THERE ARE APPARENTLY A LARGE NUMBER OF US FOR WHOM THE TRANSMISSION HAS TAKEN OUT BOTH ITSELF AND THE RADIATOR - ON VEHICLES WE SPECIFICALLY BOUGHT FOR THEIR RELIABILITY!

THE NEW YORK TIMES HAS REPORTED ON THIS! http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/honda-transmission-problems-seem-to-persist/?php=true&type=blogs&_r=0

HONDA ITSELF ALREADY SETTLED A CLASS-ACTION SUIT ABOUT THIS, BUT WE ARE STILL SCREWED BECAUSE THEY DID A MINOR WARRANTY EXTENSION - AND ALOT OF US ARE EXPERIENCING THE FAILURE JUST OUTSIDE OF THAT EXTENSION!

HONDA -- DO RIGHT! FIX YOUR MISTAKES!!!!

Left for work at 6am its a 10 mile trip. Felt a strange slip then surge on the trip but thought it might be due to wet roads. Almost to work heard a high pitch sound. Arrived parked saw steam, popped the hood and saw a nasty sludge at the transmission reservoir. Tried to make it home but stopped when the temperature gauge spiked. Dealership wanted to replace the transmission and radiator and head gasket for 7500.00. Had it towed to a small repair shop, his thought is to replace the radiator and possible rebuild on the transmission. We will wait for him to check the pilot out before we have it repaired. I have had Honda's since 1978 and have never had anything like this happen. When I found this site and saw others have had this problem I was shocked. Honda should step up to the plate and admit to this problem. We brought a 2013 Pilot last summer hope it wasn't a mistake.

So I took my Honda Pilot to a dealership to do an oil change and transmission flush before my long trip from NY to NC. I wanted to be safe than sorry. After leaving the Honda dealership that morning, I headed off to NC, and in Delaware I see smoke from the hood. I'm thinking it's oil from the oil change, because sometimes that happens. After 10 miles, there is a plume of smoke coming from the back of the Pilot. I park it to see tranny fluid everywhere, but also including a greenish blue hue as well. My Pilot looked like it was shot in the heart, and bleeding everywhere.

Fast forwarding the story, I call in a tow, and get it towed to the Honda Dealership where I was, this was on a Saturday evening. Of course they are closed on a Sunday, so I had to wait until Monday to get the logistics. Turns out it was the Radiator failing, and I was seeing leaked coolant and transmission fluid. They quoted 800 dollars, but charged me 701. I guess I'm blessed based on the quotes I've been seeing here.

Either my transmission will go bad soon, or it will last. Who knows, all I know it's time to ditch it for another ride...and quick. Oh, and whenever I turn on the heat in the car, it smells like tranny fluid; the smell will not go away!

LAST WEEK MY WIFE NOTICED SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER TO OUR PILOT WHEN ON ERRANDS. THE CAR BACKED UP ON A STEEP CLIMB, LUCKILY NO ONE WAS BEHIND. SHE VERY CAUTIOUSLY DROVE DOWN TO NEAREST REPAIR STATION (<1 MILE). WE ALSO NOTICED A LEAK OF SOME KIND OF MIX FLUIDS (STRAWBERRY SHAKE) FROM THE RADIATOR OVERFLOW TANK. THERE WAS A PUDDLE ON THE GROUND. REPAIR SHOP DID IDENTIFY THE RADIATOR LEAK AND MIXING OF COOLANT AND TRANSMISSION FLUIDS. QUOTED $1600+ BUT GAVE NO GUARANTEE OF THE FIX. WE WENT WITH DEALER INSTEAD THINKING THEY MIGHT HAVE DEALT WITH THIS FAILURE BEFORE. DEALER HAS REPLACED THE RADIATOR AND FLUSHED THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM 3 TIMES AT A COST OF $1100. CAR IS DRIVING OK AFTER 2 DAYS BUT HAVE TO SEE HOW IT BEHAVES WITH MORE DRIVING. WE ARE VERY SURPRISED THAT HONDA HAS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED THIS VERY PREDICTABLE ISSUE. IT WOULD HAVE SAVED LOSS OF HASSLE AND INCONVENIENCE IF THE RADIATOR COULD BE REPLACED AT 60K SERVICE FOR 2005 MODELS. SHAME THAT HONDA DID BREAK THE TRUST OF SO MANY PROUD OWNERS ON THIS ISSUE.

