NHTSA Complaint #10452071 — 2005 HONDA PILOT

TRAVELED ~15 MILES AT HIGHWAY SPEED. EXITED HIGHWAY ONTO SECONDARY ROADS THRU A BUSY TOWN. TRAVELING APPROX 30 MPH. CAR SHUDDERED AND SPEED DROPPED TO ABOUT 10 MPH. TRANSMISSION WOULDN'T SHIFT OUT OF LOW WITH RPM APPROACHING 4000 RPM. STOPPED AT LIGHT, CAR STALLED ALL SENSOR LIGHTS CAME ON AND FLASHED. GOT IT RESTARTED, HAD TO PUT IN LOW TO MOVE...GOT IT MOVING AT ~3500 RPM, WENT A BLOCK TO GET OFF THE MAIN ROAD INTO PARKING LOT. COOLING FAN RUNNING, BUT TEMP GAUGE SHOWED NO ISSUE. PUDDLE OF BROWN FLUID FORMED UNDER PASSENGER SIDE FRONT OF ENGINE. LOOKED LIKE FLUID SPRAYED THROUGH FRONT PASSENGER SIDE OF ENGINE COMPARTMENT NO INDICATION ON SENSOR LIGHTS OR TEMP GAUGE THAT ANYTHING WRONG PRIOR TO STALL AND ALL SENSOR LIGHTS CAME ON. HAD CAR TOWED TO HONDA...THEY DIAGNOSED AS 2 TRANSMISSION COOLING LINES BURST MIXING THE TRANSMISSION AND COOLING FLUID. FIX OPTIONS...1) FLUSH COOLING & TRANNY SYSTEM 5-7 TIMES, REPLACE RADIATOR, FILTER, AND LINES FOR $1600-1800 BUT WON'T KNOW IF TRANSMISSION NEEDS REPLACING. 2) FULL REPLACEMENT OF RADIATOR, LINES AND TRANSMISSION $3800 OR IF OPTION 1 CHOSEN AND SUBSEQUENTLY TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED IT WOULD COST THE INITIAL $1600-1800 PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $4000 FOR A TOTAL OF APPROX $5800. NO INDICATOR FROM DEALER OF THE PROBLEM HISTORY FOR THIS VEHICLE. HAD PREVIOUSLY COMPLAINED ABOUT SHUDDER AND THE DEALER REPLACED A WHEEL BEARING FIRST, THEN WHEN KEPT COMPLAINING THEY REPLACED MY ROTORS SAYING THE ROTORS HAD WARPED ...AFTER BEING RESURFACED ONLY ~3600K MILES PRIOR. LEARNED LESSON....INVESTIGATE ANY PROBLEMS ON -LINE BEFORE YOU ACCEPT THE DEALER EXPLANATION. *TR