The contact owns a 2005 Honda Pilot. The contact stated that while driving 25-35 MPH, the vehicle slowed down unexpectedly, and the brake pedal was hard and slow to respond when depressed. The contact stated that the steering wheel was pulling to the left, and it was difficult to correct the steering wheel. The vehicle was difficult to control. The VSA light was illuminated. There was a triangle with an exclamation mark symbol displayed on the instrument cluster. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the VSA module had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired because the parts were on backorder. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 173,273.
2005 Honda Pilot driver assistance problems
100 complaints (15% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 110,000. 2 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 100
- of this car's complaints
- 15%
- typical mileage
- 110,000
- crashes
- 2
- recalls
- 1
Which part fails
- Automatic (ASC)1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Honda Pilot driver assistance problems in other years
Related recalls
Traction control system
- What is wrong
- Honda is recalling certain model year 2005 Pilot vehicles manufactured July 29, 2004, through August 29, 2005; model year 2005-2006 Acura MDX vehicles manufactured September 16, 2004, through September 22, 2005; and model year 2005 Acura RL vehicles manufactured March 1, 2004, through June 29, 2005. An electrical capacitor may have been damaged during the manufacturing of the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) control module causing intermittent, automatic, minor brake application. However, if the driver applies the brakes while the VSA is malfunctioning, the vehicle may come to an abrupt stop. Additionally, due to a loose ground connection, certain model year 2005 Pilots have a VSA system that may apply partial brake force, without the illumination of the brake lights, whether or not the driver is using the brakes.
- Risk
- Sudden inadvertent braking, especially without illumination of the brake lights, may increase the risk of a vehicle crash.
- Remedy
- Owners will be notified and instructed to take their vehicles to a dealer of their respective brand. The dealer will install a partial wiring harness containing a capacitor for the VSA modulator, free of charge. The affected model year 2005 Pilots will have their ground connection tightened. The recall began on April 22, 2013. Honda owners may contact Honda Automobile Customer Service at 1‑800‑999‑1009, and select option 4 or go to www.recalls.honda.com; Acura owners may contact 1‑800‑382‑2238, and select option 4, or go to www.recalls.acura.com.
Recall number 13V092000 · Recall details
Related investigations
Vehicle Stability Assist Malfunction
On March 14, 2013, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Honda) submitted a Defect Information Report to the federal safety agency identifying a defect in the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) system in approximately 183,576 model year (MY) 2005 Honda Pilot, Acura RL and MY 2005-2006 Acura MDX vehicles (the federal safety agency Recall No 13V‑092).The population and failure counts provided pertain only to the MY 2005 Honda Pilots that were the subject of this investigation.Honda's recall addresses two conditions in the VSA system that could result in inappropriate brake activation.The first condition is related to a manufacturing concern with a capacitor in the VSA electronic control unit (ECU) circuit board.According to Honda, VSA systems with damaged capacitors may apply a small amount of braking force for a fraction of a second, when the brake pedal is not applied by the driver.If the driver does apply the brake pedal during a malfunction, the VSA system may employ the brake assist feature rapidly increasing braking force independent of the amount of pressure the driver applies to the brake pedal (releasing the brake pedal would end the brake assist activation in such events).The second condition applied to a portion of the MY 2005 Pilot vehicles manufactured at the Alabama assembly plant that may havebeen assembled without tightening one of the VSA system electrical ground connector fasteners to the proper torque.According to Honda, an improperly torqued fastener can result in increased electrical resistance in the VSA system, causing an incorrect signal to be sent to the VSA ECU, which may result in inappropriate braking while driving with no pedal application by the driver.The owners of all affected vehicles will be contacted by mail and asked to take their vehicle to a Honda or Acura dealer who will install a partial wiring harness containing a capacitor for the VSA modulator and, if necessary, inspect and tighten the affected electrical ground fastener.All work will be performed at no charge to the owner.ODI identified 106 incidents of inappropriate brake activation by the VSA system that appear to be related to the defect conditions addressed by Honda's recall.While many of the incidents reported experiencing significant unexpected braking while driving, none resulted in crashes or injuries.ODI reviewed a VOQ reporting a crash resulting in two fatalities that allegedly may have been related to the VSA conditions investigated in PE12-028 and EA13-002 (VOQ 10492170).After interviewing thecomplainant and reviewing evidence regarding the crash (e.g., police report and witness statements), ODI did not find sufficient evidence to determine that the crash was related to the VSA system.Regarding the 25 incidents of brake activations of short duration due to a yaw rate sensor malfunction, complainants indicate that typically the events are very brief and that the puling effect is mild.This investigation is closed.
