NHTSA Complaint #10705788 — 2011 HONDA PILOT

WHILE DOING ROUTINE DRIVING THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, VSA LIGHT, AND VTM-4 LIGHT ALL CAME ON AND STAYED ON. THE VEHICLE SEEMED TO BE RUNNING NORMALLY SO I PULLED OVER, TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE AND RESTARTED IT. THEN ONLY THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STAYED ON. I CONTINUED TO DRIVE AND ABOUT 10 MINUTES LATER THE VSA LIGHT AND VTM-4 LIGHTS CAME ON AGAIN. I CALLED MY DEALERSHIP AND MADE AN APPOINTMENT. THEY SAID THE VEHICLE COULD BE DRIVEN WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON. I RESEARCHED THE ISSUE ONLINE AND FOUND THAT A POSSIBLE CAUSE WAS A KNOWN ISSUE REGARDING RINGS AND PISTONS ON V6 HONDA ENGINES FROM 2009 TO 2013 THAT ALLOWS THE OIL TO SEEP PAST THE RINGS AND FOUL THE PLUGS AND THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL FROM HONDA. WHEN THE DEALERSHIP LOOKED AT THE ISSUE THEY SAID THE VEHICLE WAS REPORTING THAT CYLINDER 2 HAD MISFIRED ONCE (THEY DID NOT STATE THAT IT WAS DUE TO OIL FOULING THE SPARK PLUG BUT MY ADVISER IMPLIED THAT WAS THE CAUSE WHEN HE MENTIONED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE OIL LEVELS AND CHANGE THE OIL AT 5000 MILES). THEY REPLACED ALL OF THE SPARK PLUGS AND UPDATED THE VSA SOFTWARE PER A TSB (TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN??) FROM HONDA. THE SERVICE ADVISER TOLD ME THE ISSUE MIGHT NEVER REOCCUR, OR IT MIGHT, AND THAT I SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE OIL LEVEL MONTHLY, AND CHANGE THE OIL EVERY 5000 MILES MAX (I'VE USED MOBIL 1 FULLY SYNTHETIC SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED NEW... AND SUPER UNLEADED GAS). IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN I'LL ATTEMPT TO PUSH THE DEALERSHIP TO REPLACE THE RINGS AND PISTONS AS THEY ARE DOING FOR SOME CUSTOMERS. IF IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN I'LL NEED TO SELL THE VEHICLE IN THE NEXT 3 YEARS BEFORE THE EXTENDED 8 YEAR WARRANTY ON THIS ISSUE EXPIRES, WHICH IS TOO BAD BECAUSE IT'S BEEN MOSTLY A GREAT VEHICLE, IN GREAT CONDITION, AND WITH LOW MILES. HONDA REALLY SHOULD BE DOING A RECALL ON THIS, BUT INSTEAD IT SEEMS THEY WOULD RATHER LOSE CUSTOMERS AND FUTURE SALES. *TR