Just bought a 2006 Honda Pilot that has some transmission issues.
It will start up and seems to run fine. Though it has a P0303 cylinder 3 misfire. It drives great down the road accelerating through 1st then 2nd then 3rd and hangs in third and will not go past 40 MPH. It will not shift into 4th and it will not shift back down into 2nd or 1st. So when I come to a stop, it then lugs in 3rd gear trying to take off from that stop. If I change gears, or manually place it in 1st or 2nd gear, it will still be stuck in 3rd. The same goes for putting in park or reverse. Once I go back into a forward gear, it is still stuck in 3rd. If I turn the car off, and then start it again, the transmission will reset back into first, and take off normally until it hits 3rd gear, and then it sticks again.

All my previous Honda's were manual transmission cars, so I don't know much about the automatics. Is this simply a 3rd/4rth solenoid that needs to be replaced?

Any pointers as to where to look for the issues?
Thank you in advance

 

I picked up a more advanced OBD2 scanner that allows me to see the shift solenoids and pressure switches for the transmission. I still have no idea what I'nm doing and any pointers would be appreciated. I'll be road testing the Pilot later today, looking at all the shift solenoids, to see if I can see anything working or not working.

 

On a road test. The Pilot feels like its going into 1st, 2nd & 3rd, but it will not accelerate past 40mph. Its like it goes into some sort of safe mode, and hits a rev limiter, preventing faster travel.

 

I borrowed my sisters 2006 Pilot and hooked up the computers and checked all the numbers for the shift pressures and solenoid function. I wrote everything down. Everything looks exactly the same on my 2006 Pilot until it hits about 40 MPH. It is like the ECU is going into limp mode. I used the computer to check the solenoid function, everything seems to be working properly. I will try and get rid of the cylinder misfire just to make sure there are no codes the computer is shutting down on.

 

PROBLEM SOLVED:

It was the computer going into limp mode because of the P0303 cylinder 3 misfire. I fixed the code with a $10 part.
The spark plug gap was tighter than specs say at 0.028, so I set it to .041 in.
// FSM says Spark Plug gap should be 1.0-1.1 mm (0.039-0.043 in.)
// FSM says torque the spark plugs to 18 N-m (1.8 kgf-m, 13 Ibf-ft).
// FSM says torque the ignition coil bolts to 10 N-m (1.0 kgf-m, 7.4 Ibf-ft)
In my experience the spring that attaches the spark plug to the coil pack goes bad over time, and is usually what is
causing a cylinder misfire on these engines. So I picked up a kit from O'Reillys for ~$10 and installed it. Cleared the
code and started the engine. It ran a little rough at first, I assume clearing out the unburnt fuel from the previous misfires.
No codes. I ran it longer, and the engine smoothed out. Still no engine codes. Here is the part:


Import Direct Wires Coil On Plug Boot - 98-209

I then took the car for a test drive, and it finally drove past 40 MPH. So I took it out on the highway, and brought it up to 70MPH, no problems. Drove for a bit, and turned around, accelerated through the gears, its downshifting for my stops now. The transmission also kicks down for passing gear when accelerating quickly from cruising speed. This seems to have solved my problem with a $9 part. Too bad I already bought a used transmission from a salvage yard, because I was certain it was a transmission problem.

FYI: This also fixed the problems my sister's 06 Pilot was experiencing:
P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0301 Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
P0302 Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected
P0303 Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected
P0305 Cylinder 5 Misfire Detected
P0306 Cylinder 6 Misfire Detected
Except her Pilot experienced no problems at all with the transmission.

 

After driving for a week, now cylinders 2,4,5 & 6 are all misfiring as well. Sending the computer into limp mode. Driving 40MPH to get home. So time to replace all the springs. ~$50 for the kit of 6.