Cylinder #1 misfire
Three month prior to the end of the warranty my Honda Pilot 2012 had so called "Cylinder
#1 misfire" issue (Plug #1 was oil fouled). There is a TSB (SB 13-082) regarding this issue
and it involves costly (up to $5,000) repair. Instead of fixing the root cause of the problem
Honda Dealership (Honda of Frontenac, St. Louis, MO) replaced the plug and told me that
there was a bug in the on-board computer software.
Nine month later it happened again (2015/05/14). At this point my Honda is not covered by
warranty so I brought it to an independent car shop located within couple of miles from my
home (Calvert’s Express Auto Service & Tire). They replaced same plug again and told me
that I have to bring my car to the Honda dealer ASAP because there is a TSB in regards to
this known issue and Honda will fix it free of charge.
On 2015/05/15 Honda dealer (Honda of Frontenac, St. Louis, MO) refused to fix this
problem based on the fact that car already fixed and they cannot verify error codes.
Next business day (2015/05/17) I called Honda America only to find out that I HAVE TO
WAIT UNTIL MY CAR BRAKES AGAIN AND THEN BRING IT TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR!
Needless to say, I was quite frustrated.
In the past few days I had several phone conversations with various customer service
representatives and case managers only to find out that this is company policy and I am
stock with my lemon.
I expected a much higher level of service from your company, and I am quite disappointed.
Frankly it feels like I now own Yugo rather than Honda.
#1 misfire" issue (Plug #1 was oil fouled). There is a TSB (SB 13-082) regarding this issue
and it involves costly (up to $5,000) repair. Instead of fixing the root cause of the problem
Honda Dealership (Honda of Frontenac, St. Louis, MO) replaced the plug and told me that
there was a bug in the on-board computer software.
Nine month later it happened again (2015/05/14). At this point my Honda is not covered by
warranty so I brought it to an independent car shop located within couple of miles from my
home (Calvert’s Express Auto Service & Tire). They replaced same plug again and told me
that I have to bring my car to the Honda dealer ASAP because there is a TSB in regards to
this known issue and Honda will fix it free of charge.
On 2015/05/15 Honda dealer (Honda of Frontenac, St. Louis, MO) refused to fix this
problem based on the fact that car already fixed and they cannot verify error codes.
Next business day (2015/05/17) I called Honda America only to find out that I HAVE TO
WAIT UNTIL MY CAR BRAKES AGAIN AND THEN BRING IT TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR!
Needless to say, I was quite frustrated.
In the past few days I had several phone conversations with various customer service
representatives and case managers only to find out that this is company policy and I am
stock with my lemon.
I expected a much higher level of service from your company, and I am quite disappointed.
Frankly it feels like I now own Yugo rather than Honda.
0
Comments
No it doesn't (or won't). The TSB reports that the engine warranty is extended to eight years, unlimited mileage. Having just looked at the bulletin, they are only paying the techs 9.1 hours to remove the rear cylinder head, clean the pistons and the ring lands and put new rings on them. If the tech also has to do cylinder #4, then an additional 1.9 hours is paid. That according to the bulletin pays for the diagnostics as well, a total of 11 hours.
It's noteworthy that no-where does this explain whether or why cylinders #5 and #6 don't suffer the same issue, or at least aren't covered for it.
Your original repair, under warranty, paid the tech .5 (half) an hour to perform diagnostics, perform a software update if required and replace up to four spark plugs. That should be recognized as strange that the job pays the same whether the software update is required or not. Your subsequent repair would also have been covered by the warranty if you had taken the car back to the dealer. However with the warranty extension you need only wait until a misfire develops again and then they will follow the bulletin as required. So you have nothing to be concerned about other than the real issue at hand, just let them know the historical nature of the situation if necessary.
The customer pay rate to simply replace the rear head gasket is 8.9 hours, (12.1 hours for both of ). This bulletin pays the techs just .2 hours (twelve minutes) more to remove the pan, remove and clean the pistons, install the new rings and get the bottom of the engine re-assembled for just the rear bank. That would be 1.8 hours for the pan gasket and .3 to replace each connecting rod bearing for an additional 2.7 hours, and we still haven't considered just what is really involved in cleaning the pistons and replacing the rings. This job at the minimum should pay the tech somewhere in the fifteen hour range for just the rear bank (cylinders #1, #2,and #3) and allow for approximately another 2.5 to 3 hours for cylinder #4.
Time and again technicians have been berated for upselling maintenance services to try and make more money. Meanwhile these pressures which work against them being productive have been left hidden in the shadows and are routinely overlooked when they are the real cause for the problem(s). The stranger part is when a consumer complains, the marks go against the technician and serve to make a difficult career even less gratifying.
The TSB doesn't allow for the initial complete repair unless there is significant fouling of the spark plugs. In other words, he/she did exactly what was supposed to be done.
The Pilot has destroyed our confidence in Honda vehicles after 40 years of faith up built with all our other Hondas. We also had to replace the radio in this one which is somehow integrated with car computer and completely drained our battery every night. It took two days for mechanics to finally diagnose the electrical drain problem, new radio unit, and now this major engine issue in a car we would have trusted to go another 130,000 mi. So disappointing.