EA13002
Vehicle Stability Assist Malfunction
In a letter dated April 9, 2012, a consumer petitioned the federal safety agency to initiate a defect investigation of alleged stability control failures in model year (MY) 2005 Honda Pilot vehicles. The petitioner alleged that, in the malfunctioning of these systems, steering failures occur and the brakes apply involuntarily. On June 4, 2012 the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Defect Petition DP12-002 to evaluate whether to grant or deny the petition. The petition is hereby granted. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) system in the MY 2005 Honda Pilot vehicles integrates braking control strategies for anti-lock braking, traction control, electronic stability control and brake assist functions. The system consists of a VSA modulator (an electronic control unit and electronic/hydraulic actuator) that receives data from an integral brake pressure sensor and from wheel speed sensors (four wheels), the steering wheel angle sensor and a combination yaw rate and lateral acceleration sensor. Allegations of unexpected braking appear to be related to inappropriate activation of the brake assist (BA) function.The BA system is designed to minimize stopping distances in emergency braking maneuvers by rapidly applying maximum braking force when a panic stop is detected. ODI's analysis of complaints and information provided by Honda in its response to the DP12-002 information request letter have identified fault conditions that may result in false detection of a panic stop by the BA system, resulting in unexpected, severe brake application. ODI's analysis of consumer complaints has identified 185 incidents of unexpected braking of varying duration, including several allegations of rapid decelerations from highway speeds to near stops in highway travel lanes (VOQs 10450564, 10467571, 10427031, 10257672, 10453607). Honda implemented countermeasures in the control and fault detection algorithm in the MY 2006 Pilot VSA modulators, which are not interchangeable with the MY 2005 parts. Allegations of steering anomalies appear to be related to inappropriate activation of the VSA stability assist function. The VSA system uses information from the wheel speed, steering wheel angle, yaw rate and lateral acceleration sensors to calculate the rate of change in vehicle side slip with respect to time. If excessive side slip is calculated, the system modulates brake force pulses to individual or combinations of wheels to maintain stability.Honda identified a problem with faulty yaw rate sensors sending an incorrect yaw rate signal to the VSA modulator.This may result in inappropriate VSA system activation, which is perceived by the driver as a momentary steering pull.The VSA control logic is designed to detect the yaw rate sensor faults in less than one second and place the system in failsafe mode, disabling all VSA functions. ODI has identified a total of 20 complaints that appear to be related to inappropriate VSA activation.The petition is granted.Preliminary Evaluation PE12-028 has been opened to assess the scope, frequency, and safety-related consequences of the alleged defect.
DP12002
What 2005 Honda Pilot owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
My car will accelerate without me pressing the gas. And my airbag light is on I'm concerned it will explode like the ones on other honda pilots.
The yaw rate lateral acceleration sensor is faulty and should be included in honda's 2013 recall of the vsa. The vehicle has the exact symptoms of the vsa recall, which was fixed on my vehicle. I purchased the car last year with very low miles, only drove for a few months before it started having issues. Started out having the vsa triangle light on dash and losing power (limp mode) only after coming out of a turn after driving vehicle for awhile. Increased to the point where after roughly 30 minutes of the vehicle running the vsa issue would happen at least once during the drive. Severity of the vsa/limp mode got worse, no power for longer at a time and the horrible grinding noise directly underneath cabin. Took to honda complaining of these issues, couldn't replicate it so nothing was wrong. One month ago, my vehicle started having the un-commanded braking problem. Driving at 55 MPH, the slightest touch to the brakes causes the vehicle to hard brake, causing a swerve at least going that fast. It has done this un-commanded braking more than once, I have been afraid to drive it and at least got it 30 minutes to my honda dealer, which I also purchased the vehicle from. It was diagnosed with the faulty yaw rate lateral acceleration sensor. I have argued with honda for the last three weeks over the issue, ultimately to be told that it was not included in the final recall, even though the investigation names the yaw sensor as possibly being implicated in the malfunction. $994 for the sensor alone. It is absolutely dangerous and even the dealer recommends it be fixed immediately, yet honda has declared no fault.
