I'm looking at buying 03-04 Honda Pilot, but some have told me these models have transmission issues. Is that true?

The ones I'm looking at have 80-90k miles.

Talking to the Honda shop they said the Pilots were the only model they haven't replaced a transmission on before. But some people online claim the transmissions have issues.

So, what's the deal? Is this something I should be worried about and keep from buying a Pilot because of it? I don't want to get one and then have a $4K bill.

I do know I Google "pilot transmission problems" and I get 22 million hits. Compared to other vehicles (highlander, half a million hits, xterra, a quarter million hits), etc... I'd say maybe these issues have merit.

So please, you guys that might have some insight, do you have any input? Thanks.

 

Some of them did have issues, they added an oil jet for the second gear clutch pack. Biggest transmission issues honda had were with odysseys and V6 accords.

 

Yes, any Pilots on the recall list should have had the oil-jet retrofit done. It replaces the upper fill plug bolt with a tube that plugs in and gets bolted down. This is what it looks like when the tube is removed to fill your transmission:

 

What about the Torque converter? I just had to replace the torque converter and have the case re-machined becuse of imput shaft bearing chatter.

Maybe I got hosed on that, but I've heard that the torque converter can become an issue after 80k miles.

I have 135k miles on my 04 Pilot.

 

You can do some searching on Piloteers.org. All the typical problems have been discussed on there. The problem is you have to search several different sub-forums (or the entire site) to find what your looking for. Just keep in mind this is not much of a do-it-yourselfers site like Honda-Tech is. Pretty much everything I post on there gets shot down.

 

i've owned my pilot for about 4 years now, the transmission is pretty stiff if your up on a hill ( sure most cars are to ) not to long ago i would have the "D" flashing when im driver 50 km + i found out it was just build ups on the wires, a bit of WD-40 did the trick. i also just replaced my transmission fluid to at 165 k first time doing since i bought my pilot 99 k. but overall the transmission is pretty decent to me, its a 03 pilot lx. i must say Honda's hold up their value and durability

 

My '06 is going fine at ~100K with zero tranny issues (and I am a very very aggressive driver with it).

But I keep the tranny fluid strawberry colored with frequent changes and I also have the tow package with the cooler.

Look at the fluid color in any proposed purchase - it should be red or pink. If it looks like dirty water it is a sign of neglect (you can get a small sample from the dipstick).

I have heard that Honda beefed up the Pilot tranny slightly because of supposed additional off-roading stresses (so they are a better tranny overall than the Odyssey).

BTW, make sure that you get any Honda tranny switched over to the new Honda synthetic fluid ASAP.

My wifes Odyssey has a whine in 2nd (been that way for a while) - so, it is good for about another 100K IMO

Bob