Thank you Gbrozen, and I am sorry you didn't understand my question, so again..The noise, click, or sound like sliding loose body movement, one second after I press the brake. it's just a feeling in the rear of the vehicle. Then the sound disappeared. Thanks again. Have a great Holidays.
if it was just once after starting your vehicle, that is totally normal. Happens everytime I back down the driveway upon startup. Several folks have posted that their tech informed them its the brakes doing a self-test when you first touch them after the car is moving. It bothered me for a while, but now I realize that it does do it every time I start it up and never after that while driving.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
For Wardair- As for as I can tell no one here or at the hondapilot.org site has managed to get a real answer as to whether it is really possible to put the 2004 adjustable second row in a 2003. Seems no dealer wants the legal headaches and no owners wants to pony up the money to try. All the structure and seatbelt attachments would have to be identical before Honda would bless such a modification.
I've had my 2004 Pilot EX-L for about six weeks now and love it except for the non-adjustable front seat headrests. I initially thought that I was incorrectly trying to raise them or that the release button was missing. I took it to the dealer and even he seemed surprised that they do not adjust. They seem perfect for my wife at 5' 5" but are uncomfortable for me at 6' 2" as my head is pushed forward at the top of the headrest. Anyone else find this a problem as well? Has anyone come up with a way to make them adjustable? I can't believe Honda would overlook this in their highest priced vehicle. Am I missing something here?
You're right. It is uncomfortable for my husband, too. We read the manual and it said the front headrests can't be adjusted. We are very unhappy about this.
I noticed this as well and the manual states it right. However, in a few weeks, I will be having a RES DVD system installed and replacing the front headrests with ones with a LCD in each. Since they make a product to fit the Pilot, I guess they can at least get them out and do the swap. I'll let you know how it goes...
I have a 2004 Pilot and don't have the shaky steering wheel problem but had a similar problem a few years back in a Suburban that had Firestone tires. They were not the ones that were recalled but it would shake like crazy between 65 and 70. Those tires were balanced a number of times also.
I heard that sliding noise in the back of my car yesterday. I'm usually driving by myself and have the radio on and have not heard it before. Had some other people in the car yesterday and had the radio turned off. Sounds like something is loose in the back. Right?
Have you looked in the rear storage compartment for something sliding around? Or maybe the jack or something has wiggled loose.
Have the dealer look into the shake. It may just be balancing. Does it go away when the front tires are rotated to the back? My steering shook when I applied the brakes. I thought the rotors were warped. It ended up being the lug nuts not evenly torqued.
To start off, I am happy with the my Honda 2004. With that being said I have noticed these problems and would like to hear any suggestions:
1) Stretching leather seats - I have heard many complaints and wonder why Honda has not fixed this problem...other high quality auto maker's leather seats do not have this problem? Has Honda replaced anyone's seats or fixed them?
2) Since I bought my Honda, 45 days ago, I have had trouble starting it 6 times...it finally start but is concerning and annoying...should I be concerned about the starter.
3) I have heard twice a loud popping noise from the back of the Pilot...once while parked and the other slowing moving...wondered if it was the VTM-4.
4) Does anyone know where we can buy a head rest that can articulate back and forth...making it much more comfortable.
I've been told that both Pilots and Odysseys have identical engine/transmission combinations. Does anyone know of Pilots have been experiencing the same transmission problems as Odysseys?
I am picking up my Brand New Pilot on the 2nd of January and thinking of taking it out for a trip the next day. The trip is about 400 miles.
The manufacture suggests a break in of 1000 miles before making long distance trip or speeding on highway. I am not sure what kind of problem it will cause in the future if I take it out just like that.
I have honda pilot 2003 and have 17K miles on it. I wanted to ask if other people have also noted a higher level of road noise while on the highway. During the earlier part of my owning it, the ride was noticeably quieter on the highway and other wise.
After my 15k service i also noted the engine noise within the car to have gone higher. Is that something i should be concerned about, or is it part of normal aging.
I would like to mention that my pilot was in an accident and my front bumper had to be replaced, i believe the body shop used a part which is not honda made. this was at about 10k miles. wonder if that is contributing to the noise.
