Honda Pilot Maintenance and Repair

walleye5

mgo14, thanks very much. On my way to the dealer today. Not sure what OPDS stands for. Where did you do your research in case I need to tap that source some time in the future. Since I'm out of warranty, could cost me plenty. They want $95 just for initial diagnostics.

sooner_chot

Can the crossbars on the roof rack be moved foward or back? How difficult is it to slide them?

master1

You can. It is not difficult

sooner_chot

How do you do it?

master1

There should be some knobs that looks like bolts on the side of the crossbars. Loosen that and it should move.

hgbee

I just got my 06 silver polit and drive to back home.
But I noticed there are a lot of tiny pop (like bubles) under the clear coat on the hood. If I touch the surface, it is clear and smooth. I am sure it may cause by un-smooth sliver paint, but cover by smooth clear coat. It is hard to notice, only under the weak light through relection.

I check other part of car, the paint is smooth and shine.

Any one have notice this before? :confuse:

aleck828

"The weatherstripping is not put on the windows. If you open the door it is put on in one strip, just under the door seals (on the painted surface. The size you need is 3/8 wide x 5/16 thick x 10'long. I am unable to paste a picture so I will try to explain it.
Start at the top let corner of the door frame, just under the door seal. Put the weatherstripping on the painted part all the way to the extreme right side bottom. You do not need the left vertical side weatherstripped. Just follow the line of the door. If you know how to paste a picture from a word document into this forum let me know. Hope this helps. Let me know "

Hi ajwx3,
This is how I post a picture to this forum:

Type [img src="C:\TEMP\filename.jpg"] and replace the square brackets with the arrow brackets .

Please post a picture of how the weaterstripping is applied to your Pilot's doors. I guess if your picture is embedded in a Word document, you'd better save that image file separately first. I am very interested in trying this on mine. Thanks for your help!

aleck828

Thanks for the information, junglejim. But it sounds too risky - I don't want to damage the door and end up paying $2000+ for a replacement (and go through dealing with the same noise again!).

mbt1

I bought a 2006 Pilot in February of this year and have driven only about 1200 miles since then. The maintenance minder indicates that my engine oil life is still at 80%. Forgive my ignorance, but I have a few questions about how to best maintain this vehicle:

1. Did Honda use a special conditioner in the initial oil that helps break in the engine so that I don't have to change out the oil sooner than indicated by the maintenance minder?

2. The owner's manual does not indicate the time limit by which I need to change the oil regardless of the miles driven. How many months should I go before changing the oil if I don't drive enough within a year to exceed the mileage limit set by the minder?

3. I noticed that the oil level dropped slightly (a few millimeters on the dipstick) since I took delivery about 4 months ago. Is this drop normal when the engine is new or old?

Thank you all in advance for your answers and advice.

tidester

This is how I post a picture to this forum ...

Click the "Help" link over on the left side of this page for instructions on posting pictures in the Forums. Better yet, sign up on our new carspace.com where it's supereasy to post pictures and you can link to them in the Forums.

tidester, host

master1

Just change your oil every:

3,000 miles - For a quieter engine, and a more healthy engine.

5,000 miles - Maximum waiting time.

Your oil cannot be changed later than 5,000 miles. I recommend changing it every 3,000 or 4,000 miles - it doesn't really matter. Just don't exeed 5,000 miles.

There isn't anything wrong with your engine - it's not drinking too much.

aleck828

Thanks, tidester. I should have posted a link to my carspace.com for the photo.

My Pilot

tommister2

1) I have been told there is no need for break-in oil anymore, and I think Honda uses regular oil for the initial fill up

2) I would not wait more than 12 months before changing it, the maintenance minder system might have you change it by then anyway

3) should be OK for a new engine, not sure how you even noticed

Enjoy the Pilot.

dcislander

Hello all,
I could not figure out where exactly to post this, so I though that problems was as good a place as any. I wanted to know if anyone had any experience plugging a laptop computer into one of the 06 Pilot's accessory outlets. I have no experience deciphering what the power ratings are, but I would be surprised if all you plug in was cell phones and camera rechargers. Can anyone tell me if it is safe for the car and the system to plug in?
Thanks much.

kabill

Unbelievable "feature". Wind noise and the "window scrunch", as you call it, are what's keeping a PILOT out of my driveway. I had one salesman tell me they "all have it", but, obviously, noise is not an issue for everyone.

