KnownCarProblems2005 Honda Element Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 159 complaints with NHTSA about the 2005 Honda Element, most often about the air bags (48% of complaints, typically around 80,000 miles). It is the 3rd most complained-about Element model year since 2000 and has 7 recalls.
Most common 2005 Honda Element problems
Air bags
76 complaints · 48%Half of these problems showed up before 80,000 miles. Parts named most often: side/window, frontal.
Driver seat belt buckle switch for SRS air bag system shuts off SRS system - red warning light comes on. This has happened several times after resetting, system may work okay for several weeks. Repair shop says common problem seen may times . Cost to fix $350+.
I was leaving work, driving about 10 miles an hour and without warning there was a huge boom in my ear, powder was in the air, the left side of my face was numb (later, red from heated air), my left side was shoved forward and my left ear was ringing. My side impact airbag went off as I was taking a left turn! I…
Electrical
16 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 80,500 miles. Parts named most often: wiring, 12v/24v/48v battery, horn, ignition.
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Element. While the vehicle was parked the contact turned the ignition on and noticed smoke and heard a cracking sound coming from the master power window switch on the front drivers side door. The smoke was followed by a small flame. The fire extinguished on its own and caused the door…
Driver seat belt buckle switch for SRS air bag system shuts off SRS system - red warning light comes on. This has happened several times after resetting, system may work okay for several weeks. Repair shop says common problem seen may times . Cost to fix $350+.
Visibility and wipers
13 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 15,000 miles. Parts named most often: windshield, power window devices and controls.
Tl contact owns a 2005 Honda Element. While driving 65 MPH,the contact observed a crack in the front windshield 7 or 8 months after the vehicle was purchased. The vehicle was purchased in 10/2005. The current mileage was 35,000 ,and the failure mileage was 15,000. The windshield has not been repaired.
Windshield cracked after using defroster. Honda dealer in albany, ny said it was cracked due to a tiny nick in the glass resulting from a stone.
Engine
13 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 70,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, cooling system.
The bolts to the exhaust flanges and flanges before and after the catalytic converter are totally rusted. The vehicle has been serviced according to the maintenance schedule. I am concerned that if the bolts break this may cause the rear of the car to become airborne . Furthermore the rusting of the bolts and flanges…
Tl contact owns a 2005 Honda Element. The contact stated that the vehicle would stall while driving various speeds. There were no warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle has not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were less than 68,800.
Suspension
13 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 86,000 miles. Parts named most often: rear.
The bushing that holds the left rear axel to the frame of my 2005 Honda Element fell apart and dropped the axel causing damage to the tire and wheel axel and other parts. Looking at the bushing after the fact, I can see where the two 1" stub bolts have worn the bushing in a oblong hole causing the bushing to fail. I…
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Element. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle began to tilt sideways while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle became inoperable. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled off to the shoulder of the roadway. Upon inspection of the…
Seats
12 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 74,000 miles.
2005 Honda Element. Front seat loose. Was told by mechanic that a part was holding the front driver seat that is welded has some problem where it came loose. The front driver seat literally rocks back and forth. When discussed with dealership, they did say "it is not wear and tear" and that it was a mechanical problem.
I was driving to work on march 26, 2011 on the freeway and it was early and a clear day. I was on the highway and out of no where I heard a loud explosion sound and was completely freaked out. My right ear was ringing and I started to smell smoke. I looked to my right side and the passenger side airbag had exploded…
Transmission
9 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 160,000 miles. Parts named most often: manual transmission, automatic transmission.
Car keeps stalling. In 2011 car noted to be recalled never revived notice car doing exactly what recalls says parts replaced so far by dealer o2 sensor pcv valve and bearing I had to pay for .
The car will stall when in motion and turning the steering wheel to make a turn. The car will stall at a stop sign , the car will stall and brake, fuel and brake lights wil come on but battery is fine and lights stay on. This is been an ongoing problem Honda will not honor the recall for the 2005 stalling auto…
Body and structure
8 complaints · 5%Parts named most often: body.
I was driving around 12:15 in am, a vehicle from right came out of street and I could not avoid hitting the car. My Honda hit the car, described as a t bone hit. I had no passengers,and was wearing seat belt. My passenger side front air bag activated, my driver side air bag did not activate. My Honda car had severe…
The contact owns a 2005 Honda Element. When the vehicle was parked on an incline, it independently rolled backwards without warning. As a result, the vehicle failed to shift out of the park position. The contact stated that the ignition key failed to start the vehicle without warning. The contact also stated that the…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2005 Honda Element recalls
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began august 12, 2019. Owners may contact honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are q5a and y58.
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling certain 2003 acura 3.2cl, 2002-2003 3.2tl, 2003-2006 mdx, 2001-2007 honda accord, 2001-2005 civic, 2003-2005 civic hybrid, 2001-2005 civic gx ngv, 2002-2006 cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2002-2004 odyssey, 2003-2008 pilot and 2006 ridgeline vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with driver frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal airbag inflator, free of charge. The recall began august 12, 2019. Owners may contact honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are e5d and x5c.