We have the 2003 Pilot EX. We love the vehicle. We have experienced many of the problems stated here, such as ear-popping noise tunnel --I thought I was going to lose my hearing the first time it happened, I've never heard it this bad before on other vehicles-- although this is our first SUV. The rear seatbelt also hits against the side wall and makes a rattling noise. We have had 2 Honda Accords and the '96 had the same seatbelt return problem (so does everyone else I know that has this vehicle), but the '99 did not. Unfortunately, the Pilot is already marred and it's only 6 few months old. I was thinking about getting a leather shop to cover the plastic with matching leather. One problem I did not see mentioned, is the right passenger seat squeaks. We have taken it in and the dealer's fix was to fix it with tape..which worked for at least a few hours! I was wondering if anyone else had this problem. It is quite annoying!
honda04 - I do know of some folks who have gotten their leather replaced by the dealer. In one instance, the dealer had a professional add stuffing to the seat before installing new leather to keep it taut. The owner is happy with the results so far.
ppatterson - it is the same as far as I know, but have you heard of anyone having a problem on recent ones? Opinions vary, but I've heard this problem has been addressed prior to the start of Pilot production and should not show up on our Pilots.
meiflower - its really fine to take it on a long trip. You just don't want to lock in the cruise control and hold a steady speed for a long period of time. Vary your speeds and that should suffice. Plenty of folks buy their Pilots from far away from home and drive them back immediately and never have problems.
tilak - a new front bumper could certainly cause that if not installed properly or if it is not the exact shape of the previous one. it would deflect the wind differently and result in different noise.
susan - i commented on the wind noise before. i do, in fact, attribute it mostly to being an SUV. I've had this in every vehicle I've owned that had a big open area in the rear where the wind you are letting in cannot escape from. It has to go somewhere, so it bounces back up to you, trying to escape through the front windows. As far as that squeaky seat, tape is not an acceptable solution. i would tell them that if they cannot fix it properly than they need to replace it. good luck.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Hello..I've had my 2003 EX-L since 8/03.It currently has 4000 miles on it.On many occasions,there is a clunking sound when I put the vehicle in reverse.I can also hear a similar noise when braking.Both of these noises do not happen all the time,just enough to let me know it should not happen.Also,the vehicle seems to hesitate when on the expressway.Normal break in period? Other than that,it's a great vehicle.Thanks for the input!
Just to clarify, does the sagging seat problem only apply to the leather seats? Are there any problems with the cloth seats (such as not being supportive enough)?
is that clunking noise only the first time you apply the brakes after starting the car? If so, this has been addressed in prior posts. The brakes do that upon first braking each time you start the vehicle. Its sort of a self diagnostic.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
My 2004 Pilot makes a moan/whine/sqeak sound. And it is not when I brake. It can be while driving slowly, turning a corner, or just idling in traffic. It has been this way since first day I bought it/drove it. Anyone having similar problem?
I have a 2004 EX-L bought less than a month back and driven only 300 miles. I also have a moaning sound (sounds like light vibration or humming) which comes somewhere from the front only (maybe dash). It happens on slow smooth speeds only. Would appreciate any clues as to what the heck is it. I have not stored anything in the dash area (i.e. glove box or by the radio etc).
I noticed the moan/whine sound on my 2004 Pilot EX in the early mileage as well. And you are right, I noticed it mostly at slow, smooth speeds and it comes from the front dash area. One time the car was parked/idling and my husband and I were just sitting there and it happened several times. I am up to 2400 miles and I have noticed it less and less. Can't actually say the last time I heard it. Told the dealer/salesman when he called within first week of sale/delivery. He said he wasn't familiar with the complaint. Offered for me to bring it in for the mechanics to listen for. But I know for sure it would never happen for them, so I have let it go but thought I'd ask some other owners out there if they are having a similar issue?
You are right about this. I also have an old Nissan Maxima and same kind of noise comes from it but much louder. Don't want this new Pilot to become louder later on when now it's fresh and under warranty. I feel this is like a loose bolt or something in the dash or I suspect maybe something by the ventilator fans. Sounds like rattling as if you leave a loose bolt vibrate slowly against something. It's sometimes hard to replicate this noise but it happens mostly when engine vibration is more in lower gear. I. e. either when the speed is low and you try pressing gas pedal only slightly while traveling up on an elevation (road) - This is something like imitating engine rev-up while on higher gear but low speed. That makes the transmission/engine make more vibrations. I am planning to visit my dealer this coming week. Will keep posting the updates. Meanwhile if anyone has any clue about this, please write back.
