Half-Completed Repairs and More Bad News - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

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Half-Completed Repairs and More Bad News - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

The replacement parts for our 2016 Honda Pilot's steering wheel and window problems arrived, as did a replacement windshield. The repairs didn't go very smoothly, however.

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reminder

Buy a pair of gloves and bag that goofy heated wheel option.
What a pain in the neck.

MCZCOKE

Time for a Highlander!

ctpaul

Fiat reliability at an Acura price

thecardoc3

The button that activates it is attached to another set of buttons that accesses Bluetooth phone controls. This entire assembly was replaced, but the heater still didn't function. The next step was to call the service line and have a Honda technician troubleshoot a solution. This process would take some time, and the service department was only open for another hour

If they paid the techs correctly to perform diagnostics, then there would be more techs who could handle systems like this without having to use tech line support in the first place. Its very likely that the tech is not being paid for the time that is being spent now. He/she "might" get paid to install what ever part the tech line now instructs them to replace but that just perpetuates the real problem. A qualified tech would have analyzed and repaired this efficiently the first time and the perception would have been that "it was so simple that anyone could have done it".

kirkhilles1

Well, its a first year model, so I'll give Honda a pass on both the Pilot and Civic issues. People have had more serious issues than these, so its not like you were stranded anywhere. That being said, I'll be expecting the issues to calm down over the next couple of months.

actualsize

I guess, but window regulators and heated steering wheels are not new technology. And from this I'm left wondering if the buttons are fine but the steering wheel heater element itself is bad, which would require a whole new steering wheel.

longtimelurker

actualsize said:

I guess, but window regulators and heated steering wheels are not new technology. And from this I'm left wondering if the buttons are fine but the steering wheel heater element itself is bad, which would require a whole new steering wheel.

Really. And how hard is it to check a resistive heating element for an open or a short - ? Parts replacing as a substitute for actual diagnostics.

thecardoc3

actualsize said:

I guess, but window regulators and heated steering wheels are not new technology. And from this I'm left wondering if the buttons are fine but the steering wheel heater element itself is bad, which would require a whole new steering wheel.

Easy enough to prove by simply measuring the current supplied to the wheel with a low amps current probe while commanding the heater on with a scan tool. At that point you are testing a simple series circuit which is no different than the controlled side of a relay. It only takes one open to shut the whole circuit down which would result in no current flow at all. System voltage would be measured right up to the point that the circuit is going open.

Even if this system, is directly controlled by a module (MICU) and uses solid state control (no relay) by measuring the current one can quickly see exactly what the circuit is doing. Excessive resistance in the circuit would allow for some current flow, but not what full system should be pulling. A voltage drop would be measurable at the point of the undesired resistance whether it is on the power or ground side.

As far as the buttons go, the switch state should be visible in scan data and generally these types of controls are multiplexed.

The steering wheel heater circuit is not shown in current aftermarket repair information. In order to get to specifics about how this circuit works and how it should be tested we would have to go to here https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/logon.asp and pay for short term access.

g35buf

thecardoc3 said:

actualsize said:

I guess, but window regulators and heated steering wheels are not new technology. And from this I'm left wondering if the buttons are fine but the steering wheel heater element itself is bad, which would require a whole new steering wheel.

Easy enough to prove by simply measuring the current supplied to the wheel with a low amps current probe while commanding the heater on with a scan tool. At that point you are testing a simple series circuit which is no different than the controlled side of a relay. It only takes one open to shut the whole circuit down which would result in no current flow at all. System voltage would be measured right up to the point that the circuit is going open.

Even if this system, is directly controlled by a module (MICU) and uses solid state control (no relay) by measuring the current one can quickly see exactly what the circuit is doing. Excessive resistance in the circuit would allow for some current flow, but not what full system should be pulling. A voltage drop would be measurable at the point of the undesired resistance whether it is on the power or ground side.

As far as the buttons go, the switch state should be visible in scan data and generally these types of controls are multiplexed.

The steering wheel heater circuit is not shown in current aftermarket repair information. In order to get to specifics about how this circuit works and how it should be tested we would have to go to here https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/logon.asp and pay for short term access.

Good points and my suspicion is a bad heating element aka a new steering wheel will be needed. If it there is a voltage coming through as it should, then you've got a bad heating element. I think that is what is coming next.

I've only had one heated steering wheel (in my current RAM 1500 and it works perfect). I like it because I'm too dumb to grab my gloves when I should - and the heated wheel serves as a substitute for wearing proper winter gear...

fordescortgt

Wow this stinks, I love all the gadgets and am guilty of always getting the fully loaded model. I have had something come up with all of my new cars lately all related to tech. a Pair of Odyssey's had a radio issue that required a whole new head unit (or at least they did not want to deal with labor) my Mazda kept draining the battery After several days in the shop and the whole dash taken apart and put back together it was discovered it was the keyless entry module (no idea of the actual part but this is what I was told was the problem)) All the tech I enjoy makes me Leary of buying a car these days. Keeping something for 10+yrs would be great, but I cannot imagine keeping all the tech working. The "head unit/Computer controllers for all three repairs were >$2,000, and since we are looking at the tech I am not sure how viable a second hand unit would be, unless they start re-manufacturing the parts

isellhondas

It's getting to the point where a ten year car won't be worth fixing if almost anything go's bad!

accdguy13

"It's getting to the point where a ten year car won't be worth fixing if almost anything go's bad!"

This is the plan !

kurtataltos

Some of you are willing to give Honda a "pass" because it's the first year? Really? So... customers are really just beta sites used to test whether something actually functions? Crap is ok if it's early crap? If its a first year car costing $40K do I get a "first year discount because it is unreliable" discount? no.... This is nothing more than 1960's "don't buy a Friday or Monday car" from U.S. manufacturers. You are paying good money for a good car. Expect more.

oneslackr

I don't think there is a car brand made that doesn't have issues with the first year models. I'm not sure what people expect. Early adopters of first model year vehicles or redesigns of existing models should expect some issues just like with any other new product.

The complaints/issues about this new Pilot are fairly minor even if they might be annoying/inconvenient. There are other brands that end up having far more serious issues with their new and/or redesigned vehicles. In addition, the more unneeded garbage (i.e. heated steering wheels etc...) that people load up their cars with the more issues they will end up having either now or down the road, old technology or not. Does no one remember the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid)? Does anyone need a heated steering wheel, really? I've managed to drive for the past 31 years without one. Turn the damn heater on & warm up the interior. So your hands might be a bit cold for a few minutes, you'll live.

berri

Some of you are willing to give Honda a "pass" because it's the first year

I think that is a fair statement, except it goes beyond Honda to many Japanese and German makes. If the problem is D3 or Korean it seems to get jumped on more.