AtWhatMileage
Engine · 35 owner reports

Other engine problem on the 2005 Honda Pilot

1 crash 1 injury 2 of the 35 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.

Reports of this failure 35
With an odometer reading 31
Reports per 1,000 built 0.2 per 1,000
Filed below 36,000 miles 3%
Mention a crash, fire or injury 2
Typical repair $300–$4,000
What it means when it happens High
Rank among this year's problems 9th

When other engine problem gets reported

Owners of the 2005 Honda Pilot report other engine problem at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 82,500 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 31 reports that carried an odometer reading.

A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 9th most-reported problem on this model year.

The mileage distribution

The reported range runs from 70,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 147,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 78,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.

A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.

3% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.

The whole distribution

Percentiles of the 31 odometer readings owners gave.
10th25thMedian 75th90th
69,000 miles 81,500 miles 99,000 miles 129,403 miles 147,000 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, 1 a crash and 1 an injury 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 $300–$4,000 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 2013, at a median of 2,500 miles, and latest on the 2008 at 120,000 miles.

By volume the 2016 carries the most reports, with 485; the 2005 has 35. 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.

What owners wrote

Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.

I own a 2005 honda pilot. Purchased new and chose honda as an ?investment? As the reputation is impeccable for safety. I live in fl and travel 70 miles daily, chose to pay the price for a honda as my purchase was for the long haul. I live in an upscale area, work in the medical comm. In aug 2007 I changed jobs and work near a large hospital construction area. In nov, 2007 my AC unit began making a horrible noise, then a horrific smell ensued. Investigation by honda revealed mice infestation in the AC unit. The repair was $8k and took one mo. Needless to say, we felt it was an isolated horrific disturbing once in a lifetime disaster! My car was returned to me in jan 08. Over the past wk my AC unit began making a rumble, I ret'nd to honda assumed there was a loose fitting. To my surprise, another mice infestation in the AC unit! My ins. Has been again notified. I have done some research online. I have located a site wombat nation, interesting that 90% of the vehicle complaints with rodent infestation are honda?s! I contacted your cust service line, spoke with jamal who confirms honda has no knowledge of such a problem. Do you really…

70,000 miles NHTSA complaint 668751 filed 2008-05-07

1. Normal vehicle usage LED to failure 2. The front and right motor mount failed leading to vibration and clunky shifting. 3. Vehicle owner purchased and installed new motor mounts. *tr

70,000 miles NHTSA complaint 696027 filed 2008-11-11

Since I bought my 2005 honda pilot on 06/25/2007. Every time I would drive between 65 and 70 MPH my steering wheel would shake. I took my pilot in today for inspection(06/06/2009)and here they tell me my motor mount engine needs repaired. Prior to this I had called them on several occasions and told them that my steering wheel shakes when I drive close to 65-70mph. I was told several times that it is just my alignment "easy fix". Last year for inspection I needed tires got tires,alignment checked asked service people again if the shaking was fixed I was reassured it was to only find out it was not. Now today a year later this happens and to find out it is happening to alot of other 2005 honda pilots motor mount is going out. I'm outraged. I owned several hondas through-out my life and never once had this problem with any of them. I use to own a civic and an accord. Hondas are great vehicles until now. I believe honda should recall this. And this will be the last honda I own. *tr

63,000 miles NHTSA complaint 722729 filed 2009-06-06

Also reported on the 2005 Honda Pilot

Other brake problem

101 reports median 100k

Radiator or coolant leak

98 reports median 102k

Other driver assistance problem

78 reports median 110k

Other powertrain problem

72 reports median 100k

Other electrical problem

40 reports median 122k

Other body or interior problem

39 reports median 74k

How far this goes

Complaints are voluntary, so 35 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 engine problem happen on the 2005 Honda Pilot?

Across 31 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 82,500 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.

How common is other engine problem on the 2005 Honda Pilot?

35 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