I purchased my Pilot 7/02 and have had no problems with it until last month. In December my emissions indicator light came on and stayed on. The manual said it might have something to do with the gas cap not being put back on correctly after filling gas and after a few starts the light should go out. After several days the light did not go out. It came on every time I started the car and the VTM indicator light also came on. I took it in and the dealer replaced a valve. Everything was fine for about three weeks. Then three days ago both indicator lights came back on again every time I started the car. I took it in again today to the dealer. They called to say A RAT had been in my engine and chewed the wiring. Also, they said the repair was not covered under the warranty.
I find it hard to believe there could be a rat in my engine, especially when I read a posting dated 4/10/03 from njeverest regarding a similar faulty indicator light problem they had. Has anyone else had this problem? I don't think I should pay for the repair if it's a Honda defect. Also, both times I had this problem was the day after a heavy rain and I had driven through some pretty hefty puddles. Don't know if that has anything to do with it???
And mice can cause lots of problems. We recently had a car towed in that wouldn't start. turns out a rat had jammed the air intake full of dry dog food.
We get chewed up wiring fairly often. We have had to extract the remains of dead vermin that crawl into the heater air boxes.
Seems like it happens early on.When I brought the vehicle in for it's 1st oil change,the tech indicated the calipers had a space in them that caused the noise...the self check theory seems more logical.
Any ideas on the clunking noise when putting into reverse?
My husband worked as a Honda Tech for several years and believe me, there were several work related topics that were off limits at the dinner table. One of them being rats in engines. It really happens and the poor techs have to put on gloves and masks and go digging in the engine and other compartments for decomposed pieces of rats and the like. Yuck!
Noise in dash: We've owned our Pilot almost 1 year and for the first several months we heard a strange noise coming from the dash area. I only noticed this while I was pulling into our garage at a very slow speed. The best way I can describe the sound is this: remember in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy first comes upon the Tin-Man? And he says in that closed mouth way "oil can". Well, it sounds just like that "oil can" part. I was cracking up the first few times I heard it. It was never an issue for me so I can't say what it is/was.
As far as the clunk putting the car in reverse, this could be a sign of a couple of problems, or it could be the way its parked. Do you park on an incline? As an experiment, try this: next time you park in your normal spot (where the clunk would usually occur), BEFORE putting the transmission in park, apply the emergency brake with a good bit of force, then put in park and leave it. Then, the next time you start the car, put your foot on the brake (leave the emergency brake on) and put it in reverse. If it STILL clunks, then I would think something is wrong. If the dealership doesn't believe you, then tell them to do the same thing I just described. If it works fine, then the clunk is caused by parking on an incline. When you park on an incline without using the E-brake, the transmission is supporting the car from rolling and when you put it in gear, that bit of slack causes the clunk (I don't think I'm explaining it clearly, but trust me).
Let me know what happens.
Clunking when changing gears isn't abnormal, but I expect it from a Chevy truck with 60K miles, not a brand new vehicle.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I keep pulling mice from my summer car while its parked in my garage, but I've never had them eat the wires. They just like to make nests in the nose of the car. One did decide to nest in the glovebox last year, however, and decided to die there. I didn't know until the maggots falling out tipped me off. So I feel the pain of those techs.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I noticed that our new 2004 Pilot has no "hill holding" capablity. That is, if you put it in drive or reverse, the car rolls on an incline, unless you keep your foot on the brake. I always thought that with an auto, this shouldn't be an issue. It's a real pain to parallel park in reverse, when facing downhill--you have to release the brake quickly, and then "gas it" like on a manual tranny. Is this normal, or did I get a defective transmission. Any similar storys or feedback? Thanks
I believe you are thinking of the feature on some Subarus with manual trannies, isellhondas.
stringmaster - any automatic will roll back if the hill is steep enough or unless the engine idle is set too high. But it will take less of an incline the heavier the car is. Just simple physics.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
My Dad's 1966 Dodge Polara 2-door (the one shaped like a Superbee) had it. It simply put enough energy through the fluid clutch to hold the car on a fairly steep hill. It was convenient for that sharp turn up a slight grade into our 1920's vintage, narrow garage. But it still didn't prevent this then-teenage driver from scraping the front fender paint on both sides (two separate incidents) after being given the "privilege" of putting the car into the garage! Holy wounded young male pride, Batman!!!
I have been on the board for almost a year now. I have read about the leather seats sagging/stretching, but is anyone having problems with the cloth seats. I did not buy leather because of the noted problem, but now the EX cloth seats have a very visible sag that meets right in the middle of the seat (ie. the driver's imprint is very visible) and I only weigh 190lbs. I could understand seat material stretching if a person was very heavy, but after just 10,000 miles and an average weight?? This seems like another slight design problem. I wonder if the foam material is allowing too much movement thus the material actually does end up stretching specifically due to the increased deflection of the foam.
My Pilot is 1 year old and I haven't noticed anything such as sagging.
What I did experience is that we have a car seat in the back and the seat platform has left permanent marks in the cloth. This 'cloth' seems to be a flocked/brushed material and is susiptible to marking. Unlike real cloth.
you can buy a child safety seat protector. It's a piece of rubber shaped to fit part way up behind the safety seat, under it (with notches where the seat belt/latch connectors go, and also hangs a little over the edge of the underlying car seat. It catches crumbs and spills, keeps kicking little heels from mangling the front edge of the seat, and also prevents permanent squashing of the seat velour. Ours cost us about $15 about five years ago at Babys-R-Us.
However, we also discovered that a cheaper and more-readily-available option is a rubber no-slip mat you'd normally use in the tub. We simply placed it on the seat, under the safety seat, with the suction-cups-side up. Works just as well as the special pad mentioned above.
Now, as for the marks on the seats that you already have: you might try a trick that works for furniture marks in carpet. Just put an ice cube on the depressed spot and let it melt. If it doesn't fluff back up, then try it one more time. Works like a charm on carpet and just might solve your depressed-seat-fabric problem as well. If not, then at least you'll have the coolest seats around! ;-)
I know it sounds crazy, but I believe that the clucking sounds in the rear of the pilot are caused by the gas in the tank sloshing around and hitting against the tank. My Pilot makes these sounds all the time.
Try this: Bring the Pilot to a stop, shut the radio and heater down so that you can hear clearly and abruptly step on the gas than brake, than gas, etc. and you will hear these clucking sounds. When your tank is nearly empty these sounds go away.
The Pilot definitely has a problem with leather seats, and it is most likely with the seat cushions allowing to much give which causes the leather to stretch.
I only have 500 miles on my Pilot and it is already beginning to look like heck. I only weigh 160 lbs and the imprint of my but is in the driver's seat. It seems that there is twice as much leather there now than when I bought it. Heck, I have a friend with a Kia SUV (leather) that does not have this problem.
A $34,000 SUV should not have these problems. I've owned many cars with leather seats and this is the first one with this type of a problem.
I have called customer service of American Honda (phone in your owners manual) and told them about the problem. They told me to take the car to the dealer and have them take a look at it. However, they have created a record of my complaint in their data base.
I would urge everyone that has this problem (which should be everyone that has leather seats) to call American Honda and complain. I think this is the only way they will realize they have a bad design on their hands. And don't let them tell you that this is normal for leather because it is not. Wrinkle lines in the leather are normal, but not this.
Has anyone taken their Pilot to the dealer for this problem and were they able to do anything about it? My appointment is January 31.
Ours is a tad baggy in the middle, but I just don't consider it a problem (yet). It occured when we first got it and it hasn't gotten any better or worse since. No, the leather in my other car does not do this and it is 5 years older and has MANY more miles, BUT the leather in the Pilot is much thinner and softer, so I don't see how it can be avoided unless they use a different type of leather. So, for now, we leave it alone and it doesn't bother us one bit.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Please let me know if the MDX is worth the additional dollars, i.e., what you like, dislike about the Pilot. I've narrowed my choices down to these two vehicles plus the Toyota Sequoia, please help. Thanks.
considering this is a Pilot board, I would think you are going to find folks who chose the Pilot over the MDX because of the value it represents. And I even thought that BEFORE they added heated seats and mirrors to the Pilot.
The only extras I personally find nice on the base MDX are stability control and moonroof. The base MDX was $6K more than our Pilot EXL (now I think its about $5600 difference). We added a moonroof to the Pilot for $1K (and it is much larger than the MDX roof, by the way). So it came down to $5K more (or $4600 now) for stability control and LESS interior space. To us, that was just not worth it.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I just called Honda to address about 1) leather seat sagging and 2) dings on pillar issues so that they can document it on my vehicle.