Update from Feb 26, 2013: Radiator was replaced by the dealer and transmission flushed 3 times (total cost of $1080).

Its driving ok now but the fear of stall of the vehicles continues each day.

Just had the radiator fail in my 2005 Pilot. Found this site, and am now truly afraid. Have not heard back from my mechanic yet, but he has ordered the new rad, and we are keeping our fingers crossed about the tranny.

It would seem if the tranny is euchred then I will simply walk away, and sadly, be done with Honda. I have no illusions about any type of recall assistance...and this is HONDA NUMBER 6 I HAVE OWNED. Never had any real trouble with any of the others, but this is my first SUV.

Felt it necessary to post as I read so many rad failure postings, and wondered how many people have had this and not posted anywhere!!! This needs to get out, as only if Honda feels it in the wallet, will they ever see fit to act on a problem. Sad, as I have for more than 35 years extolled the virtues of Hondas, and bragged them up to any and all who would listen. I have a honda wagon with 600,000km on it, and it just keeps going...

But this issue with the Pilots is unnerving, and so I am adding my experience to the fray. Hope it helps.

MY 2005 HONDA PILOT IS MY 4TH HONDA VEHICLE, HAVE LIKED HONDA CARS BECAUSE OF RELIABILITY. HOWEVER WITH THE RECENT HORRIFIC PROBLEM THAT HAPPENED TO MY PILOT @ 86500 MILES I FEEL REALLY SCREWED OVER FOR BEING A LOYAL CUSTOMER. I WAS GREETED IN MORNING BT UGLY PUDDLE OF TRANSMISSION OIL UNDER FRONT RIGHT TIRE. AFTER SPENDING A GRAND TO FIX PROBLEM, DAMN CAR BROKE DOWN ON HIGHWAY WITH NO WARNING. HAD IT TOWED TO GARAGE TO BE TOLD THE ENGINE WAS TOAST! WHAT THE HELL DO I DO WITH THIS PIECE OF CRAP NOW! CAN'T EVEN TRADE IT IN!!!!!! THANKS HONDA FOR THIS NIGHTMARE. HAS ANYONE FOUND AN ANSWER TO THE ISSUE.

I have to say overall I've been very happy with my Pilot, and the Accord I had before the Pilot. I've been happy to say I was a loyal Honda Owner.

But this issue is really a pain. Replacing the radiator - time consuming, costly and all due to a design flaw on the Pilot? Why isn't there a plate protecting the radiator? It's an SUV for heaven's sake! Not that I'm doing any off-roading or even any rough driving - this vehicle is only driven on maintained roads. So how can a simple rock cause the radiator to be damaged enough to have the coolant and transmission fluids mix, etc. requiring a new radiator? Sounds like Honda really goofed on this one. And from researching this online, sounds like a very common issue. My car only just turned over 75000 miles, and I've had it since 2004, so it's not like I'm driving a ton of miles or abusing it in any way. Plus I've had ALL the regularly scheduled maintenance done by the dealership.

How about a recall on this one HONDA? Sounds like you need to take responsibility for your errors on this.

I bought a 2005 Honda Pilot because I wanted a good vehicle that would be dependable and I could tow with.I recently was starting on a trip and got about 30 miles from the house when the transmission failed to shift through the gears.I had it towed back to the dealer I purchased the vehicle from and they told me the transmission was trashed and then they told me the transmission had antifreeze mixed in it and the radiator was going to have to be replaced.Now this is costing me on a vehicle that I planned on getting many years of maintenance free service and reliability.Now I have this incredible bill.

We also had our radiator leak into the transmission. Honda service adjusters were no help. They were rude, denied that the radiator was defective & refused to even pay a portion of the repair. I had the car towed to a transmission shop that I have dealt with in the past & had them replace the radiator & rebuild the transmission.

We have driven the car for a few months since getting it fixed & the transmission seems to be slipping in reverse now but we have a one year warranty on the rebuild so I hope it will be fixed at no additional cost. Then we plan to sell it & get an American Van. We'll never have another Honda. They might look pretty but beware - Underneath the tin they are junk and not worth the hassle.

