One problem related to differential unit has been reported for the 2005 Honda Element. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2005 Honda Element based on all problems reported for the 2005 Element.
Hello and thank you for this forum, just bought my daughter an 05 Honda Element for her graduation, with a little over 100k miles. She loves it, and thought we were getting a straight deal from the sellers, but not the case. When we drove the car, unfortunatly, after buying, we noticed a rumbling noise in the car, so drove to an empty parking lot to try and figure out the source. We nailed it to the rear end by one driving and one walking outside the car. Took to my mechanic the next day and was immediatly diagnosed with the 4wd rear differential being the source. He called his transmission contact who immediatly confirmed that the problem is very common for the Honda 4wd and that there needs to be a recall because his business has fixed many of these 'unsafe' gear boxes that transer power to the rear wheels. Being a concerned father, I'm not going to wait for the right thing to be done by Honda, because my daughter and any cars on the road around her, need to be as safe as possible. Your attention to this matter would be greatly appreciated by myself and the other 431 posts I briefly scanned through regarding this defect with the Honda cr-v and the Element. Thank you.