NHTSA Complaint #10503434 — 2005 HONDA PILOT

LONG STORY BUT I BELIEVE IT IS ALL RELATED. BASED ON MY UNDERSTANDING THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM AND VSA ARE ALL PART OF THE SAME SYSTEM IN A 2005 HONDA PILOT. WE WERE HAVING A "NOISE" THAT WAS BELIEVED TO BE CAUSED BY A RANDOM ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM SELF CHECK. THIS WOULD HAPPEN AT ANY SPEED AND APPEARED TO BE ACTIVATED BY ANY SMALL BUMP IN THE ROAD. THIS WAS MORE OF A NUISANCE THAN ANYTHING BUT WE THOUGHT WE WOULD HAVE THE DEALERSHIP LOOK INTO IT. MORE ON THIS LATER. IN ADDITION WE ALSO HAD THE VEHICLE STABILITY ASSIST (VSA) ENGAGE ONCE AND THE RESULTS WERE A LITTLE SCARY OR VIOLENT AT BEST. THE PROBLEM OCCURRED WHEN TRAVELING AT APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH UNDER WINDY CONDITIONS. THE VSA SYSTEM ENGAGED, THE BRAKES WERE HEAVILY APPLIED, AND THE VEHICLE WAS PUT INTO A CONTROL MODE THAT PULLED THE VEHICLE LEFT AND RIGHT. WE HAD VERY LIMITED CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE WHEN ALL OF THIS WAS HAPPENING. WE WERE ABLE TO PULL THE VEHICLE OVER WITHOUT INCIDENT AND DEACTIVATE THE VSA TO FINISH OUR TRIP. WHAT OUR DEALERSHIP FOUND WAS A CRACKED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ON THE MAIN ENGINE WIRING HARNESS WHERE IT CONNECTS TO THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE AND VSA MODULE. THE CONNECTOR IS LOCATED UNDER THE ENGINE SHROUD IN AN AREA THAT ISN'T ACCESSIBLE DURING NORMAL OR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE AND WE HAVE NEVER HAD ANY SERVICE DONE ON ANYTHING IN THIS AREA. OUR GUESS IS THAT IT WAS CRACKED DURING THE ORIGINAL INSTALLATION OR IT FATIGUED OVER TIME. THE HONDA TECHNICIAN THOUGHT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM WAS MOISTURE ENTERING THE CONTROL MODULE VIA THE DAMAGED CONNECTOR. THIS IN TURN CAUSED DAMAGE TO THE PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD THAT CONTROLS THE BRAKING AND VSA SYSTEM. WE STOPPED INVESTIGATING THE REPAIR AT THIS POINT BECAUSE OF COST. IT WAS OVER $2000.00 TO GET THE HARNESS AND CONTROL MODULE REPLACED. I WANTED TO SHARE THIS BECAUSE OF ALL THE RECENT NEWS ON 2005 PILOTS. *TR