While driving, often the vsa will apply randomly when there is no need to. Most often it is when driving on the highway, but the vsa will engage during city driving, when breaking, as well as when turning. It causes my whole vehicle to seize up and pull to the side. Because it happens at random, it was not able to be replicated when I have had it looked at by a mechanic. There is a vsa off button that I engage before driving which was suggested to me to do but even with the vsa turned off, the vsa will (however less frequently), still engage at random. It is scary for me as a driver to have this happen as I am often driving with my family in tow.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 honda pilot. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stability assist system became inoperable. The contact stated that the vehicle decelerated and pulled to the driver's side. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the yaw rate sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 199,000.
While driving on a long road trip, the car spontaneously engaged the ABS in an intermittent manner. Vsa light came on. Stopped and restarted the car. Exactly the same thing happened after a little while. Stopped and restarted the car with the vsa system manually turned off. Exactly the same thing happened after an hour or so. Engagement of ABS was intermittent. As detailed in the attached document, we have take this to numerous honda repair centers and the problem has persisted. We have experienced the spontaneous and intermittent engagement of ABS only during long highway driving. In-between each repair, we have driven the car in the city nearly every day without any problems. However, each time we have taken the car for a long trip, we have experienced the problem after a few hours of normal driving. This problem has occurred while driving normal speeds during perfectly normal (not raining or slippery) conditions.
The vsa light is coming on and staying on
2005 honda pilot with 145k miles suddenly started to apply brakes without warning while driving on straight, flat, dry roads at moderate speeds. If has also occurred at highway speed, but never associated with skidding, sliding, etc. The brakes appear to apply differentially, causing a swerve that needs to be corrected quickly to avoid collision with traffic. The vsa light comes on, and the triangular vsa disconnect light comes on. They both go out after the car is shut off and restarted. The local honda dealer says there is no recall for this, but that they had reprogrammed the car's vsa during an earlier service visit.
Unfortunately, our each vehicle has been targeted and caused car accident from 2010 to present day. In 2012, our mazda mpv 2006 engine was destroyed or replaced at the work place during working at hilton hotel. Our acura mdx 2002 VIN # [xxx] and current honda pilot 2005 VIN # [xxx] were under controlled and involved car accident in 2017 and 2018 because of targeting. I have noticed and reported to local police and insurance behalf of this cases which can stop suddenly or slowly. Its depend on how they controlled and pre-arranged accident to be happened on a pointing time. Surely, many life and vehicles are very dangerous. We desperately need safety cars and people in our community in order to avoid crushing cars and people from now and future. Please help. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Pilot runs fine. But check engine and vtm4 light may go away and come back anytime. Stupid codes show up and go away. Rep.lot of sensors etc still same problem. Also when driving the d driving light starts flashing.very annoying. Called honda corporation, stupid we deal case separately..very upset with the way of dealing the problem. If customer is complaining, match to similar other problem and handle the case matching way so customer knows if can get recall or not.
Questions about the 2005 Honda Pilot driver assistance
Does the 2005 Honda Pilot have driver assistance problems?
Owners have filed 100 complaints about the driver assistance of the 2005 Honda Pilot, 15% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2005 Honda Pilot driver assistance problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 110,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2005 Honda Pilot driver assistance?
Yes, 1 recall: 13V092000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Honda Pilot have the most driver assistance problems?
The Honda Pilot model years with the most driver assistance complaints are 2019 (200 complaints), 2021 (123 complaints) and 2020 (117 complaints).
Other 2005 Honda Pilot problems
Transmission 176Brakes 134Airbags 120Engine 90Electrical 57Acceleration 46Suspension 38Steering 37Lights 34Body 23Seats 22Seat belts 13Wheels 9Fuel system 7Tires 7Visibility 6Locks 1
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2005 Honda Pilot?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history