general problems of the 2005 Honda Pilot - part 1

Airbag is deactivated due to failure of both crash sensors on the vehicle. Replacement parts are on national backorder.

Was traveling down the road, had an electrical burning smell coming from my dash and around steering wheel. Low beams then shut off going down road pulled over but still had high beams but no low beams.

I parked my car in front of my house at 10pm the following morning my neighbor came to tell me my car was on fire. It had been raining the previous night. My driver window was not completely closed so rain got in my car. There was black smoke coming out of the window. When I opened my door, the driver seat & driver door was on fire. I grabbed the hose & put out the fire.

2005 Pilot was repaired under vsa recall in 2013. As of the last couple of weeks, again I experienced same exact vehicle safety issues prior to repair. This past week while I had my three children in the car, we almost lost our lives. A semi driver instead risked his own lives to keep from slamming in the back of us. We took our Pilot to Honda dealership that has serviced our vehicle over the years and they do not want to recognize issue and instead point to the same thing I am now reading here online. The dealership service department states it is the yaw sensor as the issue, not faulty repair. It is not a coincidence that Pilot owners are now once again are experiencing the same issues all over again. How many lives will be lost or changed for the worst before Honda is forced to reckon with this issue? this is wrong and unacceptable. There are other poor design flaws that we think also may have cost us so much more money, such as the vvt issues. However, the vsa repair issue is not something that can be overlooked and must be dealt with now. Specifically, my experience mostly on flat surfaces with exception of one time on a slight incline at a stop light. Both in town driving and intersate and all dry weather conditions except one occasion. The vsa light flashed, vehicle applied brake at without my foot on brake pedal. My foot was on accelerator at the time vehicle was being harshly stopped by the brakes applied. This caused the vehicle to make a bucking motion or jerking motion, also I've experienced the slight swerve. I was driving in a straight direction all of the times this occurred since the repair in 2013. It depended on the amount of pressure and length of time the vehicle acted up. Everything is just as it did prior to the repair in 2013, nothing is any different, all the same. Yet, Honda wants to say I need to cover repair.

For the second time this week my 2005 Honda Pilot suddenly loses all power and dies, both times I was in a dangerous intersections. It scared me 2 death.

The yaw rate lateral acceleration sensor is faulty and should be included in Honda's 2013 recall of the vsa. The vehicle has the exact symptoms of the vsa recall, which was fixed on my vehicle. I purchased the car last year with very low miles, only drove for a few months before it started having issues. Started out having the vsa triangle light on dash and losing power (limp mode) only after coming out of a turn after driving vehicle for awhile. Increased to the point where after roughly 30 minutes of the vehicle running the vsa issue would happen at least once during the drive. Severity of the vsa/limp mode got worse, no power for longer at a time and the horrible grinding noise directly underneath cabin. Took to Honda complaining of these issues, couldn't replicate it so nothing was wrong. One month ago, my vehicle started having the un-commanded braking problem. Driving at 55 mph, the slightest touch to the brakes causes the vehicle to hard brake, causing a swerve at least going that fast. It has done this un-commanded braking more than once, I have been afraid to drive it and at least got it 30 minutes to my Honda dealer, which I also purchased the vehicle from. It was diagnosed with the faulty yaw rate lateral acceleration sensor. I have argued with Honda for the last three weeks over the issue, ultimately to be told that it was not included in the final recall, even though the investigation names the yaw sensor as possibly being implicated in the malfunction. $994 for the sensor alone. It is absolutely dangerous and even the dealer recommends it be fixed immediately, yet Honda has declared no fault.

Over the last year, we experienced the car's dash warning lights turning on for 1-2 seconds and the radio makes a puff sound prior to this occuring. . . This has been reported prior on your system. See incident# 10458594. Second issue is regarding the interior lights for the heating / ac console. The lights don't work. This has also been reported on your system. See incident # 10440512, 10418459, 10345735. Both issues occur when driving the vehicle.

The brakes are applying randomly without applying pressure on the brake pedal. The vsa light remains illuminated and it is unsafe to drive. 13v092 is the recall bulliten I believe applies to my vehicle, but when I search my VIN, it shows no unrepaired recalls. I have verified that the vsa subharness has not been installed prior to my purchase of the vehicle. My manufacture date falls between the timeline of this recall and also my VIN begins with 2hk, which is specified in campaign 13-026 as requiring vsa sub harness installed. I have taken it to my local Honda dealer and they have told me that it does not qualify for the recall because it is "VIN specific".

Faulty electrical issue. Car will just cut off and go dead especially when it rains. This was reported to Honda as a safety concern but no one ever followed up with the complaint. This should have been a recall. Car will just cut off and steering wheel locks. This occurs at any speed unexpectly without warning. Occurs while car is in motion without warning. Worsens with heavy rain. This was reported 10 years ago and even. Again about 8 years ago with no response from Honda. Occurred again today.

Unexpected for the the key ignition stop working. I never have any kind of problems with ignition key stop working with my other cars. This come to safety concern when if it happen when you on a long vacation trip and all the sudden your car ignition key just stop working and you are far from home and work or don't know anyone around there to help. How could anyone expected that this issue would happen to Honda.

The contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. While driving various speeds, the btm-4, bfa, abs, and tpm warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but hey were unable to duplicate the failure or diagnose the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Problems with vsa and vtm 4 lock. Vehicle slow dowm while drive around 30 mph.

First issue. Honda is failing to make proper notifications concerning recalls and extended warrantees. A warrantee extension notice for my 2009 Honda accord was forwarded to me by the person across town who received my notice. Last year the same person forwarded to me a takata airbag recall notice he received for my 2005 Honda Pilot. I purchased my 2005 Honda Pilot direct from Honda and my accord from a private owner. Both vehicles are in the Honda service data base with my correct name, address, and VIN. I have no connection to that address, and the resident there does not have my name or any Honda vehicles. I have spoken to Honda service and the Honda recall center about this. Yet, in March the same issue occurred with my 2009 Honda accord. Additionally, I have not received a notice on my 2010 Honda accord (purchased from a Honda dealer), which, according to the notice, is part of the class of vehicles subject to the same extended warrantee. Honda¿s national service center could not explain to me how the mistake occurred and could not assure me that their records would be corrected for purposes of safety notifications since Honda has had my information correct in their service center database. Second issue: my notice of an extended warrantee on 2008-2010 accords is for a corrosion issue with an internal component in the srs electronic control unit that could potentially result in srs failure. The notice stated that if the dashboard srs light alerts you to an issue, you need to bring the vehicle in for inspection ASAP. The srs light in my 2005 Honda Pilot illuminates intermittently. Honda said it is not covered, but they would diagnose it for $120/hr + repairs. For purposes of vehicle safety, can your office determine if the older Honda Pilots have the same srs ecu issue as the 2008-2010 Honda accord, and thus should be subject to a recall?.

Tl- the contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that after recieving a recall repair the front driver side warning air bag light is illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that the crash sensor failed and needed to be replaced. The contact had not informed the manufacturer of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000. Gl.

Tl- the contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle an electrical burning odor was present inside the vehicle. The contact then noticed smoke and flames coming from the driver side seat adjustment control. The flames were extinguished by a police officer using a fire extinguisher. During the incident the contact sustained a burned right hand. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 148,300. Jft.

My daughter was driving our family's 2005 Honda Pilot. She applied the brake lightly which resulted in excessive breaking in the left front wheel and then appearance of the vsa light. I brought the vehicle to the Honda dealer who first indicated there was no recall and then indicated there was a vsa wire harness recall (NHTSA 13v-092) but that it did apply the vsa light going on and therefore had nothing to do with the recall. A vsa light diagnostics which I independently paid for indicated a yaw rate failure code (25-01). This light vsa light has continued to intermittently go on and off with an intermittent contemporaneous relationship to braking. On 2/25/15 my daughter was driving the vehicle on the highway (no vsa light on), applied the brakes lightly and the car braked severly even once her foot was off the brake and pulled the car in the same front right direction as before forcing her to swerve along side a passing truck. The vsa light went on after the event occurred. Calling the Honda dealer today, the service manager indicated that Honda does not have a recall on this matter once the part for the 13v-092 recall was replaced. In reviewing safer car. Gov NHTSA campaign id number dp12002 it describes well what has occurred twice and which has not been corrected by the recall service performed. I have also contacted Honda USA. I believe Honda has inadequately evaluated the relationship of similarly reported events regarding unexpected car brake assist with mild application of the brake since the vsa wire harness recall repair did not resolve the unexpected and inappropriate vsa/esc/ba system logic response. It is not clear why Honda is not addressing my matter under this recall (NHTSA 13v-092) and the referenced NHTSA dp12002, and further investigating under a known safety recall.

