horrible. I’ve contacted Honda regarding this issue because the Ridgeline from 2017 and 2019 are covered under a recall but the can’t explain why the 2018 is exempt from the recall seeing it’s the same engine.
The transmission lost power on the highway. Whit smoke poured out from under/behind the vehicle making it difficult for drivers on the highway to see the road. The vehicle lost power and I costed three lanes to the right to get the vehicle off the highway. Transmission fluid was running out under the vehicle. A tow truck was called to get the vehicle removed from highway.
The power train vibrates at certain speeds (Between 23mph to 37mph) as if it doesn't know which gear it should be in. It seems like it's in a higher gear when it's at a low speed. Additionally, sometimes when at highway speed I'll get a "transmission problem" warning. The drive train would still drive normally and it'll shift through gears with no problem. But the drive train indicator on the dashboard will be flashing and not showing which gear I'm at, (weather I'm in drive or reverse or neutral).
JUST OUT OF THE BLUE , MY 2018 RIDGELINE RTL-E , THE ENGINE IS REVVING BETWEEN 4TH AND 5TH GEAR. I HAVE DRIVEN THIS FOR A YEAR WITH NO ISSUES. NOW, 19,000 MILES IN AND IT LIKE REVS TO 3000 RPM AND THEN GRABS 5TH GEAR. IT ACTUALLY PULLS YOU FORWARD WHEN IT DOES. A LITTLE SCARY. I WILL CONTACT GARY SMITH HONDA IN FWB FLORIDA TOMORROW TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING. I HAVE RESEARCHED AND YES OTHERS HAVE HAD THIS SAME ISSUE. A LOT OF OTHERS. SHOULDN'T THIS BE NOTED IN A HONDA LOG SOMEWHERE? I HOPE THEY CAN FIX THIS.
I HAD A TRANS LITE ON THE DASH AND OVERHEATING ISSUES IN THE (6 SPEED) TRANSMISSION AT ABOUT 61000 MILES. THE ISSUE STARTED WITH A JUDDERING VIBRATION THAT WAS REPORTED TO THE DEALER AT 39000 MILES. THEN I NOTICED INCREASED VIBRATION FROM THE TORQUE CONVERTER(JUDDERING) UP UNTIL THE TRANS INDICATED A CODE FOR THE CLUTCHES NOT LOCKING UP, WHICH CAUSES OVERHEATING. I NURSED THIS UNTIL I TOOK IT TO MANCHESTER HONDA FOR REPAIR. THEY SAID IF THIS IS A JUDDERING PROBLEM, IT WOULD BE COVERED UNDER THE WARRENTY UNTIL 80K MILES. THEY CHANGED THE FLUID AND DID A SOFTWARE UPDATE. THIS UPDATE CHANGED THE SHIFT POINTS WHERE THE LACK OF LOCKUP BECAME WORSE. I ALSO NOTICED THE GAS MILEAGE WENT DOWN ABOUT 25%.IT WAS SO BAD THAT THE TRANS LIGHT WENT ON AGAIN THE NEXT DAY AFTER THE REPAIR. THEY CLAIMED THAT WITH THE FLUID CHANGE AND SOFTWARE UPDATE, THAT EVERYTHING WAS OK. DURING THIS DEBACLE, I CALLED HONDA CUSTOMER SERVICE SEVERAL TIMES AND GOT NO HELP. THEY INSISTED THAT THIS TRUCK DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR THE TSB ISSUED FOR THE 17'S AND EARLIER. THIS OVERHEATING ISSUE HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED ON THE OWNERS FORUM FOR ALL THE EARLIER MODELS AS WELL AS THE 2018'S AND 2019'S. NOW WITH THE TRANS NEARLY NON-FUNCTIONAL, I TOOK THE TRUCK TO LIBERTY HONDA WHERE THEY TOLD ME THE TORQUE CONVERTER NEEDS REPLACEMENT. I KNEW THAT THE CONVERTER FAILED, BUT THEY REFUSED TO COVER ANYTHING UNDER WARRANTY. CAN YOU HELP WITH THIS SITUATION PLEASE?
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026