2016 Honda Pilot Power Train

WHILE MERGING ONTO THE HIGHWAY GOING APPROXIMATELY 20MPH, THE CAR SEIZED UP, BROUGHT THE CAR TO A NEAR STOP AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. IT DID THIS 3 TIMES. NO WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASH, NO NOTICE OF SOMETHING MALFUNCTIONING. THIS CAR WAS BUILT ON AUGUST 19,2016. I PURCHASED IT ON AUGUST 25 ONLY 839 MILES ON IT WHEN INCIDENT OCCURRED.

I BACKED OUT OF A PARKING SPACE AT WORK, AND WHEN I BRAKED AND PRESSED THE DRIVE BUTTON, THE CAR DID NOT SHIFT. AFTER SEVERAL TRIES THE CAR WENT INTO DRIVE. I DROVE OUT OF THE PARKING LOT ONTO A SIDE STREET. HOWEVER, AFTER ACCELERATING UP TO THE 20 MPH LIMIT, THE CAR APPARENTLY JUMPED DOWN TO 2ND AND HAD TO BE SHIFTED BACK INTO DRIVE. AFTER A BLOCK OR TWO, I STOPPED AT AN INTERSECTION, WAITED FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE AND ACCELERATED AFTER TURNING LEFT ONTO A CITY STREET. AFTER ABOUT SIX BLOCKS I BRAKED, TURNED LEFT, THEN RIGHT IN TO A PARKING LOT. I CONTINUED ACROSS THE PARKING LOT AT ABOUT 10 MPH UNTIL I NEARED A PARKING SPACE. AS I BEGAN THE LEFT TURN INTO THE SPACE, I APPLIED THE BRAKE AND SLOWLY ENTERED THE SPACE. I CONTINUED TO TURN AT A SLOW SPEED WITH LIGHT BRAKE PRESSURE WHEN SUDDENLY THE CAR SURGED FORWARD AND CRASHED INTO THE FRONT OF A PARKED VEHICLE, DAMAGING THE FRONT OF BOTH VEHICLES.

WE BOUGHT A NEW 2016 HONDA PILOT EX-L AWD IN NOVEMBER 2016 (MANUFACTURED IN OCT-2016) AND EXPERIENCING SOME TRANSMISSION ISSUE WHEN ECO BUTTON IS ON. WHEN DRIVING AROUND IN ABOUT 30 MPH, SEEMS THE TRANSMISSION HAS DIFFICULTY IN SHIFTING GEARS AS IF IT CANNOT DECIDE IF IT NEEDS TO MOVE UP OR DOWN THE GEAR. THEN IT SEEMS TO GET STUCK IN THE LOWER GEAR AND FEELS LIKE AS IF THE GEARS ARE GRINDING. I CAN ALSO FEEL THE GEARS GRINDING IN THE ACCELERATION PEDAL. AT THIS POINT, I AM ABLE TO SMELL METAL BURNING THROUGH THE AIR CONDITIONING - SEEMS LIKE THE TRANSMISSION IS GETTING OVERHEATED. WITH ECO OFF, I HAVE OBSERVED THAT THE GEAR SHIFTS SMOOTHLY AND SWIFTLY. *TR

TRANSMISSION WAS MAKING A BEEPING, WHISTLING NOISE WHEN SHIFTING GEARS ON CITY STREET. MY CAR WAS NOT A YEAR OLD AND TRANSMISSION WAS REPLACED WITH RE-MANUFACTURED. IT IS STILL NOT RUNNING AS BEFORE PROBLEM. I AM HEARING NOISE SUCH AS SOUNDING LIKE RAKE BEING DRUG ON CONCRETE AND WHISTLING NOISE. DEALERSHIP SAYS THERE IS NOTHING THAT THEY CAN DO. NO LIGHTS ARE ON, NOR WERE THEY ON BEFORE. ONLY 12,000 ADDITIONAL MILES GIVEN WITH PART.(NOT EXCEPTABLE TO ME).

WE BOUGHT A NEW 2016 HONDA PILOT AWD EX-L IN OCTOBER 2016 AND ARE EXPERIENCING SOME PRETTY SERIOUS TRANSMISSION ISSUES. THE FIRST INCIDENT HAPPENED ABOUT A MONTH AGO BEFORE THE VEHICLE EVEN HAD 900 MILES ON IT AND IT HAS RE-OCCURRED NUMEROUS TIMES SINCE THEN AND WE ONLY HAVE 2,000 MILES ON IT. IT APPEARS THAT IF YOU DECELERATE RATHER QUICKLY FROM LET'S SAY 50 MPH+ TO ZERO, THAT WHEN YOU RE-START FROM ZERO, THE TRANSMISSION IS ALL OUT OF SORTS. WHEN YOU HIT THE GAS AT ZERO (AFTER THE FAST DECELERATION) THE VEHICLE WILL BE VERY HESITANT/SLOW TO START (ALMOST AS IF YOU'RE STARTING IN A HIGHER GEAR THAN 1ST) AND THEN WHEN YOU GET TO ABOUT 25-30 MPH, THE VEHICLE WILL SLAM INTO THAT GEAR AND SHAKE THE ENTIRE VEHICLE. THAT 'SLAMMING INTO GEAR' ISSUE WILL CONTINUE EVERY TIME YOU DROP DOWN OR ACCELERATE TO THAT 25-30 MPH RANGE DURING THAT DRIVING SESSION. THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE ISSUE TO STOP DURING THAT DRIVING SESSION, IS TO STOP THE VEHICLE AND RE-START THE ENGINE. IT'S ALMOST LIKE IT RESETS THE TRANSMISSION OR THE COMPUTER THAT RUNS THE TRANSMISSION' THERE ARE NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS/WARNINGS THAT COME ON AND IT'S A HARD ISSUE TO DUPLICATE, BUT THE ONLY THING THAT SEEMS TO MAKE IT OCCUR SOMETIMES IS FAST DECELERATION FROM A HIGH SPEED DOWN TO ZERO (I.E. COMING OFF AN OFF-RAMP AND HITTING A STOP LIGHT, OR DRIVING ON A 50MPH TYPE ROAD AND THEN HITTING A STOP LIGHT). THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A MAJOR TRANSMISSION FLAW AND THE CONTINUED "SLAMMING INTO GEAR" WHEN THIS ISSUE OCCURS, CAN ONLY BE DOING MORE DAMAGE TO THE TRANSMISSION AND FEELS LIKE THE ENGINE IS ON THE VERGE OF LOCKING UP. *TR

ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2016 WHILE ASCENDING UP A WINDING 2-LANE HIGHWAY (HIGHWAY 18) TO LAKE ARROWHEAD, OUR YEAR OLD 2016 HONDA PILOT TOURING (WITH A ZF 9-SPEED TRANSMISSION) BEGAN DECELERATING RAPIDLY FROM 55 MPH TO 20 MPH. MY WIFE WAS DRIVING WITH OUR 4 CHILDREN AND WAS ABLE TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. SHE PULLED OVER, TURNED THE CAR OFF AND A SHERIFF STOPPED. THE SHERIFF RECOMMENDED SHE TRY TO CONTINUE TO DRIVE TO GET THE CAR OFF THE HIGHWAY SINCE THEY WERE IN A VERY DANGEROUS AREA. MY WIFE STARTED THE CAR AND PROCEEDED TO ASCEND TO THE NEAREST OFF RAMP AND WHEN NUMEROUS WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AND THE CAR RAPIDLY DECELERATED ONCE AGAIN. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAS OCCURRED. IN DECEMBER 2015, A SIMILAR ISSUE OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT UP A HILL ON A 4 TO 5 LANE FREEWAY FROM SAN DIEGO TO LOS ANGELES. IN THAT CASE, THE 2016 HONDA PILOT JERKED VIOLENTLY BEFORE DECELERATING. MY WIFE IMMEDIATELY PULLED THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY AND HAD THE CAR TOWED TO PACIFIC HONDA. HONDA DETERMINED THAT OUR PILOT WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND NEEDED AN ENTIRELY NEW TRANSMISSION AND REPLACED THE TRANSMISSION IN THE 4-MONTH OLD VEHICLE. HONDA REASSURED US THE CAR WAS NOW SAFE. IT IS NOW 8 MONTHS LATER (OUR CAR IS JUST 1 YEAR OLD), AND OUR CAR IS NOW SITTING AT ROCK HONDA IN FONTANA, CALIFORNIA. HONDA IS NOW DETERMINING THE NEXT COURSE OF ACTION. WE HAVE THE NAME AND BADGE NUMBER OF THE SHERIFF WHO ASSISTED MY WIFE IF HELPFUL. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AND SHOULD BE RECTIFIED IMMEDIATELY.

I HAVE A 2016 HONDA PILOT TOURING AUTO WITH THE 9 SPEED TRANSMISSION. WHEN COASTING DOWNHILL OR WHEN DOWN SHIFTING USING THE PADDLE SHIFTERS THE CAR ABRUPTLY ACCELERATES. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AS ACCELERATION SHOULD NOT BE THE RESULT OF DOWNSHIFTING WHEN APPROACHING A CURVE OR GOING DOWNHILL.

9-SPEED TRANSMISSION IN THE "TOURING" TRIM LEVEL OF 2016 HONDA PILOT HAS AN ELECTRONIC PUSH-BUTTON SHIFTER. THIS SHIFTER INTERMITTENTLY FAILS TO RESPOND TO FIRM BUTTON PUSHES. THIS IS ESPECIALLY PROBLEMATIC WHEN SHIFTING FROM FORWARD TO REVERSE OR VICE VERSA IN PARKING SITUATIONS. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, AFTER COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP AND FIRMLY DEPRESSING THE SHIFTER BUTTON TO REVERSE DIRECTION, THE VEHICLE HAS ACCELERATED IN THE ORIGINAL DIRECTION UPON RELEASE OF THE BRAKE. THIS HAS NECESSITATED EMERGENCY BRAKING TO AVOID COLLISION. NO WARNING MESSAGE OR CHIME IS GENERATED DURING THESE FAILURES, THE VEHICLE SIMPLY FAILS TO ACKNOWLEDGE OR RESPOND TO THE BUTTON PRESS. DEALER SERVICE HAS BEEN UNABLE TO REPLICATE OR REPAIR THE PROBLEM.

VEHICLE SURGES FORWARD WHEN 9-SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTS DURING COASTING OR LIGHT BRAKING. SURGING ROUTINELY OCCURS AT MODERATE SPEEDS ( 35-45MPH ) WHEN COASTING DOWNHILL ON A SECONDARY HIGHWAY. SURGING HAS ALSO OCCURRED AT PARKING LOT SPEEDS, AND HAS NECESSITATED EMERGENCY BRAKING TO AVOID COLLISION. HONDA MOTOR COMPANY HAS ACKNOWLEDGED SIMILAR BEHAVIOR IN ANOTHER MODEL THAT SHARES IDENTICAL ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION WITH THIS VEHICLE ( ASIDE FROM DIFFERENCES IN TUNING ), THE 2016 ACURA MDX, AND A SOFTWARE REPAIR CAMPAIGN IS UNDERWAY FOR THAT VEHICLE. AT THIS TIME, NO SOFTWARE REPAIR HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2016 HONDA PILOT TOURING. SEVERAL REPAIR ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE BY A LOCAL HONDA SERVICE DEPARTMENT, WITH NO IMPROVEMENT.