juevi

Ok guys, lets see if any of you have run into this. Have an 04 Pilot, 70k, comes in for maintenence, change diff fluid, auto trans fluid, coolant. All drain and fills, all using HONDA parts.

AFTER fluid change, has growl in rear diff area when turning. There is a TSB for this problem and the fix is to change the rear diff fluid. Well ours is inverted, changed fluid with no problem, and now it has one

Anybody?

bryse68

what rear differential fluid did you use. it has to be vtm-4, not dual pump.

juevi

Yes, was VTM-4 that was used.

bryse68

maybe you have to burnish the clutches.

juevi

Fixed!!!! Thanks for the suggestions guys. If any of you ever do a drain and fill on this vehicle, or I'd assume a CRV/Element, REPLACE THE WASHERS on the fill and especially the drain.

The drain plug is a very long magnet. Took it out, had tiny scrapes on it. Just a few thousands of an inch from using the old washer put the drain plug in a postion to touch the ring gear or whatever is in there. Changed the fluid, put new washer in and it had the noise for a few minutes (but a lot lighter), did a few figure eights from a stop, done.

Cliffs: Drain magnet/plug touching ring gear from not replacing the aluminum washer during drain and fill.

Jeff15843

Just wanted to let you know your post saved me. I have an '05 pilot, never changed the rear differential fluid. Shortly after adding the new fluid the differential sounded like it was about to give out, lots of clunking and grinding. I drove it several miles, lots of figure eights and circles hoping it would settle in. I found your post, and since I didn't replace the washers I thought I'd give it one more try. I drained the fluid, used new crushable washers and refilled. But, what I found at the bottom of the drain pan was several small, hard pieces of what I think was caked on sludge. It was not metal, but build up. After the second refill, I did more figure eights and there was no more noise. Completely gone. My guess is the first fill with new fluid cleaned out the differential and the small pieces got into the gears causing the slippage. Draining again acted as a flush. I won't be surprised if I have to do this another time but at least I know I don't need a new differential, just a good cleaning. Thanks!

speedlever

That is interesting. I've changed the VTM-4 fluid many times and have never replaced the sealing washer. Never had the noise appear either.

Jeff15843

Debris from differential flush that caused noise/shuddering.

In my case, I don't think the washer had anything really to do with the noise. I checked the end of the drain plug but saw no markings indicating it was in contact with anything. The original washer didn't appear to be any thinner/flatter than the new one. My pilot's differential noise was due to the stuff that came lose after draining and refilling the first time after 150K miles. After draining again, I found small hard chips in the bottom of the drain pain as seen in the photo above. Refilled again and all was good, so I assume the loose debris was removed. Learned my lesson. Replace the fluids at the recommended mileage to avoid the build up. I feel very lucky to have avoided a major repair cost. Hopefully I'll get another 100K out of this car but I won't be ignoring the differential again.

speedlever

Absolutely. The VTM-4 fluid is very intolerant of any contamination. I change mine out every 30k miles. I even use a dedicated hand pump and tubing for it.

Jeff15843

Regarding the hand pump, I used to do that until I got a tip to use an inexpensive garden pump sprayer (new). Pour the VTM fluid in it, pump it a few times, and fill the differential with ease. Just lay there and pull the trigger. Give it a few pumps during the fill to keep the flow going. Make that sprayer your dedicated VTM fluid pump.

speedlever

Not a bad idea at all. It just takes up more space than my hand pump.

FondenR

Another thing to keep in mind is that you need to make sure you have properly filled the differential with the VTM-4 fluid.

When you have filled the rear differential to the point where the fluid is just coming out of the fill port, you will want to screw-in the fill-port bolt, wipe it off, start up your vehicle, and then drive it forward and backward several times to get all of the fluid into the gears. Then park it and remove the fill-bolt and add more fluid until it just starts to come out again. At this point, the differential is now properly full and you can screw in the fill-port bolt.

I have a 2006 Pilot (4WD) that requires 3.5 quarts of fluid for the rear differential (I too had the rear growling sound). When I replaced the fluid, it initially took just over 3 quarts. I then put the fill bolt back in and drove it forward and backward several times. I then was able to add the final 0.5 quarts to bring to the full capacity level. And the growl went completely away.

Hope this helps. I also have a tutorial with pictures on how to change your rear differential fluid on this site (March 30, 2015 - Tutorial - Honda Pilot 2006 - Changing Rear Transaxle Fluid ) for anyone interested.

Thanks,

R. Fonden