Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | |||||
| 06085 | 05/09/2008 | 06-085 I | 10021968 | Warranty extension: vehicle warranty mileage. *kb 2002 through 2006 and some 2007 fit models. updated 8/18/08. *pe | 06/27/2007 |
| 060105 | 06/16/2005 | 10018180 | Body & bumper paint defects. *jb | 12/16/2005 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | |||
| 06/01/2012 | 120000 | ||
| At 30-40 mph the pilot shudders significantly and does so for about .5-3 seconds. there is apparently a design or other flaw in the torque converter (which will ultimately lead to a failed transmission). despite what appears to be hundreds or thousands of the same complaints nationwide, honda will apparently not not address the issue. the driving dangers are obvious, and consumers are left with repair bills of $3,000.00 - $5000.00. please do something about this nhtsa. | |||
| 01/04/2013 | 98000 | ||
| Temperature gauge started to rise. i stopped the car and found the radiator had failed internally. the coolant was mixing with the atf. all the atf fittings to the radiator showed signs of rusting. in my opinion the radiator design and manufacturing are faulty. | |||
| 06/01/2012 | 120000 | ||
| At 30-40 mph the pilot shudders significantly and does so for about .5-3 seconds. there is apparently a design or other flaw in the torque converter (which will ultimately lead to a failed transmission). despite what appears to be hundreds or thousands of the same complaints nationwide, honda will apparently not not address the issue. the driving dangers are obvious, and consumers are left with repair bills of $3,000.00 - $5000.00. please do something about this nhtsa. | |||
| 01/04/2013 | 98000 | ||
| Temperature gauge started to rise. i stopped the car and found the radiator had failed internally. the coolant was mixing with the atf. all the atf fittings to the radiator showed signs of rusting. in my opinion the radiator design and manufacturing are faulty. | |||
| 11/29/2012 | 140000 | ||
| I had been driving the car for nearly an hour. i came toward a stoplight, put the brakes on, which seemed to function fine. then when i went to accelerate the car jarred to a shaky stop- almost like the anti-lock brakes were working. i took it home, stopped the care for a few minutes and then decided to take it back out to see if it would happen again. i drove it for about 5 minutes and came to a stop sign. i came to a complete stop and then when i went to turn i accelerated briefly and then the car came to a stop- like someone had stepped on the brakes but i did not step on them. the car never stopped running or never stalled, i just had no acceleration for a moment. i then drove the car immediately to my mechanic down the street from my house. one of the mechanics drove the car with me in it for several minutes and could not get the problem to happen. he dropped me off at my house and when he was accelerating out of my driveway i saw the car come to a complete stop but no brake lights went on at the back of the car. he was able to back into my driveway- the car never shut off and still functioned- and he asked me if that was the issue and i said yes. since then we have had it a transmission place where the mechanic was not sure what was wrong and we then had it towed to the nearest honda dealership where we actually purchased the car. they have never heard of this issue either and currently cannot get it to happen to them. and now i have no car and will not drive this car until i know it has been fixed. | |||
| 05/31/2012 | 112000 | ||
| Vsa system malfunction. front left brake engages while vehicle is in motion. | |||
| 10/01/2012 | 70290 | ||
| I was driving the 2005 honda pilot about 20 to 30 mph . the time was about 7:15 am. the roads were wet after some misting light rain. i heard a relatively loud noise that startled me. the noise lasted for perhaps 2 seconds. it sounded as if the brakes were inadvertently being applied and grabbing or perhaps something was wrong with the transmission or rear end. i do not remember that the brakes were being applied at the time, but it is possible that they were. i kept driving and was then much more attentive to there possibly being something wrong with the car. about one minute later i heard an almost identical loud sound. i do remember that i was braking at the time, but due to being startle, it is possible that i may not remember such. the vehicle may have decelerated, but to the best of my recollection, i do not believe that the vehicle deceleration was severe. i drove the vehicle to the local honda dealer. i was told that the mechanic test drove the vehicle and could not repeat the problem and that he could not find anything wrong with the vehicle. then the service manager talked to me about what possible might have caused the loud noise and he test drove the vehicle with me inside. he directed the vehicle with the left wheels on the pavement and the right wheels on the grass. then he rapidly applied the brakes. the vehicle made a loud noise and to my memory the noise sounded like the noises i had encountered previously. he said that this noise was from the abs system engaging. i was very please with the attention of the service manager and his customer interaction. note: the printed paper shop invoice recorded : customer states it feels like brakes are sticking. problem is intermittent. my above incident description provides a more complete description of the incidents. | |||
| 08/04/2011 | 50000 | ||
| Driving at around 45-50 mph on a busy highway in the morning rush hour, as i pressed my break suddenly to avoid another vehicle coming on to my lane, i lost control of the car. it swung violently from side-to-side as i tried to steer it away from vehicles around me so as not to hit them. it finally came to a halt after slamming on to the vehicle that came on to my lane causing me to brake suddenly in the first place. the person whose car i hit and who watched me from a close range told me later that he was worried that the car was going to turn over. for me, the scary part was when i could not control the car by steering it. i swerved it left & right so as not to hit others but felt as if something else was controlling the sideways movement of the car. i suspected it was some kind of computer malfunction and thought about reporting it to honda but did not get a chance to do that. i am reporting it now as i read yesterday on usa today that you are investigating a similar-sounding problem that another consumer reported. | |||