1) I'm only a 110bls woman. My Pilot has +2300 miles on it. Like most of you, the driver seat on the Pilot sagged so badly. Jake from Honda suggested me to bring the the vehicle to the dealer to have it inspected so that they can identify if it is a problem. Has any of you done this and what the dealer say?
2) I'm really upset about Jake's suggestion on this issue. He told me to change the way I take off the seatbelt because they will not be able to adjust the seatbelt. I told him that I had 2 other Toyota vehicles. The Corolla costed only 1/2 price of the Pilot, I take off the seatbelt the same way and it does not have this problem. I also told Jake that I expect the quality of the pillar of my $34,000 Pilot to be at least as good as the Corolla. Jake also said that each vehicle is different, it drives different, it breaks different so we have to adjust ourselves to the vehicle. I told him that his suggestion is not a smart one because all I wanted from Honda about the dings on pillar is to make it with a better quality, not the performance of the vehicle.
I have read reports from folks that have had both their leather and door pillars replaced free of charge. But, in most cases I've read, the dealership says "this is a one-time free replacement."
I've heard several people complain of the door pillar ding problem. This one I am still baffled by. We have had no such issue on ours.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I just joined this web site, and wanted to update some of you on information I have obtained from my dealer about the problems on my new 04 Pilot (two months old, 1,700 miles):
1. Seat Leather - The dealer told me that the bun-prints and sagging of the leather is common on all Pilots. Honda will offer to restretch the leather to correct this, but the problem will appear again and restretching can only be performed once on a seat.
2. Poor Wipers - The dealer told me that many other customers have complained of poor wipers. This is due to soft spring rates on some 04 wipers and they will install new wiper arms.
3. Morning Clunking/Thumping Noises Backing out of Driveway - The dealer told me that these noises come from the brakes (calipers adjusting) and/or from the gasoline in the tank (not enough baffles in tank), and that this is normal and there is nothing that can or should be done.
4. Inoperative Door Locks in Cold Temperatures - Again, the dealer told me that they see a lot of this on the Pilots. Owners have been coming in saying a rear door will not lock/unlock with the remote and the alarm will not arm. They do not have a solution. Pilots have cables in the doors to actuate the door plunger, and Honda is just now learning that the cables are prone to freezing. Honda Engineering in CA is apparently working on a solution and all the dealer can do is use a heat gun to temporarily resolve the problem.
Sorry this is off topic... I have not had a chance to visit Edmunds recently. I wanted to let Hawaiipilot know that last May we also had our engine indicator lights come on due to mice chewing through the wiring harness to the knock sensor. It was not covered by warranty and they charged me $83.00 to fix it. I just took it in for scheduled maintenace last week and he asked if we had had any more mouse problems because they had had several people in because of chewed wires.
I can't address the seat situation you are talking about because I haven't really looked into any used Pilots that I've noticed this on.
I'm afraid I have to agree with Jake on the seat belt issue though. I played with one, and yes, if you just allow the belt to snap back into place, it can hit the pillar. Just take a bit of care, hold it with your hand and allow it to ease back into position and you won't have a problem.
Perhaps, Honda could make the pillar material a bit tougher, but I really think the vast majority of owners won't have this problem.
Comments
Still, knowing this, you can eliminate the problem by not allowing the seat belts to simply snap backk into place I would guess.
if it was just once after starting your vehicle, that is totally normal. Happens everytime I back down the driveway upon startup. Several folks have posted that their tech informed them its the brakes doing a self-test when you first touch them after the car is moving. It bothered me for a while, but now I realize that it does do it every time I start it up and never after that while driving.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
As for as I can tell no one here or at the hondapilot.org site has managed to get a real answer as to whether it is really possible to put the 2004 adjustable second row in a 2003. Seems no dealer wants the legal headaches and no owners wants to pony up the money to try. All the structure and seatbelt attachments would have to be identical before Honda would bless such a modification.
Anyone else find this a problem as well? Has anyone come up with a way to make them adjustable? I can't believe Honda would overlook this in their highest priced vehicle. Am I missing something here?
by the way, the S2000 is Honda's highest priced vehicle (not the Pilot), and that doesn't even have a power seat.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I heard that sliding noise in the back of my car yesterday. I'm usually driving by myself and have the radio on and have not heard it before. Had some other people in the car yesterday and had the radio turned off. Sounds like something is loose in the back. Right?