My husband died and everyone told me to get a Honda...they are reliable and will last for years. I have loved my Pilot! Its roomy, we put on a hitch to pull the boats...never had a problem. daughter driving from the train station, 5 or 6 blocks, 2 weeks ago when the car shot up to H...and started spewing a chocolate milk like fluid everywhere. I am seeing here that this is a common problem. I had the car towed to my mechanic who says that the radiator and tranny fluids all mixed. I had to pay again to tow it to Honda who says that my warranty is no longer in effect. I had to pay another 120.00 just to have it diagnosed. I am going to Honda general as I see this as a recurring malfunction on their part...should hear from them today...I hear that the problem was a recall and has since been rectified for newer vehicles. I think Honda should replace both the tranny and radiator...despicable.

So, based on easy internet searches, I guess this problem is old news for many 2005 Honda Pilot owners. The radiator failed (seemingly overnight) and within a couple miles of driving the transmission began slipping and the "A/T Temp" light came on. Followed the instructions in the owners manual and pulled over until the light went off. Got the vehicle home, and woke up to find the apparently-telltale milky pink/brown puddle underneath my front end ... and the same stuff in the radiator. Pulled the transmission fluid dipstick, and it was dry, so I remained hopeful. Had the vehicle towed to my favorite mechanic (NOT a Honda dealer), who did the diagnostics ... and found, sadly, that the mixed engine coolant/transmission fluid soup was not only in my radiator, but also tainting my transmission. Darn ................................ (!$!$!$).

Am trying the first-step fix of replacing the radiator and triple-flushing both the coolant and transmission-fluid, but suspect that my transmission's days (hours???) are numbered.

I am furious that this is a known issue for Honda and there was no consumer maintenance notice (never mind a recall).

I will update with new information as I have it. Meanwhile, I will be shopping for a new vehicle ... and will be wishing that I hadn't bought the new accessories I did just last summer (trailer hitch, bike rack, safari roof rack ...). Again ... just ... DARN.

Thank God that this problem happened at home - I was not driving. The "chocolate milk" occurred at our home; we didn't know what it was , turned the car off and searched the internet. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WITH THIS PROBLEM WHO VOICED IT! We checked the web and got hits on this website. We did not drive the car and had it towed to the dealer immediately. It will cost us about 1K to fix because our transmission was not damaged. For what it is worth, we are loyal Honda owners, we will be addressing this with Honda.

Yep add another one to the growing list. Seems there is a design fault with the radiator. Vehicle was fine first part of the day, and defunct by the end. There were no warning lights or noticeable issues. After parking the car we noticed the oily wet spot under the front passenger side. Opening the hood there was trans fluid and coolant mix sprayed around the coolant recovery tank. Popping the radiator cap displayed the trans fluid and coolant pink/brown sludge. Dealer should be looking at this soon. Made Honda USA aware of the problem.

First time I've ever seen or heard of this sort of failure in the many years of driving and wrenching vehicles.

More to come.....

I had just got some routine maintenance on car, to take to Florida for vacation. 2 days later the car had been driven less than 5 miles up the street and on the way home the car started over heating, the temp gauge shot up, My mother was driving the car with my daughter and pulled the car over immediately. Had car looked at and found out the the radiator failed causing the fluids to get into the transmission. My brother in law mechanic, thought he could replace the radiator and continuously flush the transmission, after doing this he said there is still radiator fluid in transmission and I would have to replace the transmission, which all of us believe the car is not worth it at this point, I bought a Honda because I wanted to drive this car forever, I found this website and found out this is a common problem with this year Pilot. I am so disappointed, I don't even know what kind of car to look for now.

I received a letter dated 7/24/12 from Motorcars Honda about my 2005 Pilot. The letter acknowledged reports of 2005 Honda Pilots experiencing radiator issues involving leaks into the transmission. The letter went on to state that these problems occur suddenly and render the vehicle inoperable along with expensive repairs totaling at least $4,000. Honda's solution is to offer me a new radiator at a reduced price of $700 instead of $800! Thanks Honda! You want me to bring you more business for a problem that you acknowledge is a defect in 2005 Pilots. So, not only do I pay you in good faith for a vehicle that I expect to perform as advertised when maintained according to manufacturer's suggestions but now you would like me to pay your mechanics to fix a defect that you admit to in letters sent to Pilot owners. WOW! What a deal, Honda! Here's a suggestion, what if Honda recalls the 2005 Honda Pilot because of the defective radiators and replaces the radiators at their cost or face a class action law suit and a ton of bad publicity. Honda has lost a loyal customer.