| 08/19/2012 | |||
| I had just returned from montana on saturday night (to spokane, wa); when i attempted to start my car sunday morning, my key got stuck in the ignition. i worked on it for 90 plus minutes and finally was able to get it out of the ignition. during this time however, the key did not ever turn in the ignition therefore everything remained locked. i immediately tried the same key on the drivers door; no luck. it did however open the back hatch and the passenger door, both manually (the battery needed to be replaced in the key, so i was using it the old fashioned way until i got a new battery). so, with this information i went down to larry miller honda, downtown spokane in a borrowed vehicle. while there i was approached by a salesman and i explained my dilemma: unable to turn key in ignition, therefore unable to get my car moving at all!..he then instructed me to spray wd 40 into the ignition switch and the door locks. and informed me that the service depart. was not open but we went back there because there were some employees working on some vehicles. when we got back there, the salesman asked the service dept worker if he thought spraying wd40 into my ignition switch would work, the serviceman agreed. so i got some wd 40, sprayed away as directed, no luck. monday: went back to honda, where one of the managers told me never spray wd40 into ignition, this will gum it up...and now it will cost me 600.00 or so to replace ignition system. he also stated they have been doing alot of these lately because of gummed up ignitions on the pilot. i asked if this did not raise a flag for them and possibly a problem. he then said i would need to get a whole new key, re-program it and then get a new ignition set w/ new keys and re-program them. i said that honda gave me the wrong information resulting in destroying my ignition and that they should be resp. more | |||
| 08/13/2012 | 86000 | ||
| 2005 honda pilot - seal or transmission cooler failed and leaked transmission fluid into the radiator. no warning lights or indicators were evident. owner noticed leaking fluid from the radiator overflow. both parts now require expensive replacement. vehicle has 86,000 miles and never experienced issue before. however, there are several posts on the internet concerning the exact same issue, with little or no apparent acknowledgement by honda of this broad issue. | |||
| 01/01/2010 | 90000 | ||
| I started noticing a vibration at 34 to 45 mph. it was definitely caused by a malfunction under the hood. it causes my 2005 honda pilot to vibrate, shudder and hesitate at that speed. i have to take my foot off of the excelerator pedal before it will stop. it happens continuously at that speed. | |||
| 12/03/2008 | 63000 | ||
| Was driving along a main road in delaware, and my d light started flashing. i looked it up in the manual and it said the transmission problem. the light went off after i shut the car off and turned it back on. it has came on a handful of times, but shuts off after i turn the car off and on. i now am experiencing a hard shift, and a shuddering (almost like it is going to stall), and a clucking noise. i have done research and realize there has been many more complaints with this issue in the 2005 honda pilots. | |||
| 05/21/2011 | 90000 | ||
| My 2005 honda pilot brakes have automatically seized up a total of 5 times in the last year but 4 times in the last 3 weeks (may 2012). all 4 times it has happened have been at low speeds (10-20 mph, thankfully!!!) and within 5 minutes of starting up after it has sat for an extended period of time. i have taken it into the honda dealer twice in the past three weeks (may 2012) the day after it occurred and both times they could not duplicate or find a problem. the first three times the vsa light came on but no code tripped in the computer system. the last two times it happened no dashboard indication occurred. it occurred 3 weeks ago, 1 week ago and yesterday back to back so the problem seems to be intensifying. so far, for a temporary fix, i have turned off the car and restarted it and the problem seems to stop for a while. as mentioned previously, yesterday the brakes seized up as i was driving but no dash indication came on. because i was in the middle of an intersection, once the brakes released, i a decided to drive forward to try and get it out of the intersection only to have them seize up again about 100 meters later. i quickly turned off the car and restarted it and was able to safely return home where it sits currently. | |||
| 04/19/2012 | 88000 | ||
| While driving in a residential area, my 2005 honda pilot slipped out of gear multiple times and finally would not drive at all. i pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and shifted it into park. i waited a few minutes and tried to shift back into drive. the vehicle shifted into drive, but was unable to drive more than approximately 15 mph. i drove the vehicle in this manner for approximate half a mile to my destination. from there i had the honda pilot towed to an repair facility. the mechanic inspected the 2005 honda pilot and informed me that the vehicle's radiator had failed internally. this allowed the engine coolant and transmission fluid to mix. subsequently the coolant was circulated through the transmission and had caused damage to it. this is what had caused the vehicle to slip out of gear and ultimately render it unable drive. | |||
| 01/11/2012 | 70000 | ||