Have the dealer look into the shake. It may just be balancing. Does it go away when the front tires are rotated to the back? My steering shook when I applied the brakes. I thought the rotors were warped. It ended up being the lug nuts not evenly torqued.
1) Stretching leather seats - I have heard many complaints and wonder why Honda has not fixed this problem...other high quality auto maker's leather seats do not have this problem? Has Honda replaced anyone's seats or fixed them?
2) Since I bought my Honda, 45 days ago, I have had trouble starting it 6 times...it finally start but is concerning and annoying...should I be concerned about the starter.
3) I have heard twice a loud popping noise from the back of the Pilot...once while parked and the other slowing moving...wondered if it was the VTM-4.
4) Does anyone know where we can buy a head rest that can articulate back and forth...making it much more comfortable.
Looking forward to hearing from you...
I am picking up my Brand New Pilot on the 2nd of January and thinking of taking it out for a trip the next day. The trip is about 400 miles.
The manufacture suggests a break in of 1000 miles before making long distance trip or speeding on highway. I am not sure what kind of problem it will cause in the future if I take it out just like that.
Anybody has any experience at all?
Thanks!
After my 15k service i also noted the engine noise within the car to have gone higher. Is that something i should be concerned about, or is it part of normal aging.
I would like to mention that my pilot was in an accident and my front bumper had to be replaced, i believe the body shop used a part which is not honda made. this was at about 10k miles. wonder if that is contributing to the noise.
ppatterson - it is the same as far as I know, but have you heard of anyone having a problem on recent ones? Opinions vary, but I've heard this problem has been addressed prior to the start of Pilot production and should not show up on our Pilots.
meiflower - its really fine to take it on a long trip. You just don't want to lock in the cruise control and hold a steady speed for a long period of time. Vary your speeds and that should suffice. Plenty of folks buy their Pilots from far away from home and drive them back immediately and never have problems.
tilak - a new front bumper could certainly cause that if not installed properly or if it is not the exact shape of the previous one. it would deflect the wind differently and result in different noise.
susan - i commented on the wind noise before. i do, in fact, attribute it mostly to being an SUV. I've had this in every vehicle I've owned that had a big open area in the rear where the wind you are letting in cannot escape from. It has to go somewhere, so it bounces back up to you, trying to escape through the front windows. As far as that squeaky seat, tape is not an acceptable solution. i would tell them that if they cannot fix it properly than they need to replace it. good luck.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I find it hard to believe there could be a rat in my engine, especially when I read a posting dated 4/10/03 from njeverest regarding a similar faulty indicator light problem they had. Has anyone else had this problem? I don't think I should pay for the repair if it's a Honda defect. Also, both times I had this problem was the day after a heavy rain and I had driven through some pretty hefty puddles. Don't know if that has anything to do with it???
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
We get chewed up wiring fairly often. We have had to extract the remains of dead vermin that crawl into the heater air boxes.
Not a fun job for a tech to have to deal with.
Seems like it happens early on.When I brought the vehicle in for it's 1st oil change,the tech indicated the calipers had a space in them that caused the noise...the self check theory seems more logical.
Any ideas on the clunking noise when putting into reverse?
Noise in dash:
We've owned our Pilot almost 1 year and for the first several months we heard a strange noise coming from the dash area. I only noticed this while I was pulling into our garage at a very slow speed. The best way I can describe the sound is this: remember in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy first comes upon the Tin-Man? And he says in that closed mouth way "oil can". Well, it sounds just like that "oil can" part. I was cracking up the first few times I heard it. It was never an issue for me so I can't say what it is/was.
Let me know what happens.
Clunking when changing gears isn't abnormal, but I expect it from a Chevy truck with 60K miles, not a brand new vehicle.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Thanks
stringmaster - any automatic will roll back if the hill is steep enough or unless the engine idle is set too high. But it will take less of an incline the heavier the car is. Just simple physics.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
DD
What I did experience is that we have a car seat in the back and the seat platform has left permanent marks in the cloth. This 'cloth' seems to be a flocked/brushed material and is susiptible to marking. Unlike real cloth.
However, we also discovered that a cheaper and more-readily-available option is a rubber no-slip mat you'd normally use in the tub. We simply placed it on the seat, under the safety seat, with the suction-cups-side up. Works just as well as the special pad mentioned above.