It's hard to be optimistic after 4 years of Honda not fixing this, but I'm still hoping they will for their 2008 model change (my CRV should last till then). Maybe while they're at it, they'll also come up with a two-piece tailgate and a steering wheel that will adjust a little higher.

huff2

We purchased the 2006 LX on June 10th. Heard the Pilot noise (sounded like a tractor trailer coming up on us) as we drove off the dealership lot. Brought it back the next day. They couldn't reproduce the sound. Took it back again the next week with written directions to drive car between 1500-1900 RPMs in the heat of the day to get the noise. (Technician later said it sounded like a helicopter). They replaced the rear ball bearings. No help. Have had a significant run around by dealership as they don't know what to do to fix it. We took it back and have left it there. We are to meet with a representative from Honda USA this morning at 10. I have lost many nights of sleep over this and our summer is almost gone (we had purchased it to take some trips but have not gone because was not sure it was safe). Will keep you posted.

martin19

First, I cannot believe your dealer replaced the ball bearings. They need to call the Honda tech line and ask them.

The problem comes from Honda's Anti Noise Cancellation system. The noise is actually coming from your rear speakers --- even when the radio is off. I called the Honda Tech line ... the phone number is 1-800-999-1009 (you need your Vehicle Identification Number if you call).

Some folks on this message board said that the tech did not know about the problem. The person I spoke with knew right away what I was talking about. He said that there is no fix for the problem! There is a stopgap solution where they change the microphone that picks up the noise, but it did not work for my Honda LX. It just changed the speed at which the noise comes.

I am curious if anyone else has isolated any other symptoms. Mine appears to occur more when it is hot outside and when there are passengers in the back seat. Also, note that this is unique to the LX 2WD model.

Someone on the boards said that they were going to a lawyer. Any luck?

I printed the 18 pages of this thread which started as "deep humming sound at 55 mph" related to this thread for my dealer.

Let us know how your discussion goes with the Honda representative.

pdiaz1

"The problem comes from Honda's Anti Noise Cancellation system." This is absolutley right. I have been going back and forth with my dealership and Honda Techs. There is a temp fix for it. The dealership can disable the Noise Cancellation System, this is what they did to my Pilot and it took care of the noise completely. Honda is working on the fix and they may end up creating a new Noise cancelling system to resolve the issue. They did this for the Honda hybrid; it also had the same noise issue and they ended up creating a new Noise cancellation system for it. Dis-ableing the NCS does not harm or affect safety, I checked and double checked with Honda Techs and the Dealership. All this does from what I am told is cause white noise through the speakers all the time to muffle road noise. Even with the system dis-abled I can not tell any additional road noise with it on or off. Weird, I know. But as we all know the Pilot has a lot or road and wind noise as it is. Hope this helps.

huff2

Here is the scoop as we received it this morning from a rep for Honda USA. Recognize that I, a lay person, am attempting to communicate what she said as I understand it. This problem is a well known problem. It was observed in a Honda hybrid model and it was the noise cancellation systems "white noise" actually making the noise instead of helping decrease engine (VCM noise). So the engineers fixed this problem by rewriting the programming software for the cancellation system. However, since these are different machines, that software will not work for the Honda 2006 Pilot. (Supposedly they are working on it.) Today they felt that this noise is being picked up and carried over one of our speakers (which is why it is soooo loud). They did not have any idea why the heat of the day would make it worse. They propose a temporary solution that is not suppose to affect the performance of the engine - disconnect the noise cancellation system. Hopefully that is what they are doing right now. Will let you know. I hesitate to mention this but thought you might could take it to your service person. There is a test that can be done to determine if the problem is actually with this system. It is not to be done by the lay person, only a professional that knows what they are doing. If you tell them about it, I'd suggest they call the Honda engineers to find out exactly how to do it. It was explained to me that as you ride down the road and hear the noise, open the car door, if it stops, it is this problem. Sorry , I can't understand how this make sense as all we have to do is increase the RPMs and it goes away but that is in essence what they said. This has been a very frustrating experience for our family. She also wrote on the order that the car was safe to drive and it did not affect the performance of the engine. My husband would not agree with this statement and he had good reason. He supervises school bus drivers. He said anything that interferes with their attention when driving is not safe. The noise we had was very, very distracting! Hope this is the fix and that it can help others out there with this terrible problem.

huff2

could you tell me when it was disabled and how long you have gone without noise? Thanks

ward5

We purchased 2006 2WD LX Pilot last April. We went through the NCS noise problem. A loose connection was fixed on the rear microphone and fixed the noise from "heat of the day" & especially around 50-55 mph. BUT, we still have a loud humming/vibration type noise that is extremely irritating. It seems to be coming from the front area. The NCS was then disconnected and did not help at all. I checked this evening with our Classic Honda Dealer in Round Rock, Texas. Tech verified with the service manager that the NCS was disconnected. The service manager told me she has 6 vehicles doing this and she calls Honda every week. Same answer " no solution". Since the NCS is disconnected I believe the problem is some sort of a vibration that periodically reaches reasonance. The oscillation of the noise/vibration occurs with or without cruise BUT only when excellerating. At a steady coast with ECO light on noise goes away. As soon as you excellerate the noise appears. It was also mentioned about the economy system shutting down cylinders but no one knows for sure. Stay tuned.