Electrical components of the car started to fail. Power windows didn't work for a while and then worked again. Now they all work but the main control panel in the driver's side works except for the rear driver's window. It does work if done directly from the door but not from the main control panel. Also, power locks stopped working. I changed the fuse but it blows every time we use the locks. There is some sort of short. Dealership is asking $500 to fix it. There are some other lights in the main panel that go on and off every so often. It just seems that the electrical side to the car is deteriorating by the day.

When on high, the driver side seat warmer will literally leave burn marks on my right leg. It has worked normal until this fall when I was driving and it burned my leg. It can not be on more than a minute or will leave burn marks on the right leg. The left side still seems normal. I checked and there is not a recall on this, but in looking into it had happened to many others and the seat has started to smoke.

On numerous occasions during the ownership of the car, especially when it is raining, damp, or snowing while driving the car for no reason it loses power. The steering wheel locks, and the car acts as if the battery has been disconnected. This has happened more than 20 times. This is a defect. I am reporting, because I realize this needed to be reported. It is a safety issue. This loss of electrical power has occurred with the original battery, as well as two other batteries over the life of the car. It appears to be electrically related. The loss of power results in the steering wheel locking and no power. Luckily, each time this has happened, I was driving at 30 miles per hour. If this ever occurred on the highway, it could resulted in an accident.

While driving around a bend towards a red light, without my foot on the pedal my car made a weird shutter or brake pulsing, I thought I had gone over some ripple strips. When the the light changed, I proceeded to make a right turn in a busy intersection, when going almost 30 & out of the turn, my Pilot came to an unassisted abrupt stop! im so lucky the person behind me didnt rear end me! it sounded like the transmission was grinding & the tires were locked. I waited a few seconds let go of brakes & the vechile began to move but in 5 ft it did it again. Towed to dealer who cant seem to find or recreate the problem. Multiple brake, abs, vsc & electrical alarms were reported by dealer but still no solution. This car is unsafe to drive and by multiple reports this is a widespread problem.

Seat heater was used on drivers side. . Got very hot, smell smoked, leg had superficial burn. Smell plastic burning.

The contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that the key became stuck in the ignition. The contact was able to remove the key after some time however, the steering wheel then seized. As a result, the contact was unable to reinsert the key into the ignition. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The failure and current mileages were 102,000.

On 6/17/2013 during my daily commute to work I was driving at a normal speed of 65mph when I noticed the "d" gear light on the dashboard started to blink continuously. When I got to work I looked into my owner's manual which informed there may be a problem with the transmission and I should take the vehicle to the Honda dealership. When I took the vehicle to the dealership where I mind you I just spent almost $700. 00 on 6/15/2013 for suspension maintenance informed that this issue is very popular with the Honda Pilots and it's most likely my 4th gear pressure switch for the transmission. They then informed me that it will cost $350. 00 to replace this part. When I previously looked up the part needed and how to possibly diy; I found that the part only cost between $34. 00 and $40. 00 and a beginner can change this part in about 45 minutes to an hour. So why is the dealership charging me $350. 00 to change a part that cost $34. 00 - $40. 00 and an hour labor; does technician make $310. 00 an hour these days?! Honda USA knows that they have a defective part on the Honda Pilots and refuse to conduct a recall because they rather cheat their customers than have a smaller bonus! there are articles on-line of drivers transmissions locking up because of this issue which is extremely dangerous; Honda and all other automotive makers need to be held accountable for all faulty parts within their product just any other company.