Now, as for the marks on the seats that you already have: you might try a trick that works for furniture marks in carpet. Just put an ice cube on the depressed spot and let it melt. If it doesn't fluff back up, then try it one more time. Works like a charm on carpet and just might solve your depressed-seat-fabric problem as well. If not, then at least you'll have the coolest seats around! ;-)
Try this: Bring the Pilot to a stop, shut the radio and heater down so that you can hear clearly and abruptly step on the gas than brake, than gas, etc. and you will hear these clucking sounds. When your tank is nearly empty these sounds go away.
I only have 500 miles on my Pilot and it is already beginning to look like heck. I only weigh 160 lbs and the imprint of my but is in the driver's seat. It seems that there is twice as much leather there now than when I bought it. Heck, I have a friend with a Kia SUV (leather) that does not have this problem.
A $34,000 SUV should not have these problems. I've owned many cars with leather seats and this is the first one with this type of a problem.
I have called customer service of American Honda (phone in your owners manual) and told them about the problem. They told me to take the car to the dealer and have them take a look at it. However, they have created a record of my complaint in their data base.
I would urge everyone that has this problem (which should be everyone that has leather seats) to call American Honda and complain. I think this is the only way they will realize they have a bad design on their hands. And don't let them tell you that this is normal for leather because it is not. Wrinkle lines in the leather are normal, but not this.
Has anyone taken their Pilot to the dealer for this problem and were they able to do anything about it? My appointment is January 31.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
The only extras I personally find nice on the base MDX are stability control and moonroof. The base MDX was $6K more than our Pilot EXL (now I think its about $5600 difference). We added a moonroof to the Pilot for $1K (and it is much larger than the MDX roof, by the way). So it came down to $5K more (or $4600 now) for stability control and LESS interior space. To us, that was just not worth it.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I just called Honda to address about 1) leather seat sagging and 2) dings on pillar issues so that they can document it on my vehicle.
1) I'm only a 110bls woman. My Pilot has +2300 miles on it. Like most of you, the driver seat on the Pilot sagged so badly. Jake from Honda suggested me to bring the the vehicle to the dealer to have it inspected so that they can identify if it is a problem. Has any of you done this and what the dealer say?
2) I'm really upset about Jake's suggestion on this issue. He told me to change the way I take off the seatbelt because they will not be able to adjust the seatbelt. I told him that I had 2 other Toyota vehicles. The Corolla costed only 1/2 price of the Pilot, I take off the seatbelt the same way and it does not have this problem. I also told Jake that I expect the quality of the pillar of my $34,000 Pilot to be at least as good as the Corolla. Jake also said that each vehicle is different, it drives different, it breaks different so we have to adjust ourselves to the vehicle. I told him that his suggestion is not a smart one because all I wanted from Honda about the dings on pillar is to make it with a better quality, not the performance of the vehicle.
I've heard several people complain of the door pillar ding problem. This one I am still baffled by. We have had no such issue on ours.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
1. Seat Leather - The dealer told me that the bun-prints and sagging of the leather is common on all Pilots. Honda will offer to restretch the leather to correct this, but the problem will appear again and restretching can only be performed once on a seat.
2. Poor Wipers - The dealer told me that many other customers have complained of poor wipers. This is due to soft spring rates on some 04 wipers and they will install new wiper arms.
3. Morning Clunking/Thumping Noises Backing out of Driveway - The dealer told me that these noises come from the brakes (calipers adjusting) and/or from the gasoline in the tank (not enough baffles in tank), and that this is normal and there is nothing that can or should be done.
4. Inoperative Door Locks in Cold Temperatures - Again, the dealer told me that they see a lot of this on the Pilots. Owners have been coming in saying a rear door will not lock/unlock with the remote and the alarm will not arm. They do not have a solution. Pilots have cables in the doors to actuate the door plunger, and Honda is just now learning that the cables are prone to freezing. Honda Engineering in CA is apparently working on a solution and all the dealer can do is use a heat gun to temporarily resolve the problem.
Hope this is helpful.
I'm afraid I have to agree with Jake on the seat belt issue though. I played with one, and yes, if you just allow the belt to snap back into place, it can hit the pillar. Just take a bit of care, hold it with your hand and allow it to ease back into position and you won't have a problem.
Perhaps, Honda could make the pillar material a bit tougher, but I really think the vast majority of owners won't have this problem.