jlitterer

Is this NCS System only installed on the 2WD Pilots? Is it standard equipment on the 4WD EX Models? Thanks, Jeff

master1

Standard on 2WD. Not available on 4wd.

feet2fire

We bought an EX-L earlier this year. Great car. Question: we know the seats and steering wheel have leather surfaces, but are there any more leather parts (such as the armrests) in the car? We can't tell. This is our first leather interior car.....would like to preserve the leather parts from the sun.....can anyone offer advice on which parts are leather, besides the seats and steering wheel (if any) and how to care for them? Thanks in advance.

franella

I also just bought my first "leather" car. And I'm in Florida. First thing to do is get the driver and passenger door windows tinted. And use a sun shade in the windshield area. My son (a BMW enthusiast) says use Lexol products for leather. The window tinting guy says it's OK to use leather cleaning products on vinyl, but not vice versa, but I, like you, need to know what is leather and what is vinyl. And I'd like comments on what I've already said, because I'm not sure and I don't want to take the dealer's word on it.

angelolo

has anyone had problems with the voice recognition system? My wife and I just bought the car and can't seem to get the thing to work. it just keeps repeating pardon and repeat. We scream into the mike. We look like a couple of idiots yelling at the car

oldarmy

The NCS is standard on any Honda with VCM...2wd Pilot and EXL and Touring Odyssey. I test drove the AWD Pilot and the EXL Odyssey and bought the latter based on the quiet ride. Found and article on the web introducing VCM that said that white noise in the radio speakers and increased sound insulation was added to the Ody with VCM and I do find it to be a very quiet car. Wonder if the 2wd Pilot because it also has VCM is quieter than the AWD version since many people complain about the road noise in their Pilots.

lkuohn

I have a 2005 EX-L and am having the same exact problem. It's been at Honda last week and this week, and they can't duplicate the problem. They did say something about an Odyssey with an aftermarket alarm having this problem, and the aftermarket alarm was causing it. They looked under the hood and said the Honda dealer we bought the car from apparently sub contracts their alarms, and we don't have a Honda alarm. However, since the problem miraculously doesn't occur when Honda has it, they can't say that the alarm is the problem. This is very frustrating - anyone else have this problem? How was it solved? This is our first Honda, and we bought it to avoid problems like this that we experienced with our Dodge...

jimmy5150

I'm guessing the alarm is probably made by Dodge...

lkuohn

Luckily we still have that Dodge - it's what's getting us around while Honda still has our Pilot a week later. They told us to drive it around the block until the problem occurs, bring it back, go in and get them, and then they can hook up the diagnostic computer to it and find out what's causing the problem. Incredible...

slwstewart

I have a 2004 honda pilot and I really don't want to pay to fix it if I have just a little problem.......... My gear shift sticks everytime I try to shift out of park??..... Anyone else experiencing this or know a good answer. I have put transmission fluid and power steering fluid in but it didn't work. Please don't tell me I should take it in!!! I probably should but if there is a quick fix please tell me....

slwstewart

$700 is nothing I have 2004 and my last visit to honda was 1200 dollars and my car was running fine when I brought it in. Now I have a problem with my gear shift and am hoping it's not a huge transmission issue but I sure as hell am not taking it to honda to fix it. :mad:

slwstewart

Hey what ever happened with your ac. I had the same problem and they changed the whole thing out and charged me over $400. I have a 2004 and it was a year an a half old.

kenarri

Just bought my EXl 4wd and every time I hit a bump, there is a clunk sound that sounds like it's coming from the suspension. Also my key gets very hot after turning off the ignition. I had the same problem with 03 Accord with the car key and the computer chip died on me which caused the car to die. I dumped the car but I'm having same problem with my pilot. I hate to go back to Mahwaha Honda in NJ because their service sucks. Even if you're repeat customer, get no mercy at the service station. Anyone out their with same problems? Thanks.

master1

There isn't anything wrong with taking your car to the dealer. OR go to a mechanic.

wlodek

I have a noise appearing on and off which is louder when I stop at red lights or slow down. It sounds like water with air bubbles flowing under pressure through pipes, probably heard better from the right front vent. Also it seems that AC is not very efficient. Dealer in Grand HONDA in Chicago said AC was OK and ignored noise completely, saing initially that it was normal, next time that they could not reproduce it. It comes very often. Any ideas?

bighonda

We took delivery of our '06 Pilot a few weeks back. Immediately I noticed a sound coming from the top of the front window. I sat in the passenger side and noticed the same noise. It sounded like the rubber seal on the door was rubbing against the door frame. I tried squeezing the top of the door against its mating surface and the noise seem to lessen. I thought that either the weather-stripping wasn't installed correctly or the door wasn't pushing against the seal enough. I took the Pilot in with my concern and that they had a mechanic test drive the car with me. I was lucky that he had good hearing and after trying to silence the rubbing noise by squeezing, he agreed that it sounded like the seal was rubbing against the door frame. He adjusted the locking mechanism so it'd hold the door ever so slightly tighter thus holding the rubber seal in a squeezed position.