This incident has happened on a few occasions with me driving the vehicle and additionally with my wife driving (she drives it the most). I started the vehicle, placed it in gear and started to drive it up the street. As I approached a traffic light, I glanced at the speedometer, and noticed the maintenance required and srs light on. This puzzled me because we never experienced any issues with the vehicle other than regular maintenance lights (filters, oil change, etc). I turned the vehicle off for a few seconds, restarted it and the light went out. Afew weeks later, it happened again. The difference was that this time I noticed it right after putting the vehicle in drive and driving off. Thinking it happened because of a possible glitch in the ignition, I immediately pulled over and turned the vehicle off and restarted it. Just like the first time, the light didn't come back on. The 3rd time it happened, it remained on the entire time I drove and to and from the grocery store. Now, it pretty much does it intermittently - cycling intermittent to steady at various times. After searching online for recalls, I read several complaints from drivers in various states (USA), they are experiencing the same problem and have voiced it to Honda but they haven't issued a recall; thus stating that the airbag may not deploy during an accident and they are not responsible. Instead Honda dealers are willing to charge approx. $120 for diagnostics and $300+ for repair - which is entirely unfair to us consumers. However Honda, issued a recall on the 2005 Honda odyssey which had very similar (if not exact) problems with its srs. Honda is aware of this issue and doesn't seem to care about the safety of the motorists. This is clearly a safety issue and need to be recalled on these vehicles.

Some of the a/c illuminated lights went out and back on again shortly afterwards. A few days later the lights for only some of the a/c controls are off and appear not to come back on. Fan speed, off, recirculate, rear defrost, and the mode buttons are the ones currently no longer on.

Airbag light came on intermittently. After I took it in for the recall, the dealer said the sensor was bad and needed to be replaced for $200. I had that done and the second day following, it was on again. It intermittently lit for about 3 months. Now it is almost always on. I see similar issues listed. God forbid they don't work when I need them. Not thrilled with the Pilot. Transmission light also intermittently lights (blinking d). I had this fixed years ago after the dealer said new trans for $3,000. I didn't bite on that one because the shifting was seemless. Seems that mechanics maybe rely on computer too much. Had switch changed out and it stopped for about 2 years. Now it's on intermittently again. Tire pressure is another problem. Electronics stink!.

The contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the transmission shifted gears in a jerking motion. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was advised that the computer system would need to be reprogrammed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

Vehicle low beams stopped working. Further investigation showed charred wire and melted connector. This issue has been recognized by Honda for the same model on an earlier model year (NHTSA id 12v136000). Honda part designations and failure description match recall. I would recommend Honda expand recall to cover all effected vehicles.

While driving home after dark, we suddenly lost both dim headlights. Have tried replacing bulbs, fuses, relays, steering column switch and nothing as worked. Checked recalls online and this same problem happened in the 2003 Pilot to which there was a recall. Same parts I understand. Luckily, there was no traffic and we were able to stop and figure out that we still had bright lights and could continue home, but having 3 children in the car and driving blind was a horrific experience and this should be added to the list of recall.

The vsa light and warning light come on within a minute of the first movement of the vehicle. When the light comes on there is a loud clunk noise and the front brake and steering locks for a fraction of a second. It has happened more than once on the highway nearly causing me to be hit from behind.

The climate control lights have gone out on the dashboard of our 2005 Honda Pilot and it has been a common complaint of other owners on internet forums. It becomes a hazard at night because the buttons do not illuminate which I believe is an extreme hazard that takes the eyes off the road for longer than needed to adjust settings. No other place in the dash has had the bulbs stop working but it seems to be happening to everyone's climate control lights. I think this is an extreme hazard similar to someone using a phone in the car and Honda should be held responsible to correct the problems.

Display lights on several buttons on climate control unit are not lit up,this makes it difficult to see & make adjustments at night. Checked all fuses,all ttare intact. Dealer states problem not covered by warranty . I checked various sites & noticed similar complaints . Plz notify if there are any service bulletins or recalls tnks. *.

The climate control lights inside our Honda Pilot have all burned out. It is extremely dangerous to change the settings at night because the light bulbs do not light up. Please fix this Honda!.

Srs warning light goes on and stays on for days, then goes off and seems ok for a while. Sometimes it comes on briefly and goes off. Lately it has come on again and has not gone off for a couple of weeks straight. There has been no accident or airbag deployment in this vehicle.

Srs wargning light on. Dealer determined that both srs front impact sensors are faulty and needed to be replaced. Front airbaigs would not deploy if needed.