| Driving and noted motor not running good. looked down at temperature and say overheating past the h mark. no warning lamp on. got out found spill of gray fluid under engine. oil level ok but trany fluid dry. tow to garage. working on it . states failure of tranmission cooler located in radiator that sucked out trany fluid into radiator and out of overflow. no warning at all of problem at all. not sure yet if transmission damaged. right now over$12oo oo repair bill to replace radiator and flush all out. wanted this vehicle for at least 200,000 miles. maint. up to date and well maintained. | |||
| 10/20/2011 | 115948 | ||
| I drove up a steep drive way, i heard a grinding noise and my car stopped without me touching the brakes. i didn't know what was going on, so i put the car in neutral and put it back into drive and it seemed to be ok for the moment. i dropped my daughter off at a class and i proceeded to run a couple of errands. about one mile from where the stopping started the car did it again. it is like i slammed on the brakes but, i was not even touching the brakes at all. it proceeded to get worse and worse. the slamming on the brakes would happen every few feet. i was able to drive slowly to a nearby garage. the said i had a rear axel broken. we had the repairs done and the car seemed ok for a couple of months. yesterday, 1-10-12 as i was taking my daughter to school i drove about .5 of a mile in our neighborhood and after i stopped at a light and started to accelerate the car did it again. this time my vsa light came on. we took it to a nearby garage and they said the vsa module needed to be reset. we picked up the car and it drove around 2 miles and it was fine then later in the day we backed out of the garage and the car started to slam on the brakes again about one house away. it wouldn't stop it did it over and over every few feet. we called a tow truck to come take it back to the garage. | |||
| 11/01/2011 | 78000 | ||
| I would be driving in the 30 mph range and the vehicle would start to shudder when changing gears. the distraction causes me to stop in traffic and suddenly pull over. pohanka honda in salisbury, md states it is a bad torque converter. there are hundreds of complaint about this issue on the internet about the 2005 honda pilot, but complaints reflect there was no recall. now i am out of warranty. if i am not contacting the correct entity, please refer me. thank you. | |||
| 11/02/2009 | 70000 | ||
| Shuddering of vehicle when accelerating. transmission problems. | |||
| 05/11/2011 | 96700 | ||
| I have a shuttering noise when i accelerate between 30-40 mph. i complained about this to the dealer prior to expiration of the extended warranty, when i took it in for a window switch problem. they told me they did not hear any noise. to my dismay, the problem progressed and became worse, so now after the expiration of the extended warranty (8/8/11), took it back to the dealer and said it was the torque converter on the transmission. they stated they can fix it for over $5000.00 even though i complained about it previously. their are many complaints about this online, i have since found over 300 complaints about this issue with the honda pilots and honda is aware of the issue but does not want to help fix this problem. apparently, honda tried to cut costs and put a transmission in that could not accommodate the weight and size of the vehicle - this is coming from 3 different mechanics and a junk yard owner. also the parts are so hard to come by if you try to get done cheaper by an outside mechanic. the honda dealers are the only ones who are able to get the parts faster. thus creating a monopoly. i have researched this thoroughly and you too can find a lot of dissatisfied owners that had or having the exact same issue with honda. please look into this. we should not have to pay for this problem with so many people having the same issue. thank you. | |||
| 06/26/2011 | 130200 | ||
| The rear passager window shattered, riding down the highway. i was in the far left lane. my two year old daughter was covered in broken glass. | |||
| 11/14/2010 | 65000 | ||
| 2005 honda pilot with leak under passenger floor after it rains. taken to dealer, replaced seals around doors. took car home, it rained, floor soaking wet. called dealer, brought car back, water test done. could not located leak but floor of car was soaking wet after water test. dealer said definite leak in the car but couldn't be fixed until they located source. searched internet for problem.... seems a lot of other honda owners are experiencing the same problem. honda corporate claims they know nothing about this but have opened a claim for me and will investigate. extended warranty not good on this problem according to honda. | |||
| 12/17/2007 | 56000 | ||
| 2005 honda pilot vibrates or shutters at low speed approxiately 20-40 mpg while pushing the gas pedal. does not do this every time so back in 2007 when brought in to dealer they couldn't find any problem. | |||
| 09/21/2010 | 103704 | ||
| Driver side rear window was lowered and would not come back up while stopped at a drvie thru restaurant. took vehicle to dealership and they advised it was the moter that moves the window up and down that needed to be replaced and they have ordered the part. in september 2008 i had the passenger side rear wndow moter replaced by another dealership. i believe they call it the window regulator. i will have to assume that this is the same part they are talking about this time also. i have owned this vehicle since it had about 50,000+ miles on it. it now has 100,000+ miles on it. i do not think the rear windows in this vehicle have been raised and lowered more then a 100 times since i have owned it because we drive with the a/c or heat on most of the time and yet both rear windows have failed. | |||
| 05/31/2010 | 5000 | ||
| My honda pilot ac stopped working for the fifth time in 5 years. this year this happened when an infant is on my car during a long trip. we have to stop driving because the baby can not stay in the hot car. | |||
| 03/20/2010 | 65000 | ||
| 2005 honda pilot breaks suddenly lock up while driving. has occured on four occasions. operator not touch break petal. | |||