The noise is gone, almost entirely. On some rougher roads when the body structure shudders a little, I can still hear it but only for a moment. It's not like before wheen it was almost constantly audible...

The solution: Adjust locking mechanism so that the doors are held tighter against the body.

Side-effect: I noticed that before the "fix" the doors would shut with the least amount of effort, as the rubber seals weren't being compressed. Now, a little extra effort is required to latch the lock; not a slam but best shut with your hand on the handle.

Seems to be a widespread issue and needs addressing as I've read of this concern on this forum and others when I was researching the Pilot. I hope Honda puts out a TSB on this issue. Luckily, it's an easy enough fix.

user777

more than likely, there is something they also apply to the rubber seals to lessen the sound caused my small movements.

mjfountain

I have a 2003 pilot with 35000 mi and just had the VTM-4 light comes on and check engine light. Also when sitting idle, the engine revs up and down in a pulsating fashion. When I first start the car the VTM light does not stay on and I am able to engage the 4 wheel, but after I let it run for a few minutes the VTM indicator light comes on and then I am unable to engage the system. Any ideas???

master1

If lights are flashing on your dashboard, it may be the best to take it to the dealer. How bad is the engine reving when idling? It may be the fan cooling off the car since it's summer.

Check me out!
http://www.carspace.com/master1

bighonda

That seems to be the short-term solution that many have received. The problem with applying the lubricant is that once it wears off, you'll likely have the noise back. The level of sound probably differs from unit to unit, mine was quite loud and the adjustment got rid of it.

I specifically asked the mechanic not to apply the lubricant so we could determine whether the adjustment made a difference.

pilotdriver1

Having the same problem with my 04 Pilot. Also, the driver seat is rocking slightly. I plan to request a repair or replacement when I take it in for the next service. What did they do to yours? Does it look decent now. I, too, am quite unhappy that the leather looks bad at 25000mi on a $33000 vehicle - and my 6th Honda.

ralph9

What experiences do the Pilot drivers have with Goodyear Integrity tires regarding hydroplaning, wearout rate etc. The tires have a low rating on the tirerack site and I have felt hydroplaning during a recent rainstorm on the interstate. Thanks for any responses. Ralph

master1

I think they are garbuage tires. Most car's at this price range come with cheap tires. I changed to Yokohama Geolander tires and they are EXCELLENT!

The Goodyear is also very noisy - shesh......sounds like a tractor

cwoody

I don't like them either. They are REAL BAD on wet roads. Try Pulling a trailer (without its own brakes) and trying to stop on a wet road.....Better be holding on!!

I have about 38k miles on them and have never been happy with the wet or snow traction. My wife complains about the anti-locks activating when it isn't that slick out.

I'm probably going to install the Yokohama Geolanders when the tires on it are in need of replacement. The Goodyears are a poor excuse for tires on a vechile of this price. I wonder how many Pilot owners have an accident due to the poor traction of the tires....

Woody

dbros

My suggestion is try to have your car serviced by another Honda Service Center/Dealer for that matter and see what there findings are... I don't really like Grand Honda!

jlitterer

Anyone know how to get the foglamps to work with parking lamps or headlamps instead of having the headlamps on only? thanks jeff

hdcd

We have a 06 Pilot ESX w/leather. Bought it in March 06 and have driven it 7500 miles.

On the side edge of the drivers seat when you get in the vehicle, the leather has started to come apart - just about 1/2 inch or so. Looks like the leather in that area is soft. If we don't take care of it ASAP, it's going to come apart more as time goes on.

Anyone else experience this? I've never seen this with leather in a car. Am I going to get anywhere with the dealer or is this considered "normal wear and tear"?

Advice wanted.

drivinmenuts

my '03 pilot has started making noise like the brakes do when they need to be changed...a high pitch squealing noise. i have had the brakes fixed and still doing it..the dealer advised me that it is the bearings in the rear drive shaft. the bearings can not be replaced. you have to replace the whole drive shaft. it will cost over $600.00. has anyone else had this problem. my dealer said they have never seen this before in the pilot. said it is probably from being jarred or rough driving. my pilot is drivin on the street roads only ( but in nc. that could be it) we have contacted honda about replacing this because we do not feel this is any of our fault! if anyone has had this problem please let me know what you did about it. thanks.

master1

If your warranty is up, you will have to pay for it if Honda doesn't.