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling certain 2003-2006 acura mdx, 2005-2012 rl, 2003-2007 honda accord, 2001-2005 civic, 2003-2005 civic hybrid, 2001-2005 civic gx ngv, 2002-2006 cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2007-2008 fit, 2002-2004 odyssey, 2003-2008 pilot, and 2006-2014 ridgeline vehicles. The vehicles are equipped with passenger frontal air bag inflators assembled as a recall remedy part or replacement service part, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An explosion of an inflator within the driver frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver, front seat passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began april 10, 2019. Honda owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's number for this recall is o41. Acura owners may contact customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Acura's number for this recall is u40.
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling specific 2003 acura 3.2cl, 2013-2016 ilx, 2013-2014 ilx hybrid, 2003-2006 mdx, 2007-2016 rdx, 2002-2003 3.2tl, 2004-2006, and 2009-2014 tl, 2010-2013 zdx and 2001-2007 and 2009 honda accord, 2001-2005 civic, 2003-2005 civic hybrid, 2001-2005 civic gx ngv, 2002-2007 and 2010-2011 cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2007 fit, 2002-2004 odyssey, 2003-2008 pilot, and 2006-2014 ridgeline vehicles. The affected vehicles received a replacement driver air bag inflator as part of a previous takata inflator recall remedy or a replacement driver air bag module containing the same inflator type as a service part. Due to a manufacturing error, in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver frontal air bag, these inflators may explode.
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall bagan march 2017. Owners may contact honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are kd9 and ke0.
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling certain 2005-2006 acura mdx and honda cr-v vehicles, 2005-2011 honda element vehicles, 2005-2012 acura rl vehicles, 2006-2012 honda ridgeline vehicles, 2007-2008 honda fit vehicles and 2005-2008 honda pilot vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands, or "zone a." additionally, if not included in "zone a" above, honda is recalling certain 2005-2006 acura mdx and honda cr-v vehicles, 2005-2009 acura rl and honda element vehicles, 2007-2008 honda fit vehicles, 2005-2008 honda pilot vehicles and 2006-2009 honda ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, ke
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began june 27, 2016. Owners may contact honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Honda's numbers for this recall are ka0, ka1, ka2, and ka3.
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 acura mdx, 2005-2011 acura rl, 2005-2006 honda cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2007-2008 fit, 2003-2008 pilot, 2002-2004 odyssey, and 2006-2011 ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or that have ever been registered, in alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands, or "zone a." additionally, unless included in "zone a" above, honda is recalling certain model year 2003-2006 acura mdx, 2005-2008 acura rl, 2005-2006 honda cr-v, 2003-2008 element, 2007-2008 fit, 2003-2008 pilot, 2002-2004 odyssey, and 2006-2008 ridgeline vehicles originally sold, or that have ever been registered, in arizona, arkansas, delaware, district of columbia, illinois, indiana, kansas, kentucky, maryland
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Honda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on july 1, 2015. Owners may contact honda customer service at 1-888-234-2138. Owners may contact acura customer service at 1-800-382-2238, select option 4. Note: vehicles that have had their driver frontal air bag replaced previously as part of a recall remedy prior to september 12, 2014 need to have their air bag replaced under this recall as well. Vehicles that, on or after september 12, 2014, received a remedy for a prior driver frontal air bag inflator recall already rec
Full defect summary
Honda (american honda motor co.) is recalling certain model year 2001-2007 accord, 2001-2005 civic, 2001-2004 honda civic gx, 2003-2005 honda civic hybrid, 2002-2006 cr-v, 2003-2011 element, 2002-2004 odyssey, 2003-2008 pilot, 2006 ridgeline, 2003 acura 3.2cl, 2003-2006 acura mdx, and 2002-2003 acura 3.2tl vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including manufacturing variability that, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Transmission: control module (tcm/pcm/tecm)
Risk: This could result in a short circuit causing the engine to stall. Additionally, broken pieces of the outer race or ball bearing from the secondary shaft may become lodged in the parking pawl resulting in the vehicle rolling after the driver has placed the gear selector in the park position. Engine stall and unexpected vehicle movement increases the risk of a crash or personal injury to persons within the path of a rolling vehicle.
Fix: Honda will notify owners and dealers will update the automatic transmission control module software free of charge. The safety recall began on august 27, 2011. Owners may contact honda automobile customer service at 1-800-999-1009.
Full defect summary
Honda is recalling certain model year 2005-2010 accord, 2007-2010 cr-v, and 2005-2008 element passenger cars manufactured from july 1, 2004, through september 3, 2010. The outer race of the secondary shaft bearing may be broken during certain driving styles. A broken outer race may cause abnormal noise, the malfunction indicator light to turn on, and allow contact between the transmission idle gear and an electronic sensor housing within the transmission.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Questions about the 2005 Honda Element
- What are the most common problems with the 2005 Honda Element?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: air bags (76 complaints, typically around 80,000 miles); electrical (16 complaints, typically around 80,500 miles); visibility and wipers (13 complaints, typically around 15,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2005 Honda Element have?
- 7 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from June 27, 2019 (air bags). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2005 a bad year for the Honda Element?
- It is the 3rd most complained-about Element model year since 2000, with 159 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.