2005 Pilot Milestone - 200K on the ORIGINAL Transmission!

[tony1679]

My mom's Pilot finally put the 2 on the odometer last week. She's owned it since 105K. The original owner did all of the 100/105K service before selling (confirmed). It is still the original motor and trans (which I believe is the BVLA?). Steady diet of Maxlife 5W-20 up until 196K, but now she finally sees the light of full syn. No major work done. And let me be the first to say that she drives it HARD. She's somewhat of a leadfoot and is VERY unforgiving of the transmission. She constantly changes throttle unnecessarily (which makes it change gears unnecessarily), and rarely fully stops when switching between P-R-D. To make things worse, it's driven 90% city/10% highway. That said, I can't speak for exactly what was done to the transmission fluid before 105K, but it's only had two drain and fills using DW-1 since. One at about 175K after excessively nagging her to do it, and once at 196K. Both times the magnet was horrendous. The first time was tons of black sludgy clutch material. The second time tons of spiny metal shavings.

I doubt it will go to 300K without major work. She says she's keeping it that long, and it will go that far... she has a bad case of the H disease (All Hondas last 300K+ easily

). Time will tell. I guess it depends how often from here she does drain and fills.

Regardless, I know these transmissions are notorious for being overworked/junk, and thought it was something to be a bit proud of. Now if I can only convince her to change the VTM-4 fluid...

 

[Ed_Flecko]

I have to laugh when I encounter people who feel about Hondas the way your Mom apparently does.

I remember a former co-worker and I chatting with another one of our co-workers who was selling her Honda (I think a Civic). The first question we asked her was the price and how many miles were on the car and she quickly cut us off and said, "Oh, that doesn't matter...it's a Honda".

We almost spit out our coffee laughing!

Ed

 

[ctechbob]

I'd feel like I was having a REALLY bad day if one of my trans magnets came out looking like that.

 

[sasilverbullet]

Originally Posted by Ed_Flecko
..."Oh, that doesn't matter...it's a Honda"...


Heard that a hundred times, but really, they are pretty solid for the most part.

 

[Mr Nice]

Its normal for Honda drain plugs to look like the first photo.

We sold our Hondas and I still have left over DW-1 and MTF (both).

 

[Ursatdx]

96 Pilot at 160k. Wifeys car for 10 years.
My daughter's 1st car.
Both may be off to Rutgers New Brunswick in a year.
Fingers crossed.

 

[Nukeman7]

Originally Posted by Ursatdx
96 Pilot at 160k. Wifeys car for 10 years.
My daughter's 1st car.
Both may be off to Rutgers New Brunswick in a year.
Fingers crossed.


??? The Pilot came out in late 2002 as a 2003 all-new vehicle.

 

[carviewsonic]

That second magnet picture does not look good to me..

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by Ed_Flecko
I have to laugh when I encounter people who feel about Hondas the way your Mom apparently does.

I remember a former co-worker and I chatting with another one of our co-workers who was selling her Honda (I think a Civic). The first question we asked her was the price and how many miles were on the car and she quickly cut us off and said, "Oh, that doesn't matter...it's a Honda".

We almost spit out our coffee laughing!

Ed

I heard that miles doesn't matter it's a Honda story from a guy on a used car lot on Whidbey Island. My son and I were shopping for used cars and we stumbled upon an old Honda that had 300K miles on it and they were asking $3,000 for it. IIRC the car was over 15 years old at the time. I almost rolled on the floor laughing. My son and I left hysterical with laughter. IMO the car was worth $300 on a good day, or a $100 over what I junkyard would pay.

 

[Ursatdx]

Originally Posted by Nukeman7
Originally Posted by Ursatdx
96 Pilot at 160k. Wifeys car for 10 years.
My daughter's 1st car.
Both may be off to Rutgers New Brunswick in a year.
Fingers crossed.


??? The Pilot came out in late 2002 as a 2003 all-new vehicle.


2006. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[WagonWheel]

They had worked out most of the V6 transmission problems by the 2005 MY. This is proof of that, IMO. Good to see you have 300K on the clock!

https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/honda-transmission-problems-seem-to-persist/

 

[talest]

Originally Posted by Ed_Flecko
I have to laugh when I encounter people who feel about Hondas the way your Mom apparently does.

I remember a former co-worker and I chatting with another one of our co-workers who was selling her Honda (I think a Civic). The first question we asked her was the price and how many miles were on the car and she quickly cut us off and said, "Oh, that doesn't matter...it's a Honda".

We almost spit out our coffee laughing!

Ed


Honda Civic is one of a car thief's favorite car.

 

[gregk24]

The first magnet picture looks fine, the second is concerning to me. Making it to 200K on the original transmission of any vehicle is a good run. Good luck!

 

[csandste]

That second picture is a work of art. Frightening, but a work of art.

 

[ddombrowski]

I (wife) used to own an 07. Drove it up to 170k miles. Gave it to my father in law. I think he has it up to 180k now. Original trans (but do believe there was an improvement in 2005/6). I changed the trans fluid a few times, and most of the time the plug came out looking like the first photo. Couldn't tell you when the last time I changed the trans fluid when I owned it was. It should definitely hit 200k - its still running great to this day with no issues.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by tony1679
and rarely fully stops when switching between P-R-D. To make things worse, it's driven 90% city/10% highway.


Best things for longevity would be to stop completely when changing gears. Maybe put a post it note somewhere on her dash as a reminder. Or maybe a few of them since bad habits are hard to change for some.

Since it's a Honda V6 automatic that sees mostly city miles I would do drain and fills every 15k miles. And no that's not overkill in this application under severe service.

Oil changes every 5k with full syn and the diffs should be serviced also. Hopefully she's ok spending a few hundred on it for pm. However usually when cars get this old people slack even more on maintenance. But it should be the other way around. 05 Matrix here with 155k miles.

 

[gofast182]

Interesting how some use a thread where a FWD-based SUV got 200k miles on its trans. to criticize the brand. Honda may not be the end-all be-all but it most certainly didn't get its reputation for durability and reliability by accident.