VTM light on 2003 Pilot

[cottageman]

We own 2 '03 honda pilots. Mine has 380,000 km while the other has about 180K. VTM light and only the VTM light is on the younger of the 2. I have been working at narrowing it down. It runs fine but I have removed and cleaned the intake and replaced gasket. Removed and kind of cleaned the EGR value (assume it works but hard to tell). Fact is the machine runs fine. So now I am guessing it has to do with the Rear diff oil needs replacing and/or the oil sensor is shot. Thinking of just changing the oil, but should I replace the sensor as well? My reader gets zero codes, taking it to the dealer is something I would like to do, but ALL of the dealers here in Ottawa are TERRIBLE. I would drive 2 hours to Pembroke where they treat you like a customer (imagine that), before I would take it to these guys. 4 dealers all the same, terrible customer service people, feel like your interrupting their day when you go it. Funny thing is on the new car sales side, they are all smiles, wonder why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So any suggestions?

[rocky]

If its due for fresh VTM4 fluid change it.

[harley909]

I had a bad VTM4 sensor on my 2003 and the light was on all the time. Changed the sensor and found that one of the connector terminal posts was broken off.
You have to drain the rear end to change the sensor so you may as well get a 4L jug of VTM4 fluid.
The sensor is under s shield by the drain (or fill) plug on the rear end. Easy to find, easy to change.

[Raymond_12000]

I just started getting the light coming on when its cold or wet recently on my recently purchased 07 pilot. Going to the dealer on wednesday to check it. Fortunately its on warranty. Will report back on the findings to you...

[mujju]

Hi cottageman

wonder what was the problem with your 'younger' pilot? Mine is a 2004 and has 222k and just got the light on.

[Ottawa MDX]

Very interesting, a bunch of us Canadians fighting VTM-4 issues at the same time. My 2002 MDX and my brother inlaws Pilot are also struggling to keep that light off. I change my fluid annually along with the trans fluid and so far the VTM system has been pretty good as long as I keep the tire pressures perfectly matched. It seems that any mismatch in the tire diameter due to pressure will dissable the system to protect the diff. Well this year the fludi change didn't solve the VTM light as it did last year so I have to dig deeper. Very interested in hearing about everyone's experiences. I also found that the local Ottawa dealers were just a bit too eager to get their hands on my vehicle as was the Acura dealer. I prefer to solve my own problems! I will crawl under the beast tonight to check all connectors etc.

[ocall0]

I have a 2003 Pilot with 246,000 km with this problem just starting for me. In my case, the VTM-4 light never comes on from cold and does not usually come on until the engine is warm. It does come on when the engine is warm but the transmission is cold (e.g. remote start in driveway, warming up but not driven… not even shifted out of park). Once the engine is warm the light is much more likely to come on. Turning off and restarting will solve the problem, but in some cases the light immediately comes back on, or very quickly thereafter. In some cases, the light does not come back on. The light appears to come on more often when the engine is idling or not under load. The light appears to come on when the engine revolutions are declining, e.g. coasting to a stop, or when transmission shifts up and revolutions drop, or when coming up behind a slower moving vehicle and letting up on the gas. The light comes on whether the gas tank is full or near empty. The farther you drive (… warmer vehicle gets?) the more likely the light is to come on. That said, there are often periods of several days where the vehicle is driven and the light does not come on. The vehicle starts perfectly (even from very cold) and the engine runs smoothly, pulls strongly and does not hesitate or misfire at any time. There is no apparent correlation between the engine performance and when the light comes on… other than it appears to occur more often when engine is coming OFF load. The light has never come on when accelerating or driving at higher RPMs (e.g. on the 401). I have relaced the EGFR valve and cleaned that system out as much as possible, but I am now exploring other options... I had the transmission rebuilt about 20,000 km ago but I need to confirm that they changed the "differential" oil at that time, otherwise, I am looking for any help or suggestions. Thanks.

[cottageman]

Well as stated above, my problem was a broken wire on the rear diff oil sensor.

I changed it and the VTM works perfect, bottom line is Honda needs to find a better metal for the lead or seal it so that water and salt aren't in contact with it. Simple fix however and it cost me maybe $25 for the part.


But now my other 2003 Pilot with 380K km has the SRS light on and the cruise does not work. Any suggestions?

[94eg!]

BTW: Here is how you check for VTM light, D light or Check Engine Light codes without an OBD2 scanner or Honda scan-tool (OBD2 scanner can't pull D and VTM codes)...

Originally Posted by 94eg!

Just grab a paper clip and read the codes yourself. Stick the paper clip in the DLC by the drivers right knee (as shown in this picture). Then switch the ignition to the "ON" position and watch all the lights start blinking. Long blinks are 10's & shorts are 1's. Just add them together to get the code for that light. If there is more than one code stored, they will be separated by a break between blinks:



This link has the definition for all check engine light blink-codes:

K20Tuned LLC*::*DC5/EP3 Codes

Here is a link to the VTM light blink-codes:

http://rsgear.com/articles/2006_12.pdf

And here is a link to show the Transmission "D" light blink-codes:

flashing shift indicator

Write down all your codes and come back to THIS thread and let us know.

[mudbog]

Your technical knowledge of the Pilot is quite dizzying. How the heck do you find this stuff?

[94eg!]

I'm on several different forums and I've been working on my various Honda's for over 12 years now. Honda has always been good about providing self diagnosis features in all they're cars. But since the advent of OBD2, the DIY information has been lacking.

If you keep reading the crap in the shop manuals over and over, you can find secret stuff hidden between the lines. I figured this one out from the auto-transmission section of the 04 TL shop manual. I realized they were explaining a way to get the transmission codes to display on the dashboard without having to use the Honda scanning equipment. Then it was just a matter of googling till I found a site that showed exactly which pins to jump on the DLC (which conveniently provided check-engine codes as well). The codes in the "D" light link are ones that I copied directly from the TL shop manual I mentioned. The VTM codes were provided to us by someone else with a similar problem. The Honda codes themselves always remain the same throughout time. The only thing that changes is that Honda adds more as the systems become more complicated.

BTW: I'm gonna keep posting these links and info in every trouble-code thread until it all becomes common knowledge. Should take about a year. We'll see.

[cottageman]

Well as has been posted before, my SRS light has been reset! The challenge was locating it on my 03 Pilot. Seems that it was plugged into the fuse panel, located left of drivers left knee, right in the middle of the fuse array. Yellow casing. This is what it looks like in a CRV

How to reset or turn off honda CRV SRS airbag light - YouTube

How to reset or turn off honda CRV SRS airbag light - YouTube

Now all I have to deal with is my cruise not working, while the button is lit. Seems it might be the actuator located on brake, but will keep playing with it.

My transmission still will slip between 1 and 2nd if the driver trys to push it, but when I drive it, you simply ease up on the gas at 40 KM and Bob's your uncle! In fact thinking of giving this pilot to my son as his first car, I know that he won't be doing any street racing! Might be a good feature to build into cars.

My power steering pump was whining loud, have been changing the fluid and it continues to get better.

Goal is 500K on this pilot, engine seems PERFECT touch wood.

Anyone out there with that on an '03 Pilot yet, or more than 380K as I do now I wonder.

Would I get another one, new ones are too big, gas mileage is no better than my 23 m/g highway that I get so don't think I would. Now if they could put a TDI diesel in my pilot that gets 40 m/g, I'm in. Cheers

[rocky]

Does the pilot use vacuum to operate the cruise control? If so, check the rubber pipes in the throttle area. One may have split at a connection (most likely) or just become porous.
Age related issue