Other electrical problem on the 2004 Honda Pilot
4 crashes 3 fires 7 of the 39 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other electrical problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Honda Pilot report other electrical problem at a median of 105,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 77,500 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 28 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 139,440 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
11% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34,980 miles | 76,430 miles | 105,500 miles | 134,750 miles | 174,420 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 4 a crash and 3 a fire are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 22 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 2,500 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 132,500 miles.
By volume the 2016 carries the most reports, with 413; the 2004 has 39. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I purchased a 2004 honda pilot on october 23, 2003 and have since had the battery replaced twice along with four towing occurrences and on-going safety concern for my family especially my two toddlers each time I turn the ignition on. I have not been unsuccessful with a resolve from the manufacturer. After my fourth attempt of mail the manufacturer and dealer only offer to reimburse my $400 towing expenses. The dealer I purchased the vehicle from to date cannot give me an accurate diagnosis. Academy honda claims my issues could range from re-programming keys, ignition, fuel pumps etc. I have lost days from work, pre-paid child care and tuition expenses and suffers horrifying emotional stress from these incidences. To dated not one representative from the honda dealer has called to see how vehicle is running. It is apparent that this vehicle has an on-going safety issues that requires immediate detailed scrutiny. I would like to have this matter investigated. This is my only mode of transportation for work, errands and family affairs. I fear the death of my 3 and 4 yrs old toddlers, in addition to myself and my spouse. At this…
While driving, the car went in to four-wheel drive and malfunction indicator light went on, and stayed on even after the car was restarted. I took it in to the dealer, who replaced the knock sensor harness wiring due to rodent damage. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 honda pilot. The contact stated that after the vehicle was parked and she returned to the vehicle the vehicle had drifted away from the parking space she was in. The vehicle rolled backwards and crashed into two other vehicles. The contact stated that the gear shifted into reverse on its own. The contact referenced NHTSA recall NHTSA campaign id number: 10v364000 electrical system, ignition but honda informed him that the 2004 pilot was not included in the recall even though it was experiencing the exact same failure. The current and failure mileages were 110,500. Updated 12/09/10 updated 12/17/10*jb
Also reported on the 2004 Honda Pilot
Other body or interior problem
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Torque converter failure
Seat belt or retractor failure
Complete transmission failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 39 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other electrical problem happen on the 2004 Honda Pilot?
Across 28 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 105,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 77,500 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other electrical problem on the 2004 Honda Pilot?
39 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed